Ulil Abshar-Abdalla

I KNOW this is not Ramadan, a month when Muslims refrain from food and drink for the entire day. However, the wisdom that almost every ustaz or religious teachers keep telling us whenever this month is on our doorsteps is deeply etched in my mind.
We fast, so goes the wisdom, because we have to teach […]

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Sodara-sodara,
Walau Turki kalah dalam semifinal Euro 2008 beberapa jam yang lalu, tetapi tim “pinggiran” ini telah menampilkan permainan yang mengesankan, jauh lebih baik ketimbang saat mereka melawan Kroasia. Jerman bermain hebat, dan layak menang.
Tetapi, hal yang menarik perhatian saya adalah semboyan dalam pertandingan semifinal itu: UNITE AGAINST RACISM (Bersatulah Melawan Rasisme).
Saya terharu dengan tema pertandingan […]

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THIS is a lingering question that keeps haunting me time and again: if I want to be a good Muslim, should I shut down my mind and submit myself totally to God? Can I be a good servant of God while still reserving some space for doubt, question, and skepticism?
The way Islam is presented in […]

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IF you think that a case can be won by shouting at your opponent, yelling frantically at his face, hurling desperately “holy” words such “allahu akbar” (God is great) at him, you are definitely wrong.
What you need to win a case is a persuasive argument, valid data, and a sober reasoning. Yelling “allahu akbar” at […]

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MY upbringing is far away from being “liberal” and latitudinarian. When I was a little child in “kampong” (village), my father was so harsh and strict in setting up a moral standard for me and my siblings. And this was not peculiar to my family; everybody else’s house followed the same rule. We lived in […]

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A controversy broke out recently in Indonesia over a minority sect that originates in India, Ahmadiyah. It claims that its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is a prophet. As the majority of Muslim believe in the finality of Muhammad’s prophethood, this claim came as a big shock to them. It amount to dismantling the very foundation […]

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WHEN we were on a summer vacation in Indonesia last year, an experience occurred to me that still amazed me till now. It’s a kind of puzzle. As we landed in Jakarta, and my kids met with some relatives, they refused to speak English, even though some of them insisted on hearing my kids speak […]

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Berada di negeri asing dan jauh dari tanah air bukanlah hal yang menyenangkan. Apalagi jika kita sendirian, tak mempunyai seorang isteri atau keluarga, alias masih “jomblo”. Seorang kawan saya yang sedang belajar di Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, mengeluh luar biasa karena tak ada teman-teman dari Indonesia yang ia kenal di kawasan itu, sementara ia belum […]

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Sebulan yang lalu, isteri saya baru saja mendapatkan izin kerja, working permit. Setelah itu, dia langsung sibuk melayangkan lamaran ke beberapa tempat, antara lain warung kopi Starbuck, warung waralaba yang mempunyai jaringan global itu.
Saat interview beberapa hari yang lalu, isteri saya bertanya kepada pihak manajer warung itu: apakah ada masalah jika dia memakai jilbab? Pihak […]

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Anak saya yang pertama, Ektada Bennabi Mohamad (artinya: Meneladani Nabi Muhammad), biasa kami panggil Ben, seringkali diundang untuk menghadiri pesta ulang tahun teman-teman sekelasnya di sekolah.
Pagi ini, misalnya, dia diundang untuk menghadiri ultah teman sekelas yang tinggal tak terlalu jauh dari apartemen saya, kira-kira 1,5 km dari apartemen saya di kawasan Newton Centre.
Ben sekarang duduk […]

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