AT THE CENTER
Islam
Organizations (5)
Islam is a religious tradition stressing submission to God according to the revelations to the prophet Muhammad (570/571-632 CE), whom Muslims hold to be the last in a line of prophets including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muhammad's revelations are recorded in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, and Muslims also consider hadith—reports of Muhammad's sayings and actions—to be authoritative guides for moral life. Divergent views on the proper leadership of the Muslim community (ummah) led to a split between Sunni and Shi'a Islam. With around 1.5 billion followers, Islam is the second largest religion in the world, predominating across the Middle East, North Africa, and many parts of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Political Islam, often known as Islamism, is currently widespread in many Muslim-majority countries; most Islamist groups identify with the ideals of democracy, while a small minority support terrorism.
Established in 1912 by Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan, Muhammadiyah is Indonesia's oldest Islamic organization and promotes a modern Islam free of superstition and syncretism. Muhammadiyah and its affiliated women's organization, Aisyiyah, have an estimated 30 million members. There are also single-gender autonomous groups for high school and college students. Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah (M/A), though technically autonomous, work closely together on social programs throughout Indonesia; the two...
The Russian Council of Muftis (RCM) was founded in 1996 to unify the country's Muslim organizations. The council acts both as an organizing committee for Russia's Muslims as well as a coordinator and supporter of various public activities to support Islam in the region. Some examples of the RCM's activities include setting up schools, constructing meeting houses, and providing literature. Mufti Ravil Gainutdin is the current chair of the council.
Founded in 1926 by Hasyim Asy’ari, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) supports education, cultural engagement, and socioeconomic development rooted in Islamic principles of justice, diversity, and tolerance. It is the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, with an estimated membership of 30 million. In 1999, the NU created a political party called the Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (National Awakening Party, PKB), which ranked fourth in the popular vote during the election. Drawing on widespread respect for...
As Indonesia’s top Muslim clerical body, the Council of Indonesian Ulama (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI) advises the Muslim community on contemporary issues. It was founded by the Suharto government in 1975. It is intended to facilitate interactions between the secular Indonesian state and the majority Muslim community, encourage the involvement of religious authorities in national development, and enable interfaith cooperation. The group issues religious rulings on a variety of topics,...
Al-Azhar University is one of Egypt's leading universities and a highly influential source of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Founded in 970 CE, it is considered as one of the world's oldest degree-granting universities. The university grew out of, and remains associated with, the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. While Islamic law, theology, and the Arabic language remain the primary educational focus, since 1961 the curriculum has also included modern subjects such as medicine and engineering....