Imam Shamsi Ali is a prominent Indonesian Muslim Scholar known for promoting interfaith dialogues among

Abrahamic Religions The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition ...

in United States and the Chairman of the Al-Hikmah Mosque and the Director of Jamaica Muslim Center in Jamaica, Queens,

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Early life

Ali was born as Muhammad Utteng Ali in the village of Bulukumba in

Kajang Kajang is a town in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Kajang, along with much of Hulu Langat District, is governed by the Kajang Municipal Council. Kajang town is located on the eastern banks of the Langat River. It is surrounded ...

district of Bulukumba Regency in South Sulawesi,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on October 5, 1967. He is the third of six children (though only five survived into adulthood). His parents were a couple with farming background, Ali Kadrun (father) and Inong Tippangrom (mother). His parents were not religious, but they wanted him to learn how to read the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

, so they sent him to ''Daarul Arqam'' Islamic boarding school. During his childhood, Utteng (as he used to be called) was rebellious, lazy and often truant. He was one time detained for hitting a student named Mustafa, breaking his nose and sending him to the hospital. Mustafa's parents then called the police and they arrested him, though he was not entirely guilty. Finally Utteng was jailed for two weeks. Fortunately, he was not expelled from the boarding school due to the incident. His name was changed from ''Utteng'' to ''Shamsi'' (an Arabic word which means ''Sun'') when he and his father met with the ''Daarul Arqam'' school headmaster, Abdul Jabbar Asyiri. The headmaster argued that in Islam, the name is a prayer and should have a good sense, and he eventually renamed his middle name from ''Utteng'' to ''Shamsi'' with hope, Utteng could be the praiseworthy one (from his first name) and can illuminate (from his middle name, with the same way the sun does) people's hearts.

Education

After completing primary school at age 12 in the village of Tana Toa in Bulukumba

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, his parents sent him to ''Darul-Arqam'' pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Makassar, which is owned by the Muhammadiyah organization. After graduating from the boarding school in 1987, Shamsi Ali stayed there as a teacher until the end of 1988. He received a scholarship offer from Rabithah Alam Islami to study at the

International Islamic University, Islamabad , motto_lang = Arabic , mottoeng = "All those endowed with knowledge have the All-Knowing above them" , established = , closed = , type = Public , affiliation = ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. He completed his undergraduate in

Tafseer Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

in 1992 and continued his master at the same university in the field of Comparative Religion in 1994. During his study in Pakistan, Shamsi Ali also worked as a lecturer at the school funded by Saudi Arabia, ''the

Red Crescent Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...

'' in Islamabad, where later he received an offer to teach at the Islamic Education Foundation in Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in early 1995. In 1996 Hajj season, Shamsi Ali got a mandate to speak at the Consulate General of Indonesia in Jeddah. From there, he met with some foreign hajj pilgrims, including the Indonesian Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, Nugroho Wisnumurti, who once offered him to come to New York to build a new mosque for Indonesian community. Shamsi Ali accepted the offer and moved to New York in early 1997. Ali earned Ph.D. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Southern California University Southern California University may refer to: * California Southern University, a correspondence school founded in 1978 as the "Southern California University for Professional Studies" * University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let who ...

in 2003. Besides

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

as his

Native Language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

and

Buginese language Buginese or Bugis (Buginese: ) is a language spoken by about five million people mainly in the southern part of Sulawesi, Indonesia. History The word Buginese derives from the word '' Bugis'' in Malay. In Buginese, it is called while the B ...

as his

mother-tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

, Ali is also fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Career

During his study in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, he was hired as a

muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important r ...

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque ( ur, , faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in capital Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Pakistan's ...

, the biggest mosque in the city. He saved money to fund his hajj (pilgrimage) and wedding. After arriving in New York in 1996, he served as an imam to an Indonesian community mosque in Long Island City,

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. Through funding from the Indonesian Mission to the UN, Bank of Indonesia and the Indonesian consulate of New York, the community purchased a chemical warehouse for $350,000 on the 31st Street and 48th Avenue in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

. In 2001, he was appointed as deputy Imam of

Islamic Cultural Center of New York The Islamic Cultural Center of New York is a mosque and an Islamic cultural center in East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, United States. It is located at 1711 Third Avenue, between East 96th and 97th Streets. The Islamic Cultural Center was ...

which is the city's largest mosque located in 96th street and 3rd Ave in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, but left the position in 2011. Shamsi Ali is also the chairman of the board of trustees for the

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

Muslim Federation of North America. He also serves as the vice president of the Asian-American Coalition USA (AAC-USA) and its UN representative and as an advisory board member to numerous interfaith organizations, including the Tanenbaum Center and Federation for Middle East Peace. In interfaith organizations, Imam Ali serves as a board member for the Partnership of Faith in NY, and co-founder of the UNCC (Universal Clergy Coalition-International). Furthermore, he is also assistant director and a board member of the Muslim Foundation of America, Inc., and chairman of the annual Muslim Day Parade in NYC. A few days after the events of 11 September 2001, New York City chose him to represent the Muslim community to visit the scene, where he met President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. He also recited a prayer at the memorial service for the September 11th victims at Yankee stadium in the Bronx. In 2002, Ali was appointed "Ambassador for Peace" by the International Religious Federation, and a recipient of ICLI Interfaith Award in 2008. Ali was chosen as one of the seven most influential religious leaders in New York City by New York Magazine in 2006. He represented the Muslim community at an interfaith discussion on Religions and Sustainable Development in the White House 2007, and took part in the Transatlantic Interfaith Dialogue in

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Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

2008. Within the Indonesian Muslim community in North America, he serves as an advisory board to major national Muslim organizations such as IMSA (Indonesian Muslim Society in America) and ICMI (Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Society in America). He is also the president of Nusantara Foundation, a community based operating and non-profit organization in New York that is established, publicly supported, operated by, and for the benefit of Indonesian culture.

Controversy

Shamsi Ali was accused by some people of

of misconduct during his time as the Imam. Furthermore, some congregations disagreed with his "liberal" approaches, especially his

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

activities which they said were controversial. Other people at the mosque accused him not to do good in the wider community, but instead he went out and made friends with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly. Some people then refused to attend Ali's prayers. His teachings about how to lead a modern Islamic life in a Western society infuriated some congregants. One of scholars in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

even issued a fatwa, cautioning Muslims against performing prayers led by Ali. The worst accusation against him was that he had been accused by

takfiri ''Takfiri'' ( ar, تَكْفِيرِيّ, ' lit. "excommunicational") is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate. Since according to t ...

s of committing

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

. Some fundamentalist Muslims in Queens disagreed with Ali's approach to youths to be closer to Islam. They accused him of corrupting Muslim youths' mentality by letting them use the mosque's basement for practicing music which they considered

haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

. They also accused him of being an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

mouthpiece. On another occasion, this group of people opposed Ali's defense of a

Shi'a Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

who was rallying against terrorism and injustice, whom they considered an infidel. According to Ali, one of these groups is thought to be an American offshoot of the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based Al-Muhajiroun, which is infamous for its conference "The Magnificent 19," praising those who carried out the 9/11 attacks. Ali left his position at ICC of New York (the management at ICC insisted that he was ''fired'') in 2011. He continues his position as the director of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Muslim Center in

since 2004 and as the chairman of ''Al-Hikmah'' mosque since 1996. In September 2015 Ali sharply criticized Chairman of the DPR of Indonesia,

Setya Novanto Setya Novanto (born 12 November 1955) is a former Indonesian politician, presently serving a 15 year jail sentence for corruption. He was chairman of Golkar Party and speaker of the People's Representative Council ( Indonesian: ''Dewan Perwakila ...

and its Deputy Speaker

Fadli Zon Fadli Zon (born 1 June 1971) is an Indonesian politician, presently serving as a member of the People's Representative Council, where he was previously Deputy Speaker from 2014 to 2019. He was one of the founders of Prabowo Subianto's Great Indon ...

for attending

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's press conference. Shamsi said the meeting had humiliated Indonesian state leaders and was full of political interests. He said it was obvious that the press conference was part of a campaign event. He further said the presence of Setya and Fadli, who stood behind Trump as the US business tycoon delivered a speech, was deplorable. In addition, according to Imam Shamsi Ali, Donald Trump is known for his racist and anti-immigrant comments, including the anti-Muslim sentiments.

Writings and publications

Ali has written many articles, given speeches and initiated dialogues with various religious leaders about the importance of dialogues among Muslims,

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s and other religious groups toward peace. He has made countless appearances on TV (ABC, PBS, BBC World, CNN, Fox News, National Geographic, al-Jazeera, the Hallmark Channel) to condemn

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, radicalism,

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and to promote peaceful Islam. Ali has authored four books: ''Dai muda di New York City'' (A Young Dai in New York City), ''The True Love in America; 29 Kisah Mualaf Amerika'' (The True Love in America: 29 stories of Muallaf in America), ''Menebar Damai di Bumi Barat'' (Spreading Peace in Western World). The former US president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

gave a foreword to his fourth book, a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, entitled ''Sons Of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims'' which he co-authored with

Marc Schneier Marc Schneier (born January 26, 1959) is an American rabbi and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. Schneier previously served as vice-president of the World Jewish Congress. Career According to '' Tablet'', Schneier "is a pola ...

, a Jewish

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who is also his close friend.

Recognition

Imam Ali was appointed "Ambassador for Peace" by the International Religious Federation in 2002, and a recipient of the 2008 ICLI Interfaith Award. In 2006, he was named one of seven most influential religious leaders in New York City by New York Magazine. He is also one of 100 recipients of the 2009

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

Award. This prestigious non military gold medal is one of the highest awards recognized by US government to native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens with tremendous contributions to the American society and the world and for Shamsi Ali it was due to his endless dedication in building bridges between religious communities. On September 18, 2010, Ali was granted Hall of Fame Award by AACUSA ( Asian American Coalition USA) Inc. The award honored Ali as one of the seven outstanding individuals within their respective Asian communities. According to the AACUSA, Dr. Parveen C. Chopra, Shamsi Ali has reached across the division and became part of the Muslims’ voice at the United Nations forums, churches, synagogues, the NYPD, FBI and major news outlets including, ABC, PBS, BBC World, CNN, Fox News, National Geographic, Al-Jazeera and the Hallmark Channel. He was also chosen as one of

The 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

in the world in 2009, 2010, and 2011 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Jordan and Georgetown University. In April 2014, NY senate commended him to be the recipient of Turkish Cultural Center's Friendship Award, which he received along with Rabbi Marc Schneier during the ceremony on April 10, 2014, at the Turkish Cultural Center of Queens.

Personal life

Unlike many imams in United States, Ali likes and listens to rap and hip-hop music such as songs produced by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Some people call him "Hip Imam". Shamsi Ali lives with his wife (Mutiah Malik), four sons (Utsman, Adnan, Shakeel, Ayman) and two daughters (Maryam, Malika).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Shamsi 1967 births Living people People in interfaith dialogue Muslim reformers Bugis people Indonesian imams People from Bulukumba Regency 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam American Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam American people of Bugis descent American imams Religious leaders from New York City Indonesian emigrants to the United States Indonesian Muslim activists