The Wahid Institute is a

Research Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

on Islam, based in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 2004 by the former

President of Indonesia The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and is ...

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, from ...

and is led by his daughter Yenny Zannuba Wahid. It is dedicated to "the development of both Indonesian as well as Islamic society, improving the welfare of lower class of the society, building democracy and fundamental justice, and expanding peace and non-violence throughout the world."

Formation

The Institute was founded on September 7, 2004 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta. Yenny Zannuba Wahid was appointed director of the Institute. She later stated the institute was established because our “current world situation which is haunted by violence and raising threat of terrorism, for whatever reason, has forced us to take cooperative action in the form inter-religious, nation and ethnic dialog.”

Bali Holocaust Conference

On 12 June 2007, the Wahid Institute together with the US-based

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

and the Libforall Foundation sponsored a conference on the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, to counter the Iranian

International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference in Tehran, Iran that opened on December 11, 2006. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove t ...

and to promote interreligious peace. The conference took place in

Jimbaran Jimbaran is a fishing village and tourist resort in Bali, Indonesia. Located south of Ngurah Rai International Airport, the beach has seafood restaurants and luxury hotels, including the five-star Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran, Kayumanis Private Es ...

, the location of the

2005 Bali bombings The 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist suicide bomb and a series of car bombs and attacks that occurred on 1 October 2005, in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta away, both in south Bal ...

perpetrated by the Islamist group

Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...

Freedom of religion in Indonesia

The Institute has been committed for promoting freedom of religion in Indonesia. It annually documents cases of religious intolerance by authorities. In the last years it especially expressed worries about intimidation and violence against

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

. In 2011, the Institute blamed President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...

for not taking action: "Violence against Ahmadis is an almost daily occurrence, yet the President does nothing to address this"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wahid Institute Islamic organizations based in Indonesia Research institutes in Indonesia Organizations based in Jakarta Organizations established in 2004 Liberal and progressive movements within Islam