Ulil Abshar Abdallah And His Attempts To Spread Liberalism In Indonesia

This study aims to identify the Indonesian liberal thinker, Ulil Abshar Abdallah, who is known for his enthusiasm and courage in promoting liberal ideas among the Muslim community in Indonesia and also to find out his attempts to spread liberalism in Indonesia. Liberalism was one of the challenges faced by Muslims in Indonesia that has sparked a debate between the scholars who support Liberalism (Pro-Liberalism) and the scholars who against it (Anti-Liberalism). This study is a library research where the researcher used the sources of the library, such as books or articles that were relevant to the subject of research. The researcher followed the analytical approach to show some of the liberal ideas which presented by Ulil Abshar Abdallah and then responded to them by relying on the evidence from the Holy Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet and the scholar's view. The researcher came out with several results, and the most important is Ulil Abshar Abdallah is a prominent figure in Indonesia, especially among the liberal intellectuals. He was active in a number of social organizations in Indonesia and also the founder of Liberal Islamic Network (Jaringan Islam Liberal, JIL) which has become a major center of liberal Islamic thought in contemporary Indonesia. Also, his liberal Islamic ideas which were promoted in Indonesia were deviant, a contradicted with Islam and threatened the Muslims faith.