EN.MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, OXFORD — Two scholarly works by the Central Board of Muhammadiyah’s Council for Religious Opinion and Reform have officially been added to the library collection of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS).
The two books present Muhammadiyah’s perspectives on contemporary fatwas and Islamic jurisprudence related to disasters.
The books are The Contemporary Fatwas of Muhammadiyah and Coping with Disaster: Principle Guidance from an Islamic Perspective. They are among three English-language books submitted along with other works representing Muhammadiyah’s intellectual contributions.
Wassilena Sekulova, head of the OCIS Library, received the books directly on Wednesday (22/9). The handover followed an earlier plan to donate Muhammadiyah books to the OCIS Library announced on August 25. 2026.
Before being accepted, the list of books was submitted to OCIS for verification in accordance with the library’s collection policies. Less than a month after the initiative began, five titles were officially accepted into the OCIS Library collection.
In addition to the two works, the three other books accepted were Muhammadiyah for All: A Progressive Islamic Movement Enlightening Indonesia and the World and two works by Abdul Mu’ti, Secretary General of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah: Muhammadiyah Christians: Managing Religious Pluralism in Education and Positive Pluralism: Muhammadiyah’s Ideas and Experiences in Education.
Expanding Access to Muhammadiyah Scholarship
The Muhammadiyah Special Branch Board in the United Kingdom and Ireland welcomed the addition of the books. They viewed this moment as an opportunity to expand access to Muhammadiyah thought within international academic circles. This is particularly significant because works by Indonesian scholars remain relatively limited in the OCIS Library collection.
“We are grateful that the thoughts of Muhammadiyah scholars and leaders can be accessed by researchers at one of Europe’s leading centers for Islamic studies. This is certainly a first step toward introducing Progressive Islam to a wider international audience,” Ince Dian said Friday (25/9).
The addition of The Contemporary Fatwas of Muhammadiyah and Coping with Disaster to the OCIS collection further expands academic access to Muhammadiyah’s scholarship. The works represent the Council for Religious Opinion and Reform to formulate Islamic perspectives in response to contemporary issues.
