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Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesia79supported the establishment of mosques on university campuses, conducting Jum%u2019ah prayer and dakwah in governmentand private offices, da%u2019i training, nurturing resettled people,sending da%u2019i into isolated areas, discussing Indonesian Islam andpublishing magazines. In Natsir%u2019s hand, even though DDII wasmerely a foundation, this organization was admired andinfluential enough, not only among Muslims at the grass-rootslevel, but also among various Islamic socio-religiousorganizations. In some respects, this council still retained theimage of the unification of %u201cthe members of the crescent star%u201d.In handling Muslim political interests, such as the Bill ofMarriage, the Bill of National Education, the Bill on Pancasilaas the %u201csingle basis%u201d or about Pancasila Moral Education, thiscouncil was powerful enough to mobilize solidarity and uniteMuslim organizations in Indonesia. Also, due to Natsir%u2019sleadership, the organization was able to build internationalnetworks with Muslim socio-religious organizations throughoutthe world.Although at this time Natsir was a veteran politician, hecould not free himself from politics in the fullest sense. He waspersonally still influential, both in Indonesia and in the Muslimworld. His long, uneasy relationship with the Soeharto regime%u2014which appeared unhappy with an Islamic political revival inIndonesia%u2014 did not hinder him in helping the government tosolve various internal problems. He also utilized his personalinfluence to recover the relationship between Indonesia andMalaysia, which was damaged during Soekarno%u2019s era, tostrengthen the relationship between Indonesian and MiddleEastern countries, and to defend the Indonesian position on theproblem of East Timor. His role in the latest problem, whether

