Kiai Kanjeng’s performances can be considered pioneering not only in their global explorations, arrangements and innovation, but in breaking ground among Muslims. We in the Maiyah need to build on these achievements incrementally and ensure that we advance our values and interests as conveyed by performances and encounters with communities in the UK, Europe, Egypt, Malaysia and Australia. Gordon Brown’s presence at the awards led him to quote three sayings of the Prophet Muhammad on social cohesion and the importance of tolerance. He said that the musical expression of Kiai Kanjeng was an example of the “cohesion of a social power” referred to in the saying of the Prophet Muhammad “Almuslimu lilmuslimi kalbunyan yasyuddu ba’dhuhum ba’dla”, a Muslim and another, a man and his fellow man, one and the other are mutually strengthening factors. This is the work and strength of the Maiyah’s international context.

Maiyah, that gathering “togetherness” that we experience with each other means a great deal to me emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. It is more, however, than a mere gathering. It is more than simply being together. Maiyah is both commitment and reward. It is the source of our energy and inspiration and also the final repository of our best thoughts, made real. It is the means to progress in the manner in which we relate to each other and with other communities and it is the end we aim to achieve.

Emha liked it. Not only did he like it; he almost instantly appreciated the sound and energy of the music and the performance. I had talked about the seminal 1973 Stooges album Raw Power, and we discussed how that could be translated, interpreted and applied to an Indonesian, and to an Islamic, context. Raw Power became a common phrase for Emha in the months to come.

Emha particularly liked the song which closed the Live at the Lokerse Festival DVD and which was often used to close Iggy’s concerts, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. From that point on, the idea of animals, wildness and raw power became persistent, provocative and powerful themes. We returned to the CD shop and bought another Iggy Pop DVD, this time for Emha, “Jesus, This Is Iggy” a French production compiling interviews, performance clips, biographical material and a narration by the Grand Old Man of Punk himself, Iggy Pop.