 He is also well known for his activism as a coordinator in Jaringan Islam Liberal, a group who claim to deliver a liberal interpretation of Islam.Due to his activism in this group, he gained praises, sometimes deemed as another reformer after Nurcholish Madjid, as well as controversies.After completing his master's degree in religion at Boston University he went on and continued his PhD studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.