Author: Kalinga Seneviratne
Publication: Asia Times
Date: August 27, 2005
URL: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GH27Ae03.html
Ever since Indonesia's highest Islamic authority,
the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), issued 11 fatwas or edicts against liberal
Islam, a fierce debate has begun raging in the world's most populous Muslim
nation on what constitutes an Islamic society.
Though Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim
nation, in these once-Hindu and Buddhist societies the practice of Islam is
colored by the liberalism of the older faiths. Many urban middle-class Indonesians
define their liberal interpretation of Islam as "secular". But,
MUI's fatwas have thrown a direct challenge to both the government and to
liberal Muslims in this country of 200
million people, of which 88% follow the Islamic
faith while 8% is Christian and 3% Hindu or Buddhist. The 11 edicts, issued
in late July, include one that states that Islamic interpretations based on
liberalism, secularism and pluralism "contradict Islamic teachings".
Also banned are inter-faith prayers performed
with people of other religions and the intonation of amen to prayers that
are led by a non-Muslim, a ritual deemed to be haram (forbidden under Islamic
law) as also are interfaith marriages.
Analysts say that MUI's stance is a reaction
to the aggressive proselytizing by foreign-funded Christian evangelical sects
in the country in recent years and the onslaught of globalize Western culture
coming in through media channels and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
"Challenges for the Muslims do not come
from Christian evangelism only, but also others, such as the proliferation
of pornography, gambling, the spread of religious liberalism, pluralism and
secularism," argues Mustofa Kamil Ridwan, a researcher at the Islamic
think-tank, the Habibie Center in Jakarta.
In an Inter Press Service interview, Ridwan
said suspicions were being created by the activities of some Western-funded
NGOs that were "using Islam as their basis but with questionable implementation
that is contradictory to the true teachings of Islam - and sometimes too radical".
One such NGO is the Jaringan Islam Liberal
(Liberal Islamic Network) an organization that is located within Institut
Studi Arus Informasi (Center for Studies on Information Flows) and plays an
important role in spreading ideas on democratic reformation in Indonesia.
Like other NGOs, funded by Western donors,
this one, too, is in the forefront of campaigns against attempts by the government
to enact laws to restrict the spread of pornography, gambling and night clubs.
"Most progressive Muslim thinkers would
not be very happy to be portrayed as liberals," suggested Ade Armando,
a member of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Scholars.
"I think the term reformist will be more
appropriate to refer to progressive groups that try to reinterpret the Islamic
teaching in a more contextual approach, that unfortunately challenges the
traditional Islamic teachings by the ulamas [clerics]," Armando said.
Ridwan explained that from the "conservative
point of view liberalism is really a challenge" because of the fear "liberalism
will make their children and the Muslim community leave Islamic values they
uphold highly".
MUI has asked non-Muslims not to be upset
with the July edicts as they are only aimed at Muslims, and are not the law
of the land.
But MUI is gearing up to promote its edicts
in regions where people are more religious, conservative and impoverished.
It is these poor communities that have become the target of Christian evangelical
groups for proselytizing and some ulamas have reacted by including the MUI
edicts in their sermons.
Armando argues that it is wrong to portray
those who support the ulamas as radicals who believe in using violence to
achieve their aims. "They believe it is their sacred duty to create a
new Indonesia as a respectable Islamic country," he explained.
"Many [MUI] groups are working in the
institution-building level. They introduce alternative models of schools -
modern Islamic schools which differ from the madrassas - new Islamic banking
system, special novels for Islamic youth, and they also publish magazines,
new media - such as CD, CD-ROM, VCD - that teaches Islamic values," Armando
said.
Yet, Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdhatul
Ulama (NU), which has about 40 million members and is considered the world's
largest Muslim organization, has warned the MUI that its edicts may have a
detrimental impact of the development of a civil society in Indonesia.
Muzadi has asked the ulamas to define precisely
what they mean by interfaith relations and nationhood, as "we live in
a diverse society and this country is not an Islamic state".
Muslim scholar Ahmad Syafii Maarif, a former
chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah,
also warned that the edicts may encourage radical groups to take the law into
their own hands.
"Although fatwas are not binding, radical
groups who have a thirst for power will make use of them for their own interests.
It is as if they have been given religious justification,'' he told the Jakarta
Post.
But, Ridwan argues that the "edict functions
as a provision for the ummah [Muslim community] to decide what they would
do" and the ummah itself has the "the last say for themselves".
Thus, the MUI's fatwas play a very important
role in the ummah decision-making process. "With the fatwa the ummah
feel they have strong hands and are more certain of overcoming the challenges
in the midst of very uncertain situation and full of upheaval,'' he told IPS.
Armando blamed the regimes of former presidents
Abdurrahman Wahid (a liberal Islamic thinker) and Megawati Sukarnoputri (a
woman) for allowing reformists within the Muslim community in Indonesia to
gain in popularity.
"Very progressive books were being published
in these past several years and progressive radio talk shows were launched.
And in these movements, the forbidden organizations [during the Suharto era]
dared to also openly surface," he noted.
"These developments, I believe, provoked
reactions from the conservative groups. And now, they see SBY [President Yudoyuano]
as a new president that they can perceive of as an ally or godfather.
"They [conservatives] also see these
movements as being provoked by the activities of [Christian] evangelists."
(Inter Press Service)
