A breakthrough decision<\/p>\n
In a historic decision made at an annual policy-making meeting
\nin Bali on Sunday, Muhammadiyah, the country's largest modernist
\nMuslim organization, accepted pre-Islamic traditions as a
\nreality. Muhammadiyah chairman Dr. Ahmad Syafii Maarif said in
\nDenpasar on Sunday that the organization would now be more
\nflexible in accommodating local cultures. In the past the
\norganization has treated local cultures, which vary from one
\nethnic group to another, as either anathema or nonexistent in the
\nIslamic domain. Muhammadiyah, which many regard as a \"puritan\"
\ngroup, has tried to purify Islamic teaching from local elements.
\n\"In spreading Islam in an ethnic community, we should realize
\nthat we cannot change the people's mind-set instantly,\" Dr.
\nSyafii said.<\/p>\n
The decision looks like a switch in the way of thinking of
\nMuhammadiyah leaders. In line with other modernist Muslim
\nthought, this moderate organization has rejected all local
\nconcepts and thinking, and even ways of life, which it deems to
\nbe antagonistic, or not in line, with Islamic teaching. Since its
\nestablishment in 1912, Muhammadiyah has proclaimed its puritan
\nand reformist ideas, and produced modern contributions to
\nreligious thought in Islam.<\/p>\n
In its daily workings since its foundation, it has proclaimed
\nits commitment to the Koran and the hadith. The last mentioned is
\nthe second source of Islamic guidance and consists of documented
\naccounts of the teachings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad
\nthat are not found in the Koran but were recorded for posterity
\nby his close companions and members of his family.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah has since watched and rationally opposed what
\nanthropologists term local genius. One of the features of the old
\ntraditions is the commemorations marking the third, seventh,
\n40th, 100th and 1,000th day of the death of a family member. This
\ntradition, which Muhammadiyah leaders and members tend to frown
\nupon, is still widely found on the island of Java, and is said to
\ncharacterize abangan Muslims. (Abangan being a popular pejorative
\nword for those who fail to live up to strict Islamic precepts).<\/p>\n
Those opposed to Muhammadiyah's mind-set say the organization
\nis too much influenced by the Western way of thinking, and
\nforgets local traditions and cultures. And in its religious
\nthinking, Muhammadiyah has been much too verbal and formal, and
\ntends only to refer to the interpretations and thinking of the
\nearly Islamic era.<\/p>\n
However, in reality, since 1912 Muhammadiyah has been regarded
\nby most Muslims here as a force for renewal and modernization in
\nthe Islamic community. In an interview with the Post last week,
\nDr. Syafii said the organization had left behind its conventional
\napproaches to religious, social and political problems so as to
\nadjust to a fast-growing, pluralistic society. If it is sometimes
\ninvolved in politics, it is \"high-politics\", a political movement
\nbased on ethics, morality and independence.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the current crisis, he said, \"We are now living
\nin a period where people live in a situation of social, political
\nand economic imbalances. Everybody is already sick and tired of
\nseeing political leaders bickering with each other ... They are
\nlike spoiled children.\"<\/p>\n
He also assuages our fears about radicalism and extremism in
\nMuslim society today: \"I can assure the outside world that
\nradical and extremist Islam is not the mainstream movement in
\nIndonesia. They are only small minority group within the overall
\nMuslim community in the country.\"<\/p>\n
The members and executives of Muhammadiyah are called on to
\nwiden their circles of communication and to open more dialogs
\nwith people of different religious, social and cultural
\nbackgrounds. They are asked to build better relationships, and to
\nshare and seek solutions to the nation's problems with everybody,
\neven atheists.<\/p>\n
Such far-reaching thinking will hopefully assist the efforts
\nof the organization, which works in the educational and
\ncharitable fields, to overcome its old problems, such as concerns
\nover the quality of its 12,000 of schools spread across this vast
\narchipelago.<\/p>\n
For the future, we may predict that the organization will be
\nmore acceptable to increasing numbers of local ethnic groups as
\nit will no longer oppose their traditions.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-breakthrough-decision-1447893297",
"image": ""
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