Are hard-liners deviants or true believers?<\/p>\n
Ahmad Najib Burhani, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Some of the moderate and liberal Muslims (I consider myself as
\npart of this group) often charge that hard-liners, jihadists,
\nterrorists and suicide bombers are not true believers. The
\njihadist and terrorists are more aptly called deviant Muslims,
\npeople with a fallacious understanding of Islam.<\/p>\n
We also blame their activities as tarnishing the name of
\nIslam and harming its reputation before the hallmark of modern
\ncivilization. Their interpretation of Islam is also said to be
\ndestroying the religion's fundamental and truest mission. This is
\nwhat we have to say about them.<\/p>\n
For the terrorists, jihadists, and hard-liner camps, there is
\na strong conviction that their activities are solely for the sake
\nof the purity of Islam. The real intention of their jihad is for
\nthe glory of Islam. They bravely conduct the most despised acts
\nin the mind of Westerners--i.e. terrorism -- in the hope that
\nIslam will eventually seize power. By doing so, peace in this
\nworld will become a reality.<\/p>\n
Abu Bakar Ba'aysir once said, \"If they want to have peace,
\nthey have to accept being governed by Islam.\" This group of
\npeople understand Arabic language and recite the Koran well. They
\nfollow the fatwa of authoritative clerics such as Sayyid Qutb,
\nIbn Taymiyyah, Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab, Al-Maududi, Abdullah ibn
\nBaz, and Syekh Rabi' Hadi al Madkhaly. Imam Samudra, for
\ninstance, recounts why he bombed Bali.<\/p>\n
He quoted a translation for that verse from Yusuf Ali that
\ntakhawwuf means \"to terrorize\", not \"to make them afraid.\" \"To
\nwhom the terror should be directed? To the enemies of God, the
\nenemies of Islam.\"(Tempo, 10\/9\/04) As a counter to moderate
\nMuslims, Samudra accused them of hiding valid prophetic tradition
\nsuch as, \"I am chosen as a Rasul (prophet) close to the Day of
\nJudgment to bring the sword.\"<\/p>\n
Moderate Muslims, for him, display a hypocritical character
\nbefore Westerners for the sake of money.<\/p>\n
From the ritual point of view, it seems that it is more
\naccurate for the radicals and terrorists to call themselves
\nMuslims. Compared to liberal and moderate Muslims, they are more
\nlikely to be proud to use Islamic symbols, attend majlis ta'lim
\n(Islamic study group) more regularly, visit the mosques more
\noften, and are more eager to deliver Friday sermons. If we go
\naround Jakarta on Friday and visit some mosques, it is terribly
\ndifficult to find liberal Muslims giving the Friday sermon.<\/p>\n
Even though they are well aware that the Friday sermon is,
\nperhaps, the best way to promote a peaceful interpretation of
\nIslam to the Muslim community, moderate Muslim groups prefer to
\nvoice their views by writing articles in major newspapers.<\/p>\n
In other words, liberal Muslims are probably an elite group or
\nan elite movement that does not have a concrete tool to liberate
\nthe Indonesian Muslim. They do not have, to use Paulo Freire's
\nterm, \"the pedagogy of the oppressed\" or, in the Indonesian
\ncontext, \"the pedagogy of the frustrated Muslims\".<\/p>\n
From the social point of view, it is not so difficult to point
\nout that some Islamic hard-liners are diligent in conducting
\nsocial work. Proponents of zakat (philanthropy) movements in
\nIndonesia, for instance, are dominated by people from this group.
\nJust visit and mingle with some zakat activists, from
\norganizations such as Dompet Dhuafa, PKPU, and Hidayatullah. Many
\nactivists of the sharia movement in economic discourse and
\nactivities are also against a liberal interpretation of Islam.<\/p>\n
Now, the question is who are the true believers, the moderate,
\nliberal or radical Muslims? Who has the mandate from God to say
\nthat this group is deviant while that group is true? Which group
\nmore accurately represents Islam? What kind of evidence is needed
\nto say that a group is deviant? When two or three Islamic groups
\ntake the same texts as their sources for claiming their monopoly
\non the truth or accuse other groups of having a wrong
\ninterpretation of Islam, can we use or take the same texts as a
\ntool to judge that the claim of one of them is the most accurate?<\/p>\n
Might it be reasonable to say that the truth is not one, but
\nmany, multifaceted and diverse. From the perspective of human
\nrights and democracy, it seems that the religious understanding
\nof the liberal and moderate Muslims is right, moral, lawful and
\nlegitimate; while the religious performance of the radicals are
\nwrong, bad, sinful, illegal and illegitimate.<\/p>\n
However, if we look at their outward appearance, hard-liner
\ngroups look more Islamic, devout and orthodox.<\/p>\n
We do not have a reliable instrument or mechanism to test and
\nverify the right or wrong of a certain belief and religious
\nunderstanding. I do not pretend to be a judge or referee for this
\ncase. I also do not pretend to be able to give a correct answer.<\/p>\n
These two extreme groups of Islam, liberal and radical, are
\nproblematic. In finding a solution to the problems faced by
\nMuslims today, they have some apologetic claims, standard and
\nready-made answers. In response to the issue of jihad, suicide
\nbombing, the status of women, human rights and democracy, the
\nliberals boringly claim that: \"Islam is a peaceful religion,\"
\n\"tolerance and democracy have very deep roots in Islam\", and
\n\"Islam liberates women and honors human rights.\"<\/p>\n
They repeat this jargon. While the same dull theme is declared
\nin public by the hard-liners, such as: al-Islam huwa al-hal
\n(Islam is a total solution), al-Islamu shalihun likulli al-zaman
\nwa al-amkinah (Islam can be applied anytime and anywhere, it has
\nno boundaries), and Islam is din wad daulah (Islam is religion
\nand a system of government).<\/p>\n
The former group suffers from a crisis of identity, while the
\nlater bears an acute social frustration, projecting an enduring
\nfeeling of powerlessness, defeat and alienation by defining Islam
\nas the exact antithesis of the West.<\/p>\n
The writer works at the Research Center for Society and
\nCulture in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and is a
\nmember of Muhammadiyah. He can be reached at najib27@yahoo.com.<\/p>",
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