Is the ulema-intellectual dichotomy a valid issue?<\/p>\n
Mochtar Buchori, Jakarta<\/p>\n
I am writing this article after it was officially announced
\nthat Din Syamsudin was unanimously elected as the new chairman of
\nMuhammadiyah for the next five years (2005-2010). While writing
\nthese lines, I am thinking of the debate that went on earlier at
\nthe 45th Muhammadiyah congress, which was about whether
\nMuhammadiyah should be chaired by an ulema or by an intellectual.<\/p>\n
What was the background of this debate?<\/p>\n
During the chairmanships of Amien Rais and Syafiie Maarif --
\ntwo respectable scholars within the Indonesian academic community
\n-- Muhammadiyah was seen by some as being guarded and controlled
\nby intellectuals. This was perceived as not being in line with
\ntradition, viz that Muhammadiyah had always been guided and
\nnursed by ulema.<\/p>\n
This tradition lasted for a fairly long period, from the
\ninception of Muhammadiyah in 1912 until 1994, when the then
\nchairman of the organization, Achmad Azhar Basyir, died before
\ncompleting his term. It was then that Amien Rais moved in to take
\nover the leadership, acting first as a caretaker chairman and
\nlater on as the definitive chairman after being elected during
\nthe organization's 43rd congress (1995) in Banda Aceh,<\/p>\n
It was against this background that two groups with different
\nviews and ideas concerning the Muhammadiyah chairmanship emerged
\nduring the recent congress in Malang. These two groups were
\ncompeting against one another to promote their respective ideas
\nconcerning the type of person that should lead the organization.<\/p>\n
The group insisting that the new Muhammadiyah chairman should
\nbe an ulema argued that, as long as the various defects in our
\nnational life remained unabated, what the organization needed was
\na leader with a clear vision of the road that must be followed to
\ncorrect the wrongs in our life and culture. Remedying our "sick"
\nsociety is basically a matter of amending our national
\nconscience. When it comes to this, ulema are better prepared than
\nintellectuals who, in general, are knowledgeable in interpreting
\nthe meaning of values, but not in implanting them in the minds of
\nthe people.<\/p>\n
The group advocating an intellectual as the new chairman, on
\nthe other hand, argued that the nation was engulfed in the
\nprocess of transformation, affecting the deepest layers of our
\nnational life. Furthermore, they said our national life had been
\ninfluenced by significant global changes.<\/p>\n
This transformation process imposes new demands and challenges
\non the nation, one of them being the demand to reformulate the
\nrole of religion in directing the process of our cultural
\ntransformation. With this kind of situation, the nation,
\nMuhammadiyah included, needs a leader that thoroughly understands
\nthe nature of our national transformation. Without this
\nunderstanding no leader can move the nation toward a less selfish
\nand more creative stance.<\/p>\n
This kind of leadership can be provided only by intellectuals
\nwith the kind knowledge, skills and wisdom acquired through
\nrigorous study with a broad spectrum. For this reason,
\nMuhammadiyah has to be put under the guardian of an intellectual
\nwho can translate the mission of Muhammadiyah into action of
\nstrategic significance for the rehabilitation of our current
\nnational condition.<\/p>\n
This intellectual divide is, in my understanding, based on
\ntraditional stereotypes regarding ulema and intellectuals. In the
\ntraditional view, the image of ulema is of clerics who deal
\nmainly with problems related to religious life. Ulema, in this
\nview, are always pictured as clerics whose style of thinking is
\ndeductive and whose language is richly filled with religious
\nphrases in Arabic.<\/p>\n
Intellectuals, on the other hand, are in the traditional view
\nportrayed as people who mainly pursue knowledge about life in
\nthis world, whose language is sprinkled with phrases in one of
\nthe Western languages or Japanese, and whose vocabulary is loaded
\nwith technical terminology.<\/p>\n
This is a comparison drawn on traditional stereotypes. I do
\nnot think that this comparison is still true. So many fundamental
\nchanges have taken place in the world and the lives of the ulema
\nthat have gradually changed their physical appearance and their
\nintellectual makeup. On the side of the intellectuals, many
\nchanges have also taken place, perhaps not as fundamental as the
\nones occurring within the ulema community, but equally
\nsignificant nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Young intellectuals are no longer confined to worldly problems
\nin their preoccupations. Many intellectuals have a sincere
\ninterest in religious matters. This is because more and more
\nintellectuals have begun to realize the limitations of their
\nknowledge. When it comes to questions about wisdom in life they
\nare turning to history, philosophy, religion and theology. A
\ntruly intellectual path!<\/p>\n
The outcome of this transformation is that nowadays it is
\ndifficult to draw a clear line between ulema and intellectuals.
\nUlema are intellectuals in their own right, and intellectuals are
\nno longer indifferent toward religious matters. This being the
\ncase, one can ask whether the real issue behind the election of
\nthe new Muhammadiyah chairman is really anchored in the ulema-
\nintellectual dichotomy.<\/p>\n
It is difficult for me to entirely believe it. The real issue
\nbehind the quest for the top leadership is probably something
\nelse. What this might be, outsiders like myself will never know,
\nand informed insiders will quite probably never reveal it.
\nWhatever it may be, I hope that the final outcome of the congress
\nwill satisfy the political and cultural appetites of all within
\nthe Muhammadiyah community. After all, the new chairman is in one
\nsense both an ulema and an intellectual.<\/p>\n
May Muhammadiyah under its new leadership find its way to an
\nincreasingly more meaningful existence in this era of tumultuous
\ntransition.<\/p>\n
The writer has a doctorate in education from Harvard
\nUniversity.<\/p>",
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