Islam-state relations suffer setback: Scholars<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The current uncertain relationship between the state and Islam
\nstems from the Soeharto regime's unclear vision about how it
\ndealt with extremist movements, Muslim scholars say.<\/p>\n
Ulil Abshar Abdalla of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) said
\nthe concept adopted by Soeharto's New Order regime, under which
\nthe state ideology and religion were separated, actually
\nresembled the vision of progressive groups.<\/p>\n
\"(These groups believe) that Islam should exist, but not as a
\npolitical power nor as an ideological force,\" he told a
\ndiscussion during the launch of a book titled Islam, Negara and
\nCivil Society (Islam, the State and Civil Society).<\/p>\n
Despite the frequent government repression of Muslims of all
\nbeliefs, Muslim progressive intellectuals also emerged at that
\ntime, such as Nurcholis Madjid and former minister of religious
\naffairs Munawir Sjadzali, he said.<\/p>\n
In the so-called reform era, however, everyone was free to
\nspeak out and the pendulum was swinging further to the right,
\nwith more people behind the idea of imposing Islamic sharia law.<\/p>\n
\"Islamic teachings are spreading widely but they are still
\nsuperficial. More people are aware of Islamic teachings but they
\nunderstand them only in black-and-white terms.\"<\/p>\n
Progressive ideas about Islam were often prejudged and their
\ninitiators labeled infidels, he said.<\/p>\n
One example was the alternative draft for the Islamic code
\n(KHI) aimed at accommodating contemporary issues and women's
\nrights, which conservative figures blasted as either laughable or
\nsatanic.<\/p>\n
\"Protests against the KHI are very rude and uncivilized, and
\nthe critics are getting personal as well,\" Ulil said.<\/p>\n
Islamic jurisprudence was being falsely mixed with sharia, and
\ntherefore becoming perceived as God-sent law.<\/p>\n
\"Whereas the whole idea of jurisprudence is a human product,
\nso it's OK to have different opinions. Yet, what is happening is
\nthe opposite (a lack of tolerance),\" he said.<\/p>\n
The challenges being faced by progressive groups were bigger
\nnow because few people, including the government, were brave
\nenough to stand up and defend these ideas.<\/p>\n
\"All prominent Muslim scholars are getting older. Cak Nur is
\nphysically ill, while Gus Dur is more involved in politics. There
\nare no such other Muslim intellectual defenders anymore,\" Ulil
\nsaid, referring to Nurcholis and former president Abdurrahman
\nWahid.<\/p>\n
It was worrying, Ulil added, that the intellectual and liberal
\nresources in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim
\norganization, were following in Gus Dur's footsteps and switching
\ninto politics.<\/p>\n
The teachers left in NU's Islamic boarding schools were now
\nconservative figures, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The intellectual legacies from the progressive thinkers are
\non trial now.\"<\/p>\n
The 40 million-strong NU has produced many progressive Islamic
\nthinkers, many who have joined the National Awakening Party (PKB)
\nand other political groups.<\/p>\n
Scholar M. Dawam Rahardjo said the state ideology of Pancasila
\ncould conceptually bridge the gap between the state and religion.<\/p>\n
\"The state is a worldly matter, not a religious one. Muslims
\nmay establish a state but this should result from ijtihad
\n(exertion). If the most suitable ideology is Pancasila, then (we
\nshould) just follow it,\" he said at the forum on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Islam as a religion was one thing and ideology was another,
\nand they were not opposites or rivals, he said.<\/p>\n
Dawam said sharia did not talk about social relationships, and
\nthere were no clear concepts of succession or how to choose
\nleaders in Islam.<\/p>\n
\"All of these (ideas) are the domain of human thought.
\nBesides, there is no guarantee that sharia law will be upheld if
\na country is based on it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
What happened usually, he added, was hypocrisy, such as the
\ncriticism of some Muslims regarding bank interest rates.<\/p>\n
\"People are against bank interest, saying it is not acceptable
\nin Islam. But, they still keep their money in the banks they
\ncriticize,\" Dawam said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/islam-state-relations-suffer-setback-scholars-1447893297",
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