Muhammadiyah calls for honest brotherhood<\/p>\n
The rivalry between Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais has been
\nblamed for tension among the grassroots of their respective
\norganizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.Fasichul
\nLisan, chief of Muhammadiyah East Java whose members number 1.5
\nmillion, pleads for honest brotherhood (ukhuwah). The professor
\nof pharmacy at Airlangga University in Surabaya also calls on
\nmembers of the two largest Islamic organizations to cease their
\npreoccupation with politics.<\/p>\n
Question: In February, tension between Muhammadiyah and NU
\nturned into attacks and intimidation. How is the situation now?<\/p>\n
Answer: Alhamdulillah (thank God), there are no more attacks
\nnow. But among the grassroots, tensions remain because of the
\nlingering residue of violence. The mobilization of jihad fighters
\n(in defense of the President from his political foes) has
\nindirectly aggravated the situation.<\/p>\n
Actually, long before February, we received a number of
\nreports about Muhammadiyah friends being provoked, and that they
\nwanted to return the attacks. This peaked on Feb. 7 when a number
\nof Muhammadiyah schools, mosques, university buildings and even
\norphanages were vandalized.<\/p>\n
A mob of 50 unidentified people surrounded the house of a
\nMuhammadiyah leader to intimidate him. Another friend was
\nactually attacked by four people -- Alhamdulillah, he could chase
\nthem away single-handedly.<\/p>\n
We endured it without retaliating, but I told my friends that
\nif necessary we could defend ourselves. To boost our morale, we
\nremobilized our security units such as the (martial arts group)
\nTapak Suci and Hizbul Wathan. Not to show off force, but because
\nmembers of Muhammadiyah should be physically and mentally
\nprepared to face threats.<\/p>\n
Had counter-attacks by Muhammadiyah really occurred, we would
\nhave had a real mess. Physical actions should be the last resort
\nwhich is why we still focus on ukhuwah.<\/p>\n
Q: How much damage was incurred during the attacks?<\/p>\n
A: Monetary value is not important. What's more important is the
\nquestion of morality. If vandalism was allowed to occur without
\npunishment than people would find it easy to attack one another.<\/p>\n
Later, I turned down the NU's offer for financial assistance
\n(for repair work, on condition that Muhammadiyah proves that NU
\nmembers were indeed involved in the attack).<\/p>\n
That's because I consider ukhuwah to be important, and I'd
\nlike to build a \"clean\" ukhuwah untarnished by suspicion. I was
\nafraid that if I received the money, new problems would emerge
\nand people would say that it was just the money that we wanted
\nafter all.<\/p>\n
Yet we believe everything will settle down as soon as the core
\nproblem is resolved. The core problem is the politicking. I am
\nhoping that constitutional institutions will soon resolve it so
\nwe can move ahead with democratization.<\/p>\n
Q: How are you handling the remaining tensions between members of
\nthe two organizations?<\/p>\n
A: As I have said, by striving to build ukhuwah, through
\ndiplomacy, by raising public awareness that brotherhood is more
\nimportant than politicking. Only by realizing that brotherhood is
\nthe backbone of our community can we then hope for an end to
\npolitical bickering.<\/p>\n
But what we want is an honest friendship, where there is
\nrespect, openness, one that is clean and long-lasting. The
\nbrotherhood that we have today among Muslims is still marked by
\nsuspicion and trickery. That's not ukhuwah. I don't want this to
\ncontinue the way it is -- the generations that come after us will
\nblame us for this and continue blaming one another.<\/p>\n
Q: You're relying on honesty and respect?<\/p>\n
A: All social relations are built upon trust. The greater the
\ntrust, the stronger is the relation. I yearn for a relationship
\nthat is based upon this trust, honesty, openness and respect for
\none another that becomes of paramount importance. Only with those
\nelements can we build true brotherhood.<\/p>\n
I believe that both NU and Muhammadiyah need one another's
\nrespect. Not that this is easy to achieve. History has shown that
\nthe two organizations do not always have smooth relations. Let's
\nagree on honesty and on brotherhood.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the biggest challenge to building brotherhood?<\/p>\n
A: I blame everything on politics. Muhammadiyah has made efforts
\nnot to enter politics. Had our friends from NU had the same
\nprinciples as ours and done the same things that we had, all
\nthese problems would have been resolved.<\/p>\n
We understand that with Khittah 26 (NU's 1926 declaration to
\nforswear politics and become a socio-religious movement), NU is
\nnon-political. (However, if this was really the case) NU and
\nMuhammadiyah would be the same as they are both socio-religious
\nmovements.<\/p>\n
Now if we talk about social issues, we will invariably
\nencounter the same problem, namely poverty and ignorance. And if
\nwe talk about religion, we will have the same source, namely the
\nKoran. Although there are indeed differences, if we view these
\ndifferences wisely, we could co-exist peacefully.<\/p>\n
As for the tension, it is not the responsibility of
\nMuhammadiyah alone to reduce it. That is the duty of all of us.
\nUnder such tension, how can we be productive? How can we work to
\nbuild the country's future?<\/p>\n
If Muhammadiyah is expected to carry out its part in reducing
\ntension, then other parties should not do anything that would
\ncreate fresh tension ...<\/p>\n
And the challenge to your effort to build ukhuwah?<\/p>\n
As I have said, everything is affected by politics. Which is
\nwhy the Muhammadiyah of East Java wishes to develop other pillars
\nsuch as economic, social and cultural aspects of community life.
\nWe hold, for instance, art and painting exhibitions. Now we are
\nworking on developing the economy of the ummat by, for example,
\nbuilding a retail business called Markas.<\/p>\n
Will this endeavor involve NU? Economic activities are
\nindiscriminate, so of course the NU grassroots will be involved.
\nIn fact, we want to provide alternatives so the community is not
\npreoccupied with politics.<\/p>\n
Q: What are you doing to prevent Muhammadiyah from being trapped
\nby politicking?<\/p>\n
A: We disallow members from holding two posts. All executives of
\nMuhammadiyah at all levels must not be simultaneously active in
\npolitical parties. We uphold this principle to prevent the
\noverlapping of Muhammadiyah's activities and political activities
\nas it is usually difficult for the public to tell whether a
\nperson is acting on behalf of his party or Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
We ask our friends to stay as far away as possible from
\npolitics. They have asked me for advice whether to accept or
\nreject certain assignments. I tell them that it's no longer in
\nthe realm of Muhammadiyah. If the letterhead of Muhammadiyah is
\nbeing used to obtain a post, that's politics. And politics is
\nabout power.<\/p>\n
Q: Amien Rais has yet to be able to stop using Muhammadiyah as
\nhis political vehicle, because his National Mandate Party (PAN)
\nis still small...<\/p>\n
A: I don't know, but there is a very long-standing emotional tie
\n(between Amien and Muhammadiyah). Pak Amien became an activist of
\nMuhammadiyah when he was just a child. It would be difficult to
\nignore those emotional and cultural ties just like that. Besides,
\nPak Amien's achievement in Muhammadiyah was great. He was once
\nthe chairman of Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
Now that he has entered politics, not everyone has been able
\nto adjust their stance, regarding him, immediately. But this
\nadjustment is needed because his activities are now different
\nfrom those during his days in Muhammadiyah ...<\/p>\n
But at the same time there are people who disagree with Pak
\nAmien and try to drag Muhammadiyah into politics. So the change
\nis not real. Some people still see Pak Amien as identical with
\nMuhammadiyah which is problematic.<\/p>\n
We really have to work hard to clarify that Pak Amien is now
\nPak Amien with his PAN, while Muhammadiyah is Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
Besides, the constituents of Muhammadiyah are not being
\ncourted by PAN alone, but also by other parties. So ... we can
\nunderstand why some friends in PAN claim that Muhammadiyah is
\nalso PAN.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah, however, has to be firm and declare that
\nMuhammadiyah is not PAN. It would be belittling to Muhammadiyah,
\nwhich is such a big and old organization, to be placed under PAN.
\nPak Amien once said, \"parties can come and go, but Muhammadiyah
\nshould not go the same way.\" This is an organization that is more
\nthan 100 years old, after all. (Santi W.E. Soekanto)<\/p>",
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