Muhammadiyah gives Moslems identity<\/p>\n
By Santi W.E. Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): It may sound irrational, but some of
\nthe 40,000 Muhammadiyah supporters who flocked here for the
\norganization's congress last week were farmers and small traders
\nwho spent all their money just to pay for their fares.<\/p>\n
After days on the road or on ships, these people still had to
\nsit in the sun for hours, waiting to be registered and given a
\nplace to stay.<\/p>\n
They were then put up in often less-than-comfortable quarters
\nsuch as school buildings, sleeping on plastic or woven mats. They
\nqueued to take showers, to get their meals and to perform
\nablution.<\/p>\n
All that and they weren't even invited into the rooms where
\nsome 4,000 leading members met to decide on new leadership and
\nnew programs.<\/p>\n
They followed the proceedings by close-circuit televisions,
\nbut more often than not they just roamed the streets and markets
\nor answered the call to prayer at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque.<\/p>\n
These penggembira (sympathizers) of the Muhammadiyah came just
\nto lend a festive air to the congress.<\/p>\n
Abdul Adhim, a batik clothes seller from Gresik, East Java,
\nsaved every cent he could spare for a year to pay for his trip to
\nBanda Aceh. He spent it all gladly.<\/p>\n
\"If I didn't save, I wouldn't have been able to come here,\" he
\nsaid proudly.<\/p>\n
Hajjah Rohani, a 73-year-old lady from Jakarta, had to contend
\nwith physical disabilities -- a stiff leg and a cataract -- but
\nthe former leader of the Aisyiyah, the women's wing of
\nMuhammadiyah, ignored her children's protests over her wish to
\ngo. She traveled to Medan, picked-up some old friends and endured
\nthe 10-hour bus ride to Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
She then stayed in a makeshift dormitory and happily mingled
\nwith hundreds of other women.<\/p>\n
\"I came with hundreds of other people from my regency,\" said
\nNasriah, a villager from Sibolga, North Sumatra. During the very
\nhot afternoons, she idled inside the mosque.<\/p>\n
\"Ooh, the trip here was very exhausting, and I know the trip
\nhome will also be tiring,\" she answered. \"But that's all right.
\nThis is for Muhammadiyah.\"<\/p>\n
\"I hope Pak Amien Rais will make this organization even
\nbetter,\" she said, after finding out that the incumbent chairman
\nhad been re-elected. \"You know, work harder for us. For Islam.\"<\/p>\n
Another woman, who traveled from Ujungpandang in South
\nSulawesi along with 1,000 other supporters, sat quietly on the
\ncold floor of the mosque. \"I'm sleepy and tired,\" she said
\napologetically.<\/p>\n
\"I hope Muhammadiyah will pay more attention to us Moslems and
\nmembers who live in remote areas,\" she said, pointing out that
\nmost of the top members of the organization reside in Java.<\/p>\n
Profound<\/p>\n
\"It seems irrational, but those people see their involvement
\nin the organization as something very profound,\" Mohamad Sobary,
\nan anthropologist and member of Muhammadiyah, told The Jakarta
\nPost recently.<\/p>\n
\"It's about emotional needs. In fact, the organization
\nprovides them with their identity.\"<\/p>\n
\"For those poor farmers, those small traders in market places,
\nall that discomfort on the way here was a form of struggle, and
\nan act of worship,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sobary, who came to the congress as an observer, likened the
\ndevotion of the Muhammadiyah members to that of Moslems around
\nthe world on their pilgrimage to Mecca.<\/p>\n
\"Of course there are differences, because going on a
\npilgrimage is a religious edict, but on a smaller scale these
\nMuhammadiyah members see going to this congress as great a
\nstruggle,too,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"For them this is a very basic need. This organization reminds
\nthem that the path they have chosen as Moslems is true,\" he said.
\n\"It's like the organization clarifies and says 'here it is, the
\npurified Islam, so hold on to it'.\"<\/p>\n
For people in small villagers, being a member or even a
\nsupporter of the organization gives them a pride, Sobary said.<\/p>\n
\"It's this very emotional bond that ties these people with the
\norganization, and so they are willing to go to extraordinary
\nlengths to support Muhammadiyah.\"<\/p>\n
A leading member of the organization, Sutrisno Muhdam, put it
\nvery simply when he described this deep attachment as \"We are
\nMuhammadiyah members before all else.\"<\/p>\n
Changes<\/p>\n
Sobary, a columnist at the Kompas daily and a researcher at
\nthe Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that Muhammadiyah
\nshouldn't rely too much on this emotional attachment in the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of reasons for this, he said, the first of
\nwhich is that Muhammadiyah no longer has charismatic ulemas like
\nA.R. Fachruddin to lead it.<\/p>\n
The second reason is that the organization needs to make some
\nsignificant changes in order to meet future challenges. By
\nproducing more intellectuals, for instance.<\/p>\n
\"The organization is already changing, though slowly and
\ngradually,\" he said. \"This pace is probably the best because the
\nMoslem community is such a great entity, and we can't force them
\nall to hop onto a fast charging train at the same time.\"<\/p>\n
The organization has been criticized by various people for
\nlosing its character as a Moslem reformist movement.<\/p>\n
Not only does it have to maintain its objectives of providing
\nquality education, it also must provide guidance for its massive
\nfollowers.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah has over 700,000 registered members at more than
\n1,300 branches across the archipelago. Amien Rais, however,
\nestimates the organization has at least 28 million supporters or
\nsympathizers.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah now manages at least 13,200 schools, including
\n3,000s kindergartens, 4,000s elementary schools, 1,000 madrasah
\ndiniyah (Islamic studies classes), 2,000s junior high schools,
\nalmost 3,000 senior high schools, 38 Muallimin-muallimat (Islamic
\nteachers' colleges), six boarding schools, and 41 universities
\nand colleges.<\/p>\n
In 1993, before assuming the chairmanship after K.H. Azhar
\nBasyir died, Amien Rais said that the organization faced three
\nobstacles to becoming an effective reformist organization.<\/p>\n
It is firstly unable to anticipate changes due to the absence
\nof a strong think tank and members who conduct ijtihad
\n(intellectual exercises) in order to come up with fresh and
\nreformed ideas.<\/p>\n
Because social problems have become much more complicated, the
\norganization lacks the ability to respond satisfactorily, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The second obstacle is the lack of regenerative and cadre
\nbuilding programs. \"It's not an easy problem to solve, because it
\nmeans that Muhammadiyah has to make itself more attractive, more
\nappealing, in order to recruit more people.\"<\/p>\n
The final obstacle is the organization's economic resources,
\nhe said.<\/p>",
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