Muhammadiyah needs to do more in future: Observers<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Both foreign and domestic observers
\nhave called on Muhammadiyah to improve the quality of its
\nleadership and, with its 28 million members, to help find
\nsolutions to international problems.<\/p>\n
Two experts on Muhammadiyah, Mitsuo Nakamura from the Chiba
\nUniversity in Tokyo and Mohammad Sobary from the Indonesian
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI) expressed the hope, separately, that
\nthe 83-year-old organization would be able to retain its
\n\"specific culture\" while, at the same time, gradually
\naccommodating change.<\/p>\n
\"Muhammadiyah leaders should maintain the organization's
\nculture,\" Nakamura said, adding that independence, a critical
\nstance and non-involvement in politics were the organization's
\nstrong points which should be maintained.<\/p>\n
\"Muhammadiyah can serve as a moral force in handling social
\nissues, such as corruption and collusion,\" the Japanese
\nsociologist said.<\/p>\n
\"The organization (doesn't need to be) directly involved in
\npolitical activities,\" he said. \"Does it need to do any specific
\n(political) activities using the strength of Muhammadiyah
\n(members)?. I don't think so. Muhammadiyah should, instead,
\nmaintain its independence.\"<\/p>\n
Nakamura praised the Moslem reformist organization, as a
\nmajor national force, for its ability to cooperate with people
\nfrom other religions, thus helping maintain national integrity.<\/p>\n
However, he said the organization could do more in the
\ninternational forum because it had \"positioned itself as a modern
\nmovement which offers alternative ethics, ...moral values, as an
\nanswer for rapid social changes\".<\/p>\n
\"This should answer some people's doubts about the ability of
\nIslamic movements to find solutions to the problems of modern
\ncommunities,\" he told the Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Sobary, a Muhammadiyah member who has a regular column in the
\nKompas daily, said that in the future the organization would no
\nlonger be able to rely on the emotional attachment of its members
\nin order to withstand problems.<\/p>\n
The passion of the millions of people who make Muhammadiyah
\ntheir identity, he said, was likely to remain, but the
\norganization's leaders would have to find alternative roads for
\nit to travel on.<\/p>\n
\"There are questions, such as the rush of modernity, to be
\ndealt with,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said, however, that even the ongoing 43rd congress had
\nproved that Muhammadiyah members were aware of the need to face
\nfuture challenges on a more intellectual level.<\/p>\n
He said that the majority of the 40 candidates for chairman of
\nthe organization were intellectuals and academics. \"People have
\nbegun to realize that the organization no longer has leaders like
\nA.R. Fachruddin,\" he said, referring to the late esteemed ulema,
\nwho led the organization for 22 years.<\/p>\n
\"It would be ideal if Muhammadiyah was led by people like Pak
\nA.R. (Fachruddin), but there's nobody like him.\"<\/p>\n
\"The organization also has to contend with the fact that it's
\ngoing to need leaders who are not only knowledgeable on religious
\nmatters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Chairman Amien Rais has expressed his conviction that
\nMuhammadiyah may play a greater role on the international scene.
\nMoslems, however, should be aware of what he says is the Western
\nworld's campaign against Islam's rapid development.<\/p>\n
According to Amien, the West is resisting the revival of Islam
\nusing three strategies: \"One which is blatant, one which is half-
\ncrude, and the other is slick, invisible but still resolute in
\nhampering the growth of Islam.\"<\/p>\n
He cited the Western world's treatment of several countries,
\nsuch as Iraq, Iran and Libya, as examples of the blatant
\ncampaign. The recent developments in Sudan, Algiers, Yemen and
\nAfghanistan were proof of the West's half-crude campaign against
\nIslam, he said.<\/p>\n
The West's slick ruses against Islam usually use issues such
\nas human rights violations, he said. \"Indonesia is one of the
\ncountries which have been subjected to this kind of strategy,\" he
\nsaid, adding that very often it was Western countries which were
\nactually violators of human rights.<\/p>\n
\"Look at how they handle the Bosnia-Herzegovina question,\" he
\nsaid. (swe\/Wisnu Pramudya)<\/p>",
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