Muslim leaders back calls for end to sharia struggle<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Respected Muslim leaders and scholars on Monday joined Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU)'s latest call for an end to the campaigns for the
\nenforcement of sharia, or Islamic law, in the world's largest
\nMuslim country.<\/p>\n
\"There is no need to press ahead with the struggle for sharia.
\nWe should take the substance of Islamic values and implement them
\nin Indonesia, not the symbols,\" Ahmad Syafii Maarif, who chairs
\nthe nation's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah,
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"Don't help out political interests by politicizing religion,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
NU, the country's largest Muslim organization, on Sunday
\ncalled on Muslims to stop advocating Islamic law and using
\nviolence to promote religion.<\/p>\n
\"Struggling for sharia to be enforced in Indonesia is not
\nrealistic. What we need is to develop universal values for
\npeople's prosperity,\" NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said while
\nreleasing NU's year-end evaluation on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"Universal values are also Islamic. This has already been
\nadopted in the 1945 Constitution,\" the chairman of the 40-million
\nstrong Muslim organization said.<\/p>\n
Hasyim said Muslims and followers of other faiths needed to
\npromote religious values that were coherent with national
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
Syafii said raising the idea of sharia as part of the \"public
\ndiscourse\" was acceptable, but campaigners should stop advocating
\nfor Islamic law because it was \"unrealistic\".<\/p>\n
Like Hasyim, Syafii told Muslims to shed Islamic symbols and
\nformalities in an effort to make a success of their struggle for
\nthe nation's prosperity.<\/p>\n
If Muslims emphasize formalities like sharia and an Islamic
\nstate in their common struggle, they will collide with adherents
\nof other faiths and thus end in failure, the Muhammadiyah leader
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"What we should seriously fight for is the enforcement of
\njustice and the creation of a clean government under whatever
\nform of the state we have,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"An Islamic state or sharia does not guarantee (justice and a
\nclean government). It fully depends on the commitment of the
\npeople themselves,\" Syafii added.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi Azra, rector of Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State
\nIslamic University, concurred with Hasyim and Syafii, saying
\nIslamic social and political groups should set aside their
\nstruggle for sharia and concentrate on efforts to improve the
\nnation's welfare.<\/p>\n
\"Hard-line groups should think rationally and realistically.
\nStop struggling only for short-term interests. The national
\ninterests as a whole must be put forward,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
\"We should all together focus our energy and attention to
\nbuilding the nation through education, law enforcement, upholding
\nthe law and eradicating corruption,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi said the country's political reality, which is
\npluralistic and heterogeneous, and the fact that most Indonesian
\nMuslims embrace a moderate form of Islam, should be taken into
\naccount by those pursuing the implementation of sharia.<\/p>\n
Since the 1950s, campaigns for the implementation of sharia
\nhave not received support from the majority of Muslims in
\nIndonesia, he said.<\/p>\n
Last August, the People's Consultative Assembly rejected a
\nproposal by several Islamic parties to include sharia in the
\nlatest batch of constitutional amendments.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi and Syafii said an Islamic state was not recognized
\nin the Koran, nor during the rule of the Prophet Muhammad and his
\nfour Caliphs -- Abu Bakar, Umar bin Khattab, Ustman bin Affan and
\nAli bin Abi Thalib.<\/p>\n
The calls to cease the struggle for sharia come in response to
\nrecent terrorist attacks in the country and the bombings of
\nchurches and shopping centers in 2000.<\/p>\n
These incidents damaged the image of Islam and Muslims, as all
\nof the suspects were Muslims, though radical in their beliefs.<\/p>\n
The campaigners for sharia include several Islamic parties and
\nradical organizations, including the recently self-dissolved
\ngroups Laskar Jihad and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).<\/p>\n
Muslim-oriented political parties in support of sharia include
\nthe United Development Party (PPP), the Crescent Star Party
\n(PBB), the Justice Party and the Daulat Ummah Party (PDU).<\/p>\n
Unlike these parties, Laskar Jihad and the FPI often used
\nviolence to promote Islam. Laskar Jihad deployed its followers to
\nfight Christians in the Maluku islands and the Central Sulawesi
\ntown of Poso, where thousands of people were killed. The FPI was
\nblamed for attacking nightclubs and other entertainment centers
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/muslim-leaders-back-calls-for-end-to-sharia-struggle-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}