Muslims in Southeast Asia need enlightenment<\/p>\n
Muslims in Southeast Asia in general are tolerant and
\nmoderate. Therefore they need to be helped in maintaining this
\ntradition. In a conversation with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius
\nPurba, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, during the recent Asian Statesmen
\nForum in Bali, shared his view about Islam based on his
\nexperience as a Thai Muslim and former Thai foreign minister.
\nSurin, an advisor to the Geneva-base Henry Dunant Centre, also
\ntalked about the situation in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Question: What is your view about Islam in Southeast Asia?<\/p>\n
Answer: In general, Muslims in Southeast Asia are tolerant,
\nmoderate, and very accommodating, partly because when Islam came
\nto this part of the world, the region was already very much
\ninfluenced by other cultures and civilizations of the east, like
\nHinduism and Buddhism. And therefore the Muslims were in a
\nposition to make accommodations; to interact, to adapt and adopt
\nvarious ideas, values, and practices, so long as that did not
\ncontradict drastically with the cardinal principal of Islamic
\nfaith, for example the idea of one God, the idea of practicing
\nthe ritual and tradition, rules and the declaration of Islam.<\/p>\n
And people in the region themselves are very accommodating and
\nflexible, so there had been experiences of mutual accommodation,
\nmutual respect. The end result is that Muslims in Southeast Asia
\nare quite ready to accommodate changes to adopt new ideas, new
\napproaches to their own problems, problems of globalization,
\nproblems of modernity, living with each other in an environment
\nof diversity. This is the uniqueness of Muslims in this region.<\/p>\n
Q: Has that situation remained after Sept. 11?<\/p>\n
A: After the Sept. 11 tragedy, there was much concern of how to
\nengage the Islamic world, and ... we offer a very unique
\nopportunity. In the past the Muslims, the Arabs, had contributed
\nto the evolution, the transformation of Europe. The wisdom of the
\nGreeks was kept alive and flourished, and was nurtured,
\nreinterpreted by the Arabs, by Muslim scholars, and then passed
\non to the West, to Europe during the dark ages. And the result
\nwas renaissance. Later on of course reform, enlightenment, the
\nindustrial revolution and many other things.<\/p>\n
I think now the reverse could happen; the developed part of
\nthe world, west or east, could also help the Muslim community,
\nespecially in Southeast Asia, because it is ready, it is
\nflexible. You begin here and try to support this effort for
\nreform, revival, efforts for a true renaissance. In the past
\nthree decades you have seen a lot of crisis of resurgences of the
\nMuslims. And that was a reaction from the Islam side to much
\npressure from outside, pressures for globalization, pressures for
\nchanges, for modernity.<\/p>\n
But now the real renaissance could be conceived with the
\nsupport of a more developed world, which has benefited from
\nMuslims in the past; so to achieve a true renaissance to
\ndevelopment, to science and technology through human resources
\ndevelopment. I'd love to see that. It will certainly help reduce
\nthe high level of mutual ignorance, mutual understanding,
\ndistrust and confidence, among the two communities; that is
\nbetween the developed part of the world and Muslims.<\/p>\n
Q: How about Muslim terrorist links in this region?<\/p>\n
A: The real roots of this violence is the lack of engagement with
\nglobalization because of the lack of education, lack of
\nopportunity. So this problems is internal, internally generating,
\ninternally caused. But it does not mean that the outside
\ncommunity does not have a role to play. There is no direct
\nrelation may be, between poverty and terrorism, but certainly,
\npoverty and the lack of opportunity and quality to benefit all
\nchanges that are taking place, contribute to the frustration.<\/p>\n
The competition is very fierce; you need to prepare yourself
\nfor competition. If you fail to compete, what can you do? If are
\nyou are denied the opportunity, you can be frustrated. (Then) you
\nare likely to fall victim to other forces. That could be drugs,
\nviolence, other forms of transnational crime. You are engaged in
\nshady activities, like human trafficking, gambling, extortion, or
\nany kind that would allow them to at least in a way compensate
\nfor the lack of opportunity.<\/p>\n
The argument that poverty has nothing to do with terrorism is
\nproblematic, because the next logical steps (would be that) the
\nworld has no concern or sense of responsibility to help in the
\neradication of poverty. So you have to be very careful, to use
\nthe argument that it is nothing to do with poverty, that you
\ntherefore can keep them languishing in poverty without any
\nresponsibility. That is very dangerous, and makes the world very
\ndivisive.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you have any particular feelings as a Muslim in
\npredominantly Buddhist Thailand?<\/p>\n
A: Thailand is a Buddhist majority country, but it is very open,
\nand accommodating. The King is supreme patron of all religions,
\nhe is the figure head and the patron of all communities. The
\nspace is unlimited for everybody to make a contribution, to play
\na role in the economic and political life of the country. As a
\nMuslim I have found that there is no limit as long as you are
\nqualified, you can compete, no problem.<\/p>\n
Q: As an advisor to the Henry Dunant Center, how do you see the
\nsituation in Aceh?<\/p>\n
A: I think the commitment from both sides, the Indonesian
\ngovernment and the GAM (Free Aceh Movement) has been progressive,
\nin the sense that rather than using force and oppression as the
\nmeans to solve the problem, both sides have agreed to use dialog.
\nWe are on the right trick. I am very honored to be a part of this
\ndialog process; respecting the internal nature of affairs of
\nIndonesia, the Henry Dunant Center is only helping to facilitate
\nthe dialog process ...<\/p>\n
We are not mediators or negotiators. It is the parties who are
\ntalking with the facilitation of the center. The four of us,
\nincluding U.S. Gen. (ret.) Anthony Zinni, the \"Four Wise Men\",
\nare helping the Center. But I think the dialog process is moving
\nahead ... And we hope that some effective and sustainable
\nresolution will be found.<\/p>\n
Q: What are the most delicate problems in Aceh?<\/p>\n
A: Again this is an internal matter. But as long as both sides
\nrealize that violence is not the way to solve the problem, it is
\na good beginning. It is an issue of mutual confidence,
\ndevelopment, poverty reduction and cooperation.<\/p>\n
Q: How about human rights problems?<\/p>\n
A: That is the issue that both sides have to discuss. The issue
\nhas been very much on the priority list of both sides, and that
\nis the consequence of violence. Both sides realize that they have
\nmade efforts to reduce violence, and must create mutual
\nconfidence.<\/p>",
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