Muslims urged to stand up to radicalism<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Radicalism will remain a serious problem among Muslim individuals
\nand groups in the future as several problems including poor law
\nenforcement, global injustice and the abuse of Islamic doctrines
\nto justify violence were not rectified, scholars said here on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
They were speaking at a three-day seminar on Islamic militant
\nmovements in Southeast Asia and claimed that most of the current
\nproblems with terror and violence stemmed from a literal
\ninterpretation of Islam by misguided devotees, many of whom have
\nbeen held responsible for a series of terrorist attacks across
\nthe globe in recent years.<\/p>\n
Rector of the State Islamic University (UIN) Azyumardi Azra
\nsaid moderate Muslim leaders should educate people about the
\ndanger of literal interpretations of the religion in order to
\ncounter extremism and terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"It is time now for moderate Muslim leaders to speak more
\nclearly and loudly and explain to their followers that a literal
\ninterpretation of Islam will lead to the type of extremism that
\nis unacceptable to Islam, and that Islam cannot condone, let
\nalone justify, violence or terrorism,\" he said in his opening
\nspeech at the seminar.<\/p>\n
He urged police and other security authorities to embrace the
\ncountry's largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and
\nMuhammadiyah, as well as other moderate groups in their efforts
\nto combat terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"This problem should be addressed by moderate Muslim leaders
\nhand-in-hand with law enforcement authorities for the sake of the
\nimage of Islam as a peaceful religion,\" Azyumardi said.<\/p>\n
The police have arrested dozens of Muslims who are allegedly
\nmembers of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network blamed for
\nthe devastating bombings in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002, killing more
\nthan 200 people, mostly tourists.<\/p>\n
All of those arrested profess to be devout Muslims, and
\nwithout proper education from their schools and elsewhere, many
\nmoderate Muslims here, may start to think that the police are
\njust out to get Muslims, warned Azyumardi.<\/p>\n
\"To deal with such suspicions the authorities should also
\nhandle those arrested in compliance with due process of the law,\"
\nhe emphasized.<\/p>\n
NU leader Hasyim Muzadi and Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii
\nMaarif have held regular meetings to discuss joint efforts to
\nfight extremism and radicalism among Muslims following the Bali
\nterrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
However, Azyumardi said the efforts lacked effectiveness as
\nthey had no \"systematic agenda of activities\" to follow up on the
\ntalks. He did not elaborate further.<\/p>\n
Such a campaign has also been seen to fall short because the
\nNational Police have not made much of an effort to win over
\nmoderate Muslim groups and join them in the fight against
\nmilitancy, he said.<\/p>\n
Another respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and
\nAmerican academic Mark Juergensmeyer concurred with Azyumardi,
\nsaying that Islam should not be equated with terrorism, despite
\nthe widely held belief that almost every terror act of late had
\nbeen perpetrated by Muslims.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish, better known as Cak Nur, who has announced his bid
\nto contest the 2004 direct presidential election, attributed
\nreligious radicalism to the \"sense that Muslims have that they
\nare being deprived, alienated or marginalized\" from real power.<\/p>\n
\"They have been denied participation in politics. They are
\ndeprived of power,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Cak Nur cited as an example, former president Soeharto
\nsuppressing or sidelining many Muslim groups, such as NU and
\nMasyumi, from politics during the 32 years of his iron-fisted
\nrule until 1998.<\/p>\n
\"So, Pak Harto played a role in making Muslims angry and
\nalienated through his heavy-handed rule, not Islam,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Juergensmeyer, the author of the book on Terror in the Minds
\nof God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence published in 2000,
\nsaid Islam was not what makes people violent, although some
\nbelieve that was what jihad meant.<\/p>\n
He says terrorism and radicalism are \"cultures of violence\"
\nthat led to the establishment of militant movements in Islam,
\nChristianity and other religions, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The appearance of cultures of violence around the world is
\nindeed linked to contemporary global forces and trends,\" said
\nJuergensmeyer from University of California, Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n
He said during the seminar that a religion should be made part
\nof the solution to terrorism.<\/p>\n
Cak Nur also dismissed worldwide claims that the Islamic
\nconcept of jihad was the root problem which caused terror
\nattacks. However, he admitted the term was misunderstood by many
\nMuslims who only see it as a way to justify violence.<\/p>\n
\"In Islam, jihad is a generic term. It could imply something
\nphysical, rational or spiritual,\" he said.<\/p>",
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