NU, Muhammadiyah to tackle extremism<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations -- Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(NU) and Muhammadyah -- urged the country's Muslims on Wednesday
\nto promote peace and brotherhood with people of other religions.<\/p>\n
Hasyim Muzadi and Syafi'i Ma'arif, chairmen of NU and
\nMuhammadyah respectively, said that the Muslim people must place
\nthe country's integrity before all else and respect religious
\nplurality.<\/p>\n
They also said that the two organizations would keep their
\ndistance from involvement in political disputes and become
\nindependent and nonpartisan Islamic groups.<\/p>\n
\"When we meet nationalist groups, or socialists, or even
\nforeigners, they express concern that the face of Islam here will
\nbecome increasingly brutal,\" Syafi'i told a press conference held
\nat NU headquarters on Jl. Kramat Raya in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"They want us, as the two biggest organizations (in
\nIndonesia), to project a calm image of Islam that protects people
\nof other religions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prior to the press conference, executives of two organizations
\nheld a closed-door meeting to discuss various problems the
\ncountry faces, including the threat of disintegration that has
\nbeen triggered by religious conflict.<\/p>\n
Hasyim disclosed that the image of Islam has long been
\npoliticized by certain groups for vested interests. He also
\nstressed that such radicalism demonstrated by the groups
\nrepresents the political influences and not the Islamic way of
\nthinking.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's biggest Muslim country with more than
\n90 percent of its 220-million people professing to be Muslims.
\nMany have tried to promote the imposition of Islamic law over the
\nlast few years.<\/p>\n
Following the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1998,
\nmany political parties have used Islamic principles as their base
\nand used Islam as a political vehicle to achieve power.<\/p>\n
One of their maneuvers was to insert the seven words of the
\n1945 Jakarta Charter into Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution.
\nThe words enjoin Muslims to uphold Islamic law.<\/p>\n
The country has also been hit by prolonged sectarian
\nconflicts, such as the ones in Maluku and Poso in Central
\nSulawesi. Many also believe that the bomb blasts on Christmas Eve
\nin and around churches in several cities throughout the country
\nin 2000 were part of plans of radical groups to terrorize non-
\nMuslim people.<\/p>\n
Two groups of Muslim hard-liners, Laskar Jihad and Islam
\nDefenders Front (FPI) frequently took the law into their own
\nhands, while police and other security personnel were powerless
\nto stop them for fear of fierce retaliation.<\/p>\n
The image of Islam has worsened, following the accusation by
\nthe U.S. government that Indonesian hard-liners have accommodated
\ninternational terrorists who attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n
Syafi'i further said that should the law enforcers be afraid
\nto take stern measures against radical groups, they would pave
\nthe way for the birth of what he called another Taliban nation.<\/p>\n
\"My Christian friends once asked me whether they could still
\nlive here should the politicians insert the seven words of the
\nJakarta Charter into the 1945 Constitution. I replied that if the
\nstate threatens your lives, we will be the first to protect you.<\/p>\n
\"The right to follow one's religion is the basic right of
\nevery citizen. The state or other groups must not interfere with
\nthat,\" Syafi'i said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the people's assumption that Laskar Jihad and
\nFPI held a prominent role in determining the image of Islam,
\nHasyim said: \"They are our (NU and Muhammadyah) children, too.
\nBut, unfortunately we failed to give attention to them.\"<\/p>\n
Both Hasyim and Syafi'i further said that the organizations
\nwere establishing a team to formulate future programs expected to
\ngive guidelines to the Muslim people from the grassroots up to
\nthe elite.<\/p>\n
They also believed that reconciliation between the two big
\ngroups would be ongoing, as they realized that in the past, their
\ncompetition in many aspects, including politics, has overtaken
\ntheir concern for minority religions.<\/p>\n
Competition between NU and Muhammadyah sharpened during the
\n1999 general election as the former NU chairman Abdurrahman \"Gus
\nDur\" Wahid established the political party called the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB), while Amien Rais, speaker of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly and former Muhammadyah chairman,
\nestablished the National Mandate Party (PAN).<\/p>\n
The relationship between the two broke into an open conflict
\nas Amien, along with other politicians, ousted Gus Dur from the
\npresidency last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nu-muhammadiyah-to-tackle-extremism-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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