Part 2 of 2 : The west and Islam in RI<\/p>\n
Juwono Sudarsono, Indonesian Ambassador, United Kingdom, London<\/p>\n
Indonesia has had its share of Islamic extremist movements in
\nthe 1950s and early 1960s who demanded immediate application of
\nthe sharia in our constitution. More recently, several Indonesian
\nMuslims were implicated in act of violence and terror in
\nSoutheast Asia, some of whom have been linked ideologically to
\nal-Qaeda through the Jamaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian
\ngrouping which envisages a region-based caliphate encompassing
\nMalaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian authorities have brought many of them to
\njustice largely through our own legal processes, however slow and
\nflawed some of them may have been . I believe that it is best
\nthat the Indonesian authorities quietly initiate and effectively
\ndeal with the terrorists on our own terms rather than blaring
\nthrough the media the arrests of suspected leaders of these
\nterrorist groups at the insistence of Western governments.<\/p>\n
On the constitutional front, the three Islamic parties which
\npresented claims for the application of sharia were defeated in
\nthe proceedings in the annual sessions of our Assembly . Only 15
\npercent of our parties in parliament advocated adoption of the
\nsharia. Despite the bombings in Bali in October last year and the
\nMarriott hotel in Jakarta last August, radical Islamist are
\nactually losing ground in the battle for the hearts and minds of
\nmost Muslims in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
We have always believed strongly in the notion that Islam in
\nIndonesia and Indonesian Muslims can be enriched by our encounter
\nwith globalization and through the embrace of a more liberal,
\ntolerant and inclusive interpretation of the Book.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Islam remains proud and confident of its syncretic
\nblend with national and local traditions as well as healthy
\neclecticism with the liberating values of foreign influences,
\nincluding fast-paced financial and technological globalization.
\nThere will be the occasional crashing of gears in our social
\nsystem as people move up or down the volatility scale. But
\nequally important are the growing number of young Muslim cultural
\nbrokers who act as circuit breakers so that the social fabric is
\nenergized and not pulverized.<\/p>\n
For most Muslims in Indonesia, blaming Jewish bankers, Chinese
\ncronies, moronic financiers in New York or gnomes in Zurich for
\nIndonesia's political and economic crises can only discredit the
\ntrue nature of jihad: Improve the standing of the ummat through
\nhard work and benefit from the dynamism and liberating creativity
\nof robust inter-action with the West. Often the only way to
\noverturn entrenched norms and structures that suffocate creative
\nimpulses is through the release of the elixir of freedom and
\ninnovation. Only then can we create a more just and prosperous
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
We distinctly do not share the view of some Muslim leaders in
\nIndonesia as well as abroad who claim that all Islam and Muslims
\nall over the world are deliberately being humiliated by the West,
\nthat Jews rule the world by proxy or that Western corporations
\nare steered by a cabal of Zionist financiers. We see no need to
\ngrandstand to the nationalist or ethnic gallery in order hide our
\nown internal failings: Rampant corruption, shameful injustice and
\nostentatious living.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of the Islamic community of Indonesia remain
\nconvinced that robust and self-confident dialogs with the
\neconomies and cultures of the West as well as of the great
\ntraditions of China, Japan and India enriches Indonesian Islam in
\ncoming to terms with globalization. Exchange visits of Indonesian
\nMuslim leaders to Europe and North America enhances the scope of
\nunderstanding and commitment to mutual respect and appreciation.
\nChanging the curricula of madrasahs and pesantrens can help plant
\nseeds of tolerance and inclusiveness.<\/p>\n
But Muslims in Indonesia realize that much more has to be done
\non the ground and in the grassroots to achieve meaningful
\neconomic and political reforms in our cities, towns and villages
\nacross Indonesia. We are determined to undertake stronger efforts
\nto provide sustenance to the vast majority of our poor by
\ndelivering basic human needs: Food, health-care, education and
\nemployment.<\/p>\n
Only if we consistently deliver and reinforce social justice
\ncan our Indonesian Islamic scholars, academics, ulemas and
\nmembers of our civic societies ensure that post-Sept. 11, 2001,
\nmainstream Islam in Indonesia will never be hijacked nor tempted
\nby a perverted ideology that refuses to come to terms with the
\nneed to reshape and rebuild a world vastly different from the
\ntime of Islam's birth centuries ago.<\/p>",
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