Shihab seeks genuine harmony between different faiths<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Inflamed by the country's frequent riots, Alwi
\nShihab, visiting professor at Harvard University's Divinity
\nSchool, has committed himself to helping establish genuine
\nharmony in Indonesia, especially between Moslems and other
\nfaiths.<\/p>\n
This can be achieved if social gaps are minimized, mutual
\nunderstanding is developed and suspicion among people is
\neliminated, said Shihab, who is also a visiting professor of
\nIslamic studies and Christian-Moslem relations at Hartford
\nSeminary, also in the United States.<\/p>\n
Shihab said recent riots in various Indonesian towns were not
\ntriggered by religious sentiments, as press reports have
\nsuggested.<\/p>\n
\"True Moslems, for example, would never say 'God is the Great'
\nwhile raping women. This is because believers in God never
\nremember their God when they commit sinful deeds,\" he said.
\n\"Also, Moslems would never condemn Jesus while setting ablaze a
\nchurch because honoring Jesus (and the other messengers of God)
\nis one of six principles of belief in God.\"<\/p>\n
Therefore, Indonesian Moslems must be on alert because the
\nriots might have been masterminded by certain parties who wanted
\nto develop conflict between Moslems and minorities, he said.<\/p>\n
Shihab, who obtained his doctorate degrees from 'Ain Syams
\nUniversity in Egypt and Temple University in the U.S, shares his
\nviews on this issue.<\/p>\n
Question: If you rule out religious sentiments, then what was
\nthe main cause of the recent riots?<\/p>\n
Shihab: The riots were caused mainly by escalating social gaps
\nresulting from the New Order government's political system. In
\npursuing high economic expansion, the government facilitated the
\nspeedy growth of business conglomeration in the country, while
\nits attention to the development of small businesses was too
\nlittle.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the government did not provide corridors of
\nliving for the ethnic Chinese except for business activities.
\nSuch a policy has caused them to get more and more professional
\nin businesses and get richer and richer.<\/p>\n
As a result, the social gap between the minority and the
\nmajority was getting wider and wider. Therefore, social jealousy
\ndeveloped among the poor majority toward the rich minority,
\nparticularly when some of the latter showed off their expensive
\nway of life.<\/p>\n
A riot, when it happens, does not have anything to do with
\nreligion. But, because most of the rioters were Moslems --
\nreflecting the country's majority -- and most of the victims
\nwere ethnic Chinese, who were mostly Christians, some parties,
\nespecially the Western press, tried to relate the riots with
\nreligious sentiments.<\/p>\n
The Western press, apparently influenced by a thesis on
\ncivilization clash, has made Islam a frequent target of criticism
\nand associates it with terrorism. When Israel developed nuclear
\nbombs, for example, no one called them Jewish bombs. But when
\nPakistan developed its nuclear bombs, the Western press called
\nthem Islamic bombs.<\/p>\n
A bitter relationship between Moslems and Christians does
\nexist in Indonesia because of such a social gap, an historical
\nbackground back to the era of Dutch colonialism and the operation
\nof some evangelists in the country -- although their operation is
\neven disapproved of by some other Christians -- who are
\npersuading Moslems to convert to Christianity. But the recent
\nriots, in which some rioters were not Moslems, were caused more
\nby social jealousy.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you perceive a genuinely harmonious society in the
\nwidely diversified societal groupings of Indonesia?<\/p>\n
S: Social gaps must be minimized, mutual understanding must be
\ndeveloped and suspicion among each other be eliminated. Social
\ngaps can be minimized by ending the policy on the acceleration of
\nbusiness conglomeration and by giving more emphasis to the
\ndevelopment of small businesses.<\/p>\n
Mutual understanding between followers of different religions
\ncan be developed by introducing forums for open dialogs, where
\nteachings of different religions are socialized and discussed
\ndescriptively, not dogmatically.<\/p>\n
We will propose that schools of religions be established at
\nstate universities, where students can study other people's
\nreligions in a descriptive way. The history and doctrines of
\nIslam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, for example, would be
\ndiscussed without any claim as to which religion would save a
\nperson. Thus, Moslems could study Christianity without having to
\ngo to seminaries, Christians could study Islam without having to
\ngo to pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and anybody could
\nstudy Buddhism or Hinduism without having to go to temples.<\/p>\n
Knowledge about the religions of dialog partners is important
\nfor the development of mutual understanding, which will also help
\neliminate suspicion. Such knowledge, which is expected to be
\npassed on by academicians to other people, is also important to
\nhelp eliminate hostility among followers of different religions
\nbecause a human character shows that people tend to be hostile to
\nwhat they do not know.<\/p>\n
Actually, a long time ago, I made such a proposal and
\ndiscussed it with leading figures of different religions but they
\nopposed it for fear of backlashes from a security-oriented
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Suspicion between people should also be eliminated by, for
\nexample, assuring other communities, particularly Christians,
\nthat no Moslem parties or figures have any plans to turn
\nIndonesia into an Islamic state.<\/p>\n
Q: How could you accomplish that idea?<\/p>\n
S: It happened to me that during this current two-month summer
\nholiday of mine, some ulema invited me to join them in the
\nestablishment of Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (People's Awakening
\nParty or PKB). Because my idea on the harmonization of different
\ncommunities coincides with that of PKB's programs, I decided to
\njoin them as a cofounder.<\/p>\n
I see PKB as a fertile ground for me to develop my idea on
\ncommunity harmonization creatively because the ulema and the
\nother party cofounders, who appreciate my book Inclusive Islam,
\nwill support it. The party, therefore, will struggle for the
\ninclusion of community harmonization in state policies.<\/p>\n
I felt honored to join the ulema because I was educated at a
\nnumber of pesantren.<\/p>\n
I will continue teaching at Hartford Seminary and Harvard
\nUniversity, both of which will allow me to stay in Indonesia from
\nDecember until whenever I want to return to the United States
\n(after next May's general election).<\/p>\n
I expect that my colleagues at Hartford Seminary and Harvard
\nUniversity will help me develop ideas to promote harmonization of
\nreligious followers, particularly between Moslems and Christians,
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The two institutions will also allow us to send Indonesian
\nscholars there for six months to learn ways to improve such
\nharmonization. They will also send about 30 scholars to Indonesia
\nnext May to observe for two weeks religious life here, and
\nprovide feedback when they go back.<\/p>\n
Hartford Seminary's Center for Moslem, Christian Religions,
\nand Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions,
\nhave a wealth of information on trends of tensions in the world
\nand measures used to overcome such tensions.<\/p>\n
Q: Now that Indonesia is facing economic, political and moral
\ncrises, what is the best way for the nation to escape them?<\/p>\n
S: I think that the economic and political crises correlate with
\neach another and that they have been caused by mistrust. So, the
\nmost important thing for Indonesians now is restoring confidence
\nif they want to escape the crises. Because mistrust has also been
\ncaused partly by poor morality -- as shown by the flourishing of
\ncorrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices -- the country's
\nprograms of reform should also be emphasized on the improvement
\nof morality among its leaders.<\/p>\n
Because leaders during the New Order government era did not
\nshow any good examples in morality, their people tended to follow
\nthis way of life.<\/p>\n
Q: So what is the best criteria for the next president?<\/p>\n
S: I think the most important thing is that the next president
\nmust be a figure with strong moral integrity, so that his
\ninstructions will be effective. Expertise in economy, technology,
\netc. can be obtained from advisers.<\/p>\n
It is not important whether the next president is a scholar,
\nor whether he comes from the Armed Forces. If he has strong moral
\nintegrity and a vast perspective, he will be acceptable to both
\ndomestic and international societies even if he is not well known
\nbeforehand. (riz)<\/p>",
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