A traditions of peace: A look at Islamic law

A traditions of peace: A look at Islamic law

Abdurrahman Wahid, Former President Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta

I was recently asked to address a conference in Seoul, Korea,
organized around the theme of developing a culture of peace.
Naturally, it fell to me to present an Islamic perspective on
developing a culture of peace. My response was to explain that if
we want to understand what Islam has to teach us about
civilization, society and relations between communities, it is
important that we consider the broad range of its rich
intellectual heritage.

Of course the bedrock for this is the holy Koran and the
Prophetic traditions (Al-Hadith). But in seeking to understand
these scriptures, there is much that we can learn from 15
centuries of scholarship. Indeed, if we overlook such a legacy,
we miss out on so many lessons that it has to teach us about the
application of Islam to social life.

Consequently, from a scholarly perspective, we need to study
the principles, of ushul fiqh, that is to say Islamic legal
theory together with the treasury of the collection of legal
maxims that have served to provide guiding principles down
through the centuries (qowa'idul fiqh). There are also many other
books and texts in the vast library of classical scholarship.

It might appear as if I'm talking of esoteric matters of
interest only to scholars. In fact, there is a very practical and
important point to be made here. During the 20th century, it
became popular to talk of going back to the literal word of the
scriptures and putting to one side all of the human scholarship
that came between the reader and the text.

On the face of it this seems very pure and noble but it also
contains a hidden danger. If we take, as it were, an anti-
intellectual approach to studying the scriptures, one that is
quick to dismiss centuries of thoughtful scholarship, we cut
ourselves off from all that accumulated wisdom. And we are left
with the danger of a scriptualistic formalism that prides itself
on its literalistic approach to the Holy Scriptures.

In Islam, as in other scripture-based religion, this kind of
narrow literalism can have devastating consequences, especially
when it applied to society in a formalistic fashion. This sort of
literalistic and formalistic approach to Islam is the common
refuge of young men from non-religious families sent to study
abroad. Very often these young people, overwhelmed by their
confronting encounters with western society, take refuge in their
faith and turn to religion as the source of cultural and personal
identity.

This sort of response is both understandable and admirable;
but unfortunately all too often these vulnerable young people
fall under the influence of those who would teach simplistic
religious solutions as an antidote to the complexities of the
modern world. Instead of arriving at a deep understanding of
Islam, in its rich and subtle intellectual and cultural context,
they are presented with a simplistic, anti-intellectual reading
of the scriptures that turns its back on historical and cultural
knowledge.

As independent and concerned citizens in a free society, it is
important that we wrestle with the difficult challenge of
interpreting and applying Islam in modern society. This means
that we have to not just accept, but also rather positively
embrace, the fact that there exists a plurality of views on just
how to do that.

A practical example of how the heritage of Islamic scholarship
can assist us in finding answers to difficult questions is found
in the case of apostasy. Not everyone will agree with me on this
matter, but I speak frankly here in the spirit of encouraging the
acceptance of a plurality of views. It is traditionally
understood that, according to Islamic law, if a person converts
from another religion to embrace Islam, they are doing a
praiseworthy thing, but if the opposites occurs, and as Muslims
they convert to another faith, then he or she is guilty of
committing apostasy.

A "crime", in the eyes of some, that makes them liable to the
death penalty. Needless to say, this understanding is indirect
conflict with the principles of the declaration of human rights;
a declaration which has been adopted by many Muslim countries.
Indonesia, for example, the world's largest Muslim country, is
one such country to have ratified the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.

According to a decision by the ulema, or Islamic scholars, of
the mass based Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), at one
of their national conferences, the application of religious law
must be guided by reason, the principles of which are laid out in
ushul fiqh.

At another NU congress, it was further agreed that changes in
thinking about the application of religious law must be made
subject to consideration of other laws and principles that have
to bear on a case. What this means in practice is that it is
possible to re-interpret the legal understanding of apostasy in
Islam, so that it is not understood simply to refer to a Muslim
converting out of Islam into other faith -- for to adopt that
more simplistic understanding would be to bring Islam into
conflict with the universally agreed principles of human rights.

This is a very important and practical point as the
application of a simplistic understanding of the law on apostasy
would require the putting to death of the 20 million or so
Muslims who over the decades have converted to Christianity. If
we insist on simplistic and literalistic interpretations of the
scriptures, then we left in the embarrassing and troubling
position of saying that the spirit of Islam means one thing but
the letter of the law of Islam means another.

If however, we are prepared to learn from the insights gained
over many generations of scholarship, we will be led to a deeper
and more nuanced understanding of our faith. An understanding
that reveals that there is no basic tension between the teachings
of Islam and the need to value human rights and to allow freedom
of conscience.

It is on this foundation, and on this foundation alone, that
we can build an enduring culture of peace.