Azyumardi frowns upon extremism

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta, tabita@cbn.net.id

Azyumardi Azra is a respected Muslim scholar with western flair. He is a fan of English soccer and an admirer of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Lionel Richie. And he is a big fan of Kho Ping Ho, the local author of kung fu comics.

"I like Kho Ping Ho's books because of his philosophy, the humanist values and the messages. The books tell us that even though you master good kung fu, you should not be arrogant. It is the inner beauty which counts, not (physical) strength," he said.

"And the same thing applies to good governance."

Indonesia is staggering under the weight of many problems, but the failure to create good governance is what bothers him most. He is also concerned about KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) and money politics while government officials lack the political will to address the issue.

The public, non-government organizations and the media should join forces to help improve the situation, Azyumardi asserted. Unfortunately, the civil society remains weak, many NGOs are disoriented and press freedom is under threat, as apparent in the Tempo weekly newsmagazine saga.

"But we still have hope. The coming direct presidential and vice-presidential elections will become a milestone and is expected to have snowballing effects with the direct election of governors and mayors, which will reduce the oligarchy of the political parties and money politics," he told The Jakarta Post.

Azyumardi is always busy addressing seminars. He received The Jakarta Post for an interview after addressing a seminar on Civic Education in Jakarta, just a few hours after he arrived from Yogyakarta, where he had talked at a seminar. Last week, he went to Montreal, Canada, for an inter-faith dialogue.

"Tonight I should be at the airport, heading to Cairo for a seminar on the Islamic Synthesis to contemporary issues, which is held by the American University in Washington DC," he said.

On Wednesday (Oct. 22) Azyumardi, along with leaders of the country's two most powerful Moslem organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, is scheduled to be in Bali for a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Azyumardi, 48, said he was happy he had the chance to share his ideas, through which he hopes to contribute for the betterment of the country.

He criticized former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Paul Wolfowitz for accusing -- after the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11 -- Indonesia of being a safe haven of terrorists.

"I told him that such a statement would only fan anti-American sentiment and suggested that he, instead, help Indonesia improve the credibility of the law enforcers," he said. The U.S. later offered Indonesia US$50 million assistance for Indonesian police. It is unclear, though, whether the aid had anything to do with Azyumardi's criticism.

During his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, he aired his objection to the U.S.-led war on Iraq and when he met Australian Prime Minister John Howard, he called Australia to show more empathy to the countries in the Asia-Pacific region instead of becoming the defender of the U.S.

At home, the outspoken Azyumardi criticized radical Muslims whom he said have stirred restlessness with their terror attacks.

He maintained that the chaotic social and political condition in Indonesia had provided fertile ground for radicalism. To contain their activity, the government should address problems such as drugs, corruption and poor law enforcement, he said.

He underlined the need for law enforcers to be more professional and improve their credibility in their investigations. The recent unlawful arrests of suspected terrorists, who were later released, would only worsen the condition as the action justified the assumption of a conspiracy theory, he said.

According to Azyumardi, radicalism has also been spurred by the rigid interpretation of Islamic teachings.

Islam, in the level of divine revelation, is one, but its interpretations vary as it involves human reasoning, he argued. This also explains why Islam in Indonesia is different from Islam in other countries, he said.

Even though Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, Azyumardi disapproves of the idea of imposing syariah, or Islamic law, because of the country's religious plurality.

Islamic law itself will have many interpretations and its implementation will bring discrimination against the Muslim people themselves. "For example, if a Muslim steals, his hand must be severed, but it does not apply to a non-Muslim. Wouldn't it discriminate against the Muslim?"

Azyumardi described Pancasila as the perfect ideology and called upon the opening of the public discourse for its rejuvenation, but he is strongly opposed to the indoctrination of Pancasila.

Azyumardi, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University, learned about Islam "by accident". It was his parents, who were both Islamic religious teachers, who compelled him to do so.

"My philosophy is that if I am at the riverside, I must be able to float, otherwise I will drown," he said.

Therefore, he followed his parents' order to enter Islamic school and then enrolled at the State Institute of Islamic Studies (now called Islamic State University), majoring in Tarbiyah (education). He continued his studies at Columbia University in New York, majoring in history and in Middle East languages and cultures. He got his PhD in history from the same university.

"Now I give freedom for my children about what they want to study," said Azyumardi, who has four children from his marriage to Ipah Farihah.

His eldest child studies economics at Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, the second at a junior high school, the third is at an Islamic elementary school (Madrasah), and the youngest is still in kindergarten.

Azyumardi, who was born in Lubuk Alung, West Sumatra, is a Minang, while his wife is a Sundanese. He said that his parents at first did not like her because they expected him to marry a woman from the same ethnic group. "But after a while, they got along very well," he said.

Azyumardi always encourages his children to read. "At their birthday, instead of having a party, I will take them to the bookstore and let them choose as many books as they like."

Azyumardi, who has written 18 books, also loves movies, but he only watches them on cable television. "I am reluctant to go to the movie theater, because there are always people who recognize me and I would become uneasy," he said.