Azyumardi frowns upon extremism

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.