Exclusivism and multiculturalism in Islamic society

Exclusivism and multiculturalism in Islamic society

Ahmad Najib Burhani, Jakarta

The issue of the implementation of sharia is not of much
interest to Indonesian people, whether Muslims or non-Muslims.
The April 5 legislative election results are the best proof of
this statement.

The Crescent Star Party (PBB), one of the parties that
promotes sharia, gained less than three percent of the votes and
failed to pass the electoral threshold.

Another Islam-oriented party, the Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS), avoided this fate, and instead made substantial gains,
garnering around 7 percent of the votes, up from the 2 percent it
got in 1999, by focusing on more popular themes, such as clean
government. The PKS did not include the implementation of sharia
in its campaign manifesto.

The issue of the implementation of sharia is also regarded as
a risky and sensitive topic in the campaign for the forthcoming
July 5 presidential election. Amien Rais, the presidential
candidate from PAN (the National Mandate Party), who had a close
relationship with radical Islamic movements, does not employ this
issue as a campaign topic. He would rather employ the issue of
development and the eradication of the corruption.

The proponents and supporters of sharia are small in number.
The majority of the Indonesian population, both Muslims and non-
Muslims, rejecting the idea. The NU (Nahdlatul Ulama), the
country's largest Muslim organization, and Muhammadiyah, the
country's second largest Muslim organization, have also rejected
the notion.

In spite of their small number, the proponents of sharia have
had some success in propagating the notion in Sulawesi, Sumatra,
East Java, Banten, Flores, Sumba and in the Bandung area.

There are many reasons why sharia has come to the fore in
Indonesian political discourse. Three of these are as follows: 1)
the classic and perennial issue for Muslim politicians --
choosing between a theocratic state or secular state, 2) the
failures of Indonesian governments, and 3) the global resurgence
of Islam.

Now, the question is why, despite the fact that Islam is the
majority religion in Indonesia, sharia has not been implemented
in this country. Why has the Indonesian population consistently
refused to adopt sharia as the law of the land?

Of course, there are many answers to this question. It is
said that the majority of Muslims in Indonesia are nominal
Muslims. Thus, they are not eager to accept "total" Islam in
their daily lives. Some say they are not interested in adopting
sharia as they are afraid of it.

There is, however, a more sophisticated reason as to why the
majority of Muslims in Indonesia reject the implementation of
sharia. This is related to the idea of multiculturalism. The
implementation of sharia represents the enforcement of a
particular social, political and religious identity. This means
that other identities are regarded as having inferior values than
the dominant identity. The proponents of sharia are of the view
that there is only one Islam -- that Islam as a monolithic
entity.

In fact, there is tremendous cultural diversity in Islam, or,
in other words, there is "cultural diversity within
civilizational unity in Islam". There are more than four popular
schools in Islamic law. There are also numerous schools in
Islamic theology. There are various cultural models in Islam;
Euro-Islam, Afro-Islam, Indo-Islam, Java-Islam, and so forth.

Even in Indonesia, there are various Islamic parties and
Islamic camps. Thus, the enforcement of sharia, and the view of
monolithic Islam, goes against Islamic principles that promote
pluralism, equality, justice and tolerance.

Instead of promoting sharia, it is imperative to disseminate
Islamic multiculturalism. Islamic multiculturalism is the
perception of Islam as a blessing for all creatures, Islam as a
shelter and an "umbrella" for minority groups, rather than a
threat and danger for minority groups and other religions. Within
Islam itself, actually, there are many groups.

It is no so difficult to see the great number of local
cultures that combine to make up Islamic civilization. Thus,
promoting multiculturalism means honoring Islam and other
religious as well.

The writer (najib27@yahoo.com) is a lecturer in the School of
Theological Sources and Philosophy at the Syarif Hidayatullah
State Islamic University.