Extremism taints image of Islam: Religious leaders

A'an Suryana and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Syafi'i Maarif, head of the country's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, expressed concern on Saturday over fundamentalist Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI)'s campaign for introduction of syariah or Islamic law.

He said that the campaign, echoing similar efforts waged by other hardline Muslim groups, could tarnish the image of Islam in Indonesia which is, he emphasized, caring and peace-loving.

Syafi'i was addressing Mujahiddin's plan to hold a two-day seminar on syariah in Yogyakarta on Tuesday. Its leaders and activists said they wanted to seek input for ideas about syariah that they would propose to add to the 1945 Constitution.

The seminar, titled A Proposal for the Amendment of the 1945 Constitution Adjusted to Islamic Syariah, is expected to come out with recommendations on Islamic law and the re-inclusion of the Jakarta Charter, which has been demanded by puritanical Muslim groups.

The constitution is being amended by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Jakarta. Advocates have pledged to continue pressing their demands for syariah, although most political factions in the highest law-making body have refused it.

The 30 million-strong Muhammadiyah and the first largest Islamic organization in the archipelago, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which claims to have 40 million members, have also repeatedly voiced their objections, too.

"The planned congress is full of political nuances; instead of wasting resources to hold such talks, they should focus attention on other, more crucial issues -- such as how to improve the economy, clean up government corruption and better enforce the law," Syafi'i told The Jakarta Post.

NU Secretary General Muhyiddin Arubusman questioned on Sunday the need for such a forum but said it was still acceptable as long as it was a "scientific discourse".

"For NU, the issue of Islamic law is no longer relevant for discussion," he told the Post.

Muhyiddin denied his organization would send representatives to attend the seminar.

Mustofa Bisri, a co-chairman of the NU law-making body, voiced a similar opinion on Sunday, saying the seminar should not be responded to seriously as it was being sponsored by Islamic minority groups.

Nor should the media give the event wide coverage, in order to avoid giving undue publicity to their campaign for Islamic law, he said.

"The press should focus its coverage on events that are of most significance to the public at large, unlike such a seminar," Mustofa, better known as Gus Mus, told the Post.

Syafi'i further said he feared that the talks would only tarnish Islam's moderate face in Indonesia. "The congress will create an incorrect and unsavory perception of Islam," he said.

"People may start to think that Islam is cruel, that it seeks draconian laws that allow amputation," for crimes like theft, said Syafi'i, whose organization, along with NU, represented mainstream and majority Muslims in Indonesia.

Both organizations, which often differ in opinion regarding matters about religious and social affairs, recently won accolades for uniting to help keep the country intact and promote Islamic tolerance.

Moderate Muslim leaders have expressed concern over the radical groups' actions -- like raiding nightspots, especially during the holy month of Ramadhan, while saying they are the front line against prostitution.

However, many parties, including the esteemed Catholic scholar Franz Magnis Suseno, have claimed that these groups only represent minority Muslims.

Franz Magnis was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying on Saturday that "I don't see mainstream Muslims seeking to create an Islamic state" in Indonesia. "These noises are being created only by small, radical groups."

Syafi'i said that the government should be held responsible for the emergence of the Muslim radical groups. He added that the government's failure to uphold justice and improve economic performance had given rise to the mushrooming extremism.

"The government has failed to sweep away gambling dens, prostitution, which has prompted the radical groups to take the law into their own hands," he said. "Poverty is also another cause of radicalism."

Syafi'i said Muhammadiyah planned to hold intensive dialogues with the radical groups to promote the true face of Islam.

Despite Syafi'i's criticism of the seminar, vice chairman of Muhammadiyah's Consultative Assembly Fahmi Muqoddas on Thursday claimed his organization would send two delegates to the forum.

"We want to contribute our Islamic thoughts on how Muslims can understand syariah properly, and how it can be realistically applied, so that the Islamic law will not only be implemented for the benefit of Muslims, but followers of other religions as well," he said.

The recent meeting in Jakarta, which was attended by Syafi'i and NU chief Hasyim Muzadi, was also meant to serve as a rebuke to the sensationalistic coverage about Islam in Indonesia by the Western media.

Islamic radicalism in Indonesia came to the fore in Western countries following the U.S. government's allegation that a group of Indonesians were among those involved in the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

The U.S. has also named Indonesia as a country where Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist group has networks.