Formalization of 'syariah' feared to spark problems

Formalization of 'syariah' feared to spark problems

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Religious scholars and activists said on Friday that the
inclusion of syariah (Islamic law) into formal legislation would
be problematic because of various interpretations held among the
Muslim community.

Nasaruddin Umar of the Jakarta-based State Institute of
Islamic Studies (IAIN) said that the lack of expert knowledge of
the syariah, particularly in dealing with Islamic political
strategy, would prove another problem in its implementation.

Nasaruddin was one of the speakers at a year-end discussion on
the New Formulation of Constitution and Syariah Law organized by
several women organizations on Thursday.

He said that Islamic boarding schools had never taught syariah
and explored political strategy in Islam because it had been
prohibited during the Dutch colonial days.

"The lack of syariah experts on political strategy will cause
problems when various regions in Indonesian seek to apply the
law," Nasaruddin said.

Other speakers of the discussion included Nursyahbani
Katjasungkana of Advocacy for Indonesian Women at the Legal Aid
Institute; Lily Munir, an expert at the office of the state
minister of women's empowerment; Lies Marcoes-Natsir, a former
member of the Indonesian Ulemas Council; Heriyanto of the
Indonesian Religious and Peace Conference; Robert Borong of the
Theology College in Jakarta and Huzaimah Tahido of IAIN.

They inclusion of syariah, particularly the seven words of the
Jakarta Chapter, which obliges Muslims to abide by Islamic
teachings, into the 1945 Constitution has been received
positively by several Islamic parties.

But the idea to reinsert the seven words, dropped from the
preamble of the 1945 Constitution as a compromise among the
nation's founding fathers, was rejected by a majority of
legislators in the People's Consultative Assembly during its
recent Annual Session.

Heriyanto said the inclusion of the syariah in the nation's
legislation could be considered discriminatory against
Indonesia's minority groups.

"Even within Islam itself, there have been differences. How
can syariah be applicable in such a diverse society," asked
Heriyanto, who is a Catholic reverend.

He said that the proposal to include syariah in the
Constitution is based more on political motives than religious
considerations.

Robert added that formalizing syariah in Indonesia, would mean
ignoring the country's pluralism.

He shared Heriyanto's remarks that the inclusion of syariah
into formal legislation could be interpreted by other religions
as using Islam as a political instrument.

According to Huzaimah, the content of syariah had already been
accommodated in the Constitution, as well as in various laws and
regulations so its formalization would not be necessary.

Huzaimah also said that the syariah constitutes one of the
main references for the Criminal Code bill currently being
prepared by the government.

Like other laws, Nursyahbani added, syariah abided with the
principles of human rights -- democracy, opposing corruption,
collusion and nepotism (KKN).