In memory of Nurcholish and his Islamic Liberalism

Suratno, Jakarta

The late Nurcholish "Cak Nur" Madjid was always concerned with the issue of pluralism. This issue, even up to the death of Cak Nur, has become controversial among Indonesian people. Cak Nur for more than 20 years of his life, since his return from the U.S. after finishing his doctoral study at the University of Chicago, dedicated his whole life to the avocation of pluralism.

Throughout his life, although with different intensity and proportion, Cak Nur was concerned not only with pluralism but also with other issues of Islamic liberalism such as democracy, the fight against theocracy, secularization, Islam and modernity, freedom of thought and gender equity.

On the issue of democracy, he often explained that he rejected the idea of making Indonesia an Islamic state. For him, the concept of an Islamic state may be discussed but it does not contain religious sanction. Therefore, it cannot be considered similar to aqidah (Islamic theology), which is sacred. Due to its profane nature, the reason for establishing an Islamic state must be attributed to politics and not theology.

Based on the realities that the Koran does not explain explicitly the injunction for establishing an Islamic state, and historically there is no Islamic state that runs as a democracy, and the reality that Indonesia is a plural country in terms of religion, ethnicity, custom, language and so on, Cak Nur clearly states his rejection to the idea of establishing an Islamic state that has been promoted by some more fundamentalist and conservative Muslims in Indonesia.

For him, it was better to transform Islamic values into moral and ethic frame of society substantially and essentially rather than using the Islamic values to establish government systems and constitutions symbolically.

Cak Nur is widely known for his famous slogan "Islam Yes, Islamic Party No!" in 1970, when he was chairman of the Islamic Student Association (HMI). He put forward that slogan in order to campaign for the need for liberalization, secularization, intellectual freedom, progress and openness, as well as establishing liberal reformer groups.

At that time, Muslims in Indonesia had lost their ability and capacity as a psychological striking force. This can be seen by the number of Muslims that have spread larger and rapidly after the destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in the mid 1960s.

It was not actually clear whether religion is the most determinant factor or not, but there are only few people who are sympathetic and enter to Islamic parties.

Other reason given by Cak Nur to his slogan "Islam Yes, Islamic Party No" can be related to his idea and thinking on secularization. For him, secularization means every form of liberating development. This liberating process is needed due to the condition and situation of Muslim society that, because of the development of their history, cannot distinguish Islamic values from transcendental and temporal, or between sacred and profane.

Further, the hierarchy of values is often reversed, with the transcendental becoming temporal, and vice versa. He then, proposed a concept of secularization. By secularization he means making values temporal, which are in fact temporal, and to free Muslims from the tendency to spiritualize these values.

Also, he explains that secularization aims at strengthening human functions on earth as God's Caliphate. These functions gives ample room for human freedom to choose and determine themselves the ways and methods of improving their life on earth as well as giving legitimacy to human responsibility of their actions to God.

Even though it is still debatable, some experts say that there is no explicit concept of an Islamic state and Islam as a political system within the Koran. Therefore, to determine whether the political policy of a state is based on Islamic teaching or not does not depend on using an Islamic party and Islamic symbols, but on the content and substance as well as morality within a certain political system of state.

Cak Nur was also often concerned with the issue of Islam and modernity. It supports his idea and thinking on Islamic reform. This idea and thinking is a response of some Muslims to the modernization in Islam. Modernization, in the thought of Cak Nur before the 1970s, means thinking and working based on the law of nature and thus modernization is a human task due to the concept that the law of nature is under the control and command of God.

The characteristic of Islamic modernization, for him, is using Islamic teachings and its context to change society. Further, in facing the changing situation and conditions of society that are replete with challenges, Muslims should wake up and stop being left out of so many things.

There is a need for a new way of thinking within Muslim communities that is critical, dynamic and even romantic (remembering the golden age of Islam) positively and contextually according to the needs of a changing society. This means thinking in an opened minded, critical and contextual manner, and in a frame of freedom of thinking in order to create creativity and innovation in Muslim society that will lead them to another golden age.

On the issue of freedom of thinking, Cak Nur clearly explains it through his concept of al-hanifiyah al-samhah. He declared this concept in the beginning of 1990s when giving a cultural oration at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM). This concept of al- hanifiyah al-samhah is a guide in searching for the truth. For the highly respected scholar, humans will obtain truth when they make a continuous effort with an open, free, critical and contextual thinking.

Therefore, there are no places for the shackles of mind and thinking, and for the word "end" in searching for the truth. Freedom of thought will bring about creativity and innovative things. Meanwhile, the word "finished" makes people fall into the claim of truth of themselves, which is relative. Consequently, people will feel that they have the 'real' truth and that it is permissible for them to coerce others to understand their truth.

This is because they feel that they alone have the only standard of truth. People who have a different opinion are wrong and misled.

In addition, on the issue of freedom of thought, he explains his concept of Islamic pluralism through his concept of al- hanifiyah al-samhah in which pluralism means that every person or group have their own ways and methods of searching for the truth.

In a small way, Cak Nur was also concerned with the issue of gender equity. His ideas and thinking on gender equality started with his ideas and thinking on egalitarianism that were based on tauhid teaching. Tauhid, has an effect of self-liberation as well as social liberation that leads to an understanding of egalitarianism. Egalitarianism means human equity (al-musawah), and it is placed in the context of democracy and civil society.

The death of Cak Nur means only the loss of his body and material from our life. It does not mean that his spirit and soul are lost as well. They are still alive as we always try to realize it into our lives.

The writer is a lecturer at the department of philosophy and religions, Paramadina University, Jakarta. He can be reached at angel_banget@yahoo.com