In memory of Nurcholish and his Islamic Liberalism

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