Indonesia to the rescue against radicalism

Indonesia to the rescue against radicalism

By Karim Raslan

KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic nation is
a bastion of moderate Islam. In the rush to categorize and
comprehend the causes behind the terrible loss of life in New
York and Washington D.C., few have stopped to consider the
republic's potential role for countering extremism.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to the U.S. should
remind Americans that most Muslims have nothing to do with
fundamentalists such as Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan's
Taliban. At this critical juncture it's also important to bear in
mind her nation's tolerant and accommodating Islamic milieu.

Despite its myriad problems, Indonesia represents a beacon of
hope for those disgusted and appalled by the abject failure of
Islamic practices in the Arab world and on the subcontinent.

Extremism and fundamentalism can only be countered from within
the faith. No amount of American intervention will ever turn the
tide against bigotry and ignorance. Too much meddling by
westerners could well radicalize the community even more.

Moderate believers must look to examples such as Indonesia,
where Islam has encountered and interacted with new and alien
forces. In Indonesia (and Malaysia to a lesser extent) science
and technology, commerce and modern management and the all-
important challenges of democracy, human rights and gender
equality are being tackled head-on.

In short, Samuel Huntington's diatribe, The Clash of
Civilizations, was wrong. Contrary to expectations the real
conflict ignited by the terrorist attacks is not between Islam
and an American-led, Judeo-Christian front.

The greater challenge is the struggle currently taking place
within the ummah (the Islamic community), between moderate and
progressive Muslims on the one hand and fundamentalist extremists
on the other. This battle for the hearts and minds of believers
will be fought on two fronts: the first is theological and
educational and the second concerns socio-economic issues and the
civil society agenda. In both cases the experiences of world's
largest Islamic nation, Indonesia will be critical.

Fundamentalist Muslims -- guided by the teachings of the 18th
century Arab preacher Abdul Wahab and shaped by the experiences
of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the late Pakistani Islamic
ideologue, Maududi, are of the opinion that all civil
institutions and human activity must be subordinate to divine law
as revealed in the Holy Koran and the Sunnah.

The Wahabis, followers of Abdul Wahab and heavily funded by
the Saudi government, reject local religious practices and
innovations. Shi'ite Muslims, for example, and Sufi sects are
vilified and treated as kafir or unbelievers. Advocating a return
to what they consider to be the fundamentals of the Holy Koran,
the Wahabis have dismissed all differing interpretations. With
their intolerance they have effectively destroyed the rich
diversity and discourse within the faith.

Moreover the Wahabi rhetoric, especially as propagated in the
Deobandi madrasah (religious schools) of Pakistan has been the
main source of the Taliban's ideological fervor. Concepts such
jihad are interpreted purely in terms of hatred and militancy,
with America and the Shi'ite Iran as the chief protagonists.

Indonesia is one of the few surviving centers of indigenous,
non-Arabic Islamic tradition. As Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, a leading
young Indonesian Islamic liberal thinker argues: "The Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU, with its 30 million members) and the equally numerous
Muhammadiyah are two pillars supporting the nation's tolerant and
moderate Islam."

The NU's pesantren (religious schools) tradition with its
emphasis on mastering the Arabic language and Islamic
jurisprudence bequeaths Indonesia with a large number of locally-
trained religious scholars. The commitment to Islamic education
is matched by a stunning readiness to embrace new ideas.

The resilience and innovation of celebrated Muslim scholars
such as Nurcholish Madjid and former president Abdurrahman Wahid
means that Indonesia has managed to stave off the Saudi-sponsored
Wahabi missionaries. Still, the popular mood can shift overnight.
Leaders such Megawati are keenly aware of the risks they are
taking in denouncing terrorism as "barbaric and indiscriminate".
There is always the danger of outraging the conservative
religious establishment and provoking unscrupulous opponents such
as Amien Rais, who are willing to employ inflammatory religious
rhetoric in order to further their political careers.

Unfortunately, her nation's precarious economic and political
predicament -- tied to whims of the all-powerful IMF, also serves
as a warning to Pentagon strategists because many moderate
Islamic governments are severely weakened.

Moderate Islamic democracies such as Malaysia, Indonesia,
Bangladesh and Turkey face similar challenges, though without the
advantage of Indonesia's thriving, independent Islamic tradition.

Of course these nations must also confront the deep flaws that
have fueled the rise of Islamic extremism within their borders. A
combination of political repression, corruption, mismanagement
has alienated many people from the idea of democracy, progress
and modernity. Furthermore ineffectual civilian governments
(often alternating with periods of military rule) have generally
been unable to tackle the iniquitous distribution of wealth or
alleviate mass poverty.

Moreover there is a danger that the principles that were the
hallmark of the supposedly modernizing elites -- secularism,
gender equality and liberalism -- have in many cases become
tainted by corruption and decadence. In Egypt for example in
1971, Jehan's Law (named after Anwar Sadat's blonde-haired wife)
with its ground-breaking reform of divorce law merely served to
increase tension between the state and the Islamicists.

Unsurprisingly, across the region the wealthy, westernized
elites -- often lacking in legitimacy and scornful of the mass of
the population -- have had to depend on the security apparatus to
maintain their hold on power.

Nonetheless the events in New York and Washington have served
as a wake-up call to moderate Islamic nations. In order to
withstand the coming shocks, these nations must address their
internal weaknesses: economically and politically. Only then can
they halt the seemingly endless slide towards Islamic militancy
and extremism.

At the same time greater effort must be made to expand the
breadth of religious education for young Muslims. Intolerance and
bigotry in the classrooms and seminaries has to be dealt with
head-on. It is also critical to curb the pernicious impact of the
Saudi-sponsored Wahabi teachings that can so easily be directed
towards militant ends.

Finally, moderate Muslims must explore Indonesia's vibrant and
indigenous Islamic traditions. The country's rich vein of Islamic
scholarship has embraced new ideas and sought to interpret the
Holy Koran in a manner that reveals its compatibility with
democracy, human rights, gender equality and social justice.

The writer is a columnist and lawyer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.