Islam in sociopolitical struggles

Dialog Keterbukaan, Artikulasi Nilai Islam dalam Wacana Social Politik Kontemporer (Dialog of Openness, Articulation of Islamic Values in Contemporary Sociopolitical Discourses); Dr. Nurcholish Madjid; Foreword by Fachry Ali; Yayasan Wakaf Paramadina, Jakarta, January 1998; viii + 366 pages

Theologically, Islam is a divine, and therefore, at the same time transcendent, system of values and teaching. However, from the sociological point of view, Islam is a phenomenon of civilization, culture and the social reality of human life.

In social reality Islam is not simply a number of doctrines which are contextual and universal in nature but it also manifests itself in social institutions affected by spatial and temporal situations and dynamism.

Therefore, talking about religious rites and ceremonies inherently means talking about social matters. In a philosophical study of the Islamic law, (ushul fiqh), for example, we often find that the adoption of Islamic laws is based on social problems.

This means that the Islamic law may be adopted and stipulated not on the basis of the Holy Koran, but on considerations of mutual benefit in a given society. As a result we can often find that the pattern and color of Islam in our country differs from the pattern and color of Islam in other countries. Social evils and virtues differ from one country to another, don't they?

This understanding is very important because it will lead us to an understanding of which part of a religion can and cannot be reformed. We will realize that innovation and creativity will always have its place in social and cultural problems although religious elements usually permeate these two areas.

This book contains the ideas of Cak Nur (as Nurcholish Madjid is popularly known), who tries to solve these seemingly contradictory problems. To him, the picture of Islam as depicted above, is of the particular and universal forms of Islam.

On the one hand, Islam is universal and is free from the influences exerted by local culture, but on the other, Islam must be present on earth and must be propagated and accepted by human beings in a form enveloped by the local cultures.

Therefore, the universal teaching of Islam can be understood only in the form of values and will come to man in the form or sense of culture.

It is in this cultural sense that Islam can appear in various patterns and colors. Therefore, Islam is known in history as a religion which can accommodate the local cultures existing in its surroundings. One statement is often mentioned by Cak Nur in his writings and this shows that he clings to the belief of maintaining old good elements and taking better new elements.

Another problem discussed in this book is the politics of Islam. When explaining the problem of the politics of Islam, Cak Nur says among other things that the politics of Islam is universal and is given its particular form in Indonesia.

In Cak Nur's evaluation, Indonesia, which has Pancasila as its state ideology, does not contradict Islam and reflects -- and therefore closely resembles -- the suggestions and principles set forth in the Koran.

Cak Nur calls Pancasila a common platform (or kalimat sawa' of all interests prevailing in Indonesian's pluralistic society. This term has been used not only because kalimat sawa' means a common point but because contextually the term is used in the Koran to show that theologically mankind must own and stick to a common point but also socially this point is a principle for secular transactions.

This is one rule of the game for everybody and it must be adhered to as a regulation which can guarantee and calibrate the freedom and the interest of each individual. By socially honoring the rule of the game, we help give birth to our individual freedom. This freedom will be exercised after each individual accepts and put into practice this common platform.

This book is a collection of interviews with Cak Nur in the mass media between 1970s up to 1996. Therefore, the themes and the ideas put forward are diversified and are in tune with the context in which the interviews were made.

So, the book can be taken while you relax as light reading. However, the themes and ideas in the book maintain their relevance today because they are concerned with important matters related to religion, culture, politics, education and so forth.

The collection of interviews in this book may lead to the raising of pros and cons among the readers. Debates about the ideas expressed in the book may enrich the wealth of ideas presented or may on the contrary lead to more debates beyond the context of the scope of the interviews.

In the first case, the reaction is based on a paradigm whereby the intellectual corridor is opened up through dialogs based on the ethics of rational communications while in the second case the reaction is born out of anxiety, prejudices and groundless fear. At this juncture, dialogs are not conducted openly.

If we read this book we can "read" the figure of Cak Nur, a Moslem intellectual with a great stake in the social and empirical problems of Moslems. His ideas try to strengthen and confirm the articulation of Islamic values in contemporary social and political discourses.

Eni Nur Husniyati is alumnus of the School of Dakwah, IAIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta.