Islam in sociopolitical struggles

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.