It's time Indonesia hosted an international conference on true jihad

Hikmat Sanusi Tangerang

Prof. Dr. Azyumardi Azra, rector of state Islamic University (UIN), has a very clear vision about the kind of jihad practiced by terrorists. "They fail to understand that they have failed to conduct the highest form of jihad, which is to control their emotions," he said in an interview with ANTV on Tuesday

Azumardi said he had read the Koran and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, but nowhere had he found any teachings that advocated killing innocent people in the name of Islam. "So it is the terrorists' perception of the concept of jihad hat is totally wrong."

Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla appeared on Metro TV along with ulema in a special gathering to watch messages that had been taped by the suicide bombers responsible for the most recent attack in Bali. The message from these terrorists was clear: The terror they are waging, which they call jihad, is against the United States, Britain, Australia and Italy. Osama bin Laden had previously declared several countries, including those countries, as enemies of Islam.

The Bali bombers are closely connected to Dr. Azahari, who, along with Nurdin M. Top, are key figures in Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which has been classified by the United States as a terrorist organization. Azahari was shot to death by police in a raid in Malang early this month.

Azumardi is right to say the terrorists are not acting according to the true religious teachings about jihad, because so many innocent people, including Muslims, have been killed by the terrorists' bombs. Look at the blast that killed 22 people at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. The victims were Indonesians and they were Muslims.

One of the biggest issues in Indonesia at the moment is how to synchronize Muslims' perceptions about jihad. Many Muslim leaders have said that jihad can mean going to war if the context is self-defense.

But the terror attacks in Indonesia have not been defensive, but have been randomly offensive and against innocent people. It is therefore urgent for Muslim leaders and organizations from Indonesia and other countries to hold open forums where scholars and religious leaders can discuss and formulate a common perception on jihad and disseminate the results to the rest of the Muslim world.

Reaching a consensus on true jihad in the current context is very important for Indonesia and the rest of the Muslim world because this would let the whole world know the true meaning of jihad. Apart from that, an international consensus of this kind could be used as the basis against which Muslims would in the future react to any struggle prompted by people who claim to represent the religion.

Recently, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), KH Hasyim Muzadi, said that jihad through terrorism was wrong and that a true jihad would be something like helping to improve the living standards of the millions of poor people.

But as is usually the case, there is a big gap between such a noble interpretation of jihad and the interpretation of millions of people in Indonesia and the rest of the Muslim world. Even among ulema, diverging perceptions exist on this issue.

This demonstrates the urgency of synchronizing perceptions on Islamic jihad to the extent that Muslim leaders share a common concept of jihad.

The effort of synchronizing perceptions on jihad is itself a big jihad for Indonesia and the rest of the Muslim world. In other words, before rushing out to do perform jihad to fulfill the call of the religion, let us begin by comprehending exactly what is it that is supposed to be done.

As home to the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia has the responsibility to conduct a jihad to straighten out the idea of jihad. Once that is done, religious leaders can formulate a common agenda so the world will know the extent of Islamic jihad that will be executed around the world.

Knowing that Vice President Jusuf Kalla is following the developments very closely, shall we challenge him to pioneer an international conference as proposed here? This would further boost his reputation as a man of many hats, of which Indonesia could be proud.

Hikmat Sanusi is a student at Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, California. He is currently doing research in Indonesia for his master's degree in political science. He can be reached at hikmat@mailpanda.com.