Muhammadiyah: Between liberalism, radicalism and pluralism
Muhammad Nafik The Jakarta Post/Malang
In villages across Java, you will rarely find Muhammadiyah Muslims and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslims praying together in the same mosque. It is even rarer to find them living peacefully alongside members of different religions.
Many rural Muhammadiyah members refuse to pray with NU members, despite the fact that they belong to the same religion, the only difference being the organizations to which they are affiliated.
NU members often show a similar reluctance.
Top leaders of the country's two largest Muslim organizations frequently appear hand-in-hand in public, urging a similar unity among their members. But these exhortations have changed little at the grassroots level.
There continues to be a religious "competition" among rural members of both organizations, which has developed into a fierce political rivalry.
Muhammadiyah and the NU have failed to rid themselves of differences in practicing Islamic rituals, and they have failed to come together and work toward solving the intricate problems faced by the nation.
The word "pluralism", so often thrown around by officials of both organizations, remains missing at the grassroots level.
Muhammadiyah founder Ahmad Dahlan and NU founder Hasyim Asy'ari established a close personal friendship.
That bond should have been the inspiration for developing a wider relationship between the two organizations at all levels, along with promoting interfaith dialog.
The NU's current chairman, Hasyim Muzadi, and Muhammadiyah leader Ahmad Syafii Maarif have followed in the footsteps of Dahlan and Asy'ari by forging a personal relationship, but lower- level officials in both organizations seem unable, or perhaps unwilling, to follow suit.
Muhammadiyah's reform movement is aimed mainly at purifying Islamic practices in the country by removing all traces of takhayyul (mysticism), bid'ah (local traditions) and churaffat (traditional nonreligious beliefs). This puts the organization in direct conflict with the NU, which continues to embrace and respect local traditions as part of its principle of revitalizing Islam.
Muhammadiyah, often identified more with middle-class Indonesian Muslims and which claims to be the more modern and moderate of the organizations, is now facing the challenge of how to deal with its pluralistic members.
Some Muhammadiyah members embrace Islamic radicalism and are pushing for an Islamic state, although this is not the organization's policy.
At the same time, there is the "liberal" thinking of members of the Muhammadiyah Young Intellectuals Network (JIMM).
Similar to the high-profile Liberal Islamic Network (JIL), JIMM introduces its ideas in a nonconfrontational manner. Despite that, JIMM faces strong opposition from both inside and outside Muhammadiyah.
Critics often equate JIMM with JIL, which, they say, spreads a deviant form of Islam by introducing liberal thinking in the interpretation of religious teachings.
The ongoing six-day national congress of Muhammadiyah in Malang, East Java, should create clear policies for dealing with the internal conflicts in the organization between radicalism, liberalism and pluralism.
With a new chairman to be elected during the congress, it is hoped Muhammadiyah will take a more aggressive stance against radicalism, while at the same time playing a greater role in campaigning for pluralism.
In pushing for the reform movement, Muhammadiyah should not stick only to fighting takhayyul, bid'ah and churaffat in traditionalist Islam, but should move to be more progressive in Islamic thinking.
The introduction of different modes of thought should not be seen as a virus undermining Muhammadiyah.
Young Muslim scholars in Muhammadiyah are acquainted with Western ways of thinking in understanding Islamic teaching. This adds to the suspicion that their thoughts on Islam are not genuine.
The conservatives accuse the liberal intellectuals of trying to destroy Muhammadiyah and Islam.
Such misleading claims should be discussed within the organization before they cause serious damage.
The organization's focus on education and charitable activities needs to be maintained, but it should also not stop campaigning for a more moderate, progressive and pluralist Islam.
In this sense, cooperative efforts by the NU and Muhammadiyah to design and implement programs to combat endemic corruption should be expanded to fight religious radicalism and conservatism.
Compared to the NU, Muhammadiyah is less progressive and aggressive in promoting a tolerant and peaceful Islam.
Remedying this will be one of the main tasks of Muhammadiyah under its new leadership.