Muhammadiyah continues push for morality

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country, is certain to play a more active role in mediating and moderating the current political and social problems both on domestic and international levels because of its credibility and independence, says its chairman.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the organization's annual meeting in Denpasar, Bali on Friday, Ahmad Syafii Maarif said that as a moderate and nonpartisan organization, people still had trust in the organization.

Since its establishment in Yogyakarta in l912, Muhammadiyah has always been regarded as a force of renewal and modernization in the Islamic community. "We have been practicing 'high- politics,' a political movement based on ethics, morality and independence," Syafii claimed.

Domestically, Muhammadiyah can become "a balanced and unbiased referee to help any disputing parties reach a compromise," he said.

Internationally, Muhammadiyah can initiate international gatherings among Islamic or non-Islamic countries to discuss and mediate between the two parties.

But, more importantly, the organization wants to focus first on national problems.

"We are now living in a period where people live in a social, political and economic imbalances. Everybody is already sick and tired of seeing political leaders bickering with each other... They are like spoiled children," Syafii said.

What Muhammadiyah is urgently doing now is to aggressively spread its campaigns on morality and ethics because figures in political parties, legislative and executives are mostly insensitive and "turn a deaf-ear to the needs of the people."

Syafii said that Muhammadiyah had also been tasked to reveal the real portrayal of Islam and its people in Indonesia, as the most populous Muslim country in the world.

"I can assure the outside world, that radical and extremist Islam is not the mainstream movement in Indonesia. It is only a small minority group within the entire Muslim population in the country," Syafii said.

"Islam is a peace-loving religion...There is often misunderstanding and misperception among those who believe that the radical Muslims represent the entire Muslim community here," he added.

But, Syafii said everyone should understand why radicalism emerged here in Indonesia and elsewhere in the world.

In Indonesia, most of these people are the energetic and impatient youth who could no longer trust in the corrupt government system and impotent legal and security apparatus.

"They are also sick of seeing hypocrisy shown by our political leaders. They want instant change and abrupt action to stop any irregularities in society. What they are lacking is they do not equip themselves with intellectual instruments to articulate their ideas and to explain the motivation behind their radical actions," Syafii said.

"In the short-term, their actions might appear fruitful but certainly not in the long-term ... This is very dangerous if we idealize their actions. Militancy is always dangerous as it is always viewed through a pair of black and white spectacles," he said.

Our problems are now so complex that we cannot look at them as black and white only, he added.

Syafii went on to say that two of Indonesia's largest Muslim organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nadhatul Ulama (NU) had joined hands together to create a more loving and peaceful face of Islam through their religious, social and cultural propagations.

Syafii said more than 300 top executives from all of Muhammadiyah's chapters in Indonesia were taking part in the ongoing Tanwir (annual meeting) of the organization, which will end on Sunday.

"There are two main objectives of this year's meeting, internal and external ones," he said. "Internally, it is expected that all participants will have a similar frame of mind of what Muhammadiyah is fighting for."

"I really expect them to realize that the nation is facing very serious problems, so it requires prompt but wise actions if we want all of the organizations' ideas and policies to materialize."

He also expected both members and executives of Muhammadiyah would widen their radius of communication and open more dialogs with people of different religious, social and cultural backgrounds. "They should build better relationships, share and seek solutions to the nation's problems with everybody, even the atheist people," Syafii confirmed.

Conventional approaches to religious, social, and political problems must be left behind to adjust to the fast-growing, pluralistic society, he said.

Externally, Muhammadiyah will forcefully urge the government to improve the living conditions of the people and to be more focused on their programs.