Muhammadiyah keeps out of political power play

Muhammadiyah keeps out of political power play

By Santi WE Soekanto

JAKARTA (JP): Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's reformist Moslem
organization, will reaffirm its policy of keeping out of politics
when 2,500 of its leaders meet in Aceh in July.

"Muhammadiyah will never get involved in power politics,"
chairman of the 28 million-member social education organization,
M. Amien Rais, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Quoting a former Muhammadiyah leader, the late A.R.
Fachruddin, Amien said that the organization would not "bow to,
much less suck up to the power holder. Neither will it adopt a
confrontational stance towards the government".

Muhammadiyah wishes to be on equal footing with the power
holder, said Amien, who is well-known as an expert on the Middle
East at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.

"And at the same time, we hope we can remain critical (about
the situation)," he added.

Amien said that the organization's resolve to stay out of the
political whirlpool, despite the many attempts to drag it into
politics, was probably the secret of its longevity as an
organization.

Muhammadiyah will celebrate its 83rd anniversary in November.
It currently has about 28 million members, both in rural and
urban areas of Indonesia. It has established about 5,000 mosques,
16,000 schools, 114 universities and colleges, hundreds of
orphanages, dozens of hospitals and hundreds of health clinics.

Amien, whose chair will be up for grabs at the July congress,
said he would ensure that Muhammadiyah kept its distance from all
political organizations.

The organization would strive to maintain its independence by
not asking for too much assistance from any party, including the
government, he said.

Founded in 1912 by respected scholar Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan in
the ancient Javanese city of Yogyakarta, the organization has
been distinguished by its spirit of "enlightenment" since its
birth.

One of the raison d'etre of its establishment was to purify
the practice and rituals of Islam, which at the time were marred
by superstition and polytheism, Amien said.

In contrast to the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama, another
major rural-based Moslem organization which currently boasts
about 30 million members, Muhammadiyah members have remained
relatively free from political squabbles.

Historically, the two organizations have often differed on
many issues, from the practice of religion to politics. They have
even disagreed on the astronomical determination of Islamic holy
days.

Amien said that the upcoming 43rd congress would be
"strategic" in nature as it would be the last congress that the
organization would hold this millennium. It would, therefore,
discuss ways to prepare its members for the greater challenges
that the 21st century would bring, he said.

The congress will discuss human resource development,
restructuring of the organization, consolidation efforts, the
organization's stance on politics, and fund mobilization.

"We'll try to visualize the future in this congress. We'll try
to work out what Indonesian society will look like in the 21st
century: sociologically, politically and culturally," he said.

The organization plans to "reorient and sharpen the focus of
its stance on politics and its vision for the future", Amien
said.

Amien indicated that there might be some drastic changes to
the organization, especially concerning its gender-based
activities.

Muhammadiyah currently draws a sharp distinction between the
activities of its male members, on the one hand, and its female
members, on the other. The women, for instance, are grouped in
the Aisyiyah sub-organization.

The congress will also discuss ways to reach out to certain
members of society, such as fishermen and industrial workers, who
may have been neglected so far.

Muhammadiyah will also discuss ways to achieve financial
independence and to foster entrepreneurship among its members.

President Soeharto is expected to open the congress, while a
number of cabinet ministers have already stated their willingness
to address it.

While hoping that the congress would go smoothly, Amien
expressed concern that elements in the organization might engage
in political maneuvering to further their own interests.