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.