Muhammadiyah needs to focus on social concerns

Muhammadiyah needs to focus on social concerns

Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta

During one sermon, the founder of Muhammadiyah, Ahmad Dahlan,
elaborated on the Koranic chapter of al-Ma'un (concerning moral
decay and lack of care for others), which, to the bewilderment of
the audience, had been repeated during several sermons.

"Why are you repeating this?" asked one man in the audience.

"Do you really understood this chapter?" asked Ahmad Dahlan. "Yes,
Kyai."

"Have you practiced it?"

"Yes, Kyai, every time we pray."

"That means you haven't practiced it in everyday life," Ahmad
Dahlan admonished, while urging the audience to look around them
for the very poor, take them home, give them decent clothes,
food, and a room to stay.

The modest, but powerful responsibility greatly inspired some
Muhammadiyah members to reach out to society and meet needs,
which was later developed on a large scale -- covering schools,
orphanages and hospitals. Not only that, the organization set up
the distribution of zakat (the obligatory tax that Muslim must
give), which was vital for the poverty eradication at that time.
Furthermore, societies were advised to depart from irrational
practices such as visiting tombs to ask for blessing, and to
deconstruct people's extreme idolization of spiritual leaders.
Islamic scholars were not part of the official government
bureaucracy, but still secured prominent positions within
societies.

With the spirit of Islam, Muhammadiyah schools tactfully
adopted modern curricula, proved to have significantly
contributed to the empowerment of people, who had been grossly
marginalized both socially and economically during Dutch colonial
rule. At a time when patriarchy was so pervasive, Muhammadiyah
decisively addressed gender issues by establishing the autonomous
Nasyi'atul Aisyiyah.

Steadily, Muhammadiyah alumni took over public positions such
as physicians, teachers, bureaucrats and village chiefs, which
had previously been dominated by Dutch-educated people. Its
educational activities significantly functioned as agents of
social change within societies.

Furthermore, Muhammadiyah promoted democratic values by
emphasizing collective leadership, not individual, and pushing
for egalitarian discussions on social issues.

Likewise, Ahmad Dahlan was successful in spreading the
tolerant side of Islam by displaying humility and nurturing warm
relationships with leaders of Christian missionary groups in
Yogyakarta, such as Reverend Baker and others.

This was clear evidence of Ahmad Dahlan's commitment to
building a pluralistic society.

At present, Muhammadiyah has evolved into the second largest
Muslim organization in Indonesia with a huge number of
universities, schools, orphanages and hospitals spread throughout
the archipelago. Its grassroots members and alumni have spread
out and become prominent and active in both government and non-
governmental organizations.

Such a historical perspective makes it clear that Muhammadiyah
was never established to be directly "involved" in real politics,
was not, until the collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998.
During the euphoria of that time, its outspoken leader -- who was
also a prominent reformasi figure -- Amien Rais, established a
"Muhammadiyah political party" called the National Mandate Party
(PAN), which was formally based on a pluralistic platform.

Although it is not structurally under Muhammadiyah, the party
became a political vehicle for Muhammadiyah's members to channel
their political ambitions. Regrettably, Amien Rais never
succeeded in becoming the country's president. Later,
Muhammadiyah members became disappointed as many non-members of
Muhammadiyah used PAN to advance their political aspirations.
Worse still, PAN was attacked from many sides for having an
ambiguous ideology -- secularists accused PAN of being too
religious, while Islamists said too secular.

There are therefore several points to be considered. First,
the "political failure" of Muhammadiyah proved that Muhammadiyah
is not a political mass organization where the political leaders
could sway the members to blindly follow them. It is the result
of decades of educational activities where irrational worship
towards spiritual leaders had been deconstructed and replaced by
a rational way of thinking. The enlightened middle classes who
were socially active in muamalah tradition proved to be more
"social capital", rather than "political capital".

Second, it is also the nature of Muhammadiyah, whose members
have also become active in other societal or political
organizations. Uniting them in one political party proved to be
unsuccessful and instead weakened the powerful benefits of
spreading its members into other societal groups. Indeed, before
and right after independence, many Muhammadiyah figures had been
politically active, but their relationships were based more on
middle-class networks -- traders or government bureaucrats.

Third, a political party can gradually undermine the social
nature of the organization. During the heyday of PAN, for
example, many academics from Muhammadiyah universities
"abandoned" teaching and joined the party to become politicians
and inevitably got involved in "cheap" power struggles among
fellow members. If this trend continues, it could eventually
annihilate the educational nature of the organization.

Fourth, as there are always ongoing debates in any
organization, a political party can instead polarize Muhammadiyah
members. Some might manipulate the debates to amplify their
political standing in public, dashing the hopes to have
justifiable solutions. For example, the recent showdown between
the "puritans" and "inclusivists/liberals" can be unnecessarily
dragged into the political arena and threaten the cohesion of the
organization.

In conclusion, small sections within Muhammadiyah, who were so
"hungry" to form a new political party after being disappointed
with PAN, should think seriously before implementing the idea.
History tells us that Muhammadiyah was able to evolve into a
commanding organization only when it distanced itself from
practical politics. The noble agendas laid down by Ahmad Dahlan
of enhancing social empowerment through education and promoting
democratic virtues of tolerance, pluralism and egalitarianism
might never be achieved if politics is mixed in. In the long run,
making Muhammadiyah more socially inclusive, not politically
exclusive, is far more beneficial.

The writer is a lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah
Prof. Dr. Hamka and a former activist of the Muhammadiyah
Student's Association and Youth Islamic Study Club (YISC) Al-
Azhar Jakarta. He can be reached at
a.amirrachman@edfac.usyd.edu.au.