'Muhammadiyah needs to revive think tank'

By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Muhammadiyah has lost its character as a reformist Islamic movement, particularly concerning socio- political issues, largely because its think tank has been dormant, political observers say.

The Institute for Social Studies and Policies-making (Lembaga Hikmah dan Studi Kemasyarakatan), chaired by incumbent chairman Amien Rais, has been perceived as "barren" despite the fact that it is manned by prominent intellectuals.

Besides Amien, a scholar of Middle East studies, the institute boasts political scientists Arbi Sanit and Afan Gaffar, politician Din Syamsuddin, journalists Prijono B. Sumbogo from the banned Tempo weekly, and M. Syafii Anwar, now at Ummat magazine.

Although the 83-year old organization has vowed to shun politics, most observers agree it cannot entirely avoid entanglement and therefore needs clear policies on the issue.

Leading members agree with this line of thinking.

"Muhammadiyah won't be involved in practical politics, but neither should it be blind to it. It needs to understand political realities," said H.M. Sanusi, who is taking part in this week's Muhammadiyah congress here. "The organization must have clear guidelines about this position so that we won't crash onto 'political rocks'."

Educator Malik Fadjar, a member and rector of the Muhammadiyah University in Malang, East Java, and sociologist Syafri Sairin from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, agree that the think tank has not been functioning well.

Members appointed at the 1990 Muhammadiyah congress have only convened once in the five years, Syafri noted.

He regretted this condition, saying that the members, who are supposed to set up guidelines and formulate the organization's stance on political matters, must set their priorities right.

He charged that most of the scholars see the think tank as merely a second job. "This body has failed to do its job," he said.

The sluggishness of the think tank contributes to Muhammadiyah's ambivalence when facing many of the political controversies emerging in Indonesia, he said.

Malik expressed similar views, saying that as a movement of religious propagation, Muhammadiyah should be sensitive to existing political conditions.

"The organization doesn't exist in a vacuum, it interacts and is involved in the political arena," he said.

However, Malik believes that the institute may no longer be needed, given the rapid development of Muhammadiyah universities and colleges across the country. "We can, instead, develop centers for research and studies in the universities to take the institute's place," he said.

He regretted that Muhammadiyah failed to appreciate and implement the results of various studies conducted by its scholars.

A former member of the body, which was called Policy-making Bureau (Biro Hikmah) when it was established in the 1960s, agreed the institute should be revitalized in order to equip the organization to face future challenges and clarify its stance on various issues.

H.M. Sanusi, the ministry of industry in the late 1960s and once a leading member of bureau, said the body is instrumental in helping the organization sail between "political rocks".

"Religious movements can't be completely separated from politics... Muhammadiyah considers Islam as a complete building of civilization and politics are elements of that building," he said.

He pointed out that Muhammadiyah has learned from experience that mixing the rest of the elements of society with politics "would leave the organization vulnerable".

"It's vulnerable because the organization, in its activities, may sometimes go against the current, and those in power may just dissolve it," according to the member of Petisi 50, a group of staunch government critics.

Sanusi concluded that if mass organizations wish to survive, they should not be involved in practical politics, which he defined as "actively seeking seats in cabinet or parliament".

He did not see any contradiction in his concept of seeing Islam as a complete civilization, which includes politics, with his conviction that mass organizations will survive by shunning politics.

"The solution is to allow individual member to join political parties," he said. However, "this involvement should be accompanied with a strong commitment toward da'wah (religious propagation)."

Another former member of the body, A.M. Fatwa, said that at the time the think tank was established, Muhammadiyah decided that it should actively respond to various issues developing in society.

Eventually, though, the body started to focus more on political matters, especially after it included politicians as members, he said.

Among those members were Hasan Basri, now chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Anwar Harjono, former member of the now banned Masyumi party and chairman of the Indonesian Council for Islamic Propagation, H.M. Sanusi, intellectual Prof. H.M. Rasjidi, legislators KH Cholil Badlawi and Aisyah Amini, and ulema Army Col. (ret.) H.S. Prodjokusumo.