'Muhammadiyah needs to revive think tank'

'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.