Muhammadiyah, NU ponder joining hands in education

Leo Wahyudi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's two largest Muslim organizations, should join hands in promoting education to produce broad-minded Islamic thinkers with professional skills, a prominent Muslim scholar says.

Dawam Rahardjo of Muhammadiyah said the two groups needed to share their experiences in education, so they could cultivate a new breed of modern Islamic thinkers.

Muhammadiyah acknowledges it lags behind when it comes to religious thinkers because it focuses on improving the prosperity of its members by establishing of schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages and cooperatives.

Muhammadiyah has refused to focus on teaching Islamic traditions and Arabic, both essential for Muslim scholars (ulema). Instead, it develops a more Western-style education system.

As result, Muhammadiyah only produced new professionals and intellectuals, not Islamic thinkers in the real sense of the term.

In contrast, NU focuses on preserving Islamic traditions through its pesantren (boarding schools), where students learn classical manuscripts and modern sciences.

It's best known contemporary thinker is probably Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who became the republic's president for 20 months until he was impeached in July, 2001.

Although Muhammadiyah and NU are basically social, educational and religious organizations, they have set up their own political parties. Muhammadiyah has the National Mandate Party (PAN) and NU the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- and they are bitter rivals.

Dawam said NU and Muhammadiyah should tackle their respective shortcomings and combine their advantages in education in order to create new Islamic thinkers and professionals.

"There is a need for cooperation between NU and Muhammadiyah to achieve this goal through a sharing of their experiences," he said.

"Muhammadiyah should also develop the traditional educational system like pesantren, while NU should promote a modern educational system so as to produce more professionals."

Muhammadiyah has developed largely in urban areas in Java and Sumatra. It has been regarded as a modernizing force in the Islamic community. NU, on the other hand, is popular in rural Java and several parts of Sumatra and Sulawesi.

As it has lagged behind in producing new Islamic thinkers, Muhammadiyah may no longer be considered a pioneer in Islamic thought.

Mochtar Buchori, a noted educational expert from Muhammadiyah, said his organization had failed to produce more Islamic thinkers because it was obsessed with modernization and Western-style sciences, but at the same time overlooked theological knowledge.

The group, he said, had so far achieved only "pseudo-progress" instead of genuine advancement in Islamic modernization as it solely developed Western sciences without combining them with an understanding of Islamic traditions.

Mochtar said that unlike NU, Muhammadiyah was not willing to reexamine its long-held belief to grasp the essence of modernity.

Dawam said NU used its understanding of Islamic tradition and history to develop modern sciences among its members, while Muhammadiyah promotes more "secular" education, while paying less attention to religious teachings.

NU has even managed to pass its "post-traditionalist era" by combining Islamic traditions with left-wing thought and liberalism, Dawam said.

But, he said Muhammadiyah, which sticks to the Koran and hadist (the sayings and deeds of the prophet), has barely pushed for renewal due to its rigid doctrine of purification.

Dawam and Mochtar criticized their organization's members for taking for granted Western knowledge without critical thinking, which resulted in a partial understanding of modernity.

This places Muhammadiyah in a weak role in taking the lead in Islamic renewal on various controversial issues, such as gender, human rights, democracy and relations between state and religion, Dawam said.

Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Ma'arif admitted that his organization failed to "harmonize" secular sciences and religious knowledge in the modern Islamic community.

However, he categorically denied that Muhammadiyah does not produce new Islamic thinkers. He mentioned names like People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais and sociologist Kuntowidjojo as an example.

Facts and orientation

Muhammadiyah: * claims 30 million members * urban, modernist * founded in 1912 * focuses on modern sciences * has political party PAN

NU: * claims 40 million members * rural-based, traditionalist * founded in 1926 * focuses on religious education * has political party PKB