Muhammadiyah urged to address poverty
Muhammadiyah urged to address poverty
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Muhammadiyah is set to begin a six-day national congress in the
East Java city of Malang on Sunday, with many saying it is called
to help the nation address its intricate social and cultural
problems.
The 30-million strong Muhammadiyah, which is considered to
represent middle-class or urban Muslims in Indonesia, has been
told to pay serious attention to the real poverty-rooted problems
that most people are facing.
Some of the challenges for the country's second largest Muslim
organization are how to help resolve systemic and endemic
corruption, religious radicalism, terrorism, poverty, health
problems and other social ailments.
"The polio virus outbreak and widespread malnutrition make us
increasingly aware that Muhammadiyah is actually one of the
national elements facing such complicated problems," Muhammadiyah
chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif was quoted by Antara as saying on
Friday in Malang.
He appealed to participants of the 45th congress to take into
serious account the current health problems and make donations
for those afflicted by malnutrition and polio.
Muhammadiyah has been teaming up with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
the country's biggest Muslim organization, to support the
national anticorruption campaign by first fighting graft
practices within their own organizations.
The upcoming congress is expected to outline a clearer vision
for Muhammadiyah in its efforts to combat corruption widely
blamed for poverty.
Another crucial issue is religious radicalism or terrorism,
which Muhammadiyah has so far appeared not to have dealt with
aggressively enough.
How to strengthen its stance and encourage Muhammadiyah
members and other Muslims to embrace religious pluralism and
moderation as well as to promote interfaith dialog, is another
essential challenge.
"Even though Muhammadiyah's ideology has been regarded
'puritan' in terms of religious political expression, it remains
moderate and tolerant.
"Yet, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that both Islamic
liberalism and conservatism present challenges for the
organization," said Hilman Latief, a lecturer from the
Yogyakarta-based Muhammadiyah University.
The congress, to be held on the campus of Malang's
Muhammadiyah University, will be opened by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono on Sunday and closed by Vice President Jusuf
Kalla on July 8.
Thousands of supporters and participants will attend the
national meeting to elect a new Muhammadiyah chairman. Incumbent
Syafii Maarif, 70, has announced he would not run for reelection.
Strong candidates to replace Syafii include his current deputy
Din Syamsuddin, former education minister Malik Fadjar and
activist Rosyad Sholeh.
Among other nominees are current education minister Bambang
Sudibyo and his predecessor Yahya Muhaimin.
Syafii has said Muhammadiyah is asking President Susilo to
give Rp 1 billion (US$103,092) to help it organize the national
congress.
Congress committee chairman Muhajir Effendi confirmed
Muhammadiyah's request for assistance from the President, but
denied the reported nominal amount as specified by Syafii.
The committee has also received donations from government
agencies in East Java and national businesspeople to help finance
the congress, Muhajir added as quoted by Antara.
However, the overall cost for the event remains unclear.