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.