Muhammadiyah's mission
Muhammadiyah's mission
After four days of sometimes heated debate and deliberations,
Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah,
ended its 44th congress in Jakarta yesterday with the election of
a new executive board and readoption of Islam as its basic
philosophical principle, while maintaining its basic essence as a
non-political organization.
Under its newly reelected chairman, Syafi'i Ma'arif, the 30-
million strong organization which was established in 1912 in the
city of Yogyakarta by Ahmad Dahlan, a leading progressive Muslim
scholar of the time, can be expected to keep its distance from
political parties and remain committed to its original role as a
non-political organization devoted mainly to the causes of
education, health and the economic advancement of the indigenous
Indonesian population.
To understand the importance and the wisdom of this decision,
it is useful to remember that at the time Ahmad Dahlan founded
the Muhammadiyah organization in 1912, the overwhelming majority
of Indonesians -- with the exception of a handful of privileged
bumiputera (indigenous people) -- were living in a state of
backwardness and ignorance.
Ahmad Dahlan and his co-workers were among the very few
Indonesians who saw the degrading nature of such a situation and
understood that allowing it to continue would forever keep
Indonesians an underprivileged class in their own country.
Under the old colonial system at the beginning of the last
century -- and indeed up to the outbreak of World War II -- the
best education and health care were the privilege of the Dutch
and only a handful of Indonesians, mostly children of the
colonial bureaucracy and the local aristocracy.
Thus Muhammadiyah began its work as a true agent of change.
Together with nationalist-based organizations such as Taman
Siswa, which was born also in Yogyakarta and spread from there to
other areas of the country, Muhammadiyah began to set up modern
schools and hospitals to bring "western" education and health
care within the reach of the common Indonesian.
From this simple beginning the organization grew to what it is
at present: Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization
devoted to the advancement of the people. As in the early days,
the work which Muhammadiyah has set itself to accomplish is still
important. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that now, more
than at any other time before, the challenges in this field are
bigger than ever.
Muhammadiyah at present runs educational institutions from the
lowest grades up to university level. There is hardly a city in
this country where Muhammadiyah schools cannot be found. The same
is true for hospitals, public health centers and other social
welfare establishments such as elderly homes. It must be said,
however, that the quality of those institutions often leave more
than a few things to be desired.
Generally speaking, Muhammadiyah schools and social welfare
establishments generally still do not enjoy the same good
reputation that other religious establishments of the same nature
do. This is a challenge that Muhammadiyah cannot afford to
ignore. Together with the rest of the world, Indonesia has
already entered the third millennium. New challenges await to be
answered.
If Muhammadiyah is to effectively lead Indonesians --
Indonesia's Muslim population in particular -- into the new
millennium, it will have to work hard to close the gap. It is
encouraging in this context to note that a younger generation of
leaders has emerged to lead the organization into the future.
Having chosen to stay on its initial path, we are confident that
Muhammadiyah under its new executive board will be able to lead
the nation on the way to greater advancement in the years to
come.