Muhammadiyah's move wins scholars' support

Yogita Tahilramani and Tertiani Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Noted scholars hailed on Monday a historic move by Muhammadiyah, one of the country's largest Muslim organizations, to introduce what it terms "cultural propagation", saying it would help Indonesia show the true teachings of Islam in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks on the United States.

Azyumardi Azra of the Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) said that whether it was the attacks on the U.S. or deadly conflicts in Poso, Ambon or Aceh, Indonesians needed to understand that "violence, like terrorism, is condemned by the Koran," as stated in a Koranic verse, the Al-Maidah 32.

This verse states that whoever kills a person without another person having been killed, or creates disturbances on earth, is guilty of killing the whole human race, while anyone who saves a life rescues the whole human race.

The dissemination of true Islamic teachings in a form that reaches all Indonesian people was one of several key decisions to emerge from Muhammadiyah's four-day annual meeting which ended on Sunday in Denpasar, Bali.

Cultural propagation has been defined as the dissemination of Islamic teachings wisely and modestly in a sophisticated, nuanced form.

Speaking on how to stop bloody ethnic and religious conflicts around the country, Azyumardi said that one way Muslims could learn about strengthening ties between themselves and non-Muslims was to emulate the Prophet Muhammad.

"The Prophet Muhammad himself, before he became a prophet, was exemplary in the way he dealt with Jews and Christians. There is no place for rioting or lawlessness in Islam," Azyumardi said.

"The Prophet Muhammad had good trade relations with Jews and Christians. See what we have done to the country now ... with conflicts in Poso, Ambon and Aceh."

Thousands have been killed in fighting between Muslims and Christians around Poso in Central Sulawesi and in Maluku over the past few years.

To understand the advantages of cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims, Azyumardi added, one only had to compare the peace pacts of the Prophet Muhammad with Jews and Christians, which were strictly observed, and what has been happening in our time.

Both Muhammadiyah and the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which claim memberships of 30 million and 40 million respectively, will meet, together or separately, with influential community and religious leaders to map out a vision for the future.

The second step will be to open communications with radical groups in Indonesia, which many consider to be showing the "brutal and heartless" face of Islam to the world at large.

Muhammadiyah executive Abdul Malik Fajar argued that the need to revive the "culture-based propagation" approach was aimed at maintaining the social ties at the grassroots level which have been the organization's strength since its establishment in 1912.

Malik, who is also the minister of national education, said that during the latest reevaluation and revitalization of Muhammadiyah following this year's annual meeting, the organization -- which is widely known as a perserikatan (union) -- had concluded that social ties among grassroots communities had been badly strained.

"This situation has been caused by political disputes between certain groups of people. We fear that should these conditions persist, with tension increasing and religious fights breaking out between communities, then matters will be more difficult to deal with," he told The Jakarta Post at his office on Monday.

Azyumardi added that to incorporate Islam in everyday life, Muslims also needed to reclaim the jihad concept and realize its true meaning, which was totally different from that promoted by some radical groups.

Jihad, he said, should be seen as a struggle for a nonviolent Indonesian society and strong economic growth.

"Jihad should include the potential to compete economically, and to bridge the gulf of scientific knowledge between Muslims and non-Muslims ... jihad is of no value if it does not bring us closer to non-Muslims," he said.

"If we accept jihad as it is being defined by oppressors and killers today, it will isolate Muslims, and will exclude them from being included in world development."