Muslim scholars warn 'syariah' revivalism
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Religious scholars expressed concern on Monday over mounting efforts by devout Muslims to demand the imposition of syariah (Islamic law) in their respective regions throughout the country.
The devout Muslims tried to use syariah as an alternative regime after learning that the conventional government regime failed to deal with the economic and moral crisis in the society, Azyumardi Azra said.
The effort to impose syariah, however, was challenged by Saiful Muzani, a PhD candidate from the U.S. based-Ohio State University, who said that "the effort is against democracy principle (in the country)".
"Judging from the fact that the government has failed to uphold the law and bring economic recovery, several outspoken Muslim hard-line organizations have turned to syariah as a sole elixir to deal with the problems," Azyumardi, rector of the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), told reporters in a press conference.
The press conference was held in conjunction with the institute's plan to hold a two-day conference titled "The Challenge of Democracy in the Muslim World."
Azyumardi said that Islamic revivalism had developed in the country after the reform era, which was marked by the downfall of the Soeharto regime in 1998.
He said that the Muslim community, including the hard-liners, hoped that the reform era would start the glorious era of the nation.
However, the hopes had faded away since the regime lost its authority before the people, including in law enforcement.
He said impatient Muslim hard-liners then questioned the authority of secular law to deal with the problem, and some of them, such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), often took the law into their own hands.
"What has happened in the capital, including discotheque raids by the FPI, is an entry point for regions, under the autonomy drive, to impose syariah in their own regions," he said.
He suspected that several parties in the regions had used syariah as a political commodity to win people's votes.
A clear example was carried out by the United Development Party (PPP) in West Sumatra, which had asked the local government to impose syariah law in the predominantly devout Muslim region.
Makassar in South Sulawesi has also geared up to impose syariah.
Saiful said the implementation of syariah in a pluralistic society such as Indonesia would only threaten religious harmony.
"If syariah is imposed here, it would subordinate other religious beliefs since we are a pluralistic society," he said, adding that "democracy requires civil liberty, including the practice of one's religious beliefs".
Saiful said that the two-day seminar, which was held by IAIN in cooperation with Ohio State University, would be attended by international speakers.
They included noted Muslim scholars from Mali, Senegal and others, who shared their concerns on why so few Muslim countries (11 out of 45 countries) were democratic.
The scholars will look for root causes as to why most Muslim countries were not yet democratic and will provide solutions for it, he said.