No organization can survive with mediocre supporters: Syafii

No organization can survive with mediocre supporters: Syafii

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Ma'arif reminded his supporters on
Sunday that no civilization or force in the world could survive
with only mediocre supporters who were unable to anticipate the
future and who thought only about the present.

"Quantity yes, but it should be accompanied by quality,"
Syafii said in an address in front of 40,000 supporters of
Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization at the
commemoration of its 90th anniversary at Mandala Krida Stadium.

The 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah was established on Nov. 18,
1912, or Dzulhijjah 8, 1330 according to the Hijriyah Islamic
calendar, by a noted Muslim preacher named Ahmad Dahlan.

Also present at the ceremony were Minister of National
Education Malik Fajar, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono
X, Muhammadiyah's vice chairman Dien Syamsudin and local
Muhammadiyah executives.

Quoting government data, Syafii said that the best high school
owned by Muhammadiyah ranked only 40th in the country.

"This is deplorable, isn't it? That's why I urge Muhammadiyah
activists not to focus only on quantity alone but give more
emphasis to improving the quality," he added.

The Muhammadiyah, Syafii said, was established in the middle
of a very strong Javanese culture. However, the Yogyakarta
palace, as the center of Javanese culture, did not see it as a
threat, thanks to the modern Islamic thinking that the founding
fathers of the organization had at that time.

"The underdeveloped Muslim community at that time would not
have been able to face the challenge if the organization's
Islamic thought had been traditional," he said, underlining the
need for forming a progressive Islamic movement, which was still
within the framework of the faith.

"Ahmad Dahlan was known as a very humble kyai (Muslim elder)
whose thoughts were far beyond his time. He had deep
relationships not just within the Muhammadiyah or the Muslim
community, but also with non-Muslims and nationalists," Syafii
said.

Speaking separately to The Jakarta Post, Syafii said that the
Muhammadiyah urgently needed to improve the quality of its human
resources.

"In fact, this is the toughest challenge that we face," he
said.