NU intellectual: Religious moderation does not mean moderating religion
Religious moderation means moderating the way we understand and practise religion.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) intellectual and artist Dr Ngatawi Al Zastrouw has stressed the importance of understanding the meaning of religious moderation, which does not mean moderating religion itself.
“Our moderation is religious moderation, not moderation of religion, because religion is already moderate,” he said at the National Reflection event titled “From Santri Students for the Nation: National Reconciliation and Nurturing Diversity” in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Al-Zastrouw underlined that what needs to be moderated is not religion, but rather the way human beings understand and practise religion.
He considered religious moderation to be connected to how a person understands and implements religious teachings in real life, especially when dealing with communities of different backgrounds.
According to him, moderation and tolerance are also not intended to change a person’s beliefs. On the contrary, both are needed to maintain and develop communal life.
The Director of Culture at the University of Indonesia (UI) also linked religious moderation to the long experience of the Nusantara people living in diversity. According to him, prolonged social interaction within a diverse society has shaped the elastic and flexible character of Nusantara culture.
Therefore, Indonesia’s diversity should not be seen as a newly emerging problem, but rather as part of the nation’s social and cultural experience.
“The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is the result of istikharah and riyadhah (ijtihad) by the ulama,” said Ngatawi Al-Zastrouw.
Furthermore, the caretaker of the Al-Hikam Depok Student Islamic Boarding School, KH Yusron Shidqi, explained that moderation is reflected, among other things, through tawasuth (taking the middle path), tawazun (balance), tasamuh (tolerance), and i’tidal (fairness/equality).
According to him, tolerance is not sufficiently understood as an attitude of simply leaving one another alone. Tasamuh must be realised proactively through cooperation.
“Nurturing diversity is not merely about leaving each other be or going our separate ways, but about bringing to life kalimatun sawa’ (common ground),” said Yusron Shidqi.