NU sets double standard on bribery
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post/Surakarta
Paying money to officials or brokers in order to obtain posts in governmental agencies that require a civil service exam is considered a bribe, which is forbidden, or haram, under Islamic law, according to a regulatory commission of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
However, the payment of gratuities is halal -- permitted under sharia -- if prospective civil servants pass their exam, but are barred from assuming the posts unless they paid money, added the nation's largest Muslim organization.
"It means a dloror (emergency) situation, which permits Muslims to pay a bribe in order to claim their rights," senior cleric Masyhuri Na'im said on Wednesday. Masyhuri was chairing a commission meeting on contentious, contemporary Islamic issues.
Asked who would determine that a case was an emergency situation, Masyhuri replied: "Anyone, but they must follow the basic principles of dloror as regulated by Islamic law."
For example, he said, eating a pig was haram for Muslims except in certain emergency cases, such as serious health problems that required the consumption of the animal or parts of the animal for treatment.
However, the NU agreed that receiving a bribe from prospective civil servants in any situation was strictly haram.
Bribery was one of four controversial issues discussed by the commission during the five-day NU national congress in Surakarta, Central Java, which will end on Thursday.
More than five hours was needed by the commission to resolve the bribery issue concerning prospective civil servants, as its members -- all experts in sharia law -- strongly defended their respective arguments.
Among the three other issues -- DNA testing to determine bloodlines, localizing prostitution and capital punishment for drug dealers -- the bribery issue raised the most heated debate.
A participant proposed that bribery be declared haram so as not to provide any opportunity for the people, particularly Muslims, to commit bribery under any circumstances.
The commission rejected the suggestion unanimously, but did not provide a clear explanation for its decision.
In response to the double-standard ruling that allowed bribery in emergencies, several observers of the meeting questioned the organization's commitment to eradicating corruption.
Bribing officials and other authorities for civil service posts is common practice in Indonesia.
The commission agreed to forbid the use of DNA tests to determine spiritual ancestry, even though the scientific method could prove biological bloodlines.
"However, this method can be used to confirm the termination of family lines under sharia," Masyhuri said.
He said under Islamic law, spiritual ancestry was determined through the confessions of the concerned parties, or via witnesses who testified that the concerned parties were related.
This also means that two biologically unrelated people can become legitimate relatives if both declare it.
The DNA testing issue was important, as it concerned the legacy of material inheritance and legitimacy of heirship, as well as the religious legitimacy of a marriage.
The NU has banned localizing prostitution -- of organizing commercial sex workers within a particular area -- as doing so would mean to tolerate and accept the vice, which was haram.
On capital punishment for drug dealers, the NU sided with the government's policy, despite the strong objection of human rights activists. The organization argued that a drug dealer committed an extraordinary crime that caused worldly destruction and the death of others, and thereby deserved to be sentenced to death.
"Allah commands us so," Masyhuri said.