Nurcholish must share his thoughts with the world

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post

A modest symposium was held recently on Nurcholish Madjid, one of Indonesia's most revered Islamic scholars. Apart from celebrating the 66th birthday of the intellectual, the symposium was held in conjunction with the seventh anniversary of the university he founded, Paramadina Mulia University. Nurcholish himself was not present at the March 17 to March 19 event, held on the campus of Paramadina Mulia, having been discharged from a Jakarta hospital only last week after a long illness.

Nurcholish certainly deserved to be the topic of discussion. His thoughts on Islam in Indonesia, while being extremely influential, often amazed his compatriots with their boldness, freshness, depth and progressiveness.

His farsightedness and reform mindedness have been widely acknowledged since the 1970s. In the early 1990s, Nurcholish jolted his peers by coining the catchphrase: "Islam Yes, Politics No", in protest of the politicization of the religion. Around that time, Nurcholish, a former leader of the Muslim Student Association (HMI), was deeply saddened to find that many of the association's officials were involved in corruption. He asked for the association to be dissolved.

His wide interests included Islam and Indonesian culture, politics, theology, democracy and modernization. Nurcholish's progressive thoughts were often met with fierce opposition, especially from traditionalist Muslims. But rather than impoverishing Islam in Indonesia, the discussions and arguments between the two sides tremendously enriched it.

During the symposium, his admirers agreed that Nurcholish had laid down a modern Islamic theology. A strong believer in modern concepts of democracy, a plurality of political ideas and civil society, Nurcholish has argued that these issues are compatible with Islam and with Indonesia. Hence, he is credited with helping to change the way people understand Islam.

In sum, it is difficult to imagine Islam in Indonesia without Nurcholish. If Islam in Indonesia today looks more inclusive, tolerant and gentle than in many other countries, this is because of the contributions of people like Nurcholish. If younger Muslim scholars are comfortable talking about civil society, human rights and democracy, it is partly because of the work done by Nurcholish.

Catholic priest Franz Magnis-Suseno made a very important suggestion during the symposium when he said that Nurcholish's works should be translated into English and Arabic. This should be possible considering that Nurcholish is an alumni of the University of Chicago in the U.S. World scholars, especially in the West, too often complain that although Indonesia has a lot of Islamic scholars of high caliber, they have very seldom written books. Indonesian scholars have made little impact on the global community of scholars in comparison to scholars from other countries such as India, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Magnis-Suseno said that Nurcholish's ideas on inclusive Islam were nothing less than thinking on a world level. Nurcholish believes that what counts in God's eyes is one's state of mind, which is submission to God, as religion is a mere formal symbol. This comes down to a belief that someone can be accepted by God irrespective of their religion. This effectively nullifies the widely held belief in the Muslim world that anyone who is not a Muslim is a kafir (non-believer).

Political analyst Bachtiar Effendy said during the symposium that Islam was not just a local issue, but had become an international one, citing terrorism and advancing technology as examples. Muslim leaders today, he said, must be prepared to answer questions related to these issues.

The turn of the century saw the ascendancy of religious issues, particularly relating to Islam. A pluralist country like Indonesia, with a long intellectual tradition in its Muslim boarding schools, is well placed to contribute a great deal to global thinking on Islam.

It is a challenge for young thinkers like Ulil Abshar-Abdalla to bridge the divide in intellectual discourse between Indonesia and the rest of the world.

The author is a staff writer of The Jakarta Post.