Outcome of Ramadhan: Moderate personality
Outcome of Ramadhan: Moderate personality
Lily Zakiyah Munir, Director, Center for Pesantren and Democracy
Studies (CePDeS), Jombang, East Java, lilyzm@hotmail.com
Now that we have (almost) ended the fasting month of Ramadhan,
we should be asking ourselves, "What have we achieved from all of
the rituals during this holy month?"
The outcome of the Ramadhan rituals, as promised by God in the
Koran (al-Baqarah/2:183), is "the creation of a devout
personality".
Islam seeks to maintain equilibrium between two extremes:
Between absolutism and nihilism, and between excessiveness and
nothingness. An exemplary personality idealized by Islam is one
who can maintain two complementary dimensions of humanity: the
transcendental or vertical dimension of being a creature of God,
and the profane or the horizontal dimension of being a khalifah
(caliph). These two dimensions are referred to as hablun min
Allah (relationship with God) and hablun min al-naas
(relationship with other human beings). An equality between these
two dimensions will develop maturity and wisdom in one's life.
A survey by the Center for Islamic and Social Studies at the
State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
earlier this year revealed that more Muslims in large cities in
Indonesia were becoming more observant of religious rituals.
They practice their prayers, fast, go on the haj and attend
religious learning forums.
However, amid the increasing ritualism, the culture of
intolerance, violence, fanaticism, egoism, primordialism and
sectarianism has simultaneously increased as well. This means
that Muslims are trapped in formalistic piety and ritualism, and
have not been able to achieve social-substantive piety.
Their view of religious ibadah (worship) is based more on the
vertical dimension -- relationship with God -- and not brought
down to earth to embrace its social horizontal dimension --
relationship with other human beings.
Our challenge is, thus, how to transform transcendentally
oriented rituals into profane and transcendental orientation. In
other words, how to empower our daily attitude with the results
of our transcendental rituals such as prayer, fasting, reading
the Koran and going on the haj pilgrimage.
The Koran clearly advocates an equilibrium between the two
dimensions. Among the verses are the Koran al-Maa'un 1-6, which
reminds us that those who neglect orphans, do not care for the
poor, are reluctant to pay alms and belittle the meaning of
shalat (prayer) are considered to be religious hypocrites.
It is obvious that Allah is eager to have synergic
combinations of the two dimensions. As does the Prophet Muhammad.
One of the al-hadith explicitly states, "A Muslim will not be a
perfect believer unless he/she loves others like he/she loves
her/himself."
Another aspect is the promotion of anthropocentric theology.
This inclusive anthropocentric theology was successfully adopted
by the Prophet in disseminating Islam, by orienting his teachings
to the socio and psycho-humanistic conditions of the people in
general. This method proved to be effective in attracting
sympathies not only because of Islam's high moral and ethical
values, but also because of its emancipating and liberating
teachings. It responded to actual humanitarian issues prevailing
at that time such as slavery, oppression, injustice,
discrimination and other inhumanities. This shows that the
Prophet's teachings had a strong social dimension, directly
embracing human problems down on earth.
Nowadays, the moderate aspects of Islam are gaining momentum
for a revival. The stigmatization of Islam as a religion of
terrorism, radicalism, fundamentalism and extremism cannot be
blamed only on the West, because this stigmatization is also
caused by the attitude of many Muslims who prefer to prioritize
symbols over substance. This has become the biggest constraint in
realizing moderate Islam in Indonesia.
What should be done, then? There are at least three things
that we can do:
* Reconstruct anthropocentric theology by defining the meaning
of worship (devotion to God), to cover not only the
transcendental dimension such as prayer, fasting or the haj, but
also the humanitarian and social dimensions of the religion.
Aspects of human relations such as mutual help, tolerance,
honesty, politeness and respect for others are also part of the
ibadah, equally rewarded as the vertical ibadah. It is
interesting to note that social piety scores higher in the Koran
than transcendental piety (see Koran, al-Mukminun 1-10; al-
Baqarah 177; and al-Imron 136).
* Optimize the roles of the ulema, Muslim intellectuals and
religious teachers, in educating the public about anthropocentric
theology. Religious teachers are crucial agents of change and
they have the potential to build people's paradigm of the meaning
of ibadah. They are expected to give greater attention to actual
and contemporary issues faced by Muslim societies, such as
poverty, backwardness, lack of education, discrimination against
women and health problem.
* Encourage Muslims to engage actively in overcoming social
problems. Convince them that such humanitarian aspects score
equal to, or even higher than, the vertical dimension of ibadah.
Muslims should follow the example of the Prophet and the four
Caliphs who sacrificed everything they had -- time, money,
knowledge, even their own lives -- for the welfare and happiness
of their people.
The balance between transcendental ibadah and humanitarian
ibadah will make a society spiritually, physically and mentally
strong, which in turn will bring peace, welfare and happiness in
the world and in the hereafter.
This is in line with our "all-purpose" prayer (doa sapu
jagat), "Oh Lord, grant us goodness in this world and goodness in
the hereafter" (Robbanaa aatina fi al-dunya hasanah wa fi al-
akhirati hasanah.)
We hope that this Ramadhan will produce moderate personalities
because only such personalities will be able to show the peaceful
face of Islam as a friendly religion, in line with its mission to
bring blessings to the whole universe.