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.