Pluralism within Islam

After Indonesia's success in hosting an interfaith dialog involving 39 Asian and European countries in Bali last week, the nation would do well to address a no less pressing issue at home: promoting an intra-faith dialog, more specifically among different Muslim groups. The predominantly conservative Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is about to close the door on any further dialog in the search for truth if it goes ahead with issuing a fatwa (edict) that would effectively ban liberal interpretations of Islam.

We already know how destructive some MUI fatwas can be.

Last week's mob violence against the followers of Ahmadiyah in Parung south of Jakarta was prompted by a fatwa that does not recognize the sect, which has it origins in what is now Pakistan, as Islam. Police stood by while the attack by some 10,000 people was taking place. Later, police escorted the Ahmadiyah followers to leave the sect's compound in Parung, "for their own safety" and thus virtually closed down the complex.

In May, police arrested Yusman Roy, a preacher in the East Java town of Malang for conducting bilingual prayers (in Indonesian and Arabic) with his followers. Police acted upon an MUI fatwa that says the practice was causing public unrest.

In both these instances, the public unrest was the reason that prompted the police action rather than the practices that the MUI found objectionable. And in both these instances, we know that the unrest was caused by the fatwa rather than the practices.

The authorities were right in not acting upon the MUI fatwas that demanded the outlawing of Ahmadiyah and the bilingual prayers. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom to practice our faith. The government has no right to regulate what we believe in or how we practice our belief, so long as we do not violate any laws. Neither Ahmadiyah nor Yusman were breaking any state laws, no matter what the MUI says.

But the authorities were dead wrong in not coming to the defense of the Ahmadiyah followers and Yusman and his followers. Instead, in the first case, the police stood and watched, and in the second, they detained Yusman Roy.

The state has a duty not only to guarantee the right of people to practice their religion, but also to protect them against others who try to stop them. The government passed the first test, but miserably failed the second.

Given these two recent episodes, we can only speculate about the fate of those Muslim thinkers -- who, in recent years, have been challenging the conservative/literal interpretations of Islam -- if MUI goes ahead with its fatwa outlawing what it conveniently terms liberal Muslims.

The threat to issue such a fatwa emerged during the ongoing MUI congress. Sadly, as the umbrella organization for all Islamic organizations in the country, the council fails to reflect the diversity of Islam that exists in Indonesia. Instead, going by the fatwas they have issued, MUI is looking more like an exclusive club of conservative leaders and thinkers. And it is a club the violates one of the main principles of Islam that says "there shall be no coercion in matters of faith."

Still, in public forums, including in the op-ed pages of this newspaper, we know there has continued to be a raging debate between the conservative and liberal Muslim thinkers in recent years. Such a discourse has been fruitful for the Muslim community in this country in the search for truth. It has also brought forward the realization that while Muslims believe in one God, in one holy book and that Muhammad is their last prophet, there can be more than one interpretation of Islam. This is why this intra-faith dialog has been spiritually enriching, especially for the followers of the religion.

Sadly, this dialog would be discontinued if the conservatives in MUI had their way. "Truth" would then be the monopoly of one group of people. Muslims would be all the poorer if that is the case. And the real message that the MUI is sending out is that if Muslims cannot hold a dialog between themselves, then what chance is there for the interfaith dialogs, something that the government is trying to promote at home, regionally and internationally.