Pluralism within Islam

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.