Religiosity must renounce vengeance

Religiosity must renounce vengeance

I was petrified to read your interview with the acting
chairman of Muhammadiyah, Ahmad Syafii Maarif in The Jakarta Post
edition of Feb. 12, 2000. Although he claimed he and his
organization were "not radical", almost in the same breath he
irresponsibly uttered that in the Maluku case, a jihad is the
right thing to do. What is even more horrible was his statement,
"The Koran says whoever is acting outlandishly, then make him or
her pay as much as what he or she has done (to you). If they
destroy your house and kill your brothers or sisters, you may
also burn their houses and kill them." To soften this
philosophical bravado, he added, "Of course, it would be better
if you could forgive them."

I believe the Koran, as with the Bible, could be
interpreted in any way to suit one's own need, either
compassionately or by way of vengeance (peace or war). However,
the fact this statement was coming from a supposedly pious and
learned Muslim and the head of the second largest Muslim
organization in Indonesia with 20 million followers is really
mortifying and upsetting. One can only imagine what radical
Muslims are like if their "moderate and sensible" leaders believe
in the philosophy of vengeance. And one can only imagine what
kind of pathetic situation our country and people are facing. I
think he should have been decent enough to realize that revenge
cannot be justified, either morally or intellectually. He should
have also been wise enough to know that it never works to solve
problems. If it could, we would not have seen the Ambon tragedy
in the first place. Hatred cannot be appeased with hatred, that
is the golden rule pure and simple. And besides, what moral
grounds do you have to judge and point a finger at others if you
stoop to the same level they do: they killed our sons, so let's
kill their sons; they raped our daughters, so it's okay to rape
their daughters. It doesn't take a religion for anyone to
subscribe to common sense and common decency.

I am not a Christian, but how universally true rings Jesus'
saying "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I
really hope that his irresponsible statements are not the
"official" view of mainstream Muslims and Muslim leaders in the
country. Perhaps anyone with Islamic authority could clarify this
for the sake of Muslims themselves, the majority of whom, I
believe, are not violent people. Only Muslims can purify their
not-so-favorable image in the eyes of non-believers worldwide by,
among other things, standing up and condemning their mind-
numbing, insensible mullahs' fatwa or statements. We are in the
international spotlight and, for heaven's sake, this kind of
shallow religiosity won't entice foreign investors to step foot
in our country. I sincerely hope that in the future the Post will
not be so quick to disseminate this kind of inflammatory, profane
philosophy from a so-called God-fearing religious leader.

RAHAYU RATNANINGSIH

Jakarta