Sincerity needed for true repentance

Sincerity needed for true repentance

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): "What do you think of Amien Rais' call to the
nation that we repent?" a journalist asked me over the phone
referring to the chairman of Muhammadiyah which has 28 million
members.

"It is a good idea. It is excellent," I answered.

"But do you think it will be effective?"

I was lost. I simply could not grasp what he actually wanted
to ask me. I did not have any inkling of how he perceives the act
of appealing or beseeching, and how he judges its impact to be
either effective or ineffective.

What does he expect from a national campaign of imploring the
public to repent? So, I asked him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean will a national campaign to repent result in us not
making all the stupid mistakes we have made this far? Can such a
campaign turn us into a more responsible and decent nation?"

This guy is really naive, I said to myself. How shall I
explain to him that a national campaign for repentance is not
meant to clean the nation of all the dirt it has heaped upon
itself? How shall I explain to him that there is no such thing as
instant transformation when it comes to national predilections of
good and bad behavior?

"The purpose of a national campaign to repent is not to clean
us instantly of our sins," I said. "It is aimed at reminding us
that we have made mistakes in the past, which not all of us are
willing to acknowledge. There are some mistakes that some of us
made out of ignorance. But there are also mistakes that we made
knowingly and willingly, but which we somehow tried to justify or
defend.

"But no matter how hard we try to justify our mistakes,
morally speaking mistakes remain mistakes. Now that we are
overcome by so many mishaps, many among the public look upon
these misfortunes as divine punishment for all the transgressions
that we made in the past.

"If we show our remorse and regret now, and promise that we
will improve ourselves morally, hopefully God will forgive us,
and all these unfortunate accidents will stop plaguing us.

"This is the purpose of a national campaign for repentance.
Whether we will become more responsible or not as a nation
depends upon what we do after we repent.

"Repentance is just an action of the moment, but one that we
must do with all the sincerity we can marshal. Only an act of
repentance prompted by deep-felt regret about past mistakes will
generate further actions heading towards self-improvement.

"Repentance is an act of double promise, that is a promise not
to repeat past mistakes, and a promise to improve oneself. This
is why sincerity is so important in any act of repentance."

I stopped for a moment, giving the guy at the other end time
to digest all the things I had said. I was aware that I could
have sounded like I was preaching to him, and that he could
resent me for that. I hate to be preached to myself, especially
by someone I don't know personally. But what I heard from the
other end was a polite and meek, "Yes, Sir!."

This gave me courage to continue my rhetoric. I said that
there is no guarantee that every one of us will join this
campaign for national repentance. I am sure there are persons
among us who do not feel any guilt even though they were involved
in some of the national scandals that have brought our nation
into its present miserable conditions.

This kind of people will not genuinely participate in any
national campaign for repentance. They may outwardly join the
movement, but in their hearts they may say to themselves, "You
are all fools. This country is full of fools. And they think they
are holy." These people will get away unscathed. This happened in
the past, and it will happen again in the future.

This fact notwithstanding, though, we should not feel
discouraged. We must persist in our efforts to strive for a clean
society. I think there are still enough people in this country
who are willing to do anything within their reach to bring about
a more decent and orderly society.

There are many among us who, naive or not, genuinely feel that
a national campaign for repentance could be the beginning of a
national movement to reject any scheme that harms our society.

There are still enough people who believe that such movement
could lead us further toward a more active campaign, that is a
campaign to support schemes aimed at cleaning up the existing
mess. If this happens, we will be at the threshold of a clean
society that has the effective capacity to generate a clean and
trustworthy government.

The voice at the other end asked, "But aren't we in the midst
of a national campaign to fight corruption and collusion now?
From time to time, don't we hear people in the government say
that the fight against corruption will never succeed without the
support of the people?"

"That is just the problem! Just because there are those in the
upper echelons of the hierarchy who repeatedly condemn
corruption and collusion, it does not mean that the nation has
been effectively persuaded to reject these two evils.

"Not everyone has the moral capacity to make the public
repent. Only those perceived by society as having never been
compromised in their moral conduct have the moral power to move
public conscience. Those perceived by the public as stigmatized
by corruption and collusion will not receive any attention from
the public, no matter how frequently they condemn these two
social ills."

In conclusion, I reminded him that we should recognize the
difference between those who genuinely repent and amend their
conduct, and the munafiqun who, according to Abdulah Yusuf Ali,
are "the deep-dyed hypocrites, who when found out make excuses
because otherwise they will suffer ignominy; they are
unregenerate and obstinate, and there is no hope for them," (Note
No. 1354 for Verse 106, Surah Al Tawbah).

The writer is an observer of social and political affairs.