South Sulawesi's 'pesantren' promotes sharia with tolerance

South Sulawesi's 'pesantren' promotes sharia with tolerance

Ahmad Suaedy, Asia Foundation, Jakarta

Directing an extensive network of thousands of Islamic
boarding schools (pesantren) is no easy matter. K.H. Muis Kabri,
chairman of the central board of Darud Dakwah wal Irsyad (DDI)
has done it for the last 20 years. Based in Makassar, South
Sulawesi, DDI manages 2,000 pesantren, and has branches in Riau
and Jambi in Sumatra, South and Central Kalimantan, Central
Sulawesi and most of South Sulawesi. The pesantren management
also oversees kindergartens, elementary, secondary and high
schools.

DDI has also set up 13 Islamic Colleges (STAI) with various
schools (faculties), two of which have opened postgraduate
programs.

It is equally difficult to maintain a balance between the
expanding boarding schools and the surrounding bustling
communities. The moderate stance adopted by DDI has enabled it to
survive and remain solid. Muis Kabri sticks to this attitude. "We
should keep serving the public without neglecting the mission to
popularize the truth of Islam," he said.

At a time when some Islamic movements here are demanding the
enforcement of syariah, particularly in South Sulawesi, Muis
Kabri is leading DDI toward moderation. DDI's higher learning
division is reformulating a subject concerned with the basic
mission and vision of DDI for its students. Though already
started in elementary schools, this subject is more critically
analyzed in DDI colleges. "We wish to keep our vision and mission
relevant to public demands such as democracy, respect for human
rights, justice toward women and concern for social welfare.
These vital elements must be strengthened," he added.

Muis Kabri was born into a DDI family and educated in its
pesantren before undergoing training for religious teachers in
West Java. He then secured a bachelor's degree at the Jakarta
chapter of the Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) and a full
degree at the IAIN in Malang, East Java. During his almost 20
years at DDI's helm, he also obtained his religious psychology
doctorate from IAIN Jakarta in 1995 and a year later his
professorship from the Pare-pare Islamic College (STAI).

He led the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) of Pare-pare and was
concurrently chairman of South Sulawesi's MUI for one term. In
his position at DDI, the 60-year-old professor wishes to hand
down his reform concepts to succeeding generations and give them
unlimited opportunities. One of his strategies is DDI curriculum
reform. Plans are under way for opening automotive engineering
and animal husbandry high schools in Pare-pare.

Below is an excerpt of an interview with Kabri.
Question: What is today's fundamental problem in South Sulawesi
for DDI?
Answer: We should provide an understanding of society to younger
generations and activists among Muslims. We cannot treat a
community as an object, let alone a mere vehicle to achieve an
end. We are concerned about the current situation.
Could you elaborate?

Sometimes I observe some youths are less capable of
distinguishing between the essential mission of Islam and the
struggle for power through political mobilization in the name of
Islam. Here Islam only serves as a means rather than the mission
itself.

Shouldn't syariah be enforced, as demanded by some Muslim
groups?

Syariah enforcement is of course the obligation of Muslims,
individually as well as collectively. But it does not mean
legalization by the state. If this happens syariah can be reduced
by the mission of power itself.

Present attempts at syariah enforcement have become part of
the struggle for economic and political resources. When power is
seized, the logic of power will apply. Which syariah is to be
implemented? It may be the one according to those in power, while
any other interpretation will be made uniform and muffled. In
fact, dissent is part of syariah itself. We are obliged to
protect society and treat it as a subject.

What does DDI do in this context?

DDI's mission is religious propagation, education and charity.
We have indeed mostly been engaged in education and propagation,
and charity is still inadequate. Now DDI maintains a network of
around 2,000 pesantren, each with all levels of non-college
education, and 13 colleges.

We encourage the role and initiative of youths to carry out
reforms, while the older generation should allow them the widest
possible opportunities and provide direction so as not to abandon
DDI's policy and wisdom.

What reforms is DDI undertaking?

We want DDI's mission to remain relevant to social
developments. What our youths are doing is curriculum reform
regarding DDI concerns (involving a subject on DDI's history,
doctrine, vision and mission).

Important and latest issues should be included such as
democracy, human rights, justice toward women and social concern,
while respecting the traditions and wisdom of local communities,
because we belong to them. In this way, DDI's graduates will not
feel awkward when they work among them.

All such initiatives come from our younger members, who draw
up schemes and will carry them out. We don't want to follow
prevailing trends, even more so if it serves the interests of a
small elite group. We are also opening high schools for
automotive engineering and animal husbandry on a 35-hectare hilly
plot in Pare-pare.

Isn't DDI left behind by, for instance, those struggling for
enforcement of syariah?

It's only the voice of a small urban group. But it is indeed
assisted by intensive mass media campaigning. We are just
developing a moderate dialog and attitude. There's nothing
absolute about us. We can live everywhere and respect each other,
by avoiding mutual harassment and offense. How can one believe
that syariah law is just if it is enforced by condemning others
and even attacking people violently?