Southeast Asian Moslems at the crossroads: Anwar

JAKARTA (JP): Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday Southeast Asian Moslems are at the crossroads, about to leave behind the era of the "over-politicization" of Islam and to enter the era of the actualization of their potential.

Addressing a symposium on Islam, Anwar, who was here in a personal capacity, said both Malaysia and Indonesia have reaped international praise for the their success in development.

"This achievement, however, is no reason for arrogance. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility. Humility is endless," he said to an audience of Moslem scholars and students.

The two-day symposium was part of the ongoing second Istiqlal Festival of Islamic Arts and Culture. Indonesian Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad, who chairs the festival's organizing committee, opened yesterday's discussion.

Moslems in Southeast Asia, benefiting from both political and economic stability that has given them new confidence, should strive to become examples for Moslems in other regions, Anwar said. "This condition necessitates us to consider the future of Moslems in this region and how we can come out as an example to Moslems in other regions."

While Moslems in other areas are struggling with political upheavals and poverty, those in Southeast Asia have been successful in building up stable political order and in achieving rapid economic growth, he said. "What is important for us is that we do not need to become secular to be successful," he said.

Anwar said priority should be given to setting up a stable political system based on democracy, eradicating poverty and guaranteeing a fair and equitable distribution of wealth.

He urged the audience to learn the lessons of upheavals, violence, poverty, injustices and other social ills.

"We see all of these happening among Moslems in Asia or Africa, Moslems who fall prey to oppression which originates from either tyrant or an absence of political order and a marginalization of people in a political process," he said.

He said that, in a multi-religious society, tolerance was important.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are multicultural, multiracial and multi-religious. Islam is the state religion in Malaysia, while Indonesia, which has the world's largest Moslem population, accords equal status to five religions.

Today, Anwar said, Moslems in Malaysia and Indonesia face even greater challenges, including how to actualize their potential, how to thrive in and respect diversity. He said they should stop seeking scapegoats for the backwardness they still experience.

"We have to be brave, we need to be confident in facing this new era. We should not be afraid nor blame any other systems, be they the Western ideologies or colonialism," he said.

He called for courage to engage in tajdid, an Islamic term for intellectual exercise and a habit of challenging established values for the sake of finding fresh ideas.

"We should not be entrapped by a culture of fear...fear of correcting what's wrong in us, fear of looking to other people for lessons," he said.

Anwar said "freedom of thought" is a prerequisite for Moslems' successfully dealing with global challenges.

"We would never be successful if our thoughts are still chained by colonials' line of thinking or covered by prejudices against Islam itself," he said.

For decades, he said, Moslem intellectuals were "culturally uprooted," believing that Islam would not be able to advance.

"They are captivated by Max Weber's thesis that Islam and the other non-West civilizations would not advance because they didn't have the Protestant ethics," he said.

Now that Moslems in Southeast Asia have started to become strong -- so much so that the World Bank has called Indonesia and Malaysia the "East Asian miracle" -- Western sociologists have started to look for the secret of their success, Anwar said.

He referred to "high Islam," which, he said, emphasizes rationality efforts to establish a modern Islamic civilization, eliminate superstition and strengthen the sciences.

Although his attendance at the Istiqlal Festival is not an official visit, Anwar met with President Soeharto late on Monday and was also scheduled to meet with Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono yesterday. (swe)

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