Southeast Asian Moslems at the crossroads: Anwar

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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