Susilo wants Muhammadiyah lead morality fight
ID Nugroho and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Malang
Muhammadiyah should help strengthen morality and continue its mission to enlighten people in this nation in order to help eradicate deeply ingrained corruption, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here on Sunday night.
"We are so embarrassed, as a predominantly Muslim country, because we are ranked among the most corrupt nations in the world," he lamented during a ceremony marking the opening of the 45th national congress of Muhammadiyah in Malang, East Java.
The President made it clear that it was not Islam that was to blame, but the people in this country, 90 percent of whom profess to follow Islam. "Islam is not wrong. We ourselves are to blame because we are incapable of embracing the spirit of its moral teachings," he added.
Performing the mandatory prayers five times a day "is not enough" for Muslims, we must also change moral attitudes, which means not committing corruption and other crimes, Susilo beseeched, while paraphrasing the words of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
He said he expected all people, including Muhammadiyah members, to support the national anticorruption efforts he had been campaigning for since taking office last year.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif reminded the delegates that the 30-million strong organization established in 1912, had been involved in social and educational activities for nearly a century.
Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization nationwide, runs thousands of schools from elementary level to university level, as well as hospitals, orphanages and other social and charitable organizations.
However, Syafii explained that the organization would expand and try to develop financial institutions specifically geared toward helping low-income people.
Some 20,000 supporters of Muhammadiyah packed the Gajayana soccer stadium in Malang, where President Susilo opened the six- day national congress at around 8:30 p.m. There were also 4,000 police officers deployed to guard the stadium.
Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who formerly led Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, and current NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi, also attended the opening ceremony, in addition to a number of foreign diplomats and Cabinet members.
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid and his predecessor Amien Rais, who is a former Muhammadiyah chairman, were also present.
The congress is scheduled to end on July 8, after electing its new chairman for the 2005-2010 period. The incumbent chairman, Syafii Maarif, 70, has refused to enter the leadership race.