Susilo wants Muhammadiyah lead morality fight
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.