Syafi'i promotes benign face of Islam

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Being a moderate Muslim after the 9/11 terrorist attack is no longer easy, especially when prejudices and mistrust run high.

The attack on the World Trade Center's twin towers was blamed on terrorists who happened to subscribe to Islam. However, the damage was done, the conduct of a small number of fire-brand followers of twisted Islamic teachings, tarnished the whole image of Islam. As a result, people now readily associate Islam with white-bearded terrorism.

For the majority of Muslims who hold the view that Islam is a religion of peace, their primary task now is to demonstrate that Islam is not a religion of violence. Instead, Islam promotes the use of benign measures for the implementation of its teachings.

Among Muslims who took up the task in the post-9/11 world is M. Syafi'i Anwar, executive director of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP).

Founded in July 2003, the Center strives to build harmonious relationships among various cultural and religious groups, based on the principles of pluralism and multiculturalism.

"After the 9/11 terrorist attack and especially after the Bali bombings, I was shocked by the misperceptions about Islam that prevail among Westerners. Islam was perceived as intolerant and to endorse the use of violence.

I got first-hand experience during my stay in Australia where I did my Ph.D," Syafi'i told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

While in Australia, Syaifi'i spent a considerable amount of time visiting Christian communities there and made a presentation about the friendly face of Islam. "I was invited by scores of institutions including the Australian Rationalist Society and church community there and I was overwhelmed by questions about the wrong perceptions of Islam," he said.

Syafi'i went to the University of Melbourne in 1999 to pursue a doctoral degree. Currently, he is still finishing his long- overdue dissertation The State and Political Islam in Indonesia: A Study of State Politics and Modernist Muslim Leaders' Behavior under Soeharto's New Order Regime, 1966-1998.

When terror hit home with the Bali bombings, Syafi'i, who was still doing field research for the dissertation, realized that the task of promoting peaceful Islam must also be carried out from within his home country.

In a country where Muslims are predominantly moderate in their interpretation of Islamic teachings as represented by the two mainstream Muslim organizations Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, hard-liner Muslim organizations, however, managed to grab the public attention with their unsympathetic measures such as raiding nightspots and conducting sweepings against western tourists, thanks largely to the sensation-driven media.

"I accepted the offer of leading ICIP with one mission: to develop progressive Islamic thinking so that the idea of pluralism and respect for others can grow here.

"I was also interested in building a regional and international network of moderate Muslim thinkers, an objective that has become one of ICIP's goals," Syafi'i said, adding that he had to pay for the decision to join the ICIP through the late submission of his dissertation.

During the last year, ICIP has searched for and disseminated authoritative texts supporting pluralism, tolerance, human rights and democracy. It also has supported Muslim NGOs, activists and intellectuals engaged in efforts to promote justice, democratic participation and religious tolerance within the Muslim world.

Earlier in November, ICIP invited Muslim scholars in Southeast Asia for a seminar that concluded with a statement that the dissemination of Islamic teachings was not aimed at converting those who already subscribed to other beliefs and in fact could open up the possibility of interfaith dialog.

Syafi'i's activism is apparently the logical consequence of his years of experience in promoting moderate Islamic thinking.

He was editor-in-chief of Islamic newsweekly magazine Ummat between 1995 and 1999 and deputy chief editor of the Indonesian journal of Islamic culture Ulumul Qur'an between 1989-1994.

Both were respected publications widely regarded as vehicles to promote refined and non-simplistic Islamic thinking.

The springboard for his career in journalism was a spell at the now-disbanded Islamic newsweekly magazine Panji Masyarakat.

"People at the ICIP national board persuaded me to take up the institute's leadership after they learned about my background in journalism. They thought that I could promote the idea of pluralism more effectively through the media," he said.

Born 51 years ago, in Kudus, a Central Java city known for its rich Islamic cultural legacy, Syafi'i was raised in what was a mix between a Javanese and a devout Muslim family.

His father was an abangan Muslim -- a person who lives according to near-atheistic Javanese tradition, as classified by anthropologist Clifford Geertz -- while his mother was raised in a devout Muslim family.

However, over time Syafi'i's father learned about Islam from his wife and later became a pious Muslim, even more so than his wife.

"Learning from that experience, I believe that with continuous education, people who have the wrong perception about Islam can change their views," he said.