'Syariah' won't rid corruption, say scholars

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Two noted Muslim scholars, Nurcholis Madjid and Solahuddin Wahid, rejected on Sunday a proposal that the country adopt syariah (Islamic law) to rid the country of its deep-rooted problem of corruption.

Nurcholis said adopting syariah would not guarantee that corruption would be reduced.

"The mosques are always full of people praying. This means they are complying with syariah, but then, after leaving the mosque, they do whatever they want to do, and corruption keeps on occurring," he said, responding to a proposal coming from one participant at a siminar here on Sunday.

The proposal came from Irfan S. Awwas, secretary-general of a small Muslim group, the Mujahidin Council, which has openly been campaigning for the adoption of syariah in Indonesia.

Nurcholis, however, said that Muslims should not seek the implementation of syariah as it was against the nation's pluralistic character.

The implementation of syariah, he said, would create problems not only for non-Muslims but also Muslims themselves because Muslims in Indonesia followed different traditions.

Pakistan should serve as a good example of a pluralistic country that had tried to implement syariah. The country had become bogged down in a seemingly interminable quarrel among Muslim groups over whose interpretation of syariah should be enshrined in the country's laws.

Solahuddin also disagreed with the proposal, and said that the introduction of syariah would only mire Muslims in an endless polemic.

He said that the Aceh case would serve as a good lesson for Indonesia as to whether the implementation of syariah would reduce corruption and bring benefits.

"Let's be patient and see what the outcome of Islamic law will be in Aceh," he told the seminar at the Jogja Expo Center, which was hosted by the Gerakan Jalan Lurus (The Straight Path Movement).

Also speaking at the seminar were political analysts J. Kristiadi and Harry Tjan Silalahi, former Astra International president Teddy P. Rachmat, and Gadjah Mada University rector Sofian Effendi.

Nurcholis noted that Muslims in Indonesia would be better served by lending their support to the country's official ideology of Pancasila as it was in tune with the country's pluralistic nature.

Pancasila, he said, contained the principles of divinity and social justice so that there was no reason for Muslims to reject it.

He said Pancasila represented a national agreement that fitted in with the country's pluralistic nature. Ignoring it, therefore, would cause the country to collapse.

"A nation that goes against its own principles will soon collapse," he said.

He noted that the most glaring problem in Indonesia was the absence of a strong commitment among the people to do good things for society and other people in line with the principles of Pancasila.

"Without this commitment, the nation will fragment and eventually this will ignite civil war," he said.