'Syariah' won't rid corruption, say scholars
'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.