Muslim Community Does Not Need To Be Defended

Muslim community (ummah) does not need to be defended. Instead, it is the values of brotherhood, tolerance and freedom that deserve our defense. Alas, many incidents of intolerance in this country have been triggered by a strong desire to defend particular group based on their identity. On the contrary, a number of Muslim leaders are accused of being anti-Islam because they have defended the rights of minorities such as Ahmadiyah community or church congregations who endured severe discrimination.

We have to understand that Islam and Muslims are two different things. While Islam is a set of religious teaching, Muslims are a community. No matter how hard Muslim community wants to practice and live in accordance to the principles of Islamic teachings, they will always accept Islam partially. This assumption is based on the fact that the so-called Muslim community is actually not a singular entity but they are plural in nature.

The plurality of Muslims emerged shortly after the death of Prophet Muhammad. At that time, Muslim community disagreed on the successor who substitutes the Prophet’s position. This political division then continued and spread into the theological issue. In this case, which Muslim community should we defend?

Defending certain group based on their religious identity is also very dangerous for the justice. No matter how noble the religious teaching is, it will never guarantee the noble behavior of its adherents.

In Indonesia, the corruptors, reckless motorcycle rider or city bus driver, arbitrary military force, teacher of the Quran who molested his students are religious people. We surely will not defend those criminal perpetrators even though they admitted themselves as Muslims and devout worshippers.

Saying that Muslim community is always right and therefore must always be defended is a form of tyranny. The world’s greatest humanitarian tragedies usually arise from such perception. NAZI thought they were right and other groups such as the Jewish, black people and communists are evils and must be destroyed. Pol Pot thought he was right to slaughter all his opponents. The Wahhabi Saudi regime felt that they are perfectly right in slaughtering the Shiites and silencing the civil liberties.

We surely believe that every religion teaches virtue. Nevertheless, religious adherents are just human beings with some limitations. Let us defend Islam by being critical of its adherents, particularly they who commit crimes in the name of religion.