The Permanence and The Change

This article was firstly published in Indonesian at 8/3/2004

Whenever I see the current Islamic world from a distance, I see that muslim community today tends to emphasize more on the aspect of “permanency” rather than “change”; “constancy” (al-tsabit) rather than “transformation” (al-mutahawwil). In almost every discussion, some muslim worried that uncontrolled change will destroy religion. Due to transformational speed in various aspect of modern life, desire to hold on al-tsabit is stronger than al-mutahawwil. Change is always suspect. The past is always taken as the “constant” model to control those changes.

The terms of al-tsabit dan al-mutahawwil came from a modern Arab poet and cultural observer, Adonis. He used this term for the title of his book discussed widely in the Arabic world in the ‘80s, Al-Tsabit wa-Al Mutahawwil: Bahts fil al-Ittiba’ wa al-Ibda’ ’inda al-’Arab”(the permanent and the changing: Study about Epigonism and Innovation in the Arabic World). The book consists of three volumes analyzing the intellectual, political and cultural roots causing stagnancy of Arabic creativity.

Through layered, complicated and sophisticated arguments, Adonis reached the conclusion that in Arabic world, aspect of al-ittiba’ is more prominent than al-ibda’. Al-ittiba’: following the previous pattern. Ittiba’ is blindly pursuing the past generation called as “salaf”. Ibda’ is creating something new, which never been before. To Adonis, “the past” is sturdily haunting Arabic world’s current memory so transformation towards the future is blocked. It is on the level of thinking, politics and culture.

I think it does not matter to generalize Adonis’ conclusion for the muslim world in general, especially Indonesia. We often hear this rhetoric: that in Islam there are universal al-tsawabit or constant principles which are undeniable. Every attempt to make Islam compatible with the age’s progress is warned as against tsawabit. It is not Islam which is suited to the age, but the contrary.

The point is this: some muslim societies tend to be afraid of some “changes”. In the Arabic world case, the stagnancy of thought in Arabic world, to Adonis, cannot be solved without a paradigm shift, shifting the focus from “the past” into the “current” situation that always changes. I think we can use this conclusion for the whole muslim world. If the focus does not change from tsawabit into transformation, stagnancy in the muslim world will never be solved.

(Translated by Lanny Octavia, edited by Jonathan Zilberg)