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A textualist Muslim will perceive the permission of beating wives and children rather than the deeper essence behind the sacred text, which is to educate them. Textual religious understanding may endorse violence, although religion should not be misunderstood as the source of violence.

Israel’s brutal attack to Lebanon (according to Israel military officials, the attack was very well calibrated), would make most of Arabs skeptical upon the democratization process in the Middle East.

Tragically, our problem becomes even more complicated due to the systemic and mutually-reinforcing “unholy alliance” between civil government and cleric. Civil government has adopted, without critical consideration, the fatwa of ulema that is intolerant toward religious freedom.

Briefly, religious struggle becomes the struggle of faith and society. It means that instead of becoming a political alternative for the common plural order, religion attempts to give spiritual insight for individual and community in the arrangement of plural life. Therefore, in daily life, religious organizing will lead to interfaith cooperation where benefit and quality of common life becomes the objective of those religious movements.

In the western history, renaissance refers to the 17th-18th century when the “truth seekers” were deeply involved in science, ethic and esthetic based on rationality. Immanuel Kant (What Is Enlightenment, 1990), an important figure in the renaissance, defined enlightenment as man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s reason without guidance from another.

Prophet, Soothsayer, and Poet represent specific mental articulation in the history of human civilization. It is the expressive-performative articulation of civilization inherited by the Israel prophets (Islam is included in this category).

To ignore the impossible tales and regard Lia as “heretic and mislead”, is in vain. Next time, in certain condition, there will be many other who claim to listen (again) the heavenly voices.

On this point, assimilation becomes more difficult as there are different perceptions and attitudes among Australian communities. The problem increases due to the difficult assimilation on the cultural level, and also due to the unsupportive policy of the government.

State has to guarantee that freedom of religion will not violate other people’s rights. State should not endorse one religion or group and oppress the others. The function of state is to guarantee freedom of everyone to profess and practice their own religion because there is an absolute relation between freedom of religion, institution, and policy that guarantee the freedom.

Fatwa should involve all elements of society. In the tradition of bahtsul masa’il (problem research used to be held in pesantren) that discusses about current matters (masa’il waqi’iyyah) performed by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) for instance, the ulema were aware of their incompetence in the contemporary issues, therefore they asked the opinion of the experts (expert in medical field, etc) in formulating a fatwa. Hence, they can comprehend the object of fatwa well and accurately.