Editorial

Muslims seemed to reduce their religious comprehension, and started to emphasize more on ritual piety rather than social piety. Muslims have been drowned in the calculation of individual reward and sin, and have not been aware upon social problems such as poverty, corruption, flood and unemployment that directly affected people’s benefit ( maslahat).

Islam claimed and is proud to be religion without priesthood system. In fact, the Muslim leaders used to have similar pretension, they claim of having the right to publish the list of do’s and don’ts for Muslims, based on the authority of holy books and prophet teachings.

This case indicates that whenever religion did not appear in peaceful form and respect humanity, its adherent will move away. When it is being rigid and nonnegotiable with the context, it will lose its prophetic mission. When religious institution becomes dominant, the politic of identity and power relation will take over.

Some viewed that woman is creature who arouse man’s desire and libido therefore she should stay indoor. Her voice is aurat, her body opens the way to discord ( fitna), her mind is deficient, and her faith is incomplete. Therefore, she has no freedom to do anything or to determine her choice.

The Islamic studies in the West always develop. It started as a part of polemic against Islam, and it afterward developed as a “means” to support the colonial domination upon the Muslim world, and now it develops further as part of Western society’s attempt to build mutual understanding among human civilizations.

Please note that what we are yelling now as “freedom!” (merdeka!) indeed means freedom in republican classic definition. Freedom means realization of “liber”, the free citizen. Please note that on this point the term freedom and liberal are interchanging.

If Hezbollah has been accused for being the “proxy” of Syria and Iran to fight against Israel, isn’t Israel the “proxy” of US to maintain its interest in the Middle East? Why only US may have “proxy”?

We sometimes fail to remember that many Muslims were no longer interested in building a social gap with others of different faith. They realize that congratulating non-Muslims on their holidays does not contain theological interest, but it is a way to build tolerance and respect among religious disciples.

Today, certain Muslim intellectuals and scholars agree that the prohibition against the idea of woman being religious leaders is a consequence of male domination in patriarchal Arab society. In other words, it is not an element of religious doctrine given by God but a socio-cultural construct.

The problem started when Fulan became overly involved in religious activities. In his ever growing fantasy, he came to present himself as the only pious Muslim at work (salafush shâleh) andas the only person there who had a ticket to heaven.