JIL English Edition

Islam provides theological apparatus which is receptive upon trust as the social capital of democracy. But ipso facto, many citizens of Muslim countries are trust-less. Research held by Sarif Mardin in the Middle East indicates the lack of trust; hence the power of civil society is blunted and Islamic countries suffer a deficit of democracy. Here is the interview with Burhanuddin by Dr. Bachtiar Effendy, a political observer and lecturer at UIN Jakarta.

Title: Syariat Islam, Pandangan Muslim Liberal (Islamic Sharia, Liberal Muslim Perspective) Author: Al Asymawi, Saiful Mujani, Azyumardi Azra, Taufik Adnan Amal, Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, et all. Editor: Burhanuddin Publisher: Jaringan Islam Liberal and the Asia Foundation, June 2003 Price: Rp. 22.000,-

The agenda of the propagandist-missionaries religions is often determined by the success of converting other people. The paradigm has never shifted from the old concept: “no salvation out of Christ”. This old doctrine left by the mainstream Christians is used by the Christian evangelists to justify their spiritual bribery. Here is an interview with Rev. Kuntadi Sumadikarya M. Th, the head of the Synod of Christian Church of Indonesia (GKI) of West Java.

Involvement in religious associations, as well as in non-religious ones, correlates positively with the reinforcement of democracy. On the micro level, the collective dimension within NU’s rituals is also significant in order to strengthen the social network and make it capable of mediating public matters.

Attempts at reducing our country’s economic hardship seem to have overlooked the potential of religious civil society in coping with social problems. As most religious organizations become part of civil society, they have the obligations to improve civil life, by strengthening the value of voluntarism or generosity which manifests itself in philanthropy.

Religious socialization at the simplest level always emphasizes ethics of fear rather than ethics of hope. Submission is built upon the foundation of human’s fear of God, as if God’s greatness is determined by the human’s frailties and the horror of the metaphysics associated with god. Here is Eep Saefulloh Fatah‘s Islamic reflection, a political observer from University of Indonesia studying at Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus.

The 11^th September tragedy does not always have to be see as a total disaster for humanity. Even though the American Muslim community has suffered from discrimination since the tragedy, a domino effect is currently appearing across all levels of American society in which people are being impelled to satisfy their curiosity regarding Islam. At the moment, in the wake of that heart breaking tragedy, Islam has become a best selling “spiritual commodity” in America.

This short paper provides an overview of the principal arguments presented on both sides of this discourse. It is an introduction to recent works by several leading analysts in the U.S. who are working on democratization issues in the Muslim world. It is intended to provide insight into some of the ideas being debated within U.S. academic and foreign policy circles.

The crucial problems of interfaith marriage involve one’s private right to choose one’s spouse and the stigmas associated with interfaith marriage prohibition as well as bureaucratic resistance. Nuryamin Aini, an alumnus of Flinders University in Australia, shows that the consequences are that sometimes that couples of different religions often resort to manipulating the law (hilah) and become ambivalent and hypocritical in order to slip out of the trap of the marriage registration bureaucracy.

The controversy started with the marriage of 27 year old Nurcholish with 24 year old Mei two weeks ago. That marriage was conducted in two ways. First there was the Ijab Kabul in which consent was given by the bride’s family at a wedding ceremony according to Islamic tradition. The dowry of 8,8 grams of gold was accepted at the Islamic Study Centre Paramadina in Jakarta. Dr. Kautsar Azhari Noer acted in the capacity of Mei’s wali (male relative legally responsible for a bride) while Ulil Abshar-Abdalla acted in the capacity of the Islamic witness. Meanwhile, the Confucian blessing was performed at lithan room of Matakin Secretariat at Sunter in North Jakarta.