JIL English Edition

Norway Bombing should neither be understood as a “revenge bomb” coming from Christians to Muslims, nor coming from a group of certain religion to another group of different faith, because if that kind of violence has to be assumed as an exclusive identity, is our world waiting for many other terror bombings which their doers will be coming from Hindu, Buddha or other religious backgrounds so that all of us would say at the end that “all religions are terrorists”?

Indonesia that is famous for the world’s largest Muslim population does not provide an answer that Islam is a religion that brings a message of peace and love. Especially nowadays we often hear and even see with our own eyes that the religious-based violence is increasingly, being done by individual or group. The actions of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which tends to vigilante, became one obvious example of how the violence has become increasingly entrenched part of this nation. Burning, fatwa apostasy, excommunication is a bit of those committed by those who claimed to be the most correct. This vigilante action cannot be accepted.

For many modern Muslim intellectuals who promote inter-religious dialogue, this particular verse poses an exegetical challenge. Understood literally, and without taking its context into account, would make us believe that Islam pursues an eternal conflict with Christian and Jews. The verse could feed the intolerant attitude that already exists among certain Muslim groups. Whenever the conflict breaks out between Muslim and Christian, such as one in Ambon, Indonesia, in 1999, this verse comes readily as pretext for hating Christians. The same verse has been used by many conservative Muslims to show the futility of inter-religious dialogue. Who should have dialogue with people who are never satisfied until we follow them?

The idea of Islamic reform is still relevant. This discourse was discussed in a discussion by the title “The Reform without Apology” in Wisma Bina Marga, Bandung, 21/08/2010. The discussion was organized by the Muslim Students Association (HMI) of Bandung Branch in cooperation with the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung (FNS). This discussion was intended to discuss the renewal idea of Ahmad Wahib, one of the leaders of HMI in 1960s.

...Tafsir of Mafatih al-Ghaib, the work of al-Razi, is different from the majority of classical tafsir which limits salvation only for the followers of Muhammad called Muslims. Al-Razi is mufassir who requires two fundamental conditions to get salvation in the afterlife, namely believe in Allah and the Last Day as well as do righteousness without the necessity of faith to Muhammad. This statement leads Kautsar to conclude that al-Razi is a pluralist mufassir, or at least inclusive….

We need to understand ijtihad broadly as, quoting from Dr. Khan, “freedom of thought, rational thinking and the quest for truth through an epistemology covering science, rationalism, human experience, critical thinking and so on.” (See Muqtedar Khan’s “Two Theories of Ijtihad” in his blog Ijtihad [http://www.ijtihad.org/ijtihad.htm]).

With this new understanding of ijtihad, we may say that the door of independent reasoning is no longer shut; it is re-opened again. The participants in this new ijtihad are not limited to the ulama in a traditional sense, but to include modern Muslim scholars whose academic training and specialization span a broad range of field and expertise.

Thousand of people were invaded, tortured and murdered. However only 12 people were arrested and presented at the hearing process in the court. Policemen who “allowed” the violence to happen had not yet became suspects. Ironically, one of Ahmadi family was judged to a the suspected. His head was hacked several times. His hands were almost severed and until now has not been functioning. So instead of punishing the attackers, they were sending him for 10 years in prison, because he is considered to provoke the anger of thousands of residents because he chose not to leave his office and defend his assets from being destroyed. It is strange, while the victim is threatened with 10 years in prison; the attackers were actually required to stay only from 5 to 7 months. In this country, defending private property rights can be a complicated matter, while criminals that is committed is very likely understandable.

Osama bin Laden is a controversial figure. For many people, Osama is a symbol of terrorism who is the most responsible for all acts of terror that occurred in the world, particularly in the World Trade Centre (WTC) attack at the United State of America on September 11, 2001. The government of the United States considers that al-Qaeda is responsible for the terror that occurred in the WTC. Thus, the assassination of Osama (May 1, 2011), as the leader of al-Qaeda, is a justice that must we accept as a punishment for terrorists.

When a paradigm shift occurs then the texts are viewed in different way. The texts that are perceived as normal by classical scholars become “abnormal” in the modern century. Muslim scholars who propose gender equality attempt to denormalize the texts. They must reinterpret the texts; otherwise, it would lead to inconsistencies in the understanding of religion.