JIL English Edition

Since June 2008, the anniversary of Pancasila becomes the commemoration of the National Monument (Monas). Perhaps we would state that the Monas tragedy is a form of impertinence against Pancasila, the national foundation that is believed capable of uniting Indonesia. Those who three years ago chasing, hitting, kicking and berate the stalwarts of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief (AKKBB) who wanted to celebrate the anniversary of Pancasila was a group of anti-Pancasila. Do they really have no place within the construction of the ideology of Pancasila?

“It is time for us to greet each other not only as a standard salutation but should be meant as a sincere prayer, recognition and respect of faith, and manifestation of a person’s religious identity. Say assalamu’alaikum (peace be with you) to Muslims. Say shalom (peace) to Christians. Say namo Buddhaya (I pay homage to the Buddha) or namaste (I bow to you) to followers of Buddhism. Say om swastiastu (May We be Under His Protection) to Hindus. And the same goes for the believers of other faiths.”

“This piece of writing intends to put forth several fundamental inaccuracies on this tradition of pronouncing others as kafirs which has led to rampant acts of violence. First, concerns the usage of the word ‘kafir’. Defining kafir as a person outside of Islam is in fact inconsistent with the actual meaning of the word ‘kafir’ itself. Kafir means to cover or deny, hence it refers to the covering or denying of God’s blessings. In English, the word ‘infidel’ is often used to translate kafir, when in fact a more appropriate translation is to cover. Hence, the reason why Christians and Jews are simple known as ahl kitab (people of the Book) during the times of the Prophet. The concept of infidel as understood by the West is actually an unfamiliar term in Islam’s traditional doctrine.”

“A classical Islamic commentator, Ibn Jarir al-Thabari referred to an opinion which states that the inclusion of syari’ah and manhaj in the foregoing Qur’anic verse is indeed an indication of religious diversity as ordained by God. The Torah also includes the syari’at. It is also found in the Bible. And also in the Qur’an. There is however, only a single al-din (religion) which is the belief in the oneness of God and the devotion to God. As expressed by Qatadah: al-din wahid wa al-syari’ah mukhtalifah (religion is one, syari’at is diverse).”

“Under such concept of quasi-tolerance, forget the propagation of an inclusive religion, avoiding religious exclusivism will indeed prove to be exceedingly near impossible. How can a person who believes that Islam is the only path to salvation allow followers of other faiths to co-exist in peace with their chosen beliefs. People who adhere to the doctrine of pseudo-tolerance shall never be able to be genuinely tolerant. They can only feign tolerance as they will persistently seize on the opportunity to convert others to Islam.”

Wahhabism is growing in Indonesia now. Some Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) or ma’had with Wahhabism ideology emerge. A friend of mine who is doing his research about Wahhabism in Indonesia recorded that about fourteen pesantren in Indonesia has been spreading the doctrine of Wahhabism. Compared to the statistical data of thousands pesantren in Indonesia, the fourteen numbers are still little. But this phenomenon of Wahhabism has been very dissolute. In this situation, some people say Alhamdulillah, and some others say Innalillah, and finally wallahu a’lam bisshawab

Defending certain group based on their religious identity is also very dangerous for the justice. No matter how noble the religious teaching is, it will never guarantee the noble behavior of its adherents.

With sufficient basis of Islamic knowledge, Gus Dur carried out dynamization of Islamic thought. He also sharply criticized the stagnation of Islamic thought. Gus Dur viewed that ushul fiqh, which is historically a creative process to dynamize the Islamic jurisprudence, has developed into a very normative selection tools that castrates human’s creativity. As a result, Muslims turn to be narrow-minded and very exclusive. Muslims become a burden for the resurgence of Islamic civilization. The legal decision-making (istinbath) cannot take place anymore because the Muslim clerics have been trapped in the old formulation of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). They used to reject various attempts to rearrange the Islamic jurisprudence.

According to Mohammad Omar Farooq, since the classic Islam until now there is not any consensus among ulemas that the apostate has to be punished. The common interpretation among prominent ulemas about the war for Musailamah group was not merely that they leave or convert their religion, but only because their actions had implication to political rebellion.

The violence against Ahmadiyya Muslim community has never done spontaneously. There is a mass gathering processes and provocations. State officials should be able to prevent violence from early times by for instance dispersing the mass gathering that aims to provoke violence. The PNPS Act of 1965 explicitly states that the campaign of hatred and hostility against one group of people is banned; the perpetrators must be arrested and punishable by a maximum of 5 years sentence in jail according to Penal Code Section 156 A.