JIL English Edition

However, the revival of Islam in South East Asia is not so much a reaction to western modernity as it is an integral part of a reformation process which indicates the viability of Islam in history. The revival of Islam in South East Asia constitutes an alternative Muslim discourse and is neither a threat to the west, nor a threat to Muslim society, since it is a revival based in Islamic tradition.

Imam Ali understood that Khawarij people (who rebelled against him) were seeking for the truth. This fourth Rightly Guided Caliph said that the truth seekers who did not find truth, is better than the evil seeker who find evil. We must respect their serious attempt instead of criminalizing them.

The problem with Indonesian Muslims is that they live so long as a majority, cultivating the mindset of “supremacy” given their status as the predominant religious group in the country. It never occurs to them how it looks like to be in the reverse position. It is so striking to see that the discourse of “civil right” is markedly missing in the rhetoric of Sunni majority in Indonesia.

I am a reform-minded Muslim. Therefore, I acknowledge that the Quran does contain violent passages. Just like Christians and Jews have done with their respective scriptures, we need to reinterpret these passages to take them out of the 7th century - and into the pluralistic 21st century in which we are living.

To have a different interpretation about certain doctrines in Islam cannot be seen as blasphemy. The orthodox mullahs or ulama who see themselves as the guardian of “truth” always think that their interpretation embodies the truth of Islam itself. They deliberately efface the line demarcating between “religion” and “the discourse on religion”, between din and al-khithab al-dini, as Egpytian thinker Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd once aptly put. 

In the midst of this miserable condition, determination to achieve Islamic independence in the intellectual, social, political and economical field has blown the wave of reformation in the Muslim world. However, the independence must not be understood as reclusion and rejection upon other civilizations. Islamic reformation is the result of incessant dialectic interaction between the Islamic normative doctrines and the surrounding contemporary symptoms.

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).

Both Muslims and concerned Western intellectuals should start to de-sacralize the role of texts in the debate, so that we can arrive at a truly constructive dialogue. It is about time that we recognize and encourage different colors in religion. This also requires a less forced attitude towards religion in public spaces.

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.

It is important to note that the shining Islamic civilization in the past did not stand alone. It was the result of dynamic interaction with other civilizations such as Greek, Egypt, Persia, and India. Muslim scientists used to hold dialog with and learn from other civilizations. The image of open minded, tolerant and pluralist dominated the character of Muslim scientists in that time.