Move to use 'pesantren' to counter Islamism

Erwida Maulia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 03/26/2008 12:38 PM  |  National

Ulema have agreed to promote civil nationalism within and outside their Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to help protect all citizens from different religions and ethnicities.

They also agreed to foster the reinterpretation of Koranic verses that are often used by extremist groups campaigning for an Indonesian Islamic state to justify violence in the name of Islam.

The decision was made at a three-day seminar aimed at stopping religious-based violence, which ended here Tuesday.

In attendance were around 35 leaders of traditional Islamic boarding schools affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization.

"We call on clerics from all pesantren to refresh their nationalistic points of view," the participants said in a joint statement issued after the event which was co-hosted by the Wahid Institute and Spring Foundation.

"They should also study the history of the ulema, who struggled to establish and defend the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)," the statement added.

The clerics, from major Indonesian islands like Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra, said they were resolute to conduct deeper studies into some Islamic terms commonly used to legitimize violence in the name of Islam.

They said such terms as jihad (Islamic holy war), dzimmi (non-Muslims living in Islamic states) and kafir (infidel) need to be reinterpreted so as to be in accordance with the current Indonesian context.

The reinterpretations would help stop violence committed in the name of religion, the ulema said.

The world's largest Muslim nation has seen frequent attacks and violence against churches and mosques belonging to Ahmadiyah and several other Islamic groups declared "heretical" by the Indonesian Ulema Council.

The seminar also agreed to "include fiqh ad-dawlah (civic education) in the curricula" of Islamic boarding schools.

Wahid Institute executive director Ahmad Suaidy said the inclusion of civic education with an Islamic perspective into pesantren's curriculum was urgently needed for Muslim students.

This move would provide students with an understanding of the rights and obligations of government and citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnicity, he said.

"We need to elicit Islamic debate, which supports nationalism ... and is not discriminatory," Suaidy said.

The clerics, he said, were looking forward to holding dialogs with Muslim hard-liners to discuss and examine some Koran verses and hadith (Prophet Muhammad's sayings and practices), which they have often used to justify religious violence.

The dialogs would also find the right interpretations of these verses, Suaidy said.

"The clerics have sought, for example, to use the term jihad to answer challenges like poverty and backwardness that Indonesia is currently facing, and not to attack others."

The clerics also urged the government to punish any groups involved in religious attacks.

Prominent cleric, poet and senior NU leader Ahmad Mustofa Bisri on Monday criticized pesantren for doing next to nothing to prevent such violence.

The clerics gathered at the forum here "because they can't stand the stereotyping that ulema support violence", he said.

Mustofa blamed the Indonesian Ulema Council for fueling such attacks on mosques and the homes of several Islamic sects, with its fatwa declaring them "heretical".

"The clerics attending the seminar didn't feel the MUI is representing them," he said.

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