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Luthfi Assyaukanie: Guarding Islam's humanism
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Most people might think Luthfi Assyaukanie's job - if it can be called a job - rather odd. He is, in his own words, "the humanist guard" of Islam.
Luthfi, who says he has had many difficulties because the many different points of view of Muslims, admits he has created some feelings of hostility among groups of people whose ideas differ from his own.
"Indeed, there have been threats," says the 41-year-old. "But that was in the past. Since 2005, there have not been any serious threats."
Humanism is a perennial topic of discussion, as it concerns the study and science of what it means to be human; it always tends to emerge, whatever the issue. Essentially, it centers on humans and their values, at the expense of other belief systems. In humanism, humanity itself always takes center stage.
And when it comes to relationship between humanity and Islam, Luthfi Assyaukanie is there.
"If you think that Islam is not humanist, you are wrong. Because in learning the Muslims' holy book of the Koran, we see that there are so many human approaches," said Luthfi, the author of Islam Benar versus Islam Salah (Right Islam versus Wrong Islam).
He told The Jakarta Post that the humanist movement in Islam started long before the humanist movement in the West got going. It all began, he said, when a great Islam philosopher Ibn al-Nadim published a text called Kitab al Fihrist in the mid-10th century. It was followed by many other works by Islam-based scientists who glorified humanity.
However, Luthfi says, in its development, the humanist approach in Islam is often distorted by Muslims. As an example of this, Luthfi, who co-founded the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) with Ulil Abshar, referred to the protest by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) over the point in the UN Charter on Human Rights about religious conversions.
"The OIC said that the article about the freedom of religion was not in line with the Koran, while the Koran clearly stipulates that there is no force in holding a religion," he said.
A senior lecturer at the University of Paramadina in Jakarta, Luthfi's interest in the Islamic analytical world has much to do with his family background.
"My extended family is a family of Muslim students. My grandfather is a teacher of Islam," he said. "We were taught religiously and conservatively."
The father of three developed his Islam-related knowledge further when he attended Attaqwa boarding school in Bekasi. He later studied at the University of Jordan, as well as majoring in philosophy at the International Islamic University in Malaysia and studying political Islam at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
The resourceful, bespectacled man established JIL in 2001. Along with Ulil and other Muslim intellectuals, Luthfi and his friends seek to spread Islam using a humanist approach.
The JIL activists believe that free dialogue without any pressure to be conservative would open the way to healthy Islamic minds and movements. They believe that this will ultimately result in a fair and human social structure - far from the current widely perceived image of Islam, they claim.
With his "new" ideas, which he feels is a long way from most conservative Muslims' views, he has full support from his family. His father, Muhali, and mother, Hamidah, are tolerant and, he says, tend to believe him rather than believe others.
"People spread unfounded rumors. They *my parents* always support me and are never against me, let alone consider me kafir *an infidel*."
The same support comes from his wife, Titi Sukriyah, 35, and children, Gabriel Shaukan, 13, Melika Bilqis, 11, and Amadea Ayunina, 5.
Among the ideas Luthfi disagrees with is the notion that the principle of Qisas Law, or proportionate punishment, is inhumane. Qisas, he explains, requires legal aspects that everyone agrees upon, and argues there should be efforts to build arguments with debates about this matter. If agreed upon, Qisas will be made into a positive law.
"Otherwise, this won't be made *into a positive law*. In a country which implements Qisas itself, there are many views," said Luthfi, who is also director of the Freedom Institute.
In recent politics, the practice of Islam became a hot topic when a political party drew attention to its presidential candidates' religiosity, including the way their wives wore headscarves. Some even suggested the parliamentary system be changed to the kekhilafahan (government by Islamic people) system.
For Luthfi, this was like "a journey to the past", when Indonesia did not have any strong government.
"That was strongly related to the masses at the grassroots level, who still bought into such issues. This included the issue of sharia law, which is over at the national level," he said.
He said he realized that what he does is part of the long journey by Muslims in Indonesia to fully understand the essence of Islam. He warns people not to get trapped in the politicization of Islamic symbols: "Don't let the humanist side of Islam disappear because of such things."
