A noted Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) cleric insists that Muslims must comply with sharia (Islamic law) as well as the national law. "Truth is arbitrary, therefore no law can take effect permanently," Saifuddin Amsir, member of NU lawmaking body told a hearing at the Muslim organization's congress in Makassar on Friday.
Saifuddin said sharia will become more relevant as it was based on religious science, which adopted long-lasting principles.
"Sharia is made based on the consensus of Muslim communities. Therefore, the potential for it to be rejected is low," he said. He added that sharia would always face some rejection. "It's the challenge for clerics. They must be able to withstand criticism and rejection. That's the risk of being an Islamic teacher.
"Sharia is made from a consensus. Any rejection must trigger self-introspection," Saifuddin said. Earlier participants of the NU congress concluded that sharia never set a minimum legal age to marry. It opposes the children protection and marriage law, which stipulate the minimum age to marry is 16 for women and 19 for men.
Your comments:
This is a sad day for Indonesia indeed! And rampant corruption was not even mentioned under the sharia law written about in this article. No matter what, sharia law has no place in modern Islam and society.
This is what happens when Islamic Arab influence and domination has been rubbing off on Indonesia for generations. If Indonesia had a respectful national law, sharia law would probably not even be discussed at all.
What has happened to Indonesian culture and values and self-introspection for those who reject sharia? I think clerics need to do some soul-searching and self-introspection of their own.
Don't dictate to others who do not wish to have sharia law in this country, one which is slowly being devastated by the uncontrollable religious right.
Wake up all civilized, moderate Indonesians! The clock is ticking fast.
E. J.
Jakarta
It is total nonsense. Soeharto would have cracked the whip on this guy. Stopping this guy from speaking has nothing to do with democracy. It's more about homeland security.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) should take note of this constant evil and wipe them out or build a jail that can hold more than 100,000 people.
I'm sick of this going on in my Indonesia and it must stop today! SBY, wake up and help homeland security under the terrorism act!
Rahadi Widodo
Jakarta
These laws are from over 1,400 years ago and have no place in today's world where men and women are created equal.
How can the testimony of a women be valued as half that of a man's testimony?
Why would female children inherit half of what is left to the male children of a family?
These laws are all about men being dominant and women being subservient. What an unfair system, where a person who steals has his hands cut off.
There is no place in a democracy or a democratic country for sharia laws? Anybody wanting to practice sharia law is most welcome to move and to live in countries that are already ruled by sharia laws.
C. Tyrrell
London
Religions, as are all philosophies, are not based on science. If they were based on science, then they would be able to prove with evidence and data their theories and opinions.
Brien D.
Brisbane
This makes me sad, both as a Muslim and as an Indonesian. This shows that our clerics have never evolved beyond the scope of their own rigid point of view.
What we need, as a nation of mostly moderate Muslims, is a common understanding that this big nation is composed of many religions and races, not one religion above all else. If we put one religion above others, Indonesia will become a new Israel.
Donny Nugraha
Jakarta
