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MUI rebuffs Malaysian fatwa on ESQ
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has denounced an edict issued by a Malaysian mufti declaring Islamic-based motivation and training methods developed by an Indonesian heretical
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he Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has denounced an edict issued by a Malaysian mufti declaring Islamic-based motivation and training methods developed by an Indonesian heretical.
MUI chairman Amidhan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the fatwa issued by a Malaysian mufti to declare the widely-popular Emotional and Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) training program heretical was “exorbitant”.
“The ESQ method is very advanced and extraordinary. Those who issued the fatwa are just not ready [for such methods],” he said.
The ESQ is a multimedia training program that encourages personal growth in leadership, well-being and Islamic spiritual values. It was developed by Indonesian Ary Ginanjar Agustian.
Mufti for the Federal Territories of Malaysia, Wan Zahidi Bin Wan Teh, issued a fatwa last month banning the training, which he deemed to be a breach of Islamic teaching. The federal territories include Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
In a website www.muftiwp.gov.my, Zahidi says the training “supports liberalism by making free interpretation of the Koran and [supports the concept of] pluralism in religions, which says that all religions are the same and true”.
The mufti, or professional interpreter of sharia law, also says ESQ combines Islamic teachings with other religious teachings, including Jewish and Hindu.
He also denounces the training for using logic as the main reference instead of the Koran and Sunna.
Amidhan said the ESQ training welcomed participants from all religions. “That does not mean it embraces pluralism in religions,” he added.
He also said the training used several principles taught in various teachings, such as the traditional code of the Japanese samurai, Bushido, to be applied as management principles.
“It is, after all, a training on management and human resources, not an event to preach, although there are those who convert after taking part in it,” he told the Post.
Head of ESQ President Director Office, Dwitya Agustina, said only one mufti has declared ESQ forbidden while muftis from 13 other states have no problem with the training.
“A hearing attended by all the muftis and Ary on June, 16, concluded that the 13 muftis would not [issue] a haram edict on the training. The mufti for federal territories, however, did not attend the meeting and issued the fatwa without ever meeting with Pak Ary to explain,” Dwitya said in a written statement.
More than 850,000 Indonesians and 65,000 Malaysians have attended ESQ trainings. The method has been recommended by two of the biggest Muslim organizations in the country; Muhammadiyah and the Nahdlatul Ulama.
Dwitya said the edict issued by Zahidi has made some of the alumni wary.
“Many have called the office asking for an explanation,” she said, adding that no scheduled trainings, other than those to be held in Malaysia’s federal territories, have so far been canceled following the news.
