Conservative Muslim clerics, and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) are up in arms over the popular, Islamic-based “Emotional and Spiritual Quotient Way” motivational training (ESQ).
Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa Commission head Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday that he would request that the MUI examine ESQ’s modules and content for further consideration before it issues a fatwa (edict).
“I have to clarify that the Council has not yet issued any edict that deems the training methods
heretical.”
“However, I think the methods have raised major concerns,” Anwar said, adding that he questioned ESQ creator Ary Ginanjar Agustian’s expertise, understanding of Islam, grasp of Islamic literature and proficiency in Arabic.
Ary Ginanjar, who is an Indonesian entrepreneur and motivational speaker, said he created ESQ in 2000 from Islamic teachings.
He said he had taught ESQ methods to more than 850,000 Indonesians and 65,000 Malaysians in leadership and manpower development seminars.
Ary has also authored ESQ-related books that have garnered harsh criticism from clerics, who said that the books misinterpreted the Koran and twisted its content.
ESQ has been endorsed by Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations: Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama.
In June, a Muslim scholar for the Federal Territories of Malaysia, Wan Zahidi Bin Wan Teh, issued a fatwa banning the training, which he deemed a breach of Islamic teachings.
Some Indonesian Muslim clerics agreed that ESQ may be heretical.
Bernard Abdul Jabbar, a regional leader of the Indonesian Muslim Forum, said that ESQ had deviated from Islamic teachings in its mission and values — “to propagate and make the ESQ Way 165 the ultimate way of life on earth”.
He added that its teachings were incorrectly positioned as Islamic. “Its values, which include honesty, responsibility, vision, discipline,
cooperation, justice, and concern, all are found in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,”
Bernard said.
“Ary Ginanjar’s book ESQ says the truth stems from our conscience, which I think is the essence of Christianity. In Islam, conscience is a means to comprehend the truth,” said Bernard, who used to be a Christian missionary before converting to Islam.
He said Ary Ginanjar’s claim that the books served as “guidelines for one’s life” was baseless, as they were basically a melange of ideas from other religious teachings, such as Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity, that did not accord with Islam.
“I believe that Ary Ginanjar intends to form a new religion called the ESQ 165 Way,” Bernard added.
Amin Djamaluddin, the chief of the Islamic Research and Study Institute, demanded that Ary Ginanjar apologize and inform Muslims that his training modules and books contained false interpretations
of Islam.
“The books mention that there are some forms of zakat [alms] for leadership, collaboration, and the inner self, which definitely don’t exist in Islam,” he added. (tsy)
