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Muhammadiyah to formulate blueprint of economic actions
The second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah, says it will formulate a blueprint of economic actions during a national seminar and workshop held by its central executive boardâs economy and entrepreneurship council (MEK) in Palembang, South Sumatra, from June 5 to 7
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he second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah, says it will formulate a blueprint of economic actions during a national seminar and workshop held by its central executive board's economy and entrepreneurship council (MEK) in Palembang, South Sumatra, from June 5 to 7.
MEK chairman Syafrudin Anhar said Muhammadiyah was now in the middle of a struggle between the capitalist (or liberal) economic system and the socialist system, which, perhaps, also involved people's economic ideas. With the number of social welfare institutions it controlled, Muhammadiyah has found room and opportunity to turn its dreams into reality, he said.
'The room and opportunity must be designed in an economic action blueprint. Muhammadiyah must choose or give alternatives for the implementation of an economic system,' Syafrudin said as quoted by Antara on Wednesday.
'It means Muhammadiyah must be able to formulate activities in order to help improve the national economy, especially in efforts to narrow economic gaps,' he said.
Focusing its attention not only on religious activities, but also on people's social welfare, especially in the field of education and health, Muhammadiyah is operating schools at all education levels, such as kindergarten and early childhood education centers (PAUD) that now number 3,370. It has 941 junior and senior high schools and 174 universities. Muhammadiyah has also opened 389 hospitals, 330 orphanages and around 263 cooperatives and micro financial institutions.
Despite such huge resources, Syafrudin said Muhammadiyah's economic activities had not yet been explored optimally and planned well. On the other side, producing an economic action blueprint was one of the programs agreed to during the 45th Muhammadiyah Muktamar (congress) in Malang, East Java, in 2005.
'Therefore, along with the mandate from the Muktamar Malang, Muhammadiyah is pushing forward to compile a concept of its economic actions, called Muhammadiyah's economic blueprint in the congress,' said Syafrudin. (ebf)
