W

ith the manifold challenges facing the ever-changing Muslim societies of the world, Muhammadiyah, the country'€™s second-largest Islamic organization, has been urged to select a new chairman with a modern view of life at its upcoming national congress, also known as muktamar, scheduled to begin this Monday in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Senior member Rosyad Sholeh said that selecting a leader with a modern view of the world would help to keep the 104-year-old Islamic organization a leading voice for Muslims in the country.

'€œMuhamamdiyah has so far been known for its non-aligned position [in politics]. It is neither on the left or on the right side, but instead works to become a part of the solution to the problems confronting the country,'€ Rosyad told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Rosyad said that the next leader to replace retiring Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin, who has led the organization since 2005, should possess the managerial abilities necessary to effectively execute the organization'€™s various programs, especially in the education and health sectors. Muhammadiyah has, for decades now, committed itself to improving health and educational outcomes in Indonesia.

Rosyad further said that the most critical problem that Muhammadiyah should focus on was that of poverty. To better support the economic ambitions of Indonesians, Rosyad argued that the organization should step up its efforts to increase the quality of its education system because producing educated students would help people to get better jobs and improve the economy.

Muhammadiyah Youth Association head Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said that the new leader to succeed Din should be an '€œintellectual cleric'€, one who was capable of delivering solutions for social problems, and not simply one who had mastered the religion.

'€œIn the first century of Muhammadiyah'€™s existence, its founder KH Ahmad Dahlan conducted reform and generated a religious renaissance by reforming those Islamic values that were not suitable for development. Now, as Muhammadiyah moves through the first pages of its second century, the new leader should be able to apply reformist values to answer all problems faced by people,'€ Dahnil said.

On Sunday, a plenary session called tanwir in Makassar short-listed 39 members as prospective candidates to become the next chairman. These 39 were in turn selected from the 82 senior Muhammadiyah members who had registered for the race.

The five of the 39 candidates who received the most number of votes on Sunday were Muhammadiyah treasurer Anwar Abbas with 151 votes out of a maximum 194, secretary-general Abdul Mu'€™ti with 151, senior member Dahlan Rais with 149, leadership board member Yunahar Ilyas with 149 and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas with 145 votes.

Islamic politics analyst Ahmad Fuad Fanani from the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) said that the soon-to-be-elected new chairman of Muhammadiyah must have the ability to open and sustain productive dialogue with other religious leaders in order to combat the growing sectarian violence engulfing Indonesia and the rest of the world.

'€œThe new Muhammadiyah chairman must have adequate knowledge about the needs of people in Indonesia. He should not address social problems with black and white approaches [solely based on religion] but he should conduct studies to clearly see what a problem stands for in the society,'€ Fuad added.

Fuad made the comment to criticize the recent statement by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) that the current implementation of the national health insurance (JKN) program, which is managed by the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), was not in accordance with Islamic law.

The names of the 39 candidates will be presented at a plenary meeting during the upcoming congress in which around 2,500 participants will cast their votes. The candidates will fill in the 13 vacant seats on Muhammadiyah'€™s central board.

After participants select 13 people for Muhammadiyah'€™s central board, the elected officials will then hold a closed-door meeting to appoint one of their number to take the helm of Muhammadiyah for the period 2015-2020. If no agreement is reached, the 13 members will hold a vote.