For the last decade, religious harmony has been a sticking point in pluralist Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population. Much has been done by civil society groups to promote mutual respect and tolerance among different faiths for the sake of national unity. Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization, shared his thoughts on the issue with The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta on the sidelines of an international conference in Rome last week on the culture of coexistence in Indonesia.

Why has religious harmony in Indonesia survived amid the uphill challenges?

In Indonesia, harmony centers on moderation, rather than fundamentalism or liberalism. Fundamentalism fires up egocentric believers who consider others their enemies, which is very prone to conflict. On the other hand, liberalism reduces the value of theology and rituals of a religion.

What we want is harmonious coexistence. If this healthy condition holds, none of the faith groups have any reason to worry about each other or feel afraid of any attack.

Moderation is our main capital, which maintains harmony between faith and tolerance. Such a model is represented by Indonesian Muslims.

We have had a number of conflicts, but they were not characteristic of this nation as they occurred only in the last 10 years or so. If such conflicts were characteristic of Indonesia, the violence should have been rampant here for centuries.

The conflicts came on the heels of a global fight between Muslims in the Middle East, and the West. The clash spread to Indonesia, which happens have the largest Muslim population in the world.

Indonesia, therefore, is not a center of terrorism, but rather a victim of terrorism. So if Indonesia wants to bring peace back and settle all the problems, just follow the nation's original value of moderation.

How can we prevent conflicts and promote moderation?

The state and religion live together under a concept that puts substance behind formality. In that sense, the state acts as an umbrella for different religions. Almost 80 percent of the substance of a religion concerns humanity. They differ only in formulation.

The substance has to be reflected in the policies enacted by the state. All religions teach unity, fight corruption and promote people's welfare, therefore we don't need prosperity or antigraft laws * la Islam, for instance. Formulation is no longer relevant, because the religions share the same substance.

Moderation requires us to keep the differences alive and refrain from forcing uniformity. The differences have formed the best mosaic so far.

People have to realize that most of the conflicts in the world stem from nonreligious matters, including politics, economics, territory and hegemony. I guess only 30 percent of conflicts are incited by religious issues.

In Indonesia, the conflict in Maluku was sparked by separatism, and the Bali bombings by people who felt they were hurt by the US. We have discussed during the conference the nonreligious factors behind conflicts, and we agreed that only moderation could save us.

What do you expect from the conference?

I wish to see Indonesian Muslims, as the majority group, proving that they can protect the minority. I also hope Buddhists in Thailand, as the majority group there, take action to protect the minority Muslims in the south. I expect Protestants and Catholics to work together to maintain peace in Northern Ireland.

Agreements resulting from an interfaith dialogue are always OK. The problem lies with the implementation, because during this process, people have to put the truth behind interests. I am optimistic that followers of major religions in the world realize that religious values have often been hijacked by political, economic and other interests.

Do you think the Indonesian government has done enough to promote religious harmony?

The government needs only to maintain what is already in place and avoid non-Indonesian values infiltrating the religious movements. The reform era has opened up room for such movements, as happened when representatives of Papua to the World Council of Churches meeting last year urged the council to declare that Papua was not part of Indonesia. It's unacceptable for all.

Now that liberalism prevails, the government must be firm in upholding Pancasila as the only state ideology. The government has to make sure the nation does not fall under the influence of any foreign teaching that comes from either the West or the Middle East. We have to step up movements to protect Indonesian values.

Do you think the implementation of sharia-based ordinances in parts of the country contradicts your view?

The movement to promote sharia-based bylaws only reflects the euphoria *that comes with* regional autonomy. They ban gambling, prostitution and drugs, which are already covered in the Criminal Code. Why enact such bylaws if we only need to enforce the existing laws more strictly?

That's why I always talk about the need for Muslims to choose substance over formulation. What is the relevance of regional election rules that require a candidate to be able to read the Koran? It's better for voters in a predominantly Muslim region to elect a leader who can read the holy book, but making it formal will lead to exclusiveness.

However, I think the euphoria will not last long. The Home Ministry will screen such bylaws.

The issue should not give us a headache, because our main concern is religious fundamentalism and liberalism. Some European countries allow marriages between homosexuals due to liberalism, but at the expense of Christian values. Liberalism will also erode away the values of Islam and other religions.

— JP