“Why did you like to sing gospels for the dead these last two days?” my daughter asked me on Friday morning. She was curious because usually I love to sing songs that, according to her mother, do not suit my age.

It was just a coincidence. Since Wednesday I had tried very hard to gather enough courage to make an appeal to the leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Muhammad Rizieq Shihab.

In the last three days, every time I read newspaper files about his activities and looked at his pictures, I felt as if I heard threatening voices: “Who do you think you are that you want to criticize this widely feared person? Even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has never openly said anything negative about his activities.” I was sweating. Worse, when I tried to search FPI on Google, I often found the following message: Bandwidth Limit Exceeded.

I was very willing to make a friendly suggestion to Bapak Rizieq that it would be much more productive for this country if he and his followers helped the nation wage a jihad against Indonesia’s most dangerous disease: corruption! I wish I could convince him that the sons and daughters of this nation should call for a total war against corrupt people. Millions of citizens are forced to live under the poverty line because our state assets, our natural resources are being robbed by our leaders, their cronies and their bribers.

I would like to tell him gently: We should use peaceful, legitimate but effective ways in our bid to eliminate the crime, which does not only ruin our economy but also turn us into a laughing stock in the world community. How come a nation, whose people are very proud to call themselves religious, cannot shake off the title of one of world’s most corrupt countries?

I could not resist the temptation to go to Rizieq, who has many ardent followers. I am sure he also is deeply concerned about the country’s most acute social disease. Corruption is considered a sin by all religions.

Please forgive me if I decide to come to him, because many Indonesians agree with me that we must think “out of the box” in eradicating corruption. Go to parliament members? Look what they have done.

Go to the President? Go to our political elites whose mouths never stop preaching about good governance? These officials and politicians, before taking office, swore in the name of God with the Bible, Koran or other holy books on their hands or heads that they would not commit any form of corruption and abuse of power.

To be honest I felt anxious: Would the well known Muslim preacher be upset by my decision to give him a “friendly suggestion”? Would his followers beat me for humiliating their adored leader in public? Right or wrong, there exists a frightening image of him among non-Muslims such as myself. But I was very eager to prove that the public perception that he and his followers were violent and intolerant was wrong.

After reading many articles about the preacher and focusing closer on his pictures in the newspapers and on the Internet, I heard a voice from deep within my heart: just do it! Ustadz Rizieq dedicates his life to Islam, a very tolerant, peaceful and forgiving religion.

“Just look at his smile. Initially you may feel scared, but if you concentrate more there is a wisdom and sincerity there,” the voice continued.

I remember the advice of my foster parents Kartijo and Ngatinem, who circumcised me when I was still I a little boy but never changed my religion. “Islam brings peace and prosperity for all, not just for us Muslims,” said the illiterate Javanese farmers.

Safety first! The motto is commonly seen at construction sites as a reminder to employers and workers that human safety rises above everything else, including possible material loss. Our publicly elected leaders such as President Yudhoyono and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo are very quick to implement the two-word advice when they are required to by the Constitution to protect citizens from corruptors, human rights abusers and those who claim they are authorized by God to do anything they like against others whom they don’t like. When houses of worship are attacked, they seem to be deaf and mute.

Safety first! To make sure that everybody likes him and that his popularity remains high, President Yudhoyono keeps pretending not to hear or know about the mass of public complaints and suspicion about rampant corruption practiced by the generals of the National Police, and by prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office.

The President apparently feels comfortable enough with his position as the leader of the country until 2014. Taking harsh action against corruptors and power abusers would only create unnecessary threats to the safety of his presidential seat.

 So where else I can go? To the FPI leader! I forgive readers who brand me as naïve or stupid with this idea. But if Pak Rizieq reads this column, I am sure he will shake my hand and say: “Trust me, fighting corruption is my top priority Let us do it now.” And he will show me a peace sign.

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