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Dawam Rahardjo, Muslim thinker, minority rights defender, dies at 76
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Dawam Rahardjo (Kompas/Ester Lince N)
I
ndonesian Muslim progressives, pluralism activists and minority groups are mourning the death of Dawam Rahardjo, a prominent Muslim thinker who helped lay the groundwork for the progressive Islamic movement in the country.
Dawam died on Wednesday evening at Muslim Cempaka Putih Hospital, Central Jakarta at around 9:55 p.m. He was 76.
The founder of the Institute for Religious and Philosophy Studies (LSAF) had long struggled against diabetes, which had taken a toll on his eyesight and his ability to walk.
Jimly Asshiddiqie, the chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI), was among the first renowned Muslim figures to share the news about Dawam’s passing on social media.
“Innalillahi wanna ilaihi rojium. Let us pray for Prof. Dawam Rahardjo who has just passed away,” Jimly tweeted on Wednesday.
Dawam was a co-founder of the ICMI, which he led from 1995 to 2000.
Dawam was known as one of the four Muslim students who initiated what is called “the Islamic rejuvenation” movement in the 1970s, along with Nurcholis “Cak Nur” Madjid, Ahmad Wahib and Djohan Effendi.
Through their writings, they challenged the Islamist ideology mainly espoused by modernist Masyumi, the largest Islamic party under then president Sukarno, and which was later disbanded by president Soeharto, and offered a more inclusive approach to Islam that was compatible with the idea of Indonesia as a diverse country.
Read also: M. Dawam Rahardjo: Champion of pluralism and religious freedom
Along with other renowned figures such as Abdurrahman Wahid and Kuntowijoyo, they were known as the first neo-modernist Muslims.
Dawam trained as an economist, managing the respected scientific journal Prisma and leading the Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES).
But he was later more widely known as a defender of minority groups.
“It is a big loss for us. He was the nation's teacher who was consistently seeking justice and protecting the right of every citizen, especially minorities,” Farid Mahmud Ahmad, an Ahmadiyah cleric, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The Ahmadiyah is arguably the most persecuted religious group in the country, having been declared heretical by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), and thus often prohibited from publicly practicing their beliefs.
“I hope more people will follow his steps,” Farid added.
In 2013, he received the Yap Thiam Hien award for his work in defending minority groups, including the Ahmadiyah and the Lia Eden community.
Younger generation Muslim progressives also expressed their loss on social media. “Devastated by the death of Mas Dawam Rahardjo, a thinker and a fighter who was consistent until the day he died. He was one of the best intellectuals that the nation has had,” tweeted Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla. (ahw)
