D

em>Déjà vu. Was that the overriding feeling you got when you watched the first presidential debate on Jan. 17? It was for me. Of course this would only apply to those of you who watched the presidential candidate debate in June 2014, which also pitted Joko “Jokowi” Widodo against Prabowo Subianto.

But there were two people on the stage that made you realize you weren’t in a time warp: Ma’ruf Amin and Sandiaga Uno, respectively the running mates of Jokowi and Prabowo.

Talk about contrasting personas! Age (Ma’ruf 75, Sandiaga 49), attire (Ma’ruf wearing the traditional cleric white koko shirt and batik sarong; Sandiaga in a spiffy Western suit), and delivery. Ma’ruf, former Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) head, was mainly silent, looking awkward and quite honestly, a bit lost. The American-educated, former businessman Sandiaga on the other hand, was urbane, suave and for the most part, relaxed.

Politics is often about symbols and image, and a man in a sarong is not one we have ever seen in a presidential debate. Ma’ruf was the odd-man out, not just because of his attire, but also because unlike the others, he has never been in a political debate before. Sandiaga had at least been in a gubernatorial candidate debate as the running mate of Anies Baswedan, currently Jakarta governor.

Ma’ruf’s presence on Indonesia’s highest political stage begs several questions. What has been the role of clerics in Indonesian politics? Does Ma’aruf’s branching out into politics signify the rise of Islamism in Indonesia? After all, didn’t the MUI in 2005 issue a fatwa against sipilis? No, not the sexually transmitted infection, but sipilis as the abbreviation of sekularisme, pluralisme and liberalisme (secularism, pluralism and liberalism), which conservative Muslims consider incompatible with Islam.

Really? If anything, since independence, Indonesia has been living proof that Islam and sipilis, or if you wish, democracy, are compatible. But on top of rising intolerance and radicalism, we now also have the head of the MUI as a vice-presidential candidate? Is Indonesia slowly but surely turning into a caliphate?

Historically, clerics have played a significant role in Indonesian society. Even before independence, pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools) which are the centers of Islamic learning, became centers of resistance to colonialism. Jihad became one with the nationalistic movement to fight against the Dutch colonizing infidels.

It wasn’t surprising then that when independence was won in 1945, political Islam wanted Indonesia to become an Islamic state, but Indonesia’s founding fathers, Sukarno and Hatta, felt it didn’t suit the new nation’s pluralism and rejected the idea.

In Soeharto’s New Order, the aspirations of political Islam were repressed even more. However,
it was also accommodated, for example through the founding of the MUI which served to produce fatwas and “advise the Muslim community on contemporary issues”.

In short, clerics have clearly played a role in major events in Indonesian history. Why, we’ve even had a cleric for president.

Yessiree! Our fourth, and first ever democratically elected president, Abdurrachman “Gus Dur” Wahid (1940-2009) was previously chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia.

Gus Dur’s faults were many — inconsistence in his democratic principles, at times even acting like a despot (both in his National Awakening Party, the PKB, and in the palace), ineffective and erratic, and having a burning desire for personal power. He was beset by scandals, left the presidency in disgrace and in July 2001 was impeached for incompetence and charges of corruption (see my column ‘The Patchwork President’, The Jakarta Post, Jan. 13, 2010).

But, as I also wrote, “Gus Dur had an impressive and genuine commitment to tolerance and pluralism, and his brand of Islam gave enlightenment to many and remains a model for religious moderation”.

Despite his flaws, his legacy has been enduring. There is a GusDurian community — basically a community of his disciples, admirers, and those who advocate and perpetuate his ideas. GusDurians regard him as guru bangsa (teacher of the nation) and for them December, the month he died, is Gus Dur Month.

Last Dec. 30 was the ninth commemoration of Gus Dur’s death, held at the Tebuireng Pesantren in Jombang from whence he hails, and where he is buried. An estimated 10,000 people attended the commemoration in East Java. Previous commemorations were also well attended, including by prominent government figures and even President Jokowi in 2016.

Dede Oetomo, Indonesia’s most prominent lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender (LGBT) activist, told me he attended a smaller commemoration held by two GusDurians, with other gay and waria (transgender) friends at a Chinese temple in Gudo, Jombang. Why a Chinese temple? Well, Gus Dur was of mixed blood, based on his admissions: Javanese, Arabic and Chinese, which may partly explain his pluralist beliefs. In 2005, Gus Dur was a patron of the Miss Waria Pageant, which makes me believe that he would also defend LGBT rights, which not many clerics would openly do now for fear of social and political repercussions given the current moral panic against LGBT people.

Besides Gus Dur, are there any other progressive clerics? Oh yes! To mention a few: Ahmad Syafi’i Maarif, Mustofa Bisri (aka Gus Mus), Quraish Syihab, M. Machasin, Husein Muhammad, Nasarudin Umar, etc. and among women clerics: Musdah Mulia, Badriyah Fayumi, Nur Rofiah, Nyai Masriah Ariva and others. These are the clerics who enlighten and uphold Indonesia’s reputation for a moderate, modern and intelligent Islam that can evolve with the times.

On the flip side, there are clerics who instead of enlightening, frighten us, using fear and hatred to divide the nation. Riziek Shihab, the founder of the vigilante group Islam Defenders Front is one of them. Another is Abubakar Ba’asyir, the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah who is considered the mastermind of the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005. Convicted and sentenced to 15 years, he may be granted early release this year for humanitarian reasons: his old age, 80, and failing health. Many suspect however that it’s related to the presidential elections, as Jokowi had often been accused of criminalizing clerics. Hence also the reason for Ma’ruf as his running mate.

But is Jokowi running the risk of feeding the beast? Will having Ma’ruf as his vice president tame and compromise the cleric, or further encourage the push for Indonesia’s Islamization?

Politics is a gamble they say, let’s just hope Jokowi isn’t gambling away the future of Indonesia and its Unity in Diversity, the cornerstone of the nation.
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