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References to caliphate in school exams draw ire
The head of the religious affairs agency in Kediri, East Java, has said the use of the politically sensitive term khilafah (caliphate) in high school exam materials in the region was an act of negligence
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span>The head of the religious affairs agency in Kediri, East Java, has said the use of the politically sensitive term khilafah (caliphate) in high school exam materials in the region was an act of negligence.
In response, the agency plans to carry out a thorough evaluation of all related textbooks used in schools across the region.
Kediri Religious Agency head Muh. Zuhri said a team of officials from his office and the East Java provincial agency had investigated the case and concluded the exam materials did not go through a final check before being distributed to schools.
Zuhri said the exam materials were prepared by a fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) teacher from MAN 2 Islamic state senior high school in Kediri without being checked by related offices.
Previously, exam materials were prepared by a forum of principals, vice principals and teachers in the northern Kediri area.
“Yet, there should be a checking mechanism and each subject should be prepared by more than one person,” Zuhri said on Thursday, adding that the figh exam materials had been prepared by only one teacher.
References to the khilafah were also found in the final semester fiqh exam at madrasah aliyah (Islamic senior high schools) in northern Kediri, which covers Kediri city, Kediri regency and Nganjuk regency.
Khilafah refers to an Islamic state led by a Muslim leader. Rather than a modern state, it requires the establishment of a multiethnic and transnational empire. Thus, its followers seek to overthrow the existing government and replace it with an Islamic one.
Zuhri said the term khilafah had been referenced in seven exam questions, adding that the there were many other themes the teacher could have focused on. Zuhri also said the materials were prepared based on the fiqh textbook. Therefore, his team would also recommended evaluating the textbook.
The East Java and Kediri religious affairs agencies conducted an investigation on Wednesday. They found the term khilafah in at least seven multiple-choice questions.
The case drew public attention after a netizen posted photos of the exam materials on social media on Wednesday afternoon.
Twitter account @toev_612 uploaded the photos with the caption, “What kind of propaganda is this? Please @Kemenag_RI respond to this. How can you make Pancasila strong if our generation is forced-fed like this?”
The tweet generated a large response from many netizens.
On the same afternoon, the country’s largest Muslim mass organization Nahdlatul Ulama’s Legal Aid Institute (LBH NU) Kediri branch issued a statement that criticized the exam materials for containing content aimed at indoctrinating students.
The statement, signed by LBH NU secretary Taufik Dwi Kusuma, highlighted six multiple-choice questions on the first page of the exam.
One questions asks: “The khilafah built by Prophet Muhammad and continued by his friends was based on a strong basis, which in principle aimed to...” The available answers are: A. Protect the weak, B. Promote tolerance, C. Uphold the tauhid (core Islamic belief that Allah is the only one true God), D. Build cooperation, E. Avoid conflict.
LBH NU Kediri considered the questions to be a form of hidden indoctrination as they led students to believe the khilafah was a teaching of Prophet Muhammad’s that had to be upheld.
The indoctrination was conducted systematically, Taufik said, by asking questions about the definition and objectives of the khilafah as well as the propositions in the Quran and the Hadith that underlie the establishment of a khilafah.
“The sequence of the questions was also systematic, leading to a conclusion that the khilafah must be established, as it was ordered by Prophet Muhammad,” Taufik told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Taufik said that the LBH NU’s stance was in accordance with the NU’s, namely that the khilafah established by Prophet Muhammad could not be implemented in a different time, especially in a country as religiously diverse as Indonesia.
Taufik said the case indicated the strong influence the banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) still had in government institutions tasked with preparing exam materials for Islamic senior high schools in northern Kediri.
“The use of the term khilafah is common in the HTI. The narrative is identical to the HTI’s,” said Taufik, adding that his office would report the case to the police if the Religious Affairs Ministry did not settle the issue.
