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Muslim scholars seek to continue Bahtiar Effendy’s legacy
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Prominent Muslim scholar and Muhammadiyah Central Board (PP) member Bahtiar Effendy passed away in Jakarta on Nov. 21. (tribunwow.com/File)
T
hree weeks after the passing of prominent Muslim intellectual Bahtiar Effendy, about 100 colleagues and friends gathered to remember his efforts to bridge Islam and democracy.
The event was held, fittingly, in the auditorium of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University’s (UIN Jakarta) Social and Political Faculty, where Bahtiar served as the faculty’s first dean.
“It’s been almost a month since his passing, and we wanted to hold the event to remember him and to honor his contributions to Islam and political studies,” the faculty’s dean, Ali Munhanif, said at the event on Tuesday morning.
Bahtiar, a champion of democracy, died on Nov. 21 after a 23-year battle with cancer.
Instead of mourning the loss, colleagues and friends filled the event with hopeful discussions about how to continue Bahtiar’s legacy.
One of Bahtiar’s friends, former minister of religious affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, said that in his final days, Bahtiar continued to express concerns about the state of Indonesia’s direct-election system.
In the 2019 presidential and legislative elections, the country saw discrimination against and intimidation of religious minorities, as well as rallies protesting the election results.
