Traditionalists versus
Progressives: Who’s winning?
Protestants once happily belted out the mid 19th
century hymn Onward Christian soldiers. It
was composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan (of G & S opera fame) and has a seductively
rollicking rhythm.
The sturdy language reinforced the righteousness of the
singers’ beliefs. It became a Salvation Army ballad. Now it’s seldom heard
–except with new lyrics.
It took more than a century for congregations to realise the
gross offensiveness of the words and their opposition to teachings of love and
forgiveness. Compassion had been hijacked by the military-minded who saw other
beliefs as pagan lands to be colonized.
Traditionalists argued that the hymn’s roots were well
embedded in Biblical tales justifying violence. It’s taken a long time for the
self-styled Progressive Christians to start reinterpreting the scriptures for
those who believe religions should promote peace.
Is the same thing happening with Islam
in Indonesia, though extremists still use the more vengeful passages of Al Quran to justify violence?
Islamic scholar Dr Rumadi, (right) originally from Central Java, thinks similar reform may be underway. In 2008 he
wrote Post Traditionalisme Islam: Wacana
Intelektualisme dalam Komunitas NU.
The book has now been translated into
English as Islamic Post-Traditionalism in
Indonesia. The forward by the late Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) Indonesia’s
fourth president and former leader of the mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, is surprisingly critical.
He writes that the book does not
cover the ‘dialogue’ between Islam and nationalism which predates the
foundation of NU (in 1926), adding:
‘The attitude of viewing
post-traditionalism as the essence of NU ‘revival’ is frankly quite dangerous
because it can be easily misused.’
Rumadi declined to attack the
comments: “Gus Dur is not wrong, of course not. But things have been
changing. Since he died (in 2009)
there’s been much development of an Indonesian version of Islam that’s
different from the Saudi interpretation.”
Yet every time a progressive tries
to release Islam from the intellectual prison of fundamentalist interpretations
there seems to be a lashback.
President Joko Widodo recently issued
a decree to establish an international Islamic campus.
“I expect this university to be a source of knowledge,
Islamic studies, the moral light of Islam and a bastion of balanced
Islamic values, tolerant and egalitarian Islam,” he reportedly said.
“Islam in Indonesia is like a patent medical prescription,
which is moderate Islam, while other countries are still seeking the formula.”
But the dose had gone wrong in
North Sumatra where Buddhists were picking over the ashes of their temples allegedly
firebombed by an enraged mob. News reports said the men had reacted after a
Chinese woman complained about noise from a nearby mosque.
It’s not just non-Muslims who get
offended by high-volume calls to prayer; Vice President Jusuf Kalla is on record
asking mosques to remember that at least 25 million Indonesians follow other
faiths and turn down their amplifiers for azan.
Tolerance goes beyond accepting all
have a right to peace. The next logical
position is that respecting other beliefs dilutes commitment to your own which
opens the door to doubts. For some that’s a step too far. For others it can be exciting to have their
views tested – yet still hold strong.
Eight years ago the little-known Cirebon-based
Fahmina Institute based on the ‘religious and intellectual practices of
traditional Indonesian Islamic boarding schools’ produced Rumadi’s book.
The English translation by
Melbourne University academic Rebecca Lunnon released this year gives Rumadi’s
study an international readership. It has been published by Singapore’s prestigious
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, recognising the book’s importance in
understanding Indonesian Islam as interpreted through the NU prism.
Although the prose reads well the
free flow of the text falters when it hits the speed bumps of names of minor
players. Their contributions could have been left to endnotes.
There is also much attention given
to tiny points of difference, leading to the assumption that some discussions
are more peacock displays of individuals’ erudition than genuine attempts to
find answers.
Just as medieval Christian scholars
debated the number of angels that could dance on a pin, some schools of Islam
(and other faiths) need to get back to the basics of family, morality, worldly purpose
and the afterlife – if there is one.
Rumadi, 46, is not a polemicist. He used to be involved with the Jakarta-based
Wahid Institute, a research center founded by Gus Dur, so his
writing is not impartial, a fact he acknowledges.
There are no references in his
book to Muhammadiyah (founded 1912), the second largest Islamic organization in
Indonesia with around 30 million mainly urban members – a fact readers must
constantly keep in mind.
The author lectures in Islamic law
at UIN in Jakarta and is also a Commissioner at the government’s National
Information Commission in Jakarta.
His education has been entirely in
Indonesia and includes a PhD from the State Islamic University (UIN) in
Jakarta. His reputation and analytical
skills could be enhanced with overseas qualifications, preferably from a
secular campus.
Despite these handicaps
Rumadi, 46, has the courage to get stuck into NU. Publishing criticisms can be dangerous. His
friend Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, founder of the Liberal Islamic Network got death
threats and a letter bomb after writing
in the newspaper Kompas about ‘rejuvenating
Islamic understanding’ an article some considered heretical.
Rumadi said he’d had no problems
even though writing: ‘The NU theological structure … is unable to wrestle with
the wild anarchy of meaning, fails to accommodate rapidly changing social
dynamics and is too fragile to be the foundation for social empowerment towards
a more social, humanitarian and democratic society.’
Hope for peaceful co-existence
now lies, though not exclusively, with the
Islam Nusantara (Islam of the Archipelago) movement. This has been established by NU since
Rumadi’s original book was written.
It aims to develop ‘Indonesian
as well as Islamic society, improving the welfare of lower classes of society,
building democracy and fundamental justice, and expanding peace and
non-violence throughout the world.’ Onward, faithful peacemakers.
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(First published in The Jakarta Post 10 October 2016)
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