RI Pushes for Alliance of Moderate Islam

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo accompanies Egypt Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmad Muhammad Ath-Thayeb, as they walk down the stairs at Bogor Palace in West Java, after the opening of the High-Level Consultation of World Muslim Scholars and Ulemas on Wasathiyah Islam (Peaceful Islam) on Tuesday, May 1. The event was attended by hundreds of Muslim scholars and ulemas from across the globe to discuss Wasathiyah Islam, from the concept to its implementation from the era of the Prophet Muhammad, Indonesia’s experience and the challenges and opportunities in a global civilization. The event will run until May 3.

BOGOR, KOMPAS – Indonesia is pushing for the formation of a global alliance of wasatiyyat (moderate Islam) in response to the increasingly complex problems faced by Muslims all over the world. Such a movement must involve scholars seen as exemplary drivers of change.

The statement was made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in his opening speech of the High Level Consultation of World Muslim Scholars on Wasatiyyat Islam at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Tuesday (1/5/2018). “We wish to show the world that Islam as a religion is a blessing for the universe,” the President said.

A moderate-Islam movement, President Jokowi said, should be grounded and inspiring for world leaders, youths and other groups. “The involvement of clerics is important as they are the inheritors of the Prophet [Muhammad PBUH] and leaders of the people,” the President said.

He continued that he was convinced, with clerics standing united, the Wasatiyyat Islam alliance would be mainstreamed and a new hope will emerge of a fair, safe, prosperous and socially just world.

The President’s pledge cannot be disassociated from problems arising as information technology progresses. “On the one hand, it facilitates interaction. On the other hand, it is abused to spread hatred and radicalism,” he said.

The conference is attended by around 100 Muslim clerics and scholars from Indonesia and abroad. It will end on Thursday. Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque grand imam, Ahmad Muhammad Ath-Thayeb, and Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, are attending the event.

Also attending the event are presidential special envoy of religious harmony Din Syamsuddin, leaders of the nation’s two largest Muslim mass organizations Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, senior scholars Quraish Shihab and Komarudin Hidayat and other Islamic clerics and scholars. The President was accompanied by Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

The day before, President Jokowi met with Ath-Thayeb at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Implementation

Din Syamsuddin said a major issue discussed in the meeting was a moderate form of Islam that was relevant to respond to crises faced by global civilizations.

“We hope for an intellectual legitimacy on the Indonesian way of thinking and position in implementing the characteristics of wasatiyyat Islam. One of the many characteristics of the nation is its culture of deliberation,” Din said.

Meanwhile, Ath-Thayeb said he hoped the meeting would produce a concrete framework so that the implementation of a moderate Islam can involve all Muslims in the world. Such a framework is urgent to establish moderate Muslim communities. Currently, Muslims need a reconceptualization of the issue.

The Al-Azhar Mosque grand imam said that one of the things that sadden him is the tendency among people to be self-righteous. This endangers relationship between people. “They may easily see others as kafir [infidel]. This has never happened before,” he said.

Ath-Thayeb said that he hoped the consultation meeting would help overcome differences of opinions and unite Muslims in the face of more urgent problems, such as poverty and economic underdevelopment.

After meeting with President Jokowi, Ath-Thayeb also met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in his official home. Kalla, who also chairs the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI), was accompanied by DMI secretary general Sjafruddin in the meeting.

“Wasatiyyat Al-Islam is a middle path, of which the trend is rising in the world. If [Muslims] stray too much to the right, they must be brought back to the center. Similarly, if [Muslims] stray too much to the left, they must be brought back to the center. This way, Islam will be a middle path in achieving peace and harmony and in preventing conflicts,” Kalla said.

(NDY/NTA/HAR)