Guarding Religious Moderation

One of the legacies of Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, a former Religious Affairs Minister of the Republic of Indonesia (2014-2019), is relatively strong partiality towards religious moderation.

He incorporated a message of religious moderation in almost every one of his speeches. By the end of his term of office, Lukman had succeeded in including a policy on religious moderation in the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan. His commitment to mainstreaming religious moderation is also evident in the publication of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s white paper, “Religious Moderation”.

The policy on religious moderation must be protected, translated and broken down into operational and crosscutting subprograms In the hands of the new Religious Affairs Minister, Fachrul Razi.

Out of reach

The greatest challenge for the religious moderation policy is reaching the right target. It must be admitted that religious deradicalization and moderation programs so far have tended to be implemented among moderate communities like pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and mass organizations (Nahdlatul Ulama/NU, Muhammadiyah).

The deradicalization program has not even touched groups and individuals exposed to radicalism.

Even if it is intended to be a bastion of ideological defense, the religious moderation program should be directed towards "new santri (pesantren students)" or new converts who are enthusiastic about their religion. The intensity of religious radicalism can be regarded as an effort to repent or to atone for any “sins” that have been committed.

The deradicalization program has not even touched groups and individuals exposed to radicalism. The deradicalization program is usually administered to those who have been exposed to the virus of radicalism only after they are in prison. Meanwhile, clandestine groups that study radical teachings are often out of the reach of the moderation and deradicalization programs because they are under the authorities’ radar. Therefore, the challenge is how to synergize and manage the relevant institutions and ministries to run the program together and on target.

Reaching those that the deradicalisation efforts have not reached essentially concerns efficiency in performance and budgeting. This is understandable, given that moderating the religious practice of those already moderate is tahsil al-hasil, which means producing something that already exists, or muspro (futile). Javanese refers to this approach as nguyahi banyu segara (adding salt to seawater).

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KOMPAS/AUFRIDA WISMI WARASTRI

A police officer stands guard on Thursday (14/11/2019) at the entrance gate of Medan Police Station in North Sumatra. The Medan Police have tightened security checks following the suicide attack at the station the day before.

The metamorphosis of radical groups from group violence to lone wolf attacks, like in the attack on Medan police headquarters (13/11/2019), needs watching. This indicates that membership in the Islamic State (IS) still continues in secret amidst the political turmoil of the electoral stage.

The suicide bombers that attacked three churches and the Surabaya Police headquarters in May 2018 were IS combatants who had returned from Syria. They seemed to have been left unsurveilled so they could prepare for the deadly amaliyah operation. This is the kind of group that must be identified and targeted for deradicalization.

While overseeing the religious moderation policy along each line, it is important that the relevant parties develop and maintain structural equilibrium among religious communities. The religious moderation policy must become the mainstream model for religion as part of its public awareness strategy amidst the mushrooming of identity politics, hate speech and false news.

Nevertheless, structural balance will act as a buffer in guaranteeing and ensuring that the public will internalize the policy.

As Lawrence R. Iannacone stressed (1995), "The combination of consumer and religious producer behavior forms a religious market which, like other markets, tends to move toward a steady-state equilibrium."

Disrupting the structural balance will lead to social turbulence. In terms of religious radicalism, social turbulence appears in latent (peaceful resistance) and manifest (violence) forms.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Beating tambourines, representatives of the Gusdurian community take part in the procession ahead of Christmas Mass on Wednesday (25/12/2019) at St. Vincentius A. Paulo Langsep Parish Catholic Church in Malang, East Java. The 30 members of the Gusdurian community participated in the Christmas procession as a display of friendship and support for the spirit of diversity and tolerance as taught by Adurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.

Balance in three domains

Structural balance can be established simultaneously across three domains: economy, politics and society. In terms of economics, the high Gini coefficient reflects the emergence of economic inequality. This should be the focus of stakeholders. The massive expenditure on infrastructure development during the Jokowi era should not be a bubble that does not contribute to developing equitable and fair economic distribution. It must be ensured that infrastructure will improve the Gini ratio and reduce economic inequality.

Economic distribution must not exclude certain individuals or societal groups. There can be no policy favoritism. Equitable distribution of the economic pie means all members of the public, without exception. This is critical because radicalism is not merely a matter of opinion (ideology), but also a matter of income (economy).

Socioeconomic inequality will only give rise to disappointment and social envy, which can be used to fuel radicalism and social conflict.

Radicalism is not merely a matter of opinion (ideology), but also a matter of income (economy).

The second domain is the political sphere. In this context, the state’s various political policies must not victimize certain communities. The state must not act arbitrarily against its citizens. No group should be oppressed or marginalized politically as a result of the state’s erroneous policies. The problem is that civil liberties are often wielded as a weapon against the state. As a result, the state is never right in the eyes of its people.

A rather troublesome thing is the rise in acts of terrorism/radicalism in Indonesia due to the political oppression of Muslims in other countries such as Palestine, Myanmar and China. The Surabaya church bombings prove the truth of this domino effect theory. Through these suicide bombings, the terrorists wanted to send a warning to the international community against oppressing fellow Muslims elsewhere in the world.

For example, the terrorists were aware of their inability to target Israel as their "distant enemy". In the end, they also used the attack to target Christians, who were actually irrelevant as regards Muslim oppression in other areas of the world.

UIN SUNAN AMPEL

Masdar Hilmy

The third domain is society. Social deprivation and dislocation can cause disillusionment that gives rise to resistance. Societal barriers should be demolished as much as possible to eliminate social inequality to prevent prejudice and suspicion against other, different, groups. Civil ties should be structured to prevent the birth of segregation and social fragmentation.

This is understandable, considering that prejudice, suspicion and distrust are negative emotions that can undermine and weaken equal relations among the citizenry.

Masdar Hilmy, Rector, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University (UIN), Surabaya.