greetings all,
i've been monitoring this thread with interest and have finally decided to contribute.
This controversy, as i understand it, originated with the Dog Brothers and associates using the image of a person dressed in Arab dress for target practice.
Arab style dress is becoming more and more popular here in Indonesia, I believe it's because some people assume that because Islam comes from that part of the world, that they must become like Arabs culturally to feel like complete moslems.
Islamophobia: Who is to blame for bad image?
Mohammad Yazid, Jakarta
To create the impression of being a Muslim, an older man driving a Toyota Kijang puts his prayer rug on the dashboard and hangs a string of prayer beads inside the windshield. The long-bearded man already wears a cap and Arab-style shirt, but he seems to lack the feeling of being a "true" Muslim. So he puts the words "Muslim car" on the rear window.
The question arises: Is this a Muslim car? Of course, the answer is no, because Indonesia's favorite Toyota Kijang is a product of Japan, which obviously is not a Muslim country. His behavior provokes comment. Some say, "He's trying to be a good Muslim but he looks strange." Others maintain, "He's free to do what he wants as long as he doesn't bother anyone."
Actually, the man does not mean to create an odd impression, but he is confusing Arabic culture with Islamic teachings. Thus the long beard and Arabic shirt, which create a strange and misleading image for some in the Muslim community. He is trapped in symbolic language and cannot distinguish between making himself Arabic and developing his own Islamic qualities rooted in Indonesian culture. He thinks he follows the Prophet's words, while some opponents of Prophet Muhammad, such as Abu Lahab, also had a long beard.
Various opinions regarding Islam in Indonesia have emerged in line with the diverse views of Islamic groups. The Islamic image is certainly inseparable from influential Muslim figures such as Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who has been branded a radical, Habib Rizieq with his Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Abdurrahman Wahid with his Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) base, and Amien Rais with Muhammadiyah. The other models are reflected in such parties as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the United Development Party (PPP).
Even many long-standing Muslims become confused by this complex array of choices, let alone those who have just become acquainted with Islam. There are also groups that actively spread their beliefs but often spark conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims as they mix group interests with personal stakes.
The different standpoints of these groups are legitimate. They become a problem when the groups bind themselves rigidly to their beliefs. This attitude eventually makes them exclusive and intolerant. They become closed to other truths that can be found in other parts of the world or in non-Muslim communities. This narrowness contradicts the abundant universal values of Islam.
They ensnare themselves in self-justification by choosing Koran verses that support their point of view. In high spirits they claim to be defenders of Islam while they are actually destroying the image of Islam. The rest of the Muslim world, let alone non-Muslims, are angered by their anarchistic acts, such as suicide attacks under some misinterpreted notion of jihad or holy war.
"We are enjoying a communal victory, but we experience a doctrinal failure," the late Muslim intellectual Nurcholis Madjid is quoted by Sukidi in the book Teologi Inklusif Cak Nur (Nurcholis's Inclusive Theology). According to him, we succeed and win in communal terms but we lose in doctrinal terms. Some of religion's great ideals are not turned into reality.
Several world incidents linked with Islam have occurred, such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2004 blast in Kuningan, South Jakarta, and several church bombings at Christmastime, all claiming numerous lives. Naturally the cumulative effect of these occurrences is to create a bad image of Muslims among non-Muslims.
Muslims will find it wiser to respond to this negative impression by looking within themselves. Islam's peace-loving stance should come to the fore, rather than the urge to defend these attacks with long explanations.
An honest attitude will offset all these misunderstandings. There is no need to be ashamed of acknowledging that amid the waves of globalization, Muslims have fallen far behind in promoting the modern ethical values long practiced by non-Muslims. These values include democracy and the ethos of diligence and discipline, all of which improve human existence.
The time has come for the Muslim community in Indonesia to reflect on the fact that as the majority of the population they actually have no role to play in politics. On the contrary, they have become "easy prey" for a number of political parties in every general election.
The bad image of Muslims is understandable, but it can be avoided if they show tolerance on the basis of strong fraternity. Non-Muslims should be aware that they are not the only victims of terror; Muslims themselves are its victims too. All elements need to acknowledge Indonesia's pluralist society and declare "war" on terror and anarchy.
Non-Muslims would also be wise to avoid being trapped by the kind of unreasonable fear associated with ghosts and haunted places. If they fail to face this challenge, the words of Nur Hidayat Wahid, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, will prove true: that Islam-phobia is now emerging, under the exact meaning of the word "phobia" in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary: "inexplicable and illogical fear".
The writer is a staff member on The Jakarta Post's Opinion Desk. He can be reached at yazid@thejakartapost.com.
Arabs are apparently idolized by Non-Arab moslems not for their individual or collective accomplishments, but simply for their heredity. Recently, the Vice President of Indonesia was questioned about promoting widowed and divorced women to potential tourists from the middle east (for the purpose of 'legal prostitution' through the use of temporary marriage contracts which are halal). He remarked that any resulting children would be beneficial:
"The children resulting from these relationships will have good genes. There will be more television actors and actresses from these pretty boys and girls"
Examining state identity, Islam and social justice
Juwono Sudarsono, Jakarta
In recent weeks some Islamist groups had alarmed minority and non-Islamic communities with their fervent call for adherence to a stricter Islamic code of social, economic and political conduct by pushing for an all-encompassing official ban on "amoral and lewd" behavior, giving rise to fears among non-Muslims communities that they may be subjected to legal norms contravening their respective personal and public code of conduct.
Several regional governments have issued edicts applying sharia for public behavior. The Home Ministry is reviewing some of these edicts, which may directly contravene basic provisions of the Indonesian Constitution of 1945.
The Declaration on Indonesian-ness which was read in front of President Yudhoyono and Cabinet ministers on the June 1, 2006, drew reactions from a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), who derided the petitioners of 'Indonesian-ness' as being "overly fearful of Islam" and of propounding "outright secular-nationalism."
The fact of the matter is that on June 1, 1945, Sukarno affirmed that Indonesia's state identity would not be overly secular (as in India), nor would it be strictly theocratic (as in Saudi Arabia). Sukarno appealed to Islamic participants in the Preparatory Committee to Prepare Indonesian Independence in mid-1945 to accept the fact that the Indonesian state was to be established based on "an agreement on fundamentals" embraced by all ethnic, racial, provincial as well as religious groups across the former Netherlands East Indies.
They had after all fought together for the independence of the Indonesian Republic. Sukarno also emphasized that there will always be an enduring "mythical quality of unity" in the consciousness of all Indonesians and that diversity was an important feature of "being Indonesian". Nationalist, Islamist and all other beliefs and faiths would be united through a "sublime union of all Indonesian culture and tradition".
Being an Indonesian Muslim, therefore, necessitates a tolerant expression of one's sense of being an Indonesian citizen, with all its rich nuances arising from family, ethnic, provincial and racial heritage including the "enrichment of Islam through understanding the beliefs and precepts of other faiths."
Among Muslims in Indonesia, therefore, there would remain diverse interpretations of precepts, applications and rituals of Islam among the Javanese in Central and East Java, just as there would be variations among the Sundanese, Minangkabau/Padang, Makassar and Bugis -- as indeed among the proud Acehnese.
Likewise with Indonesian Protestantism (Batak Church, Baptist, Methodist) and the significant though less pronounced variations of Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, as well as Confucianism. Eclecticism and syncretism were the underpinnings of healthy pluralism and mutual tolerance.
It is worth remembering that Indonesia, although the country with largest number of Muslims is not an Islamic state, a distinction clearly made when Indonesia was accepted as a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference. (Indonesians take note of the fact that the OIC was never set up as an organization in which each member state had implanted the Islamic faith as its sole basis of state identity, hence the nomenclature of "conference").
In the event, the recent debates resurfaced on the question of emphasis. Non-Muslims and minority groups' adherence to the "plurality and tolerant values" is seen as affirming the need to remind Islamist groups of the basis of Indonesian identity. Islamist groups, on the other hand, perceive increased "market globalization, secularization and loss of moral values" as corrosive encroachments on their notion of the central message of their faith, which is social justice and to which Islam "provides outreach, comfort and solace to the poor and the desperate".
My own feeling is that the rehashing of philosophical and values debates urgently need to be followed by things more concrete and tangible. Interfaith dialogs, including matters relating to "Islam-West relations", have had considerable play in many forums across the Middle East, North America, Europe and Asia.
How about following up these forums with "projects on interfaith employment" funded jointly by Islamic and Western multilateral aid agencies and donor governments. After all, when all is said and done, what young people -- especially poor Muslims across the developing world -- really need are jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs will regain their sense of identity and reawaken their dignity.
Social justice and employment will reduce their sense of marginalization and humiliation. Social justice and employment will enhance their sense of individual self-worth. More justice and jobs among Indonesia's youth would ease the strains imposed on the security services who otherwise may have to crack down using the full force of the law against those who are too desperate and too despondent to care or to be aware of the rule of law and human rights.
The writer is the defense minister of Indonesia. The above article reflects his personal views.
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