by Oddbjørn
Leirvik
Lena Larsen,
co-ordinator of the Oslo Coalition and president of the Islamic Council Norway
Nelly van
Doorn-Harder, Valparaiso University, USA (has been doing research and teaching
in Indonesia, at Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta)
Oddbjørn
Leirvik, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo (board member of the OC)
Kari Vogt,
Institute of Cultural Studies, University of Oslo (board member of the OC)
Dag
Kaspersen, Åssiden parish, Church of Norway (has been teaching in
Indonesia)
Hans Morten
Haugen, Council on Ecumenical and International Relations, Church of Norway
1 Background
and introduction
2 List
of organisations and persons whom the delegation met
3 The
political and legal scene
3a The shari‘a question
3b Religious
freedom and interreligious relations
4 National
cohesion and communal conflicts
5 Interfaith
co-operation in Indonesia
6 Current
trends in Islamic thought
6a The centrality of
women’s issues
6b Muhammadiyah and
NU – the historical background
6c Nahdlatul ‘Ulama and
"contextual Islam"
6d Muhammadiyah
6e IAIN, Paramadina and the Liberal Islam
Network
6f Indonesian Islam – its real and
conflicted diversity
8 Civic
and Religious Education
8a Civic or citizenship education
8b Religious
education
8c Religious and
civic education in private schools
8c Higher education and university
co-operation
9 Recommendations
10 Bibliography
In the autumn
of 2000, the Oslo Coalition for Freedom of Religion or Belief decided to
investigate the possibilities for a co-operation with individuals and
organisations in Indonesia committed to interreligious dialogue and human
rights protection. A working group was formed in order to outline the details
of a project which might generate both support and mutual learning between
Norwegian and Indonesian actors with converging interfaith and human rights
agendas. It was decided that the focus should be on the responsibility of the
faith communities (in particular, Muslim and Christian organisations) in
safe-guarding religious freedom, fostering tolerance and facilitating conflict
resolution. It was also agreed that particular emphasis would be put upon
women- and youth perspectives, and the role of religious education. (In the
following report, religious education will be dealt with under a separate
paragraph. Women's issues were so central in our conversations with
representatives of Muslim organisations that they are integrated in paragraph 6
rather than being dealt with in a separate paragraph, cf. our comments in 6a.)
From the outset, the Oslo Coalition was
acquainted with the plans for an official Norwegian-Indonesian dialogue about
human rights, which from 2002 has been implemented in co-operation with the
Norwegian Institute of Human Rights. Whereas the official human rights dialogue
will engage representatives of the authorities and of public institutions such
as the judicial system, the Oslo Coalition will focus on civil society and
emphasise the role and responsibilities of the faith communities.
With a view to finances, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs was approached and stated their readiness to support a planning
project. A planning seminar was held in November 2002, with Olle Törnquist
(University of Oslo) and Nelly van Doorn-Harder (Valparaiso University) as
resource persons. Nelly van Doorn-Harder stated her willingness to join the
working group and to take part in the delegation visit. Without the invaluable
insights and networks of Nelly van Doorn-Harder, which she generously has
shared with the Oslo Coalition, the delegation visit could not have been
carried through in the form it took.
The current report is based on impressions from
our encounters with persons and organisations in Indonesia, with a view also to
written material obtained from Indonesian and international sources. As
indicated by the list below, the persons and institutions which the delegation
met with in Indonesia can be grouped in three partly overlapping categories:
(1) interfaith organisations, (2) Muslim and Christian organisations, and (3)
educational institutions.
With regard to interfaith organisations, the
delegation spent an afternoon with Interfidei in their house in Yogyakarta, but
met also with representatives of Madia and ICRP in Jakarta.
As to Muslim organisations, our priority was
the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama and Muhammadiyah networks. Their broad popular basis
as mass organisations, their educational activities and their engagement in
reformist Islamic thought imply that the networks of these organisations
constitute the most vital and influential part of civil society in Indonesia.
In accordance with our priorities, we spent most our time with their
women’s and youth networks. We also met with representatives of smaller
Muslim organisations with an outspoken liberal agenda, namely Paramadina and
the Liberal Islam Network. With regard to
the churches, our priority was to meet with representatives of
ecumenical networks and educational institutions on the Protestant side, and
with well-informed Catholic fathers and representatives of the educational
activities of the Catholic church.
In tune with the Oslo Coalition’s
emphasis on the role of school education in fostering interreligious tolerance
and freedom of religion or belief, we met with representatives of several
educational institutions. Regarding primary and secondary education, our main
focus was on private schools run by Nahdlatul ‘Ulama (pesantren in Jombang), other Muslim
foundations and the Catholic church. But we also informed ourselves (by
meetings in the Ministry of National Education) about current developments with
regard to religious and civic education in the public school system. At the
level of higher learning, we visited the State Islamic University and State
Institute of Islamic Studies in Jakarta and Yogyakarta respectively, the
private Muhammadiyah University in Yogyakarta, and the Protestant Duta Wacana
university (also in Yogyakarta).
(for internal use)
In the recent years, in the wake the fall of Suharto, Indonesia has undergone a process of democratisation which has also implied a larger degree of decentralisation. But there is also a great deal of frustration because many feel that the legacy of authoritarian rule is still – despite of democratic openings – firmly embedded in the structures of power. The process of democratisation has unleashed a vibrant activity in civil society. The conflicting voices of liberal and ultra conservative Islam which can now be observed in party politics and civil society assert themselves more vigorously than before because Indonesians' are committed to creating a real democracy. The major Muslim organisations in Indonesia – NU and Muhammadiya – try to recapture a role as independent agents in civil society, but are still felt by many to be too much tied up with party politics.
As can be seen from the violent confrontations in recent years – culminating in the bombing in Bali two months after the delegation visit – freedom of speech and action can come at great cost. In the new battle about power, which to a large extent takes the form of a battle over Islamic symbols, Christians may seem to a lesser stake than in the previous period in which the pancasila ideology was still firmly upheld by the regime. And the violent clashes in the Moluccas and other places have often taken the shape of "Muslim-Christian" confrontations.
During the
delegation visit, the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) discussed a
package of proposed amendments to the 1945 Constitution. Main issues were the
establishment of a constitutional commission aimed at a general revision of the
Constitution, direct presidential elections, the removal of special seats in
MPR for the so-called interest groups (i.e., the police and the military), and
a proposal to introduce a reference to shari‘a in paragraph 29 of the
Constitution. Direct presidential elections and removal of the interest groups
was finally agreed upon, whereas the shari‘a proposal was turned down.
An expression of the pluralist Pancasila
ideology of Indonesia, paragraph 29 proclaims that "The state is based on
one supreme godhead" (the Indonesian word which is used is ketuhanan, "godhead", rather than Tuhan, "God".) The proposed
amendment implied an insertion of the so-called "seven words of the
Jakarta charter" – a reference to formulations in a 1945 draft of
the Constitution stating "the obligation to practice shari‘a for its
followers". When the Constitution was agreed upon in 1945, these
formulations were not included – out of fear for the detrimental
consequences it might have for the "pluralist" composition of
Indonesia and the other religious communities. (In our conversations with
mainstream Muslim groups, many used the notion "pluralist" to
designate their vision of an inclusive Indonesia and a corresponding form of
tolerant Islam. It should be noted that the cue "pluralist" in
current Muslim or Christian discourse in Indonesia should not be confused with
notions of religious pluralism which plays down the difference between
religions.).
The 2002 proposal was put forward by the three
Islamic-based parties PPP (the United Development Party of Hamzah Haz, the
current vice president), PBB (the Crescent Star Party) and PDU (Daulatul Ummah
Party) which received a total of about 14 % of the votes in the 1999 elections.
Previous to the debate in the People’s Consultative Assembly, both
Nahdlatul ‘Ulama and Muhammadiyah had taken a clear stand against the
proposed inclusion of a reference to shari‘a in the constitution.
During our visit to various pesantren in the rural NU-context of Jombang,
we asked about their opinion on the current shari‘a-debate. The teachers
responded that they were against the inclusion of shari‘a in the
constitution, since "Indonesia is pluralistic".
In our discussions with representatives of NU
and Muhammadiyah, our general impression was that NU has taken a more
principled stand against a reference to shari‘a in the Constitution. The
position of Muhammadiyah seems to be slightly more pragmatic. But parts of
Muhammadiyah too seems to be moving in the direction of a more principled,
pluralist position in the question of religion and state. Whereas
NU-representatives spoke of the need to "deformalise" shari‘a
from law to ethical code, people from Muhammadiyah seem often to reason along
the following line of thought: there is nothing wrong with shari‘a itself,
but in the way it is interpreted by its current proponents, a further
implementation of shari‘a at the legal level is probably not a good idea.
Also, the fact that there is no reliable law enforcement in the country raised
doubts in the minds of those who in principle might be open to a further
inclusion of shari‘a-based principles in general legislation. By women,
it was often pointed out that if shari‘a was further formalised as public
law, the flexibility of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) would also be lost.
All our informants agreed that in the current
situation, symbolic references to shari‘a in the constitutions followed
by attempts at practical shari‘a enforcement outside the established
realm of family law jurisdiction will most likely victimise women and further
jeopardise the prospects of reconciliation and peaceful interreligious
co-existence in Indonesia. The cultural dimension of the shari‘a debate
was emphasised by many, who argued that in the present situation campaigns to
implement shari‘a reflect the combined influence of traditional
patriarchy and "Arab" pressure groups. Recent experiences from
shari‘a enforcements in Aceh were cited as examples of how
"implementation of shari‘a" in the present cultural and
political climate mainly meant seclusion and veiling of women (for instance, by
means of police controls ensuring that all women were wearing the jilbab
– the
headscarf – within a distance of two hundred meters from a mosque).
Because of the openings linked with decentralisation politics and the influence
of regional interest groups, many indicated that the shari‘a question was
much more difficult to handle at the regional than at the national level.
The general
impression left with the delegation was that of a strong and confident
co-operation between the leaders of the mainstream churches and the dominant
Muslim networks of NU and Muhammadiyah. But there are pressure groups on both
sides which by their confrontational discourses and actions increase communal
tension in many of the regions.
With a view to religious freedom, many of our informants claimed that
"shariasation from below" in the regions is the main threat. For
Christians, the government decree from 1970 that the building of new churches
must be approved of by the local authorities and the local community, has
always been regarded as a potential human rights problem, but more as an
exception to the general rule of non-discrimination which has prevailed. With
pressure from below, this problem may now become aggravated. Furthermore, the
recent church burnings and attacks on mosques have brought the issue of
efficient protection of holy places to the fore. In a human rights'
perspective, popular violation of churches and mosques highlights the
responsibility of the authorities (the police, and the courts) to protect holy
places and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
With regard to inter-communal conflicts and the
situation of religious minorities, many of our informants pointed to the fact
that in lack of a reliable rule of law, relatively small but violent groups may
incur much damage. An episode in Solo (a main city in Central Java) just before
the delegation arrived in Yogyakarta may be indicative of the general problem.
In conjunction with some Indonesian Protestant churches, a German missionary
organisation had initiated a church conference in Solo with their Asian
partners. When the participants arrived at their hotel in Solo, they discovered
that militants associated with Laskar Jihad (or perhaps, splinter groups from
Laskar Jihad) had camped outside the hotel and threatened the participants with
unpleasant consequences if they did not agree to move the conference from Solo.
In the local press, the militants put forward the claim that some of the
conference participants were in fact the master minds behind the violence in
the Moluccas. During two days of tension, the conference organisers were able
to gain support from local Muslim leaders but found themselves faced with a
police which demonstratively did not want to interfere in the conflict. Short
of efficient protection, the conference organisers finally decided to move the
conference to the hotel in which our delegation was also staying in Yogyakarta.
In light of this episode and numerous
indications that the interreligious violence in the Moluccas and Sulawesi has
been instigated by factions in the military and allowed to spread by a general
lack of police and law enforcement, the decision to focus on the rule of law in
the official Norwegian-Indonesian human rights dialogue, seems to be wise.
In a wider perspective, it seems clear that the
re-establishment of communal harmony in Indonesia presupposes both a further
democratisation of the political system, more efficient measures against
corruption among the politicians and in the military, and a general
strengthening of the social cohesion by confidence-building measures at
grass-root levels. As a NU-representative expressed it: currently, people are
loosing their trust in leaders and the social contract is in danger.
The reasons
for the recent communal conflicts in the regions can obviously not be reduced
to a common denominator. Each regional conflict has its particular nature. But
some general observations can still be made. Many of our informants expressed
the view that the real issues behind the outbreaks of communal violence from
the latter part of the 1990s were either tribal/ethnic or socio-economic in
nature. But religious allegiance has also played a major part, resulting in a
dangerous blend of regional conflicts and identity politics. The triggers have
been manifold: resettlement programs and reorganisation of administrative units
which have toppled the demographic balance in certain regions; the fight for
control over natural resources; the destabilising influence of criminal youth
gangs as well as of disloyal elements within the military; the lack of reliable
police- and law enforcement; and the establishment of militant groups with a
national agenda such as Laskar Jihad (which was formed in response to a
perceived threat to the safety of Muslims in the Moluccan islands). Another
factor is the lack of reliable information about the events, which makes it
more easy to manipulate the interpretation of violent incidents. Against this
background, the PGI has proposed the establishment of joint crisis centres
– as a much needed co-operation between Christian and Muslim
organisations and representatives of the authorities.
In a broader perspective, the regional
conflicts are also linked with an unresolved tension between national and
religious allegiance in Indonesian identity perceptions. During the New Order
regime of Suharto, the religious discourse was dominated by a tightly
controlled discourse of nationalism – connected to forced declarations of
loyalty to the state ideology of Pancasila. Most of our informants expressed
the view that although Pancasila may still represent the national consensus of
the religious communities, it has been severely discredited by an authoritarian
misuse of Pancasila principles as a stick against non-conformists. Pancasila
must therefore be rehabilitated and reformulated. In accordance with the
enforced state ideology, in public discourses during the reign of Suharto
people related to each other as Indonesian nationals and citizens and
downplayed the role that religion played in their search for identity. But some
Muslim groups took advantage of Suharto’s increasingly Muslim appearance
and consolidated their power by strengthening their particularist dimension of
Islamic identity. During the same period, Muslims were forbidden to
congratulate Christians on the occasion of Christmas. Many Muslims also joined
the national resettlement program and moved to areas where Christians had
traditionally formed the majority (Ambon, Papua and East Timor). The
Christians, on the other hand, used the discourse of pancasila nationalism in
an attempt to maintain their political power in the same regions and tried to
penetrate into areas with a Muslim majority by citing the human rights’
principle of freedom of religion.
During the 1990s, it became clearer than before
that religious ties were perceived by many to be stronger than cultural and
ethnic bonds – which had lost much of their strength because of
sociological changes. By playing down the role of religion in the identity
formation of the Indonesian people and by insisting that Indonesian identity
should be defined by the pancasial ideology only, the Suharto regime had
created a vacuum which was now filled by fundamentalist factions such as Laskar
Jihad on the Muslim side. Also among the Christians, fundamentalist movements
appeared with the aim of Christianising the whole of Indonesia and eliminating
any traits of Muslim culture (such as the established use of the name of
"Allah" in Indonesian bibles) from Christian discourse. After having
been banned for more than thirty years under Suharto, the discourse of
religious identity came out like a flood and religious differences seemed to
take its revenge after having been suppressed in public discourses for a long
time.
The cited shift in dominant discourses was seen
as a threat by all our informants, Muslims as well as Christians. Some NU-representatives
added that the hardliner groups on the Muslim side are often led by Muslim who
take their inspiration from "Arab" sources and not from the
contextualised form of Islam that has prevailed in Indonesia. In this
perspective, a convergence of interest (not necessarily intended, but still
real) may be observed between Saudi politics, domestic radicalism and disloyal
factions of the military. When inquiring about the possible influence of extremists or hardliners in the NU
stronghold of Jombang, pesantren teachers responded that such people were not
found in their environment: "Extremism is fitna (sedition leading to unwanted
disorder in society) – so who is
the third, instigating party?"
From the Christian side, it was noted that some
of the hardliner Christian groups take their inspiration from American,
charismatic Christianity. The "hardliner" groups of either side are
not necessarily violent (most of them are not), but their radical discourse and
sectarian identity politics may nevertheless serve to fuel outbursts of
communal violence.
The major outbreaks of communal violence since
1999 have been in the Moluccas and in Sulawesi. As for the interreligious
components, it was noted that although there have been relatively few attacks
in the same period on Christians in Java and Sumatra, Christians generally feel
unsafe. Conversely, Muslim villagers feel their interests threatened by
perceived Christian expansion. The question was raised: How can there be peace,
when both parts see themselves as victims?
Regarding the situation in Java, we were given
divergent interpretations of the Sitobondo riots in 1996 and other incidents of
communal violence which have not necessarily taken the form of religious
clashes. Some stressed the cultural element in such violence and its possible
roots in the aggressive sub-currents of Javanese escapism and mysticism –
currents that may suddenly erupt into irrational violence such as burning of
houses and killings. It was noted that also the violence against the communists
in 1965 could partly be explained in the same way – and most people have
never been willing to speak honest and openly about this. Others focused rather
on socio-economic factors and the dramatic changes in village economies related
to globalisation and monopolisation of the economy – changes that have
severely affected the lives of ordinary NU-people.
Teachers at NU-pesantren in Jombang gave a different picture
of the situation in their area. Responding to our question about local
Muslim-Christian relations, the teachers claimed that Muslims and Christians
are living harmoniously together in this part of Java – "even though
this has been an area of Dutch missionary activity and also has got a
substantial Chinese Catholic population. After 11 September we care even more
about our good relations with the Christians."
Despite a
looming disruption of national unity and several violent conflicts in the
regions, several examples of increased interreligious solidarity and networking
were also told. For example, a peace forum was established on the initiative of
Muslims (even with the support of some hardliners) after the burning of
churches during Christmas 2000. Many Muslims have also volunteered to protect
churches during Christmas and Easter celebrations, in Yogyakarta and other
places. But the role of religious leaders in instigating confrontations and
violence cannot be overlooked. Some Protestant pastors claimed that when trying
to understand the factors that may lead to outbursts of communal violence, the
fundamental lack of understanding between many Christians and Muslims must be
taken seriously – as a call for more concerted efforts at relation
building and more courageous attempts at dialogues in the open. As a sign of
hope, it was noted that Muslim and Christian leaders in Java increasingly make
contact on the local level – now on the basis of religious identity and
not merely of nationalism.
Many of our Christian informants emphasised
that good relations to mainstream Muslims are more important than police
protection. But the idea of Muslims protecting Christians – although much
appreciated when performed as an act of solidarity in critical situations
– was also questioned by some: "We don’t like the language of
protection – that is why we want to develop a civil society (madaniya). We don’t want to be
dhimmis!"
With regard to the national level, we were
informed that in 2002, NU initiated a new program for moral awakening and
interreligious solidarity in co-operation with Muhammadiyah, PGI, KPI (the
catholic bishop’s conference), Hindus and others – under the title
of a "National morality campaign". The initiative was mentioned by
several as a new and promising structure for interfaith co-operation, nationally
and regionally. Several such structures have evolved in different cities and
regions. For instance, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders in Yogyakarta
(mostly people related to the respective academic institutions) meet regularly
in Yogyakarta in serious dialogues about both communal and theological issues.
This recent initiative adds to the efforts made
by the established forums for interreligious dialogue and co-operation, such as
Interfidei, Madia and ICRP. During the 1990s, interreligious dialogue has
become institutionalised in Indonesia, to the extent that one may also observe
a certain element of competition linked to diverging "politics of
interreligious dialogue". Among our informants, there was nevertheless a
general understanding that the three main actors (ICRP, Madia and Interfidei)
had succeeded in reaching a viable division of labour.
The Indonesian Conference on
Religion and Peace distinguishes itself as a formal and representative body for
interreligious dialogue. Established in 2000, it could be described as a
networking effort between the different groups that are committed to
interreligious coexistence and pluralism. The recent conflict within ICRP (or
rather, between ICRP and the Indonesian members of the Asian Conference on
Religion and Peace, i.e. the regional body) was interpreted by some as a sign
of the tension between an inherited New Order approach to dialogue focused on
the formalised co-operation between state recognised religions, and a more open
approach based on a fundamental acceptance of inter- as well as intra-religious
pluralism.
The second oldest forum for interreligious
dialogue is Madia, the Society for Inter-Religious Dialogue which was
established in 1996. Based in Jakarta and with networks in four other cities or
areas (Surabaya, Manado, Bandung, South Sulawesi), Madia is more informal and
personal than ICRP. Madia has initiated a number of multilateral and bilateral
(i.e., Muslim-Christian) dialogue projects, aimed either at religious leaders
or youth. We were informed that Madia mainly operates on an issue basis. Their
most recent project, for which they are now seeking funding from fresh sources,
is focused on the cultural and political question of shari‘a
implementation – with emphasis on its gender dimension. Many expressed
the view that the cultural developments that accompany the call for
implementation of shari‘a are more dangerous than the possible insertion
of a reference to shari‘a in the constitutional level. In tune with this
recognition, the representatives of Madia emphasised that the challenge must
first and last be addressed locally.
The oldest of the existing forums for
interfaith dialogue in Indonesia is Interfidei, which was founded in Yogyakarta
in 1991 and is now active in several regions. Interfidei is well established
institutionally, with seven people (of which four are full time) in their
staff. Already in 1991, Th. Sumartana (the director of Interfidei) and others
committed to interreligious understanding saw the danger of religious conflict
in Indonesia, especially among young people. Much of Interfidei’s work
has taken the form of courses and thematic dialogues (e.g., on history, ethics,
human rights, religion and state) which have partly been documented in
publications. Since 1998, after the outbreak of communal violence in the
Moluccas, Interfidei has been reaching out for the conflicted areas by visits,
peace campaigns and conflict resolution workshops. Several interreligious
forums have thus been initiated in the regions. Their local conflict resolution
workshops have both an interfaith and an interethnic perspective. In the
beginning, mostly activists and students came to the workshops, but since 2000,
Interfidei has also more actively been trying to involve farmers,
representatives of the military, local politicians etc. Much of the work is
done in co-operation with local NGOs, recognising however that "the
stakeholders for growing peace are not only NGOs and students, but even more so
the religious communities and the government representatives." We were
told that the main challenge in these workshops was to have the local people
recognising their own potential for solving their problems and implementing a
plural society, against the background of often strongly conflicting perceptions
of the local situation: "It is not easy to have them tell the truth
– the first two days may be very difficult!" As to the form of the
workshops, it was emphasised that also singing together and having each
community preparing prayers was an essential part of the workshops. Sometimes,
the workshops offered the first opportunity for Christians and Muslims ever to
visit a mosque or a church. With regard to how local conflicts should be
interpreted, it was emphasised by Interfidei that there are both socio-historical
and "theological" factors at work. The need to formulate new and more
"pluralist" theologies in all camps must therefore be taken
seriously, as well as the need for new institutions which may efficiently
disseminate the idea of dialogue.
The people at Interfidei also shared the
experience made by some of estrangement from their own religious community,
because of a lack of understanding for dialogue among the traditional religious
leaders, resulting perhaps in a new sense of "interreligious
community" among those committed to interfaith solidarity and action.
Christian and Muslim dialogue activists thus
often strike inter-religious alliances which may be felt to be controversial in
both camps. In inter-religious dialogue, internal differences must be taken
just as seriously as efforts at overcoming boundaries between the religions.
Noting, for example, that the main problem in Indonesia today is perhaps the
competition between different Muslim groups – "there are 1000 Muslim
groups and 100 Protestant groups and in this country …" –
Interfidei activists emphasised that dialogue must always begin within
one’s own religion. Also other informants – both Muslims and
Christians – underlined the point that in present-day Indonesia, intra-religious dialogue is increasingly
felt to be a equal or perhaps even more pressing challenge than inter-religious
dialogue.
How do the
various Muslim networks respond to the present challenges? Our main guides
during our visits to Jakarta-Jombang and Yogyakarta were two women connected to
the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama and Muhammadiyah networks respectively. Through the
program they helped us to facilitate, we were given a unique opportunity to
observe and reflect on both the similarities and the differences between these
vast networks within Indonesian Islam.
A uniting
bond between NU and Muhammadiyah is their firm resolution to be fully
independent of the political authorities – as free agents in civil
society. Another common feature is the strong women’s organisations in
both organisations. In both NU and Muhammadiyah, women’s issues seems to
be a major trigger behind the current efforts at a hermeneutically refined
interpretation of the Qur’an and a reformulation of shari‘a which
is sensitive to women's rights. In Muhammadiyah, women have recently been
accepted as central board members. Due to its nature of being a movement of the
‘ulama, NU has not yet taken a similar step. In our meeting with a member
of the Executive Council of Nahdlatul ‘Ulama, Lena Larsen (who is also
the president of the Islamic Council in Norway) challenged NU on this point,
suggesting that the concept of ‘ulama should be widened so as to include
women. She received firm support from Lily Munir of the central board of
Muslimat NU, who has often made the same point in the internal discussions of
NU. The representative of the Executive Council agreed that the question of
women in governing boards should now be discussed seriously.
Another prominent representative of female
activism in NU is Ibu Nuriyah, the wife of Abdurrahman Wahid. Ibu Nuriyah has
dedicated much of her energy to combatting the legacy of polygamy which has
been revigorated in some Islamist circles and legitimised by the current Vice
President of Indonesia who practices polygamy. Some elderly kiai also have the
habit of taking a second, younger wife. According to Ibu Nuriyah, NU has
nevertheless taken a clearer stand against polygamy than Muhammdiyah. Some NU-pesantren
have also
established crisis centra for victims of domestic violence, a fact which was
considered by Ibu Nuriyah as a major breaktrough for women's rights. In her
books and by her interventions in media, Ibu Nuriyah has published her
exegetical efforts aimed at reinterpreting qur'anic concepts and injunctions,
concluding i.a. that the qur'anic ideal is monogamy and that womens' free
choice of spouse (possibly, also a non-Muslim) should in no way be restricted.
In the question of how to understand the term qawwamun in Qur'an 4:34, which has
traditionally been interpreted as men's authority over women, Ibu Nuriyah holds
the view that the term rather refers to those – men or women – who
support their family in the sense of providing for it. In principle, therefore,
a women may also be the head of the family.
In the fatwa committee of Majlis Ulama
Indonesia, four of members are women – including the famous Qur’an
reciter, Maria Ulfa, whom we also had the pleasure to meet. In the question of
Qur’an recitation, the NU gave a fatwa as early as in 1978 which
challenged the traditional perception of women's voice as ‘awra ("nakedness") and
sactioned that women might recite in mixed audiences on official occasions such
as feasts and weddings. Maria Ulfa, who has published a treatise on
women-related fiqh
(Risalah Fiqh Wanita), has become a symbol of this opportunity and also advocated other
women's rights' issues such as their access to being judges. In our meeting,
she argued that in order to safeguard women's rights, the legacy of the
different Islamic schools of law must be allowed to be used in a creative way.
In our visit to Jombang – a typical rural
stronghold of NU, where its founder is buried – we experienced that in
certain NU-circles, a commitment to women’s empowerment may go further
back than the present generations. In the Sunan Ampel pesantren – the pesantren of Lily Munir’s family
– we met with her mother Ibu Abida. A mother of 11 children, she became a
member of the district council and a shari‘a judge who also took part in
the great Kompilasi Islam effort (the compilation of Indonesian shari‘a)
which was completed in 1984. Her husband Mahfudz Anwar (the founder and first
kiai of this pesantren) encouraged both her and his daughters to educate themselves and take
responsibility in society. Similar to the interpretation of Ibu Nuriyah cited
above, he held the view that qawwamun in Qur’an 4:34 did not mean that men
should exercise "authority" over women but rather that they should
"stand up for" them in the sense of empowering women.
As
can be seen from the following paragraphs, women's issues was also a central
focus in our conversations with several other Muslims organisations and
individuals.
Muhammadiyah
was established in Yogyakarta in 1912, as a puritan and reformist response to
correct the perceived backwardness and syncretistic nature of Indonesian Islam.
Its founder Ahmad Dahlan was much affected by the writings of the Egyptian
reformist Muhammad ‘Abduh who advocated purification and reform of
Islamic thought and practice through a modernised system of Islamic education.
Muhammadiyah’s main base is urban and middle class. The organisation has
about 29 million members and runs a large number of self-supported
institutions. It caters for 3700 of kindergartens and a large percentage of
primary and secondary education (the number given by our informants was 10%),
and runs also a number of institutions for higher education.
Nahdlatul ‘Ulama (or Nahdatul
‘Ulama) was established in Surabaya in 1926, with the aim of
strengthening traditional Islam and unifying Indonesian Muslims against secular
nationalist ideologies and the rival religious appeals of Muhammadiyah.
NU’s base has mainly been rural, and its backbone is the country’s
network of ‘ulama, the local spiritual leaders known as kiai and the
indigenous madrasa
school system known as pesantren. The number of NU followers is estimated to
30-35 millions. Whereas its outlook was originally traditionalist, more recent
developments have made Nahdlatul ‘Ulama a symbol of a
"contextualist" (pribumisasi) approach to Islam. Through the political
thought of Abdurrahman Wahid and other leaders with a similar line of thought,
NU has become a stronghold for pluralist thought in Indonesia. Its current
pluralist profile can also be seen from the three terms that are used in their
presentation brochure to describe NU’s societal attitudes: tawasuth (moderation), tasamuh (tolerance) and tawazun (balance).
The existence of such large and
well-functioning Muslim networks as NU and Muhammadiyah, in which new lines of
thought in the leadership may trickle down to millions of adherents, is a
rather unique feature of Indonesian Islam which makes the role of religious
organisations in civil reform and raising of human rights' awareness all the
more important.
The relation between Muhammadiyah and NU has
sometimes been tense and conflicts flared up again after Abdurrahman Wahid was
deposed as president in 2001. But there have also been renewed efforts at
reconciliation. Both NU and Muhammadiyah have – through some of their
prominent leaders – been associated with party politics, with strong
links to the National Awakening Party (PKB) of Abdurrahman Wahid and the National
Mandate Party (PAN) of Amien Rais respectively. Both organisations have also,
however, tried to regain their identity as independent social and religious
movements.
In a
meeting in Jakarta with Cecep Syarifuddin from the Executive Council of
Nahdlatul ‘Ulama, it was emphasised that NU no longer had any ambition of
being a political party but rather aimed at serving the nation as a whole. The
above mentioned National Morality Campaign was launched in co-operation with
the leaders of other religious communities as a response to the current crisis
of values and institutions in Indonesia. As an explanation of NU’s
resistance against the inclusion of a reference to shari‘a in the
Constitution, it was explained that is NU wants Islamic values (makarim
al-akhlaq) to be
implemented in substance rather than formally – within the framework of a
plural society and without any kind of discrimination against other believers.
In our meetings with NU leaders, we were repeatedly told that Indonesia is
different from Saudi Arabia – "we must renew Islamic law in a
contextualised manner."
In a session with NU’s Office for Human
Resource Studies and Development (Lakpesdam), we were shown how their ideas of
a "deformalisation of shari‘a", a "rational fiqh" and a "pluralist"
and "post-traditionalist" Islam were expressed in publications such
as the journal Afkar. In this journal, the vision of a contextual Islam is merged with the
ideas of leading "pluralist" Muslims in the internationally such as
Abdullahi Ahmed an-Na‘im, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Farid Esack. The unique
feature of NU is expressed by Lakpesdam’s combined effort at intellectual
renewal and local network building in the districts. Their local leadership
training programs aim not solely at strengthening the NU network but also at
the formation of citizen forums which often include non-Muslims. In all their
activities, Lakpesdam puts also much emphasis on women's rights.
Women's rights is the main focus of the Fatayat
Welfare Foundation (the organisation of the young women in NU, known as YKF).
In our meeting with YKF and some young kiai in Yogyakarta, we were explained
how their work for women’s reproductive and political rights was anchored
in efforts at "socialising" the issue of gender equality in the world
of the pesantren.
As stated in their presentation brochure, working with the pesantren is "a strategic decision in
YKF's efforts to eliminate discrimation against women. There is room to work
within these institutions in order to eliminate a reinterpretation that is not
gender discriminative." As indicated in the above quotation, their
practical work is combined with the introduction of "liberating"
approaches to the Qur’an which may counter its oppressive use against
women in questions such as domestic violence, forced marriages, polygamy and
inheritance rights. In terms of activities, YKF organises numerous workshops
focused on women's rights and also marriage courses aimed at preparing spouses
for gender equity. YKF activists have also publicly confronted male Muslims who
have recently become more demonstrative in their advocacy of polygamy. YKF has
also approached other highly sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS, and their
project in this particular field appears to be quite unique.
Their strategy is to focus on methodology, in
recognition of the fact that only thus can previous moral and legal decisions
be superseded in a manner which is likely to gain support. We were explained by
the young activists that a main point in their reinterpretive strategy is to
point out the highly patriarchal context in Arabia to which the message of the
Qur’an was originally related, and to argue that this context has now
entirely been changed. In more general terms, the sources must be approached
with such questions in mind as "what lies behind the text", "to
whom was it written", "what is its central motif", "what
was in the minds of those who wrote it" and "how has it been
used". In the view of these young NU activists, Islamic law must be in
accordance with time and place. For this to happen, the philosophy of
jurisprudence (hikam al-tashri‘) must become more sensitive to context. The classical method of
deduction from the normative sources must be further developed by drawing new
and contextually conscious conclusions from general values that are reflected
in the text such as "equality".
It is, however, not only a question of reinterpreting fiqh (classical jurisprudence) but also
of socialising it.
According to the explanation of these young
activists, the contextual method was incepted in the 1970s by leaders such as
Abdurrahman Wahid who initially became unpopular but nevertheless were able to
gain strongholds in the pesantren milieu. It was emphasised that a liberating
reinterpretation of the Qur’an must be a gradual process. The process
has, however, already produced some new and more liberal kiai. Many young
people now fulfil the criteria for ijtihad – as scholars trained in the classical
disciplines but with a modern outlook. It is exactly this combination of
traditional training (from the pesantren system) and modern outlook on religion (as it
can also be acquired in some of the State Institutes of Islamic Studies) which
seems to be the distinctive advantage of NU. Their classical santri (formal Islamic) schooling of these
kiai make them different from Muhammadiyah youth with a similar outlook. Both
groups can, however, be characterised as progressive thinkers in the sense of
"pious" or "believing" modernists".
It was emphasised by several NU people that the
current efforts at contextual reinterpretation of Islam is not merely a
"liberal" effort. They are based on a social conscience and linked
with a sensitivity towards the real hardships of women and village people which
increasingly find themselves marginalized by changes related to liberalisation
and monopolisation of the economy. These changes severely affect the lives of
ordinary NU-people. Mochammad Maksum, the
new leader of NU in Yogyakarta, emphasised that the recent examples of
communal violence which has sometimes involved NU-people can only be understood
against the background of the increased socio-economic marginalization of
ordinary villagers.
In our meetings
with Muhammadiyah representatives in Yogyakarta, it was emphasised that the
uniting element of the Indonesian nation must be something else than
"culture". Neither Javanese culture nor any other cultural tradition
rooted in the Indonesian archipelago can constitute a uniting bond. Also the
Muhammadiyah representatives whom we met expressed their strong commitment to a
plural society. But perhaps more clearly than the NU leaders, they underlined
the uniting role that religion may play and highlighted the fact that Indonesia
has got a Muslim majority. However, religion can only unite to the extent that
it brings something good to people, for example by using religious principles
in economics.
In our
meeting with ‘Aisyiyah, the women’s organisation of Muhammadiyah,
it was expressed that there should be an interreligious discussion about
religious values and national unity – "but our main responsibility
is educating the Muslims."
The focus of ‘Aisyiyah´s work is "the role of religious
women in civil society", – materialised in educational institutions
ranging from kindergartens to midwife- and nursery schools. But like the women
of NU, they too are struggling with patriarchal attitudes and corresponding
interpretations of the Qur’an (in particular, the notorious problem of
how Qur’an 4: 34 should be interpreted). Like NU women, they also realise
that in the Indonesian context, women are likely to be the first victims of the
kind of implementation of shari‘a which is called for by the hardliners
("although there is not a problem with shari‘a itself"). As for
interreligious commitment, ‘Aisyiyah has taken active part in the Asian
Conference for Religion and Peace and in discussions about pluralism and local
problems in Yogyakarta with other religious leaders (for instance, those
involved with Interfidei).
In a meeting with Nashiyatul ‘Aisyiyiah – the young women of ‘Aisyiyah – and men and women from the university students’ associations of Muhammadiyah, it was mentioned that the students’ association had received international support from the Asia Foundation and (as a concrete example) from the British Council for a conference on "Living in plural societies". The keen interest in "pluralism" seems in fact to be a uniting bond between youth and student groups in both NU, Muhammadiyah and the declared liberal networks such as Paramadina (see below). Many Muhammadiyah students – so we were told – are influenced by "liberal thought". They are discussing issues such as liberal theology, religion and state, democracy and interreligious dialogue – i.e., the same issues that are keenly debated by the advocates for "contextual" and "liberal" Islam in their respective networks.
In women’s and youth networks, one may
thus identify a convergence of "liberal" interest across
organisational divides. Much like the young women of NU, Muhammadiyah’s
young women and students focus on gender awareness, women’s rights in
everyday life and (like Interfidei and other interfaith networks) anti-violence
training in conflict areas. In response to our questions about the relation
between the youth and students’ organisation and the senior leadership in
Muhammadiyah, it was stated that "the culture in Java can be very
paternalistic and this has also put its mark on Muhammadiyah." It was
emphasised that although the theology of the youth and students’
organisation in the main follows that of Muhammadiyah, they are independent and
may often criticise Muhammadiyah in such questions as gender equality and
contextual interpretation of the Qur’an. It was also explained that
Muhammadiyah youth and students did not affiliate with any particular party
(although many sided with new PAN party of Amien Rais in 1999).
As
for possible generation conflicts, we got the impression from some of the students
at Muhammadiyah University that "it is not quite open here, the teachers
are too dominating." Explaining that women needs to wear the jilbab (the headscarf) inside the
university, one of the teachers added a complaint that many took it off outside
the campus – a fact seemingly taken as a token of the increasing
permissiveness in society. The general impression, however, was that the
"new headscarf" has a strong position as an identity mark among the
committed young women in Muhammadiyah.
As for the current debate on shari‘a, it
has already been noted that Muhammadiyah opposed the proposal of the Islamic
parties in 2002 to include a reference to shari‘a in the constitution
(cf. part I above, "Introduction and background"). It should be
added, however, that some
observers raised the question of where exactly Muhammadiyah stands in this
matter. Do they see shari‘a as a formalised system of law, which ideally
should be implemented in legal terms, or as moral values (cf. the
"deformalising" approach to shari‘a typical of the NU
avant-garde and other liberals)? As noted by one Christian observer, "the
current leadership seems to take a clear pluralist stand, but there are
hardliners as well in Muhammadiyah".
Persons
involved in formulating a "contextual", "pluralist" and
"gender conscious" Islam belong to networks which apparently overlap.
As it will be further described
below (under Education), the State Institutes of Islamic Studies (IAIN) –
particularly those in Jakarta and Yogyakarta – have played an important
role in the development of reformist, liberal Islamic thought in Indonesia.
Teachers and researchers engaged by IAIN may have their background in either
NU, Muhammadiyah or Paramadina, but their commitment to some pivotal issues
such as plural society, human rights, gender awareness and interreligious
relations clearly converge. As an example, Professor Komaruddin Hidayat of IAIN
Jakarta (now a full fledged university, UIN) is also an activist in Paramadina,
and rector Amin Abdallah at IAIN Yogyakarta maintains his relations with
Muhammadiyah and was elected as the leader of their fatwa council Majlis Tarjih
in 1995. The council has become a forum for developing new Islamic thought and
women are invited into the process (three women are currently on the board of
Muhammadiyah).
In the present Indonesian context, Amin
Abdullah stands out as one of the most profiled, liberal Muslim thinkers. He
has published several books with a great influence on social-, gender- and
interfaith issues. In a meeting with him (see below, under Education), Amin
Abdullah expressed his personal view that an-Na‘im's book Toward an
Islamic Reformation
is currently the best and most innovative work in this field. Significantly, he
explained, the Indonesian edition of an- Na‘im's book was given the title
"the deconstruction of shari‘a".
In recent research on modern trends in
Indonesian Islam, Greg Barton and other researchers have employed the term
"neo-modernist thought" to describe some common features of
Abdurrahman Wahid’s "contextual Islam" and the liberal vision
of Islam associated with Nurcholish Majid. Differently from many Muhammadiyah
leaders who lack a background in traditional Islamic scholarship, Abdurrahman
Wahid and Nurcholish Majid combine their traditional schooling with impulses
from modern Western thought and liberal impulses channelled through the State
Institutes for Islamic Studies in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. Calling for a fresh ijtihad as a response to modern challenges,
they hold the view that progress in society at the technological, social,
intellectual and moral levels must also be reflected in Islamic law.
The Paramadina network initiated by Nurcholish
Majid has focused much of their energy on publications and educational renewal,
as expressed through their Madania schools (see below) and their Paramadina
University in the Jakarta area. Differently from the vast networks of NU and
Muhammadiyah, Paramadina understands itself (in the words of Komaruddin Hidayat)
as "a small group with big ideas" with the aim of further developing
a liberal, intellectual Islamic discourse Indonesia.
The Liberal Islam Network, which is led by Ulil
Abshar Abdallah, was established in 1998 as a response to Islamist revivalism.
Himself a symbol of interreligious learning, he has been a student of the
Jesuit scholar Franz Magnis Suseno, in addition to his studies in Islamic
universities. His Liberal Islam Network produces publications and radio talk
shows and organises discussion groups at the universities (realising that the
universities are the main bases of the radical and sometimes militant Islam of
the "hardliners"). According to Ulil Abshar Abdallah, the basic
conviction of any trend which labels itself "liberal Islam" is that no
school of thought in Islam can claim to hold the sole truth. In the political
realm, "liberal Islam" means struggling for civil liberties such as
freedom of expression, minority rights, women’s rights and freedom of
religion ("why does Islamic revivalism – in their justified fervour
for social justice – always want to restrict human freedom?"). The
Liberal Islam Network has also addressed sensitive human rights issues such as
interreligious marriages (prohibited by law in Indonesia from 1974, but still widespread)
and the difficulties that Christians encounter when wanting to build new
churches.
As sources of inspiration for the Liberal Islam
Network, the names of several controversial Islamic thinkers in the West, in
the Middle East and in South Africa were mentioned – for example,
Abdullahi Ahmed an-Na‘im, Mohammed Arkoun, Ibrahim Musa, Farid Esack,
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Hasan Hanafi and more traditionally oriented scholars such
as Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Many of the works of these authors have been translated
into Indonesian, and the State Institutes for Islamic Studies in Jakarta and
Yogyakarta has functioned as important channels for their thoughts. The
ambition of the Liberal Islam Network is to remake their impluses in the local
context, in conjunction with the legacy of "neo-modernist thought" in
Indonesia. Ulil Abshar Abdallah emphasised that reformist Muslim thinkers in
Indonesia, seeing e.g. an-Na‘im's ideas of an Islamic reformation (cf.
his book Toward and Islamic Reformation) as a hypothesis to be discussed, not as a
vision to be copied. The main issue of interesest, said Ulil Abshar Abdallah,
was an-Na‘im's discussion of the notion of citizenship and his insistencs
that the modern notion of citizenship requires a rethinking of classical shari‘a.
People from the Liberal Islam Network are also
active in interfaith organisations such as the Indonesian Conference on
Religion and Peace. They may take some of their inspiration from Christian
theologians of religion such as Hans Küng. But they are also trying to
respond to the deep-rooted prejudices against Islam among many Indonesian
Christians. In response to our questions about how to deal with qur’anic
verses that are negative to Christianity, Ulil Abshar Abdallah emphasised that
antagonisms can only be overcome when Muslims and Christians learn to tackle
the hard questions (another example is violence and its possible roots in the
religious traditions) together. He also underlined, however, that intra-Muslim
dialogue was often felt as a more pressing challenge than inter-religious
conversation.
Needless to
say, the above reflections about current trends in Muslim movements in
Indonesia cannot do justice to the rich and conflicted diversity of Indonesian
Islam. As mentioned in the introduction, an alliance of Islamic parties have
long been pressing for an implementation of shari‘a which may or may not
gain increased support in the time to come. Other parts of the Muslim reality
in Indonesia was only seen in glimpses – such as militants from Laskar
Jihad in white garbs selling newspapers at road junctions, or traditional
Muslim pilgrims displaying their "syncretistic" (in the view of the
puritans) faith by reaching out for the blessing of Buddha in the stupas of
Borobodur. As for the relation between NU and the religious customs in
Indonesian folk Islam, we were explained that NU still accepts the widespread
popular practices in folk Islam (not only in Indonesia) connected with amulets
and mantras or meditation in seclusion during certain periods of life.
Our encounters with youth, women and senior
leaders in NU, Muhammadiayh and the liberal Islam networks gave the impression
of a strong convergence in the direction of a pluralist, democratic vision of Islam.
But the following overheard reflection should not be neglected: "the
militant hardliners are few but they have money and are prepared to give
everything in the struggle, whereas the moderates are often sleeping".
Although
the percentage of Christians does probably not exceed 10% at the national level
(3% Catholics, 5-7% Protestants), in many regions the Christian constitute a
much larger part of the population. This is not only true of several regions in
the Moluccas and Sulawesi, but also of Yogyakarta which may have about 20%
Christian inhabitants (indicative of the fact that religious statistic is
seldom an exact science, the percentage of Christians in Yogyakarta given by
our informants varied between 15 and 30%). As for the long term development, it
was argued by one Catholic observer that the total number of Indonesian
Christians have probably not increased by more than 1% during the last 30
years.
As for the growth of Pentecostal churches, they
feed on the other churches mainly. As noted, in some of these circles a radical
discourse has been emerging aimed at purging Indonesian Christianity from
cultural elements that may be identified as "Muslim" (not least, the
convention of speaking of God as Allah), paired with an ambition to further
"Christianise" Indonesia. There is also a new, evangelical council of
churches which does not cooperate with established ecumenical body among the
Protestants, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI). On the other side,
there is also a attraction towards Greek and Syrian Orthodoxy among some
artists and intellectuals.
As mentioned above, Christians see the main
threat to freedom of religion in the growth of Muslim militancy and the ongoing
"shariasation from below" in certain regions. In addition to the
destructive effect of church burnings, local developments have made it more
difficult to build churches in some places. But more seriously, the violence
and the intensified shari‘a discourse has spread a general feeling of
insecurity among Indonesian Christians. On the other hand, several examples can
also be cited of intensified contact between Christian and Muslims leaders on
the local level, and Muslim leaders has often offered to protect churches
during Christmas and Easter celebrations.
One
protestant observer noted that in many circles, people are still critical
towards the PGI since they the previous leadership was thought to be too much
tied up with the Suharto-regime. After the fall of Suharto, however, several initiatives
have been taken to strengthen PGI as an independent actor in civil society
– in co-operation with other faith communities. In our meeting with the
current president, Natan Setiabudi, we were informed that until 2000 there was
also a tradition of annual dialogue seminars with representatives of the other
religions in Indonesia (initiated by the German theologian Olaf Schumann).
After the recent communal clashes, the PGI has concentrated its efforts on
contact with NU and Muhammadiyah. Together with the Catholic bishops’
conference (KPI), PGI was also actively involved in the Malinu agreements on
Poso and Ambon, in this case with Majlis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) as the Muslim
partner. But unfortunately, trust is still not growing between ordinary Christians
and Muslims and neither between the people and the authorities (unfortunately,
the solidity of local authorities was simply taken for granted in the Malinu
agreements).
Setiabudi noted that "there are cultural
bonds between Christians and Muslims
in Ambon, even in families – but these were not able to hold
provocations by Laskar Jihad and elements from the military." As for the
possible uniting effect of the Pancasila ideology, Setiabudi suggested that it
may still reflect the consensus of all religious groups in Indonesia. But since
it was misused by Suharto as a stick against non-conformists, it needs to be
reformulated if it shall ever again function as a uniting bond. Another
observer noted that differently from Muhammadiyah, which abolished the reference
to Pancasila just after the fall of Suharto, none of the churches have yet
removed the Pancasila clause from their constitutions.
At
the theological level, efforts at formulating a contextual Christian theology
(similar to the "contextual Islam" trend in NU) can be identified,
for example as expressed in the writings of Emmanuel Gerrit Singgih at the
Protestant Duta Wacana university in Yogyakarta (cf. his book Berteologi
dalam konteks,
"doing theology in context"). The impression left by our meetings
with Catholic fathers (all of them Jesuits) was that of a commitment to living
the gospel in deep respect of other faiths and in sensitivity towards the
cultural context. But the perception of the context changes with time. As one
of the fathers explained, it was only ten or fifteen years ago that the
relation to "Islam" began to be considered as the main contextual
challenge for Indonesian Christianity.
As
for Christian involvement in interfaith issues, several networking initiatives
have already been cited above – with Interfidei as the main institutional
expression. At the level of higher education and research, several examples can
be cited of co-operation between Catholic and Protestant universities on the
one hand and Muslim private universities or State Institutes of Islamic Studies
on the other (see below, under Education).
As the Oslo
Coalition has a special project on school education, interreligious dialogue
and freedom of religion, the delegation wanted to inform itself about current
developments regarding civic and religious education in Indonesian schools.
The
administration of the institutions involved in school education is divided
between two different ministries. The Ministry of National Education (MONE) is
responsible for the secular (government) schools, whereas the Ministry of
Religious Affairs (MORA) is responsible for the religious (private) schools. The
percentage of pupils going to private schools varies from 99.6% at kindergarten
level, 17% in primary school, 41% in junior secondary school and 53% in senior
secondary school level.
The pesantren madrasas have gradually been included in the
overall public school system. In average, 2/3 of the time is spent on formal
education in accordance with the public curricula, whereas the remaining 1/3 of
the time is dedicated to informal education centred on extra diniyya (religious education) in the early
morning and in the evening. Muhammadiyah runs a different system of Muslim
private schools which caters for a large percentage of the total education
offered at primary and secondary levels. There are also other Muslim private
schools with their particular traditions and visions. In addition, there are
several Christian private schools.
The
Education Act No. 2 of 1989 stated that the curriculum of all educational
institutions in Indonesia – from primary to tertiary levels – should
include both Pancasila education, religious education and citizenship
education. Also pre-school education was supposed to include both
"Pancasila morals education" and religion.
Civic education has traditionally aimed at
instilling in the student the values and obligations stated by the Preamble of
the Indonesian Constitution and known as the five Pancasila principles: "[1] the belief in the One and Only godhead/God, [2] just
and civilized humanity, [3] the unity of Indonesia, [4] democracy guided
by the inner wisdom of deliberations amongst representatives and [5] the
realization of social justice for all of the people of Indonesia."
According to the new Bill of Education which was passed in 2002, Pancasila
education will cease to be a separate subject in school. Instead, it will be
integrated in a revised subject of Civic Education (Kewarganegaraan, lit. "citizenship")
which is supposed to be taught for two hours per week in primary and secondary
school.
Among our informants, there was a common understanding
that both Civic/Pancasila and Religious education has been undermined by an
outdated methodology focused on dogmatic memorizing, an authoritarian practice
of the Pancasila ideology, and a dominant perception of religious authority in
Indonesian society which has also deeply affected the school system. The new
curriculum for Civic Education includes subjects such as democracy and human
rights. Its introduction in primary and secondary schools is paralleled by
Civic Education programs in some of the universities and the State Institutes
of Islamic Studies (cf. the book published in 2000 by IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah:
Pendidikan Kewargaan, lit. "citizenship education"). It was stated by some of our
informants that Civic education can in fact be seen as a new way of
implementing Pancasila values, only with a more critical and analytical
approach. According to its architects, the new subject should aim at training
the students in expressing their own opinion while fully respecting the other.
The IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah has also a Civic education project for Muslim
preachers and madrasa leaders which includes gender issues and human rights.
Apart from the new subject of Civic education,
other pilot projects aimed at critical thinking and peace education have also
been tried out during the last years. In co-operation with Temple University in
the United States, Unicef Indonesia has been carrying through a pilot project
in some schools in East Java and South Sulawesi, under the title of "Deep
Dialogue and Critical Thinking". According to the Unicef official we met,
the project got stuck because of a lack of pedagogical tools and the difficulty
of overcoming traditional forms of teaching: "Dialogue in school has to do
with creating a new atmosphere." According to the same source, a new Peace
Education Project in Aceh, which is carried out in co-operation with the
organisation Non-violence International, may be more rewarding. Both the
Ministry of National Education and the faith communities have been involved in
the curriculum development of the peace education project.
The new Kurikulum
Berbasis Kompetensi
(basic competence curriculum) implies that three hours per week in primary
school and two hours in secondary school will be set apart for Religious
education (Pendidikan Agama). Religious education in public schools has traditionally been offered
for adherents of the five recognised religions in Indonesia (Islam,
Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism). In public schools, every
student is entitled to religious instruction according to his or her religion.
However, normally a minimum number of students adhering to a particular faith
is required before religious education is provided by the local school (the
minimum number stated by different sources varied between 3-4 and 10).
Islam-teachers are usually graduated from Islamic institutions and Christianity-teachers most often come
from Christian seminaries. But there is a lack of qualified teachers in remote
areas. If no suitable religious education can be offered in accordance with the
students’ faith, they have – in principle – the right to be
exempted from Agama. It was noted as a problem by one observer that there is no
complaint mechanism in terms of law if children do not get what they are
entitled to – or if teachers attack the tenets of other religions.
Religious education is carried out in
accordance with the national curricula. When revising the curricula, the
ministry must consult the religious communities – using PGI as their
Protestant partner and KPI as the catholic one. Textbooks are produced by
autonomous publishers but screened by the Ministry of National Education.
An addendum of article 39 of the Education Act
of 1989 defined Religious education as an effort to strengthen the faith of
school children or students towards the one supreme God – i.e., in tune
with the Pancasila ideology. In 2002, the different curricula for Religious
education were revised in accordance with a less dogmatic and more competence-oriented
curricula for Indonesian schools. In tune with a general opening towards other
religions than the five recognised ones, also education in Confucianism can now
be offered as an option in school. In order to enhance the teachers’
knowledge of what is taught about other religions, the general competence aims
for the other religions are now cited in the introduction to the curricula for
every religion. The new curricula states also that all religions should be
taught in accordance with the same pedagogical ideal – i.e. not only as a
"subject", but with a view to living faith and moral practice.
With regard to Islamic education provided in public schools,
one observer has noted that although it is often superficial it projects a more
universalistic interpretation of Islam than the more traditional, allegedly
"syncretistic" types of religiosity in Indonesia.
In our meeting with PGI, the president
expressed the view that ideally, religion in school should be comparative
religion, not teaching of discipleship. "But this is the idea of some
intellectuals only". He also raised critical questions as to the real
effectiveness of civic and religious education in the light of the current
national crisis and the problems related to corruption and violence. But the
PGI continues to be a partner for the Ministry of National Education, in a
shared commitment to improve not only the curricula but the overall conditions
for religious education in school.
As for
private schools, they are free to add extra hours of religious education. There
is an ongoing debate about whether the private schools too should be obliged to
offer alternative options of religious education in accordance with the
pupils’ faith, but the established tradition implies that in private
schools, only a religious education which corresponds to the confessional
nature of that particular school is available.
In Parung outside Jakarta, Paramadina runs a
primary and secondary school called Madania. Madania is characterised by an
international outlook, a commitment to interfaith understanding, and modern
pedagogics applied within the framework of a modified government curriculum.
During our visit to Madania, we were explained that the foundational vision of the
school is to promote a democratic,
humanistic and pluralist Islam in Indonesia. Madania was initiated by teachers
who had a positive attitude towards cultural and religious pluralism but were
disillusioned by the public school system. 80-90% of the pupils in the Madania
primary school ("Sekolah Berwawasan Internasional") are Muslims, but
the school also attracts Christian, Buddhist and Hindu students. The teachers
told that children often bring intolerant attitudes with them from other schools
which they have previously been attending. It was commonly recognised that
implanting good values and tolerant attitudes in the children is a great
problem in public education which Madania seeks to solve in its own ways. In
Agama (Religious Education), multiple choices are provided by Madania in
accordance with the children's religion. 70% of the time is spent in separate
groups, but 30% of the time is spent together in sharing and project work aimed
at interreligious understanding. For instance, there are also special
"tolerance days" aimed at accepting and celebrating the differences.
Whereas Religious Education at Madania takes a practical and ritual approach to
religion, Civic/Pancasila education at Madania has been more project oriented
and focused on moral obligations. Both subjects are supposed to have a
distinctive, humanistic approach. The underlying conviction for both subjects
– as explained by the teachers – is that being religious is to be a
good citizen.
Responding to a question raised after our visit
to Madania, a representative of the Ministry of National Education confirmed
that schools which offer multiple choices in religious education may modify the
way in which religion is taught so that some hours may be spent together by the
students of different faiths – in accordance with the general principle
of local adaptation.
The secondary school in the Madania complex is
a boarding school with students from all over Indonesia, including Aceh. There
are also plans for a new secondary school in Aceh. Indicative of the underlying
vision of Madania, the classroom doors are decorated by the name signs of a
great Western and Islamic intellectual or scientist side by side.
Whereas Madania is (as yet) but one entity,
Muhammadiyah runs several thousands of private schools at primary and secondary
levels. In our meetings with Muhammadiyah representatives, we were explained
that Muhammadiyah schools follow the national curriculum but add some practical
religious activities. It was stated that Muhammadiyah schools are also supposed
to respect local culture and to promote pluralism and diversity. A new
curriculum for Civic Education has been implemented also in Muhammadiyah institutions of higher learning.
Differently from the classical way of teaching
the Qur'an in the pesantren system, Islamic education in Muhammadiyah schools has been characterised
by a reflective approach to the Qur'an and Islamic tradition. A more
interpretive approach to the Qur'an has also been introduced in some pesantren school. As noted above, it is the
ambition of some young kiai to merge the classical methods of learning typical
of the madrasa tradition with modern hermeneutical approaches.
The delegation made a short visit to Balai
Pendidikan, a well-known reform pesantren which is located in the vicinity of Borobodur.
Balai Pendidikan was established in the 1960s as an independent foundation and
has developed a strong interfaith commitment. For instance, it co-operates
closely with catholic schools in the vicinity. In addition to Islam, Balai
Pendidikan also teaches other world religions. The school follows the national
curriculum but adds (as normal) more Islamic education and puts also a strong
emphasis on art and music. We were informed that several contemporary exponents
of liberal Islam and women's studies in Indonesia come from this pesantren.
During
the delegation's visit to Jombang, we visited several NU-pesantren. As explained by Lily Munir and
experienced during our visit, pesantren are in many senses "family
businesses" which has never been under the entire control of the
authorities (although the pesantren are formally under the Ministry of Religious
Affairs).
In connection with our visit to the Sunan Ampel
pesantren (which
was founded by Lily Munir's father, Mahfudz Anwar), Lily Munir presented a plan
for a "Pesantren Pluralism Project". The projects aims at
strengthening international perspectives, interfaith openness and gender
awareness in the educational programs of Sunan Ampel pesantren and Sunan Ampel formal junior high
school.
In Jombang, we also met with teachers at the
al-Anwar pesantren
which was founded by Mahfudz Anwar’s father who (in accordance with the
NU custom) came to Jombang in order to establish a pesantren in a "virgin" area. Aimed
at fighting social vices such as theft, prostitution, gambling and drinking,
this and other pesantren were thought of not only as a base for traditional Islamic learning but
also as a "civilising" project. Whereas the pesantren originally focused only on
memorising the Qur’an and the Sunna, the students are now studying a wide
array of sources such as classical works on fiqh and al-Ghazali's "Revival of the
religious sciences".
During our encounter with kiai Abdul Aziz
Manshoer, he underlined that his pesantren "teach respect of all religions, as long
as they don’t disturb each others. Disputes should be solved by dialogue,
not violence. These are the basic teachings here; but it varies how they are
interpreted." As for the general, educational vision, Abdul Aziz Manshoer
emphasised that any kiai is supposed to be a 24 hours model for the students.
But the ultimate goal is the full independence of the students. (The pesantren ideal is not to become a civil
servant but rather to become an independent agent in civil society – preferably
by taking upon oneself tasks within the pesantren system.) Asked about the role of
civic education in the pesantren, the kiai responded that "civic education
is good and necessary. In our religion, we teach akhlaq (ethics) which includes the virtues
of tolerance and respect." Further emphasising that civic education is in
full accordance with Islam, he cited a saying of caliph Umar: "The one who
knows the language of a society will not be manipulated by it. Also secular
education has thus a religious function."
In
the pesantren
system, the kiai decides whether a particular pesantren shall be for both sexes or not.
Visiting the Seblah pesantren for girls only, which was established in 1929 by Lily Munir's
grandfather, we were impressed by well-informed questions put to the (panelled)
delegation by the teenagers and their obvious gender awareness.
In
general, the visit to Jombang left the impression of a vivid interaction
between "tradition and modernity" in the pesantren system. Conscious of the wide
impact that pesantren have not only on the religious and civic formation of children but also
as bases of higher Islamic learning, projects aimed at raising gender awareness
and widening the international and interreligious outlook in pesantren institutions would seem to have an
obvious strategic importance.
As
for current developments in Christian private schools, the delegation was able
to inform itself about recent changes in the way religion is taught in Catholic
schools in one of the dioceses of Central Java. Catholic schools do not only
attract Christian students, but also many Muslims. During a meeting at the
catechetical centre of the Catholic church in Yogyakarta, we were told that in
2000, an inclusive Pendidikan Religiositas (Education in/about Religiosity) was
introduced as a replacement of the traditional confessional teaching of
religion "which even Catholics thought was too dogmatic." The new subject employs an Ignatian
type of pedagogy which is reflective and related to life – i.e., not
purely intellectual. We were informed that some Muslims leaders have voiced a
certain reluctance towards the reflective element, maybe out of a concern that
also the fundamentals of faith may be questioned. But most Muslim parents seem
to have welcomed the new subject. The textbooks are produced by a
interreligious committee and the curriculum is now also tried out in some
Protestant schools. Pendidikan Religiositas is taught two hours a week, with extra
religious education for the Catholic students. Having begun with the senior
secondary level, the new subject will gradually also be introduced in junior
secondary and primary school. As to the primary school level, there seemed to
be a common understanding that children should be able to learn about their own
religion before they are exposed to the faith of the others. For this reason,
the new and inclusive subject might is not meant to be introduced until the
fourth grade of primary school.
We were informed that before the introduction
of the new subject, most Catholic schools did not offer Islamic education,
although a few did offer it because of a high percentage of Muslim students
and/or political pressure. With reference to the current debate on whether
private schools should be obliged to offer multiple choices in religious
education, we were informed that the bishop has stated that if parents ask for
Islamic education, one should provide it. But no one has done so after the
introduction of the new, inclusive subject.
A basic recognition behind the new subject is
that religion does not necessarily make people better human beings. It may just
as well enhance tension and increase the distance. This must be countered by
new and creative models of religious education which help the students to see
that different religions have similar moral aims but different terms and means.
The values approach is central and the students are challenged to try out the
values which they identify together in small local projects. In this way, it is
hoped that Pendidikan Religiositas may contribute towards "religious
humanity" and prepare the students to be social change agents. According
to our informant at the catechetical centre, religious and moral education in
an inclusive form may help Christians, Muslims, Buddhists etc. to become better
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists – by getting to know each other better and
by doing things together to the benefit of the entire community.
During our
stay, the delegation visited several Muslim and Christian universities: Syarif
Hidayatullah Islamic University in Jakarta (formally IAIN), Sunan Kalijaga
State Institute of Islamic Studies in Yogyakarta (IAIN), Muhammadiyah
University in Yogyakarta, and Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana in Yogyakarta. We
also met with people involved in programs at the Catholic Sanata Dharma
University and the state Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.
As
noted above, the State Institutes of Islamic Studies (IAIN) has played a
pivotal role in the development of Islamic thought in Indonesia. In particular,
the IAIN in Jakarta and Yogyakarta have been instrumental in merging Islamic
reformism and liberal thought. There are 13 IAINs in Indonesia. The IAIN does
not train their students in all the traditional disciplines which are necessary
in order to join the ranks of the ‘ulama. This task is catered for by
thirty theological seminaries run by the state – and by the higher
Islamic education which is offered by the pesantren.
IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah in Jakarta was founded
in 1957 and is now a full fledged university (UIN) with nine faculties –
including a Faculty of Theology (Fakultas Ushuluddin) which includes a
Department of Comparative Religion, a Faculty of Shari‘a (Fakultas
Syari‘ah) and a Centre for Women's Studies. The representatives of the
Centre for Women's Studies informed us that women's studies is a steadily
growing field of activitity and research in Indonesia. The Centre is actively
seeking co-operation with centres for women's studies in the West.
As part of its theological activity, UIN Syarif
Hidayatullah publishes the English/Indonesian journal Studia Islamika which – since its inception
in 1994 – has been an important channel for studies in contextual and
liberal Islam. In a meeting with rector Azyumardi Azra and several staff
members from different faculties, it was explained that the vision of Syarif
Hidayatullah was to integrate "Indonesianness, Islamness, and
Humanity." Their overarching aim was described as producing tolerant
graduates with a modern, "Islam rasional" outlook. It was emphasised
that academic institutions cannot approach religion only from the normative
point of view – historical, sociological, anthropological perspectives
must be added. As mentioned above, Syarif Hidayatullah has also played an
important role in developing a new program for Civic Education in schools and
universities.
We also had a meeting with rector Amin Abdullah
of IAIN Sunan Kalijaga in Yogyakarta, the oldest State Institute of Islamic
Studies in Indonesia. As part of its theological program, Sunan Kalijaga
publishes a Journal of Islamic Studies in Indonesian and English. Also according to
Amin Abdullah, IAIN in Yogyakarta and Jakarta have long been in the forefront
with regard to such issues as interfaith dialogue and Islam and the West
("we must explain the Saudis that they misunderstand the West"). More
recently, perspectives of comparative religion have been included in Islamic
studies, together with interfaith, human rights and gender issues. In the view
of Amin Abdullah, "it is useless studying ourselves without considering
our relation to others."
Many of their students at Sunan Kalijaga are
involved in interfaith activities. As an example of ongoing research in the
field of interreligious studies, it was mentioned that a PhD-student is
currently writing a dissertation on the difference between a Protestant and
Muslim atmosphere in dialogue, exemplified by the work of Interfidei and
Paramadina respectively. IAIN Sunan Kalijaga often invites teachers from Protestant
and Catholic universities, and many of the students at Sunan Kalijaga make
extensive use the library of the Catholic university Sanata Dharma.
Furthermore, IAIN supports the new program of Comparative Religion at the
prestigious (state) Gadjah Mada University (a program which has recently been
introduced in co-operation with Temple University in the United States.) In
terms of international relations, Sunan Kalijaga has a long-standing
co-operation with Western universities, first of all with McGill University in
Canada from which 60-70 MA- and 10-15 PhD-candidates have been graduated (in
Islamic studies and Social studies).
With regard to gender issues, IAIN Sunan
Kalijaga has a separate program for women’s studies in which the works of
such scholars as Riffat Hassan, Amina Wadud and Fatima Mernissi are read. Gender issues are also integrated
in all other subjects at Sunan Kalijaga. In a brief visit to the Centre for
Women Studies, it turned out that the staff was busy with a conference on
"Deconstruction of Gender".
During
a visit to Muhammadiyah University in Yogyakarta, we were struck by the modern
premises of the University and informed that it had been fully financed by
Muhammadiyah itself and was thus relatively unaffected by the current economic
crisis. On the occasion of the visit from the Oslo Coalition, the University
hosted a seminar on "Conflict Resolution in a Pluralist Society". We
were informed that the Muhammadiyah University is doing critical research on
the implications of the current proposal that Muslim and Christian private
schools must be ready to provide multiple choices of religious education in
accordance with the religion of the students/parents. With regard to communal
conflicts, the Muhammadiyah University has recently been invited by two
Catholic universities to join a research project on religion, ethnicity and
conflict in Batak/Sumatra, Balang and Yogyakarta.
Fr. Bernhard Kieser, who teaches at the
Catholic university Sanata Dharma, noted that although funding is still a
problem, the planned project is a promising sign of concrete co-operation
between Christian and Muslim universities. As for Sanata Dharma's own approach
to interreligious issues, Kieser explained that the traditional course for
first year students in Agama (religion) has been modified in tune with the new
and inclusive model for religious education which is now tried out in Catholic
secondary schools in Central Java.
The Protestant Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana
in Yogyakarta is also much involved in interfaith co-operation with other
academic institutions. As mentioned above, the work of Emmanuel Gerrit Singgih
of Duta Wacana testifies to the fact that also on the Christian side, efforts
are made at formulating a contextual theology which takes the relation to the
other believer seriously. As an example of cross-institutional co-operation, he
mentioned that he had recently been asked to supervise a work carried out by a
student in the new program of comparative religion in Gadjah Mada University,
on the German Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann. Duta Wacana's Centre for
the Study of Religion engages teachers from IAIN in Yogyakarta in their
pastoral courses about Islam. In cooperation with IAIN in Solo, the Centre has
recently set up a research project in Solo on religion and ethnic conflict,
with the aim of better understanding the local roots of violence. The resarch
project will also address the question of whether a desire to reconcile can be
identified in the local context. Do the religious communities teach forgiveness
and reconciliation? The project is not merely oriented towards theory but aims
also at "socialising" its findings in sermons and school curricula.
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