http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/muhammadiyah-wont-be-drawn-into-debate-over-radical-groups/383699
July 01, 2010 Anita Rachman Hajriyanto Tohari told the Globe that Muhammadiyah needed to lend its authority to the debate on hardliners using violent tactics to represent Islam. (Antara Photo/Ismar Patrizki) Muhammadiyah Won't Be Drawn Into Debate Over Radical Groups Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organization, has stopped short of denouncing hard-line groups committing acts of violence in the name of Islam, and instead called for introspection on why the phenomenon was on the rise. Yunahar Ilyas, head of the organization's fatwa body, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that there had been calls from both radical and moderate Islamic groups for it to weigh in on the debate, but said Muhammadiyah would stick to its mission to propagate a peaceful interpretation of Islam. "I won't mention the groups trying to pull us to their side," he said. "Muhammadiyah will be consistent in spreading Islamic teaching through peaceful means and education, not through violence." Muhammadiyah, which has an estimated 28 million members, opens its 46th national caucus on Saturday in Yogyakarta, in which it will discuss pressing issues facing the organization as well as elect a new chairman. Yunahar said the organization "shared a different opinion" to the recent vigilantism perpetrated by a hard-line group, adding "the use of violence is not right." In recent months, the radical Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has led a crusade against the supposed Christianization of Bekasi, and last week it was accused of inciting another group to breaking up a meeting between lawmakers and constituents in East Java, claiming the gathering was a reunion of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Muhammadiyah's alms manager, Hajriyanto Tohari, who is also deputy speaker at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), told the Globe that while the official agenda for the caucus would not include the hard-liner question, Muhammadiyah needed to lend its authority to the debate. "We first need to discuss whether such vigilantism is theologically justified," he said. "My guess is no." Hajriyanto also called for a sociological and political approach to evaluate the government's response to the recent rise in radicalism. Only then could concrete action be taken against hard-line groups, he added. "Back in the '60s and '70s, these things didn't happen," he said. "So why now? What is the government doing wrong?" Hajriyanto said the radicalism stemmed from the demise of long-held values at the advent of the Reform Era, in particular the teaching of Pancasila, which espouses unity and religious tolerance. Muhammadiyah has since its inception in 1912 strived for tolerance and pluralism, values that it instills in students at its schools and universities across the country, Hajriyanto said. He cited the group's university in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, where 68 percent of the staff and 78 percent of the students were non-Muslim. "This is the true essence of tolerance among people, and it is this value that we will keep teaching to our followers," he said. Muhammadiyah's future leaders, Hajriyanto went on, would have their work cut out in promoting tolerance, including engaging with hard-liners rather than keeping them at bay, in an effort to draw such groups "back to the right path." "Organizations like ours and Nahdlatul Ulama need to introspect and ask why such radicalism has been allowed to flourish," he said, referring to the country's largest Muslim organization. "Is it because we don't acknowledge these groups, or perhaps because we perceive them as being so different from us?" Zamroni, chairman of the organizing committee for the Yogyakarta caucus, said Muhammadiyah believed tolerance was the key to bridging communities. "The use of violence to propagate Islam is not right," he said. "Our principle is that of amar ma'ruf nahi mungkar [encouraging virtue and forbidding vice]." Related articles Return to Pro-People Roots, Experts Tell Muhammadiyah 11:18 PM 30/05/2010 Muhammadiyah Targets Cigarette Ads After Issuing Fatwa 10:04 PM 10/03/2010 Muhammadiyah Needs Change at Top: Youth Leader 11:58 PM 30/06/2010 Muhammadiyah Chairman Fears Political Machinations 10:59 PM 25/06/2010 Muhammadiyah's Edict Up in Smoke At Malang University, at Least for Now 8:51 PM 05/04/2010 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
