A Religion that Protects
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Again, we need to take a deep breath. This time, it is serious. The cruelty and savagery displayed was truly shocking. A person who was alleged to have stolen an amplifier from a mushalla (prayer room) in Babelan, Bekasi, was burnt alive by a mob. This is both upsetting and ironic.
The cruel act against MA, the alleged thief, is unjustifiable from any aspect. Under the rule of law, all Indonesians must obey the principle of equality before the law and are therefore prohibited from taking the law into their own hands.
The act of burning a person alive should therefore be condemned. No matter what the excuse, this action has harmed both the law and our sense of humanity. Only a “sick” society permits itself to commit such an inhumane and uncivilized act.
Regarding punishment, Abdul Qadir Audah wrote in his 1998 book, At-Tasyri’ Al-Jina’i Al-Islamy, that religion teaches us to consider the deterrent effect in handing out punishments. The aim of punishment is to make criminals regret what they have done and prevent them from repeating their crimes. However, this does not mean that the values of humanity may be trampled upon in ensuring that the punishment will act as a deterrent. The act of burning a person alive clearly violates the values of religion and the conscience of humanity.
The question is, what makes our society so brutal and aggressive? How come our people are so easily triggered emotionally, resulting in terribly reckless and unjustifiable acts? Upon finding persons guilty of a crime, our first reaction is not to remind them and help straighten them out, but instead to condemn and punish them. This is an apt portrait of many of us.
The problem becomes more complicated when some try to connect the amok with the spirit of religious revivalism. The issue then shifts from a simple burglary – a horizontal perspective – to a desecration of a House of God – a vertical perspective. This is where things get terribly murky.
Religious delirium
Cultural observer Jean Couteau coined an interesting term. In one of his essays (2017), Couteau observed a recently emerging social pathology he called delirium religio sum. This is a dangerous plague. Borrowing Couteau’s explanation, this plague’s characteristics include: an obsessive-compulsive delusion based on one’s religiosity and wish to continuously become more religious, resulting in a behavior of embracing any identity that is deemed to be connected to a particular belief.
Such an obsessive belief in religion results in banal and cruel acts. It manifests as mere symbols. This religious zest is defined by increasing the quantity of individual rituals and setting aside or even neglecting social convention. In this role, religion manifests as an institution with a demonic face that tends to be anti-others.
In such a society, common sense does not work. Once provoked, the herd mentality will always resort to illusive and destructive euphoria.
The act that a group of individuals committed against MA, in my opinion, is the most real and terrifying form of persecution that has ever existed. I tend toward the thought that something is missing in our collective conscience; something is missing in our sense of humanity so we think that burning a person alive is an acceptable solution.
Our society today is very much like what WS Rendra wrote in one of his poems (1997), that people are no different than dry grass that so easily catches fire. No need to wait for major incidents, as our collective emotion may erupt at any moment, even at the tiniest of triggers. Such a condition is dangerous for all of us.
Religion as protector
We need to contemplate this at a deeper level. Peace, freedom and tolerance should be our main principles in life. Apart from these three, we should also abide by the Maqasid Syariah, comprising hifduddin (protecting our religion), hifdzuladl (protecting our common sense), hifdzulnasl (protecting our children), hifdunafs (protecting our soul) and hifdulmal (protecting our wealth).
These five principles are the main principles that we must uphold wherever we are. One of the central and most important elements in upholding our religion is protecting and preserving our humane soul. Religion must exist as the torch that gives us light on the one hand and a fortress that protects our duty and rights on the other. It should not be the other way around: us protecting our religion, as certain people, with their religion-defending movements, often mistakenly believe.
Religion is here to protect mankind. Religion is given to us and is created as a set of rules to emancipate all its adherents. Otherwise, religion would lose its soul and core function. At the very least, it will be misunderstood by its adherents. Instead of being seen as a protector, religion will be seen as guidance to attack, judge and persecute those deemed guilty. This is what happened in MA’s case.
In the face of this, we must take many steps, including restoring a sense of “the holy” – to borrow Paul Tillich’s term – to our religion. In other words, religion is exoteric and it exists deep within our hearts and in the calmness of our souls. Such a religion, in essence, will bring to all its adherents a sense of calm and civility and prevent us from being rash, hasty and reactionary against each and every mistake and blunder made by others different from us.
The spirit of religious exotericism, which tends to be shallow and superficial, must be eliminated. This does not mean that the exotericism of religion is not important. At some level, symbols are necessary in religion. However, in the context of a complex and diverse Indonesian society, we should narrow the scope of exotericism and symbolism in religion.
The peak of a person’s diversity, Gus Dur said, was appreciation of humanity. If a society has poor appreciation of humanity, it can be certain that religion will be nothing more than an exoteric and symbolic thing, a mere slogan.
Perhaps this is what is happening around us these days and what has overtaken our religious practices. That some of us are willing to burn a person alive is the strongest indication of this. We must and should hang our heads at how cheaply humanity is valued in this nation, even cheaper than the price of an amplifier.
A HELMY FAISHAL ZAINI
Secretary General of Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board
