Mainstreaming Moderate Islam

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Islamic scholars from several countries attend the International Meeting of Moderate Islamic Leaders in Jakarta on Monday (9/5/2016).

On May 1-3, 2018, the Indonesian government hosted the High-Level Consultation of World Muslim Scholars Summit (HLC-WMS) in Bogor, West Java. The event discussed an urgent and contextual theme, wasathiyah Islam (moderate Islam), in terms of its concept and implementation.

The summit produced a commitment among the Muslim clerics and scholars to uphold the paradigm of moderate Islam and encourage Muslim countries and communities to promote moderate Islam. Several major values underlie the moderate Islam paradigm.

First is that it follows the middle and straight path (tawassut). Second is its proportionate and just behavior based on a sense of responsibility (i’tidal). Third is its acknowledgment of and respect for differences in all aspects of life (tasamuh). Fourth is that it is based on consultation and deliberation to reach a consensus (syura) in resolving problems. Fifth is its engagement in formative and constructive activities for the greater good (islah). Sixth is that it pioneers noble initiatives to lead the way in achieving universal welfare (qudwah). Seventh is its recognition of nation-states and respect for citizenship (muwathonah).

Based on these major values that form the framework of moderate Islam, how should we implement them in real life? At least three steps can serve together for moderate Islam to take off in the mainstream, whichinvolves familiesas the main actors and schools and society as their supporting elements.

TIM MEDIA WAPRES

Vice President Jusuf Kalla (left) delivers a lecture on Indonesian Islam on Friday (19/5/2017) at England’s Oxford University. Kalla said Islam in Indonesia was moderate Islam that had very different social characteristics than Islam in the Middle East. While the religion was the same, the lifestyle and social behavior of Indonesian Muslims meant that they could coexist alongside fellow Muslims as well as adherents of other religions.

Parenting

The family is the most potent institution for sowing and nurturing desirable character traits. Within the family are various parenting methods the main actors – the two parents –adopt to foster strong bonds of kinship. William J Goode wrote in his sociological book The Family that families have five functions that contribute to nurture character: biological, psychological, social, economic and educational.

These five functions are major modalities for families to create an active hierarchical system of example and observance. The parents are the key actors in determining parenting. If we wish to mainstream the concept of moderate Islam in families, we need to empower the parents.

Moderate Islam must be turned into a fundamental concept of parenting that targets parents with an aim to arm them with a moderate worldview, mindset and viewpoint in educating and guiding their children. In addition, the parents’ parenting skills need to be guided and refreshed so that they understand the proper ways for managing their families.

Moderate Islam activists should create modules on the parenting quotient that can be taught to parents. A parenting quotient module based on moderate Islam can help parents apply three proper parenting techniques to their children. First is how to respond properly as children express a wish to learn about their religion as they grow up. Second is how to monitor children in their interaction with norms of society, knowledge and culture that deviate substantially from the values of moderate Islam. Third is how to position themselves as examples or models in manifesting the values of moderate Islam.

In implementing the values of moderate Islam that target familial functions and the roles of parents in raising their children, families will develop a system of resilience in preventing acts of radicalism and terrorism. This is because the current forms of radicalism and terrorism have begun to use families as “sacrificial jihadists” in suicide bombings.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) general chairman Said Aqil Siroj formally receives Grand Mosque Imam Syekh Sholeh bin Abdullah bin Humaid on Friday  (4/5/2018) at the PBNU office in Jakarta. The meeting between the two Islamic leaders discussed a variety of issues, including the importance of nationalism and moderate Islam.

Education at schools

The school is an educational institution that plays an important role in fostering a comprehensive system of knowledge. Through the curriculum and learning delivered regularly and systematically, students depend on the main actors at schools, their teachers, for their future of becoming knowledgeable individuals with the skills to implement that knowledge.

As an important factor in nurturing proper learning behavior in schools, teachers have a duty to transform students’ ways of learning, understanding and resolving academic problems. Among the learning concepts students are taught are logical observation, analysis and problem-solving skills that refer to existing problems.

In religious studies, both during school hours and extracurricular activities, teachers should use wasathiyah Islam as a methodological concept in developing logic through two means. First is to foster student sensitivities so they can develop critical thinking skills in analyzing and observing their social environment. Second is awaking the students’ imagination to create ideas and projects that contribute to the greater good.

These two means provide space for discourse and praxis on how the seven fundamental values of moderate Islam can be taught to students. Through approaches and learning materials based on moderate Islam, students must be taught in an inclusive educational environment so they can use their knowledge as a tool to coexist and respect others in a diverse environment.

This is important to protect schools from content and reading materials that are exclusive, dichotomous and claim self-righteousness. Research has shown that students first become interested in radicalism through the influence of the reading materials and curriculums implemented in schools (UIN Sunan Kalijaga postgraduate program, 2017; Wahid Institute, 2017).

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Entering the stage (from left), Vice President Jusuf Kalla, ISOMIL Committee chairman Imam Aziz, Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) chairman KH Said Aqil Siraj and PBNU Supreme Leader KH Maruf Amin attend the opening ceremony of the International Meeting of Moderate Islamic Leaders in Jakarta on Monday (9/5/2016). The meeting, which brought together scholars from several countries, was expected to play a role in resolving conflicts among Islamic countries and restore the peaceful image of Islam.

Compassion in society

Society is a laboratory that hosts all forms of interaction, cohesiveness and compassionate behavior. Everyone is wrapped in interconnected bonds that turn them into social creatures. Therefore, society must be a cultural filter that can identify its members’ potential movements and tendencies.

However, as groups of people begin to separate themselves from the social system of communities, and in the self-alienation process apply a pejorative worldview (to borrow Karl Popper’s term) that positions oneself as the most righteous person and a falsified one that positions others as wrongful and misguided, then mutual distrust and blam will reign. This will lead to a vulnerable society.

Therefore, in observing this environment of besieged social mentality, the values of moderate Islam must be promoted through clerics, scholars and local religious figures. The existing administrative structures of neighborhood units (RT), community units (RW), hamlet leaderships and others, must be given adequate knowledge of moderate Islam. In moderate Islam, all relevant stakeholders respect one another and remind each other to create a proper environment of mutual compassion.

At the very least, their knowledge of moderate Islam can serve as a reference to screen patterns of radical indoctrination that are usually propagated at religious gatherings, houses of worship and local communities. This way, moderate Islam can be grounded within the life of the society. Through moderate Islam, patterns of mutual compassion can be fostered properly within the community spirit. It can serve as an instrument to develop social resilience for sustaining the existence of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

Fathorrahman Ghufron, Deputy secretary-general, Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta; Lecturer, School of Sharia and Law, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University