Participants speak during the Maudluiyah commission’s Bahtsul Masail at the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) 2019 National Assembly and Grand Conference at Pondok Pesantren Miftahul Huda Al-Azhar in Banjar, West Java, on Thursday, Feb. 28. The Bahtsul Masail is a discussion forum among Islamic experts, especially in fikih (Islamic jurisprudence). At the forum, the participants discussed issues relating to the state, citizenship and state law. They also discussed the concept of the Nusantara Islam.
BANJAR, KOMPAS – Islam Nusantara, which was first proposed during Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) 2015 muktamar (national congress) in Jombang, is not a new mazhab (school of thought) in Islam. Islam Nusantara is a form of Islam Ahlussunnah Waljamaah that is practiced, preached and nurtured in line with the sociocultural characteristics of the Indonesian archipelago, or Nusantara. Harmony between nationalism and religiosity is the pinnacle of Islam Nusantara.
A bahtsul masail maudluiyyah forum arrived at this conclusion on Thursday (2/28/2019) during NU’s 2019 national assembly and grand conference, which was held at Pondok Pesantren Miftahul Huda Al-Azhar in Banjar, West Java.
Attending the meeting were the NU leaders chairman Said Aqil Siroj, secretary-general Helmy Faishal Zaini, Rais Aam (supreme leader) Miftachul Akhyar and supreme council secretary-general Yahya Cholil Staquf.
A number of clerics, including from West Sumatra, South Sumatra and East Nusa Tenggara, spoke at the meeting on the suspicious responses they had received when preaching about Islam Nusantara. They said they had even been accused of preaching heresy.
Said Aqil said that Islam Nusantara is not a new branch, school of thought or sect of Islam. “Islam Nusantara is a form of Islam that respects local cultures and traditions, as long as they do not run counter to sharia,” he said.
He continued that NU had upheld the practices of Islam Nusantara since Islam first entered the archipelago.
The pinnacle of Islam Nusantara was harmony between nationalism and religiosity. NU founder K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari said that love for one’s homeland was part of one’s faith (hubbul wathan minal iman). Therefore, loyalty to the nation must be inherent to the religious understanding and practices of the people of NU, or nahdliyin.
Concept
In order to resolve misunderstandings and wrongful accusations regarding Islam Nusantara, clerics at the national assembly agreed to use the concept proposed by Ahmad Muntaha, the secretary of NU East Java’s Bahtsul Masail Board.
“Islam Nusantara is essentially the Islam Ahlussunah Waljamaah that is practiced, preached and nurtured in accordance with the Nusantara’s social and cultural characteristics by its preachers,” said Ahmad.
It was hoped that this reaffirmation of the Islam Nusantara concept would avoid further confusion and misunderstanding among Muslims.
Bahtsul masail maudluiyyah forum chair Abdul Moqsith Ghazali said that Islam Nusantara was only a tagline for the 2015 NU muktamar, and was not a clearly defined concept.
“Four years have passed and the Islam Nusantara concept has received various responses, some of which are controversial. Because of this, the national assembly felt the need to reaffirm the concept in a more easily understood way,” said Moqsith.
Protecting citizens
Apart from discussing Islam Nusantara, the bahtsul masail maudluiyyah forum also concluded that the concept of the nation-state did not conflict with Islam. Clerics also agreed that the government must protect all religions in Indonesia as agreed among all elements of the nation.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to close the NU national assembly and grand conference this Friday. (REK/IKI)
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