Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

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SESSION II
theological debates with much ease.
At the heart of the matter, they are questioning the
manner in which the legal theories of Islam have been
developed to dominate our ideas on piety, making Islam
a religious system whose spiritual impulse is directed
to primarily regulate. This extinguishes Islam’s fantastic
multiplicity and adaptability—its potential
for egalitarianism, charity, mysticism and even
political reform. For them, the trouble commenced a
long time ago, when the textual sources of Islam began
to be encoded into legal forms by peoples from a
different culture, tradition and time—transforming it
permanently into a foreign construct. In many ways,
the santris below are continuing the tradition of ‘the
active converts’, as geographically peripheral Muslims
making sense of its power centre from the fringes,
theologically uneasy with incontestable religious
formalism and legalism.
The ‘Halal’ Blood: ULIL ABSHAR ABDALLA,
Former Coordinator, Jaringan Islam Liberal (JIL)—
The Liberal Islam Network, Jakarta
JIL was formed in 2001 by Ulil Abshar Abdalla (b.
1967 / Pati, Central Java) and friends associated with the
Utan Kayu community 11 to encourage the development
of a critique on the Muslim religious orthodoxy and
speak out against religious radicalism. The
introductory page of its website reads “In the name of
God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the
God of All Faiths.”
By 2003, conservative ulamas who were displeased by
an article which Ulil had written for the prominent
daily Kompas, which he likens to the organisation’s
manifesto, detailing his vision of Islam for Indonesia,
were already decreeing Ulil’s blood as “halal”.
Externally, one can credit everything that Ulil credits
as factors that assisted his intellectual growth such as
literature on philosophy and politics and the explosion
of Islamic discourse in Indonesia in the 1980s, led by
intellectuals like the late Nurcholish Madjid and former
Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid or better
known as Gus Dur.
But in spirit, like other Indonesian Muslim intellectuals,
it was his internal dissatisfaction with existing Muslim
legal theories that sharpened his critique of the system.
As a young santri, he was baffled by the “sophistication”
of usul-fiqh [foundations of jurisprudence], along with
its Arab-centrism, on issues such as diet, menstruation
and even the Muslim state theory which requires Jews,
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
Christians and Zoroastrians to don belts of different
colours.
His search was a gradual solitary process, complicated
by his years studying Islamic Law in a tertiary education
institution in Jakarta which is fully funded by the Saudi
Arabian government. Ulil never passed his theology.
For Ulil, Islamic fundamentalism is the end. “I know
exactly what they think about Islam. It is unacceptable
by our standards, outside Arabia, and in modern times.”
He argues that the entire history of Islamic radicalism
can be traced back directly or indirectly to Wahabbism,
a school of thought linked to Saudi Arabia which pushes,
usually rather undemocratically, what it regards as the
authentic interpretation of Islam. “Wahabbism has a
simple doctrine—you must return to the Koran and
the Sunnah, which is good, but the Wahabbis tend to
interpret religious texts literally. Grow your beard, the
Prophet said, and you must follow him as an application
of piety.”
Islam, he contends, is not the religion of the Arabs.
History Lessons—KIAI HAJI (KH) GHAZALI SAID,
Surabaya, East Java
KH Ghazali (b. 1945 / Madura, East Java) founded the
Pesantren An-Nur in 2000 for santris attending tertiary
Islamic institutions in Surabaya. There are formal classes
after the dawn and night prayers and his santris are also
free to conduct their own independent discussions.
KH Ghazali credits his classical training, and not modern
political thought, for the maturity of his openness and
understanding of pluralism. Specialising in Islamic
History, he points out that the early Muslim intellectual
tradition was extremely accommodative. He reminds
us that in the beginning “the concept of usul-fiqh did
not exist. Usul fiqh developed as a result of the interaction
with classical Western civilisation and philosophy. That
was how the discipline came to be developed as we now
know it.” He is naturally, a keen critic of Wahabbism.
He openly supports the initiative to conduct prayers in
Indonesian and refuses to condemn the controversial
Ahmadiyah sect. He criticises the hypocrisy of conservative
Muslims who would flaunt the names of classical Muslim
scholars, without realising that many of the philosophers
were committed rationalists. The curriculum of his
pesantren combines classical Islamic studies with that
of modern social thought and philosophy. He has even
held a dangdut 12 concert for the school, but of course,
stripped of its usual sexual innuendos.