The Jakarta Post, July 01, 2002
'Syariah' won't rid corruption, say scholars
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Two noted Muslim scholars, Nurcholis Madjid and Solahuddin Wahid, rejected on
Sunday a proposal that the country adopt syariah (Islamic law) to rid the country of its
deep-rooted problem of corruption. Nurcholis said adopting syariah would not
guarantee that corruption would be reduced. "The mosques are always full of people
praying. This means they are complying with syariah, but then, after leaving the
mosque, they do whatever they want to do, and corruption keeps on occurring," he
said, responding to a proposal coming from one participant at a siminar here on
Sunday. The proposal came from Irfan S. Awwas, secretary-general of a small Muslim
group, the Mujahidin Council, which has openly been campaigning for the adoption of
syariah in Indonesia. Nurcholis, however, said that Muslims should not seek the
implementation of syariah as it was against the nation's pluralistic character. The
implementation of syariah, he said, would create problems not only for non-Muslims
but also Muslims themselves because Muslims in Indonesia followed different
traditions. Pakistan should serve as a good example of a pluralistic country that had
tried to implement syariah. The country had become bogged down in a seemingly
interminable quarrel among Muslim groups over whose interpretation of syariah should
be enshrined in the country's laws. Solahuddin also disagreed with the proposal, and
said that the introduction of syariah would only mire Muslims in an endless polemic.
He said that the Aceh case would serve as a good lesson for Indonesia as to whether
the implementation of syariah would reduce corruption and bring benefits. "Let's be
patient and see what the outcome of Islamic law will be in Aceh," he told the seminar
at the Jogja Expo Center, which was hosted by the Gerakan Jalan Lurus (The Straight
Path Movement). Also speaking at the seminar were political analysts J. Kristiadi and
Harry Tjan Silalahi, former Astra International president Teddy P. Rachmat, and
Gadjah Mada University rector Sofian Effendi. Nurcholis noted that Muslims in
Indonesia would be better served by lending their support to the country's official
ideology of Pancasila as it was in tune with the country's pluralistic nature. Pancasila,
he said, contained the principles of divinity and social justice so that there was no
reason for Muslims to reject it. He said Pancasila represented a national agreement
that fitted in with the country's pluralistic nature. Ignoring it, therefore, would cause the
country to collapse. "A nation that goes against its own principles will soon collapse,"
he said. He noted that the most glaring problem in Indonesia was the absence of a
strong commitment among the people to do good things for society and other people
in line with the principles of Pancasila. "Without this commitment, the nation will
fragment and eventually this will ignite civil war," he said.
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