Indonesian ‘ulamas’ hopeful about Obama

Friday, January 30, 2009

Given his experience living in Indonesia, newly installed US President Barack Obama could bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians, two religious leaders said Thursday. “We hope Obama can bridge the rightists and leftists,” said Dr. Anwar Abbas, chairman of the Entrepreneurship and Economic Council, Central Board of Muhammadiyah. He was referring to Muslims and other groups they clash with. He and Dr. Endang Turmudi, secretary general of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama, talked to The Manila Times in an exclusive roundtable interview on Thursday. They were in Manila to attend an ulama forum organized by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), headed by Amina Rasul. An ulama is a Muslim scholar. Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama are religious organization, among the many that exist in Indonesia. They differ in the branch of Islam that they teach. Abbas said that living in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation in the world, has embedded Islam in Obama’s subconscious. He explained that this “understanding” would be important, as 80 percent of decisions made during a crisis are derived from the subconscious. “We hope Obama is different from [former President George W.] Bush,” Abbas said. “Bush didn’t understand Islam.” Turmudi agreed, saying Obama made many Muslim friends while he was living in Indonesia. Obama spent his childhood in Jakarta in late 1960’s when his mother, Ann Durham, was married to an Indonesian. Turmudi said he does not expect the new US president to defend Islam, but that he would uphold justice. In an interview with the Al-Arabiya satellite television network on Monday, Obama said, “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect.” “But if you look at the track record . . . America was not born as a colonial power, and that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there’s no reason why we can’t restore that.” Acting responsibly Despite Indonesians’ optimism, Abbas said the US should act responsibly. He explained that many of the extremists terrorizing the world were products of America’s policy during the Cold War, such the Talibans who the Soviet Army with support from Washington. Turmudi said, “Islam is not monolithic.” The ulamas explained that not many people understand that there are five different images of Islam, each its own distinct character—Southeast Asia, Middle East, Europe, Iran (formerly Persia) and Turkey (the former seat of the Ottoman Empire). In Indonesia, Abbas said Muslims practice open mindedness and promotes nationalism and good relationship with other religions including the Christians. The Islam practiced in Southeast Asia was spread through trade and commerce, giving Muslims here a softer image compared to how that religion is perceived, in Europe for example, where the religions spread through conquest and crusades. Also in Indonesia, the madrassa or Islamic schools incorporate secular subjects—like math and science—with religious teachings. This is not the case in Islamic schools in other countries. But he and Turmudi admitted that the existence of Muslim fundamentalist is a growing concern. “Violence is not what Islam teaches us,” Turmudi said. The Bali bombers, for example, were following an aberrant teaching of their religion. “This [phenomenon] is a matter of wrong interpretation [of the Islamic teachings],” added the ulama, whose organization has about 50 million members. He hoped to promote the Southeast Asian image Islam, but adding that it is not their practice to force their faith on other people. “We more accommodating of people of other religions [in Indonesia],” he said. --JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA