GATRA, 28 Juli 2010
Muktamar ke-46 Satu Abad Muhammadiyah telah usai. Muktamar yang untuk pertama kalinya dalam sepanjang sejarah Muhammadiyah setelah kemerdekaan RI tidak dihadiri secara langsung oleh Presiden RI itu juga telah usai memilih 13 (tiga belas) Pimpinan Pusat (PP) baru (tapi lama).
Dikatakan baru tapi lama karena memang—seperti telah diduga—tidak terjadi regenerasi disana. Muktamar yang penuh ingar-bingar dan menelan biaya Rp. 26 Milyar itu hanyalah menjadi ajang bagi pimpinan lama untuk, meminjam kata-kata Busyro Muqoddas (Ketua Komisi Yudisial) kepada Munir Mulkan (Komnas HAM), untuk memperpanjang SIM. Bahkan separuh lebih dari 13 PP lama memperpanjang SIM untuk ketiga dan keempat kalinya. SIM di sini singkatan dari surat izin mengemudikan Muhammadiyah.
Sinisme yang satiris itu sejatinya merupakan sebuah truisme belaka. Pasalnya, sistem pemilihan yang unik, rumit, dan berlapis-lapis itu memang sangat menguntungkan status quo. Atau jangan-jangan sistem itu sengaja dipertahankan memang untuk mempertahankan status quo. Betapa tidak! Jika dalam organisasi lain memilih pemimpin itu satu orang, persis seperti imam dalam salat berjamaah, maka dalam Muhammadiyah memilih pemimpin itu 13 orang alias secara ombyokan.
Bayangkan, dalam sidang tanwir, setiap anggota (164) memilih 39 nama. Dan dalam muktamar, setiap peserta (2.400 orang) memilih 13 nama. Tak terbayangkan peserta tanwir tidak akan menuliskan orang-orang lama dalam 39 nama, dan mustahil terjadi peserta muktamar tidak menuliskan incumbent stok lama tatkala memilih 13 nama dalam muktamar. Bener-bener sebuah sistem pro-status quo.
Tentu sistem pemilihan pimpinan secara ombyokan ini ada plusnya dan banyak minusnya. Salah satunya adalah menghindari kecenderungan one man show sang ketua umum, dan kukuhnya semangat kolektivisme kolegialisme. Tapi ketika di antara mereka tidak ada chemistry, maka yang terjadi adalah antagonisme internal yang berkepanjangan.
Alih-alih sebuah orkestra yang enak didengar, yang terjadi justru ketidakkompakan yang dibarengi langgengnya saling curiga dan rivalitas di antara mereka. Pasalnya, mereka secara sendiri-sendiri mengklaim mendapatkan mandat yang sama dari muktamar. Gelagat seperti ini sudah tampak pada rapat-rapat awal PP sekarang ini. Benih-benih ketidakpercayaan pada Din Syamsuddin mulai disemai dengan disodorkannya “traktat tidak berpolitik dan menjadi calon presiden 2014” yang harus ditandatanganinya. PP benar-benar melaksanakan perintah Buya Syafii Ma’arif (dan mungkin juga Prof.Amien Rais) untuk bersikap galak kepada Ketua Umum Din Syamsuddin. Walhasil, Din itu dicintai di bawah, tapi dicurigai di atas.
Laksana Abimanyu dalam epik Baratayudha, Din Syamsuddin pun menjadi mati kutu dikepung ke-12 orang PP lainnya. Tapi berbeda dengan Abimanyu Sang Senopati Pandawa yang siap perang ing aloga, sifat Din yang jauh dari fighter dan selalu menghindari benturan menjadikan dirinya madek mangu untuk bersikap. Bahkan sekadar menyodorkan Dr. Rizal Sukma dan Dr. Bahtiar Effendy, dua penasihat intelektual protagonisnya, untuk masuk PP pun tidak berani dia lakukan.
Sementara itu, sebagai ketua umum, Din tidak memiliki keberanian untuk menolak keinginan PP 13, yang semuanya hanya mau menjadi ketua-ketua bidang yang jauh dari majelis yang bersifat eksekutorial. Padahal, sangatlah meyakinkan mandat muktamar bagi mereka adalah untuk bekerja, bukan untuk menjadi dewan syuro.
Apalagi memperbarui struktur organisasi PP yang semakin anakronistik itu! Bayangkan, struktur organisasi yang menempatkan PP 13 layaknya ‘penasihat” dan menjadikan majelis/lembaga berada di luar PP yang nyata-nyata stagnan itu tetap juga dilanggengkan. Padahal jelas struktur itu tidak paralel dan relevan dengan tantangan dan visi Muhammadiyah di abad ke-2!
Mungkin keengganan untuk berubah ini terkait dengan usianya yang sudah senja, 100 tahun. Ibarat manusia, dalam usia ini sudah lemah, sakit-sakitan, dan meski belum terkena stroke sudah mulai menjadi beban lingkungannya. Tapi uniknya, persis kata Mitsuo Nakamura, antropolog Jepang spesialis Muhammadiyah, pimpinan Muhammadiyah sekarang malah cenderung narsistik alias terlalu senang dipuji, dan, ini tambahan dari saya: marah-marag kalau dikritik!
Maka, menunggu perubahan di sana adalah ibarat menunggu Godot dalam novel Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (An Attendat Godot). Ketika Estragon berkata kepada Vladimir: ”charming spot. Inspiring prospects. Let’s go!” Vladimir menjawab:”we can’t.” Dan ketika Estragon menukas cepat:”why not?”, maka Vladimir menjawab dengan entengnya:”we are waiting for Godot”.
Sedangkan Si Godot memang tidak pernah datang, persis seperti menunggu perubahan di Muhammadiyah. Cuma sayangnya di PP muhammadiyah hasil muktamar ini tidak jelas siapa yang menjadi Estragon dan siapa yang menjadi Vladimir. Nah lo…Wallahualam.
Hajriyanto Y.Thohari,
Wakil Sekjen PP.Muhammadiyah 2000-2005.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Warisan Penuh Makna dari 100 tahun Muhammadiyah
Resensi Buku: Warisan Penuh Makna dari 100 tahun MuhammadiyahOleh : Wahyu Ari Wicaksono | 28-Jul-2010, 11:12:54 WIB
Judul Buku:
100 Wisdom of MUhammadiyah - Hikmah dan Mutiara Kata Muhammadiyah Sepanjang Masa.
Konsep, desain, dan tata letak: PlanB Studios
Kontributor isi:
HM. Amien Rais, dr. Ida Rochmawati, Msc, Sp.KJ, Aga Herman, Moh. Rif'an, Andri Fetty Aisha, Nana Romzana, Yachinta E.D.
Penerbit: PlanBooks, cetakan pertama, Juli 2010
KabarIndonesia - Buku yang merupakan salah satu seri motivasi persembahan untuk satu abad Muhammadiyah ini diterbitkan dengan maksud sebagai dokumentasi atas mozaik ilmu dari kekuatan keimanan dan ketakwaan tokoh-tokoh Muhammadiyah yang menggerakkan lisan dan perbuatan mereka yang semata-mata dengan niat ibadah.
Buku ini mampu tampil lebih unik karena dilengkapi dengan berbagai sketsa gambar yang mempertajam isi dari pernyataan para tokoh Muhammadiyah yang ada terhadap berbagai realita kehidupan, sejarah, keimanan, keyakinan, kepercayaan, kenegarawanan, kesetiaan, kepedulian, masa depan, dan masalah-masalah lainnya.
Tentang peringatan akan tantangan di masa depan misalnya, hal ini telah dipesankan secara tegas oleh tokoh Muhammadiyah KH Ahmad Dahlan melalui kalimat peringatan pada dirinya sendiri namun berbias pada umat manusia secara keseluruhan. "Wahai Dahlan, sungguh di depanmu ada bahaya besar dan peristiwa-peristiwa yang akan mengejutkan engkau, yang pasti harus engkau lewati. Mungkin engkau mampu melewatinya dengan selamat, tetapi mungkin juga engkau akan binasa karenanya..." (KH Ahmad Dahlan).
Tak hanya mengingatkan tentang tantangan masa depan, buku ini juga banyak menngingatkan tentang kewajiban-kewajiban yang kita emban. Meskipun diungkapkan pada masa yang telah silam, tapi makna ungkapan-ungkapan tersebut mampu melampaui batas-batas zaman. Petuah-petuah dari KH Ahmad Dahlan, Jendral Sudirman, Buya Hamka, H. Darmo Tjahyono, KH. Ahmad Azhar Basyir, HA. Syafii Ma'arif, H. Kartono Kamadjaja, HM. Amien Rais, dan tokoh-tokoh Muhammadiyah lainnya benar-benar terasa aktual dan mampu memberikan masukan berarti bagi aktivitas kita sekarang.
"Memperbaiki urusan yang terlanjur salah dan disalahgunakan atau diselewengkan adalah merupakan kewajiban setiap manusia, terutama kewajiban umat Islam." (KH. Ahmad Dahlan)
"Dalam menghadapi keadaan yang bagaimana pun juga tetap jangan lengah, karena kelengahan dapat menyebabkan kelemahan, kelemahan menyebabkan kekalahan, berarti penderitaan (Panglima Besar Jendral Soedirman)
"Janganl;ah takut jatuh, karena yang tidak pernah memanjatlah yang tak pernah jatuh. Jangan takut gagal, karena yang tidak pernah gagal hanyalah orang yang tidak pernah mencoba melangkah. Jangan takut salah, karena dengan kesalahan yang pertama kita mendapat pengetahuan untuk mencari jalan yang benar pada langkah kedua." (Buya Hamka).
"Dalam mengarungi kehidupan, contohlah pohon pisang. Pohon pisang tidak pernah mati kecuali setelah berbuah. Dipangkas beberapa kalipun, ia akan tumbuh kembali. Namun sekali berbuah, pohon pisang mati sendiri. Semoga sebelum mati kita sudah banyak beramal sholeh." (H. Darmo Tjahyono).
"Ada tiga jenis manusia: manusia jahat, manusia biasa, dan manusia baik. Manusia jahat, sejak bangun tidur sudah berniat dan berbuat jahat. Sementara manusia biasa, tidak ingin berbuat dosa dan kejahatan, namun bila ia kepergok dengan godaan dosa dan kejahatan, ia tidak bisa menghindari. Sedangkan manusia baik sejak bangun pagi sudah berniat dan berbuat baik, dan jika kepergok dengan godaan dosa dan kejahatan, ia mampu menghindari."
(KH. Ahmad Azhar Basyir)
"Rendah hati adalah refleksi dari iman." (HA. Syafii Ma'arif).
Tentu saja sebagai buku kata-kata mutiara tokoh-tokoh Muhammadiyah, ungkapan-ungkapan yang dikutip dalam buku ini juga mampu menjadi refleksi, evaluasi dan motivasi bagi kalangan internal Muhammadiyah.
"Muhammadiyah pada masa sekarang ini berbeda dengan Muhammadiyah pada masa mendatang. Karena itu warga muda-mudi Muhammadiyah hendaklah terus menjalani & menempuh pendidikan serta menuntut ilmu pengetahuan di mana saja. Menjadilah dokter, sesudah itu kembalilah kepada Muhammadiyah. Jadilah meester, insinyur, lalu kembalilah kepada Muhammadiyah sesudah itu." (KH. Ahmad Dahlan).
"Pimpinan Muhammadiyah sebaiknya kyai yang intelektual atau intelektual yang kyai." (KH Ahmad Dahlan).
"Sekali Muhammadiyah tetap Muhammadiyah. Kata-kata ini bukan untuk Muhammadiyah saja, tetapi juga untuk saya. Saya harap kalau dibaca lagi nama-nama anggauta Muhammadiyah yang 175.000 orang banyaknya, nama saya masih tercantum di dalamnya. Saya harap nama saya tidak dicoret dari daftar keanggautaan Muhammadiyah." (H. Ahmad Soekarno, 1957)
Muhammadiyah itu: yen dijiwit dadi kulit, dicethot dadi otot... setan ora doyan, dhemit ora ndulit... (dicubit malah menjadi kulit, dibetot malah menjadi otot... setan tidak bakal doyan, jin tidak akan menyentuh...) artinya, insan Muhammadiyah adalah pribadi-pribadi yang selalu bekerja dengan ikhlas, tahan banting, dan InsyaAllah tahan kritik dan cemooh manusia, serta tahan godaan setan.
(HM. Amien Rais).
Kearifan dari inti ajaran yang diyakini Muhammadiyah, benar-benar bisa kita rasakan dari kebijakan ungkapan-ungkapan tokoh-tokoh yang kata-katanya dikutip dalam buku ini. Misalnya kelapangan hati dan keterbukaan Muhammadiyah terhadap masalah-masalah yang kerap menjadi perdebatan dan dipermasalahkan oleh beberapa golongan yang ada.
"Tradisi itu buatan manusia dengan akal budinya, dengan perlambangnya, dengan fantasinya, dengan imajinasinya sesuai dengan zamannya. Oleh sebab itu tradisi niscaya akan bergeser sejalan dengan kecerdasan, logika, dan ketebalan beragama manusia di suatu zaman. Maka tradisi itu tidak perlu dimusuhi, diuber-uber lebih daripada musuh, namun perlu ditolerir sejauh tidak bertentangan dengan Islam." (H. Kartono Kamadjaja).
"Ada beberapa jenis kemarahan. Namun kemarahan yang paling indah adalah kemarahan kepada kebathilan. Ada beberapa jenis cinta. namun cinta pada kebenaran adalah cinta yang paling Indah."
"If we do our part, God will do His part." (HM Amien Rais).
"Para begawan tidak bisa berumah di atas angin, lebih-lebih tenggelam di bawah atap kantornya sendiri, tanpa melibatkan diri dalam agenda-agenda pemikiran dan aksi pencerahan bangsa." (HM Haedar Nashir).
"Kerapkali orangtua menyesali pemuda. Menuduhnya bekerja terburu-buru dan kurang pikir. Kerapkali orang muda menuduh orang tua lamban, lambat bertindak dan terlalu banyak berpikir. Alangkah sibuknya dunia kalau pimpinan hanya di tangan yang muda-muda, dan dunia akan membosankan karena lamban geraknya kalau yang memimpin hanya yang tua-tua. Gabungan di antara gelora semangat yang muda dengan renung pikiran yang tua itulah yang menimbulkan keseimbangan di dalam perjalanan hidup." (Buya Hamka).
Akhir kata, menyelami dan merenungi secara dalam 100 Mutiara Kebijakan yang tertulis dalam buku ini, maka kita pun akan mengamini apa yang dituliskan Amien Rais dalam kata pengantarnya bahwa para tokoh Muhammadiyah itu mengunggulkan keikhlasan, keberanian, kesederhanaan, keuletan, dan keyakinan akan masa depan yang lebih baik. Selamat satu abad Muhammadiyah.
Retrieved from: http://www.kabarindonesia.com/berita.php?pil=12&jd=Resensi+Buku%3A+Warisan+Penuh+Makna+dari+100+tahun+Muhammadiyah&dn=20100728072853 (July 28, 2010)
Monday, July 26, 2010
“Ma Taf’al Al’an ya” Muhammadiyah
Suara Pembaruan, 24 Juli 2010
Oleh : Daoed Joesoef
Kehadiran Muhammadiyah saya jadikan objek studi perkembangan masyarakat muslim pada khususnya dan pengkajian kultur religius pada umumnya. Pendekatan yang dipakai adalah secara historis dan analitis. Dalam penalaran dipinjam beberapa tools of analysis dari Prof. Marcel Gauchet.
Pendekatan historis karena ormas Islam yang satu ini dibentuk untuk berkiprah merubah masyarakat dengan sadar dan sengaja, jadi tidak semata-mata terserah pada takdir. Jadi bersendikan satu keyakinan lain, yaitu keyakinan politik, di samping keyakinan religius. Keyakinan religius adalah suatu keyakinan pada otoritas masa lalu. Sedangkan keyakinan politik yang tampil untuk menandinginya adalah suatu keyakinan pada otoritas masa depan
Pendekatan analitis karena dalam gerakan semua ormas dan parpol Islam, tidak hanya Muhammadiyah, terjalin sepasang keyakinan, yaitu keyakinan religius dan keyakinan politik. Pengertian yang dikandung oleh pasangan keyakinan ini mencakup hakikat gerakan spirit dan gerakan masyarakat. Ia menggambarkan fakta penggerak masyarakat modern, yaitu proses keluar dari agama. Ia meliputi peralihan dari suatu masyarakat heteronom, yang distrukturkan oleh agama, ke masyarakat otonom, yang menyiapkan tatanan hukumnya sendiri dan memilih kepengurusan sendiri sebagai ideal.
Agama secara esensial adalah suatu gaya primordial keber-ADA-an, suatu cara menstrukturkan masyarakat human. Inilah yang dimaksud oleh pengertian “heteronom”. Dalam bingkai heteronomi ini keyakinan tersebut melibatkan organisasi kolektif. Ia percaya pada suatu supranatural, leluhur-pendiri, dewa pengatur atau Tuhan Yang Maha Esa-Sang Pencipta, yang memberikan kita tatanan hukum dari “tempat lain” dan dari “atas”. Sedangkan ketergantungan pada yang “tidak kasatmata” berarti sekaligus ketergantungan pada “masa lalu”. Tata heteronom dengan sendirinya berpembawaan kelampauan. Eksterioritas metafisik dari dasarnya berarti enterioritas temporal dari dasar tersebut. Berhubung tatanan hukum tadi secara esensial bagi kita adalah “given” dan “imposed”, kita menerimanya sebagai perintah dan meneruskannya persis sebagaimana yang kita terima. Maka dalam pengertian ini masyarakat agama disebut pula masyarakat tradisional.
Sewaktu KH Ahmad Dahlan membentuk gerakan Muhammadiyah, dia pada azasnya mengajak orang beragama tidak lagi beragama demi agama, tetapi melangkah keluar dan masuk ke masyarakat sambil memperbaharui kehidupan bersama ini. Masyarakat yang keluar dari agama adalah sebuah kehidupan bersama yang mengorganisir diri guna perubahannya sendiri demi mencapai keadaan yang lebih baik, sebuah masyarakat di mana seluruh kegiatan individual dan kolektif berorientasi ke masa depan, suatu masyarakat di mana politik dijadikan objek keyakinan, suatu keyakinan politik.
Maka ormas Muhammadiyah menggambarkan, melalui gerakan dan kiprahnya yang konsisten dan konsekuen, suatu peralihan dari suatu masyarakat yang heteronom, masa lalu, yang distrukturkan oleh agama, ke suatu masyarakat otonom, masa depan, yang menyiapkan tatanan hukumnya sendiri dan memilih kepengurusan sendiri sebagai ideal. Dengan kata lain, sebuah masyarakat yang membangun diri untuk membuat pemikiran diskursif tentang dirinya sendiri yang dapat lain daripada pemikiran religius dan keyakinan religius. Jenis pemikiran dan keyakinan baru ini bisa disebut ”ideologi”.
Ideologi
Orisinalitas pemikiran diskursif ini terletak dalam formulasi dan multiplisitas fungsinya. Ideologi menurut naturnya meramu tiga komponen. Pertama, berupa bagian yang rasional dari ideologi. Sebuah masyarakat yang bertekad menciptakan sendiri kegunaan selama eksis memerlukan suatu penjelasan tentang gerakan perbaikan dicetuskannya sebagai pembeda terhadap pembenaran transeden dari agama. Berarti penjelasan ini harus bersendikan suatu teori kemasyarakatan yang memperhitungkan faktor dan kekuatan yang menjelaskan dinamika gerakannya.
Kedua, masyarakat yang mengarah ke masa depan adalah sebuah masyarakat yang betul-betul perlu mengetahui ke arah apa/mana dinamika yang digerakkannya itu. Di sinilah letak keyakinan itu. Masa depan penuh tanda tanya. Ada ranah tidak kasatmata yang seperti halnya langit yang tidak kasatmata, sama-sama mengundang spekulasi dan keyakinan. Penjelasan rasional tentang masa lalu dan masa kini terjalin langsung dengan keyakinan akan masa depan, jadi dengan keyakinan dan harapan pada masa mendatang.
Ketiga, ide tentang masa lalu dan imaji tentang masa depan ini hadir di masa kini berupa opini politik jangka pendek, menengah dan panjang (program, proyek, janji). Perdebatan politik adalah silang pendapat mengenai perubahan yang mungkin dan perubahan yang dikehendaki. Setiap ideologi merupakan ramuan dari ketiga hal tadi, dalam proporsi yang berlainan menurut tempat dan waktu. Ia mengkombinasikan unsur-unsur dari teori sosial, dari prefensi politik dan dari kepastian tentang masa mendatang. Ia menyandingkan pretensi ilmiah, realisme politik dan mimpi profetis.
Jadi, ormas Muhammadiyah sebenarnya sudah berpolitik tanpa menyatakan dirinya “partai politik”. Sebab gerakan pembaruan dan kiprahnya sudah meliputi dua aspek dari politik, yaitu politik dalam artian “konsep” dan artian “kebijakan”. Maka itu, dalam perjalanannya ia pernah turut membentuk parpol Masyumi dan Parmusi. Sementara Ketua Pimpinan Pusatnya yang masih berfungsi mendirikan PAN dan ada parpol (PMB) yang mencalonkan Ketua Umumnya menjadi calon presiden menjelang Pemilu 2009. Aspek politik yang ketiga, yaitu politik dalam artian “arena” tidak disentuhnya karena organisasinya bukan merupakan pemain politik formal yang secara alami bertujuan merebut kekuasaan politik.
Kepemimpinan Organisasi
Dalam dunia religius prioritas ada pada kekuatan spirit selaku penguasa tata-tertib. Dalam dunia historis prioritas beralih ke masyarakat selaku penguasa gerakan. Ide tentang kepengurusan yang sah karenanya berubah total. Kepengurusan ormas bergerak hanya dari masyarakat pengikutnya sendiri, komunitas pengikutnya dan berfungsi memenuhi kebutuhan-kebutuhannya. Dengan kata lain, membalik diri menghadap ke masa depan meniscayakan adanya legitimasi kepengurusan yang liberal dan representatif. Liberal karena ia harus menghormati perbedaan antara masyarakat selaku sebuah penguasa kolektif dengan suatu invensi apa pun yang berlainan dengan itu. Representatif sebab kepengurusan itu harus benar-benar berasal dari masyarakat yang dicakupnya.
Bila demikian agak mengherankan mengapa “pemuda” tidak terwakili selayaknya dalam badan kepengurusan yang baru dari Muhammadiyah, pada jumlah mereka konon relatif besar. Bukankah “pemuda” yang merupakan “wajah” masa depan? Bahkan inkarnasi masa depan itu sendiri? Mengapa mereka tidak diberi kesempatan turut merintis jalan ke masa mendatang itu? Mengapa dulu-dulu, sebelumnya, pimpinan yang berlaku lalai, tidak menyiapkan mereka dengan baik hingga bisa diandalkan? Bukankah tugas mulia dan alami dari generasi tua menyiapkan generasi muda sebagai penggantinya yang sah?!
Tidak heran kalau lalu timbul kecurigaan di kalangan sementara anggota Muhammadiyah bahwa kedudukan pimpinan organisasi hanya merupakan sebuah tempat penantian ke penawaran kedudukan yang lebih berkuasa diluar organisasi, yaitu kekuasaan politik di tataran Negara-Bangsa atau jabatan pemerintahan yang sangat bergengsi dalam konteks nasional. Kecurigaan ini bukan tanpa alasan.
Walaupun sejak muktamar ke-38 di tahun 1971 Muhammadiyah secara organisatoris mengambil jarak dengan parpol, ketika Ketua PP Muhammadiyah di masa pascareformasi (M Amien Rais) mendirikan parpol (PAN), tidak ada protes keras dari dalam organisasi yang masih dipimpinnya. Protes yang berarti juga tidak ada dari ormas yang katanya menjauhi sepak terjang keparpolan ketika Ketua Umumnya (Din Syamsuddin) dicalonkan sebagai presiden dalam Pemilu 2009 oleh Partai Matahari Bangsa (PMB).
Berarti setiap waktu, kapan saja, seorang pejabat pimpinan Muhammadiyah selalu bisa meninggalkan begitu saja kedudukannya yang masih berlaku, pergi menerima jabatan kenegaraan dengan dalih “atas permintaan rakyat” atau “demi mengabdi Nusa dan Bangsa”, atau merangkap jabatan sampai saat muktamar berikutnya. Jadi ke luar berwajah “bescheiden” tetapi ke dalam mendambakan jabatan tinggi yang pura-pura ditolaknya.
Para tokoh Muhammdiyah yang berpura-pura ini sebaiknya memahami bahwa kalaupun ada parpol yang meminta kesediaannya dicalonkan menjadi Presiden atau Wapres atas nama parpol yang meminta, yang dibidik oleh parpol yang bersangkutan sejujurnya bukanlah kapasitasnya sebagai negarawan, tetapi massa dari pengikut Muhammadiyah yang polos dan berjumlah relatif besar. Itu saja, tidak lebih dan tidak kurang.
So…ma taf’al al’an ya Muhammadiyah – apa yang akan Anda lakukan sekarang, wahai Muhammadiyah?!
Penulis adalah alumnus Universite Pluridisciplinaires Pantheon-Sorbonne
Oleh : Daoed Joesoef
Kehadiran Muhammadiyah saya jadikan objek studi perkembangan masyarakat muslim pada khususnya dan pengkajian kultur religius pada umumnya. Pendekatan yang dipakai adalah secara historis dan analitis. Dalam penalaran dipinjam beberapa tools of analysis dari Prof. Marcel Gauchet.
Pendekatan historis karena ormas Islam yang satu ini dibentuk untuk berkiprah merubah masyarakat dengan sadar dan sengaja, jadi tidak semata-mata terserah pada takdir. Jadi bersendikan satu keyakinan lain, yaitu keyakinan politik, di samping keyakinan religius. Keyakinan religius adalah suatu keyakinan pada otoritas masa lalu. Sedangkan keyakinan politik yang tampil untuk menandinginya adalah suatu keyakinan pada otoritas masa depan
Pendekatan analitis karena dalam gerakan semua ormas dan parpol Islam, tidak hanya Muhammadiyah, terjalin sepasang keyakinan, yaitu keyakinan religius dan keyakinan politik. Pengertian yang dikandung oleh pasangan keyakinan ini mencakup hakikat gerakan spirit dan gerakan masyarakat. Ia menggambarkan fakta penggerak masyarakat modern, yaitu proses keluar dari agama. Ia meliputi peralihan dari suatu masyarakat heteronom, yang distrukturkan oleh agama, ke masyarakat otonom, yang menyiapkan tatanan hukumnya sendiri dan memilih kepengurusan sendiri sebagai ideal.
Agama secara esensial adalah suatu gaya primordial keber-ADA-an, suatu cara menstrukturkan masyarakat human. Inilah yang dimaksud oleh pengertian “heteronom”. Dalam bingkai heteronomi ini keyakinan tersebut melibatkan organisasi kolektif. Ia percaya pada suatu supranatural, leluhur-pendiri, dewa pengatur atau Tuhan Yang Maha Esa-Sang Pencipta, yang memberikan kita tatanan hukum dari “tempat lain” dan dari “atas”. Sedangkan ketergantungan pada yang “tidak kasatmata” berarti sekaligus ketergantungan pada “masa lalu”. Tata heteronom dengan sendirinya berpembawaan kelampauan. Eksterioritas metafisik dari dasarnya berarti enterioritas temporal dari dasar tersebut. Berhubung tatanan hukum tadi secara esensial bagi kita adalah “given” dan “imposed”, kita menerimanya sebagai perintah dan meneruskannya persis sebagaimana yang kita terima. Maka dalam pengertian ini masyarakat agama disebut pula masyarakat tradisional.
Sewaktu KH Ahmad Dahlan membentuk gerakan Muhammadiyah, dia pada azasnya mengajak orang beragama tidak lagi beragama demi agama, tetapi melangkah keluar dan masuk ke masyarakat sambil memperbaharui kehidupan bersama ini. Masyarakat yang keluar dari agama adalah sebuah kehidupan bersama yang mengorganisir diri guna perubahannya sendiri demi mencapai keadaan yang lebih baik, sebuah masyarakat di mana seluruh kegiatan individual dan kolektif berorientasi ke masa depan, suatu masyarakat di mana politik dijadikan objek keyakinan, suatu keyakinan politik.
Maka ormas Muhammadiyah menggambarkan, melalui gerakan dan kiprahnya yang konsisten dan konsekuen, suatu peralihan dari suatu masyarakat yang heteronom, masa lalu, yang distrukturkan oleh agama, ke suatu masyarakat otonom, masa depan, yang menyiapkan tatanan hukumnya sendiri dan memilih kepengurusan sendiri sebagai ideal. Dengan kata lain, sebuah masyarakat yang membangun diri untuk membuat pemikiran diskursif tentang dirinya sendiri yang dapat lain daripada pemikiran religius dan keyakinan religius. Jenis pemikiran dan keyakinan baru ini bisa disebut ”ideologi”.
Ideologi
Orisinalitas pemikiran diskursif ini terletak dalam formulasi dan multiplisitas fungsinya. Ideologi menurut naturnya meramu tiga komponen. Pertama, berupa bagian yang rasional dari ideologi. Sebuah masyarakat yang bertekad menciptakan sendiri kegunaan selama eksis memerlukan suatu penjelasan tentang gerakan perbaikan dicetuskannya sebagai pembeda terhadap pembenaran transeden dari agama. Berarti penjelasan ini harus bersendikan suatu teori kemasyarakatan yang memperhitungkan faktor dan kekuatan yang menjelaskan dinamika gerakannya.
Kedua, masyarakat yang mengarah ke masa depan adalah sebuah masyarakat yang betul-betul perlu mengetahui ke arah apa/mana dinamika yang digerakkannya itu. Di sinilah letak keyakinan itu. Masa depan penuh tanda tanya. Ada ranah tidak kasatmata yang seperti halnya langit yang tidak kasatmata, sama-sama mengundang spekulasi dan keyakinan. Penjelasan rasional tentang masa lalu dan masa kini terjalin langsung dengan keyakinan akan masa depan, jadi dengan keyakinan dan harapan pada masa mendatang.
Ketiga, ide tentang masa lalu dan imaji tentang masa depan ini hadir di masa kini berupa opini politik jangka pendek, menengah dan panjang (program, proyek, janji). Perdebatan politik adalah silang pendapat mengenai perubahan yang mungkin dan perubahan yang dikehendaki. Setiap ideologi merupakan ramuan dari ketiga hal tadi, dalam proporsi yang berlainan menurut tempat dan waktu. Ia mengkombinasikan unsur-unsur dari teori sosial, dari prefensi politik dan dari kepastian tentang masa mendatang. Ia menyandingkan pretensi ilmiah, realisme politik dan mimpi profetis.
Jadi, ormas Muhammadiyah sebenarnya sudah berpolitik tanpa menyatakan dirinya “partai politik”. Sebab gerakan pembaruan dan kiprahnya sudah meliputi dua aspek dari politik, yaitu politik dalam artian “konsep” dan artian “kebijakan”. Maka itu, dalam perjalanannya ia pernah turut membentuk parpol Masyumi dan Parmusi. Sementara Ketua Pimpinan Pusatnya yang masih berfungsi mendirikan PAN dan ada parpol (PMB) yang mencalonkan Ketua Umumnya menjadi calon presiden menjelang Pemilu 2009. Aspek politik yang ketiga, yaitu politik dalam artian “arena” tidak disentuhnya karena organisasinya bukan merupakan pemain politik formal yang secara alami bertujuan merebut kekuasaan politik.
Kepemimpinan Organisasi
Dalam dunia religius prioritas ada pada kekuatan spirit selaku penguasa tata-tertib. Dalam dunia historis prioritas beralih ke masyarakat selaku penguasa gerakan. Ide tentang kepengurusan yang sah karenanya berubah total. Kepengurusan ormas bergerak hanya dari masyarakat pengikutnya sendiri, komunitas pengikutnya dan berfungsi memenuhi kebutuhan-kebutuhannya. Dengan kata lain, membalik diri menghadap ke masa depan meniscayakan adanya legitimasi kepengurusan yang liberal dan representatif. Liberal karena ia harus menghormati perbedaan antara masyarakat selaku sebuah penguasa kolektif dengan suatu invensi apa pun yang berlainan dengan itu. Representatif sebab kepengurusan itu harus benar-benar berasal dari masyarakat yang dicakupnya.
Bila demikian agak mengherankan mengapa “pemuda” tidak terwakili selayaknya dalam badan kepengurusan yang baru dari Muhammadiyah, pada jumlah mereka konon relatif besar. Bukankah “pemuda” yang merupakan “wajah” masa depan? Bahkan inkarnasi masa depan itu sendiri? Mengapa mereka tidak diberi kesempatan turut merintis jalan ke masa mendatang itu? Mengapa dulu-dulu, sebelumnya, pimpinan yang berlaku lalai, tidak menyiapkan mereka dengan baik hingga bisa diandalkan? Bukankah tugas mulia dan alami dari generasi tua menyiapkan generasi muda sebagai penggantinya yang sah?!
Tidak heran kalau lalu timbul kecurigaan di kalangan sementara anggota Muhammadiyah bahwa kedudukan pimpinan organisasi hanya merupakan sebuah tempat penantian ke penawaran kedudukan yang lebih berkuasa diluar organisasi, yaitu kekuasaan politik di tataran Negara-Bangsa atau jabatan pemerintahan yang sangat bergengsi dalam konteks nasional. Kecurigaan ini bukan tanpa alasan.
Walaupun sejak muktamar ke-38 di tahun 1971 Muhammadiyah secara organisatoris mengambil jarak dengan parpol, ketika Ketua PP Muhammadiyah di masa pascareformasi (M Amien Rais) mendirikan parpol (PAN), tidak ada protes keras dari dalam organisasi yang masih dipimpinnya. Protes yang berarti juga tidak ada dari ormas yang katanya menjauhi sepak terjang keparpolan ketika Ketua Umumnya (Din Syamsuddin) dicalonkan sebagai presiden dalam Pemilu 2009 oleh Partai Matahari Bangsa (PMB).
Berarti setiap waktu, kapan saja, seorang pejabat pimpinan Muhammadiyah selalu bisa meninggalkan begitu saja kedudukannya yang masih berlaku, pergi menerima jabatan kenegaraan dengan dalih “atas permintaan rakyat” atau “demi mengabdi Nusa dan Bangsa”, atau merangkap jabatan sampai saat muktamar berikutnya. Jadi ke luar berwajah “bescheiden” tetapi ke dalam mendambakan jabatan tinggi yang pura-pura ditolaknya.
Para tokoh Muhammdiyah yang berpura-pura ini sebaiknya memahami bahwa kalaupun ada parpol yang meminta kesediaannya dicalonkan menjadi Presiden atau Wapres atas nama parpol yang meminta, yang dibidik oleh parpol yang bersangkutan sejujurnya bukanlah kapasitasnya sebagai negarawan, tetapi massa dari pengikut Muhammadiyah yang polos dan berjumlah relatif besar. Itu saja, tidak lebih dan tidak kurang.
So…ma taf’al al’an ya Muhammadiyah – apa yang akan Anda lakukan sekarang, wahai Muhammadiyah?!
Penulis adalah alumnus Universite Pluridisciplinaires Pantheon-Sorbonne
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Kado Seabad Muhammadiyah
Jawa Pos, [ Minggu, 11 Juli 2010 ] Ribuan peserta dari berbagai daerah memadati Kota Gudeg. Selain memilih pucuk pimpinan organisasi untuk periode lima tahun berikutnya, muktamar membahas berbagai masalah internal keorganisasian, keindonesiaan dan keumatan, berikut peluang dan tantangannya pada masa mendatang.
Sudah barang tentu banyak ucapan selamat diberikan kepada Muhammadiyah dengan berbagai ekspresi yang berbeda-beda, sesuai dengan kapasitas dan kemampuannya. Salah satunya dalam bentuk pemikiran seperti yang terhimpun dalam buku Satu Abad Muhammadiyah; Mengkaji Ulang Arah Pembaruan yang ditulis Dawam Rahardjo dan para penulis muda ini.
Buku ini bermula dari obrolan sederhana antara dua pemikir yang berbeda generasi, Dawam Rahardjo dan Moh. Shofan tentang perkembangan pemikiran Islam Indonesia, khususnya di lingkungan NU dan Muhammadiyah. Pada kesempatan itu, Shofan usul agar Dawam menuliskan pemikirannya soal Muhammadiyah, khususnya untuk menyambut perhelatan muktamar ke-46 dan momentum seabad Muhammadiyah.
Dawam kemudian mewujudkan pemikirannya dengan judul tulisan, Mengkaji Ulang Muhammadiyah sebagai Organisasi Islam Berorientasi Pembaruan. Tak pelak tulisan Dawam mendapat ruang publisitas dan ditanggapi anak-anak muda yang berasal dari beragam elemen -meski pada awalnya berharap agar anak-anak muda Muhammadiyah sendiri yang menanggapi. Secara keseluruhan, tulisan yang terhimpun dalam buku ini bermuara pada satu kesimpulan bahwa Muhammadiyah di usianya yang seabad telah mengalami disorientasi dari organisasi pembaruan menuju organisasi konservatif. Meskipun, ada sebagian penulis dalam buku ini yang masih malu-malu mengatakannya.
Seabad bisa dipahami sebagai periode abad kedua untuk Muhammadiyah. Suatu periode yang diharapkan bisa melampaui periode-periode sebelumnya yang telah melewati beragam dinamika zaman yang penuh perjuangan -baik di era perjuangan kemerdekaan pada masa kolonial, era setelah kemerdekaan pada masa Orde Lama dan Orde Baru, maupun era reformasi hingga kini. Fase terakhir ini bisa dibilang sebagai fase paling menentukan masa depan Muhammadiyah.
Atas dasar itu, para penulis mengusulkan agar dalam menghadapi pergantian abad menuju fase baru ini, Muhammadiyah diharapkan untuk merumuskan ulang orientasi dakwah dan tajdid yang telah menjadi fokus gerakannya selama ini. Dengan demikian, Muhammadiyah akan mampu melintasi zaman dengan penuh kesiapan dan rasa percaya diri untuk menghadirkan risalah Islam sebagai rahmatan lil-alamin.
Dalam tulisannya, Dawam melancarkan kritik kepada Muhammadiyah, paling tidak pada dua hal. Yakni, misi praksis Muhammadiyah dan misi teologisnya. Secara praksis, Muhammadiyah menunjukkan kemajuan yang cukup signifikan. Di usianya yang seabad ini, Muhammadiyah tercatat memiliki belasan ribu sekolah TK-SMA, 167 perguruan tinggi, ratusan panti sosial, dan ribuan amal usaha lainnya, termasuk yang berkaitan dengan pemberdayaan ekonomi rakyat di berbagai daerah.
Namun, menurut Dawam, tidak ada suatu konsep pendidikan distingtif di Muhammadiyah. Tidak ada konsep mengenai sistem pendidikan yang dikatakan sebagai konsep yang dianut oleh Muhammadiyah. Yang ada hanya wujud fisik atau suatu proyek sosial biasa yang dilakukan oleh banyak organisasi keagamaan dan Muhammadiyah salah satu di antaranya. Bahkan, Muhammadiyah hanyalah mengikuti, jika tidak boleh dibilang meniru, kegiatan-kegiatan yang sebelumnya dilakukan oleh misionaris Kristen (hlm. 8).
Dalam kritiknya itu, Dawam ingin menunjukkan bahwa konsep dan metodologi pendidikan yang selama ini dikembangkan Muhammadiyah salah satunya hanya dimotivasi untuk menandingi gerakan misionaris Kristen dalam mendirikan sekolah-sekolah umum yang berbasis klasikal. Artinya, yang dikembangkan Muhammadiyah tidak benar-benar murni milik Muhammadiyah sendiri, baik secara konseptual maupun metodologis. Muhammadiyah masih belum melakukan pembaruan sistem pendidikan yang integral sehingga pendidikan Islam masih bersifat dualitas antara pendidikan agama yang tradisional dan ilmu pengetahuan umum.
Secara teologis, menurut Dawam, Muhammadiyah mengalami konservatisisme yang akut, meski sejak awal organisasi ini menginjakkan kakinya pada pembaruan Muhammad Abduh. Tidak ada perhatian dari kalangan Muhammadiyah terhadap literatur-literatur para pemikir progresif-liberal kontemporer, misalnya, Hassan Hanafi, Nasr Hamid Abi Zaid, Abid Al-Jabiri, Mohamad Arkuon, dan Ashghar Ali Engineer. Hal itu menunjukkan betapa Muhammadiyah sudah mengalami krisis pemikiran progresif-liberal atau krisis epistemologis. Sejauh ini Muhammadiyah hanya mengembangkan metode ''bayani'' yang bertumpu pada kekuatan teks hingga akhirnya meninggalkan konteksnya.
Semboyan yang kerap didengungkan Muhammadiyah, ar-Rujû' ila al-Qur'ân wa as-Sunnah, kembali kepada Alquran dan sunah, telah menjadikan mereka kaum literalis atau tekstualis. Muhammadiyah lupa bahwa kembali pada ajaran Alquran dan sunah juga memiliki makna liberalnya, yaitu dengan cara menafsir kembali bunyi teks dengan tetap memperhatikan kebutuhan zaman. Hanya dengan cara demikian, Islam yang dikembangkan Muhammadiyah melalui konsep dakwah dan tajdidnya akan mendapat simpati publik dan sesuai dengan semangat khitah 1912 sebagai organisasi pembaruan.
Membaca buku ini, kita tidak sekadar disuguhi kritik tajam dari pemikiran Dawam Rahardjo. Lebih dari itu, kita akan mengetahui tanggapan dari kalangan anak muda terhadap tulisan Dawam itu. Yang pasti, kehadiran buku ini tidak perlu dipahami sebagai bentuk dari aktualisasi diri Dawam Rahardjo yang penuh dendam karena dia pernah dipecat dari Muhammadiyah. Sesungguhnya, Dawam tidak peduli ke mana Muhammadiyah akan diarahkan. Dia selama ini bersikap semata-mata karena tanggung jawab moral sebagai pemikir yang ingin menghantamkan gagasannya ke sana kemari dengan tetap berpijak pada data dan fakta yang ada. (*)
*) Mohamad Asrori Mulky , peneliti Pusat Studi Islam dan Kenegaraan (PSIK) Universitas Paramadina Jakarta
Judul Buku: Satu Abad Muhammadiyah; Mengkaji Ulang Arah Pembaruan
Penulis: M. Dawam Rahardjo dkk
Penerbit : Paramadina & LSAF
Cetakan : Pertama, Juni 2010
Tebal : xxxiv + 248 halaman
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Quo vadis ‘tajdid’ in Muhammadiyah
Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)
The Jakarta Post | Fri, 07/23/2010 4:38 PM | Opinion
M. Hilaly Basya
Din Syamsuddin has been elected as a chairman of Muhammadiyah for the 2010-2015 term. This is his second term in office. Some observers have said this fact indicates that most Muhammadiyah activists like the way Syamsuddin represents Muhammadiyah.
However, according to Dawam Rahardjo, Muhammadiyah became conservative and puritan under Syamsuddin’s leadership (Rahardjo, 2010).
Is it right that Muhammadiyah does not perform tajdid any more? This article would like to elaborate on the concept of tajdid (reformation) within Muhammadiyah.
In general, Muhammadiyah can be considered part of the Salafi movement. The basic ideas of Salafism — a return to the Koran and the sunnah and pure Islam — are propagated by Muhammadiyah as well.
However, Muhammadiyah differs from radical and fundamentalist Salafi movements.
According to Fathurahman Djamil, one of the methods adopted by Muhammadiyah is istislah (1995).
This method has enabled Muhammadiyah to be more progressive. The emergence of progressive Muhammadiyah scholars at the end of the 1990s was a direct result of this factor.
However, it is right that not all Muhammadiyah figures are progressive? Or that some are puritan and fundamentalist?
One of the factors leading Muhammadiyah figures to become puritan and fundamentalist is the concept of tajdid developed by Muhammadiyah.
Tajdid is defined by Muhammadiyah in two conceptions; purification and dynamization (Syamsul Anwar, 2005). The agenda of purification focuses on fighting against syncretism.
This agenda has been reflected in Muhammadiyah’s attempts to establish pure Islam, which is not infiltrated by local traditions. Islamic faith and ritual are domains that can be purified by Muhammadiyah.
The domain of dynamization is social life. The “modernist” label applied to Muhammadiyah was based on performance in this area.
Since its beginnings, Muhammadiyah developed innovative interpretations of certain verses, especially those relating to educational and social issues. The establishment of modern educational institutions and hospitals are some of the products of this creative interpretation.
Undeniably, later developments saw Muhammadiyah tending to be more puritan in its outlook, particularly following the penetration of Wahhabism in Indonesia. Many Muhammadiyah activists are interested in adopting Wahhabism. As a result of influence from Wahhabism, Muhammadiyah became more concerned with purification.
However, the dynamization movement in Muhammadiyah has not totally disappeared. Besides the increase in its puritan character, there have also been some progressive movements made by Muhammadiyah.
Many fatwas related to contemporary social problems were issued by the Majlis Tarjih of Muhammadiyah from the 1960s to the 1980s, especially related to economic and other public issues (Hooker, 2003:197-211). This indicates that to a certain extent Muhammadiyah has remained consistent in establishing tajdid in two dimensions.
In general, since the end of 1990s, Muhammadiyah has shown a more progressive nature than it had previously. The emergence and involvement of progressive scholars such as Amin Abdullah, Amien Rais, Munir Mulkhan, Syafii Maarif and Moeslim Abdurrahman on the board of the organization has colored the character of Muhammadiyah.
They have a tendency to respond contemporary social problems rather than ritual issues. It means that they have returned the Muhammadiyah movement to the early spirit of Muhammadiyah as developed by K.H. Ahmad Dahlan.
In 2000, the Majelis Tarjih released an exegesis concerning relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims (Syamsul Anwar, 2005: 38-39). Although the book is a product of Wacana Tarjih (a forum held by Majelis Tarjih Muhammadiyah to create innovative discourse to support Muhammadiyah in issuing fatwas) so that it does not bind the organization and its members, it has colored the nature and affected the religious mind set of Muhammadiyah.
During this time, the progressive Muhammadiyah scholars developed and combined the istislah method with hermeneutics. To some extent, istislah is similar to hermeneutics in that they both tend to interpret
and produce contextual meanings of a text.
The combination of istislah and hermeneutics enables these progressive scholars to reconstruct responsive interpretations concerning Islam and social problems.
This combining of istislah and hermeneutics was a characteristic of Amin Abdullah’s leadership of the Center Board of Majelis Tarjih. However, he was not the only member of the Majelis Tarjih to adopt this view; Muhammadiyah scholars such as Munir Mulkhan and Syamsul Anwar shared his approach.
In addition, other progressive Muhammadiyah scholars including Syafii Maarif, Moeslim Abdurrahman, Amien Rais and Hamim Ilyas also employed hermeneutic methods in interpreting Islamic doctrines, although they do not mention their tools explicitly. They are often called the liberal or progressive wing of Muhammadiyah.
Hermeneutics is one of the reasons why the rise of progressive Muhammadiyah scholars has attracted controversy, particularly from the conservative wing of Muhammadiyah. That is why most of these progressive scholars did not hold positions in Muhammadiyah under Syamsuddin’s previous term as leader (2005-2010), because the conservatives disliked their progressive thoughts. They assumed the progressive ideas produced by these scholars would contaminate Muhammadiyah.
For the conservative activists, the main objective of Muhammadiyah is to fight for the purification of Islam. Moreover, the conservatives prefer to fight for purification than social reform. Tajdid is defined by the conservative as purifying Islam from contamination.
It is clear that the concept of tajdid in Muhammadiyah could be performed ambiguously. The men behind Muhammadiyah have made significant contributions in determining whether to push for purification or dynamization. We hope the 46th Muktamar congress, held from July 3-8, 2010, in Yogyakarta served to provide plenty of inspiration to Muhammadiyah’s new board of leaders, and activists to critically evaluate its social reformation agenda.
The writer is a lecturer of Islamic Studies at UMJ and UHAMKA.
— JP
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/23/quo-vadis-‘tajdid’-muhammadiyah.html
Thursday, July 22, 2010
What can we hope from Muhammadiyah?
Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)
What can we hope from Muhammadiyah?
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 07/21/2010 4:49 PM | Opinion
Amika Wardana
Muhammadiyah has just finished its national congress and Prof. Din Syamsuddin has been reelected to chair the organization for the first five years of its second century.
Some have commented that the result was expected, which means there were no surprises in this historic moment.
Since it developed from modernist-reformist interpretations of Islam, Muhammadiyah has had much success in programs dedicated to educating and improving the welfare of people in this country.
More recently it has also served to provide moral support in Indonesia’s fight against corruption, and has acted as an umbrella for other civil society organizations to monitor state policies.
What is likely to happen, then, given that Muhammadiyah has become overloaded with the expectations, hopes, wishes and beliefs put on the shoulders of every leader and member of this organization.
It is thus a bit unfair to put pressure on Muhammadiyah, particularly its newly elected leaders, when most parts of this country are running in different directions.
There are many questions as to whether Muhammadiyah can change in a positive direction to become more active in working either to serve society as a whole or to act as a sparring partner for government.
If we look back at the establishment of Muhammadiyah, during the Dutch and Japanese colonial periods, it was likely an accommodative and pragmatic organization that tendentiously did cooperate with the rulers in order to survive and achieve its main aims.
This organizational style had continued when it dealt with the repressive Soeharto regime of the mid 1980s.
The eventual decision to accept Pancasila as the sole ideology of Indonesia was clearly made to keep the organization alive.
While some Muhammadiyah leaders seem very critical of government policies, the organization as a whole will follow them.
Thousands of schools, and hundreds of hospitals and orphanages all need a lot of funding that is expected to come from government, which means Muhammadiyah cannot act independently as a civil society organization.
The programmatic success shown by Muhammadiyah over the past few decades can be interpreted as a result of lucrative pseudo-political lobbying carried out by its leaders to gain more funding and support from government.
However, as was seen in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, Mu-hammadiyah’s political role has declined after the remarkable contributions it made during the reformation era.
It seems it is out of favor with the current regime, as was seen in decisions to give traditional government positions, including that of the education minister, to the figures outside Muhammadiyah.
In terms of keeping a distance from politics and being ready to articulate criticism of the government, Muhammadiyah’s new role seems to have been reluctantly embraced, but while some of its leaders and youths have begun to campaign independently there is a dependency of Muhammadiyah on the state.
Because of its size and internal and external complexities, what kinds of changes can we expect
from this Islamic reformist organization?
The institutionalization of Muhammadiyah from a modernist movement into a bureaucratic organization, which was somehow adopted from imitating state structures, has had a profound impact on its internal dynamics and flexibility to handle the current social problems.
The writer is Phd student in sociology at the University of Essex, and the secretary of the Muhammadiyah special branch in the UK.
— JP
Copyright © 2010 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/21/what-can-we-hope-muhammadiyah.html
What can we hope from Muhammadiyah?
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 07/21/2010 4:49 PM | Opinion
Amika Wardana
Muhammadiyah has just finished its national congress and Prof. Din Syamsuddin has been reelected to chair the organization for the first five years of its second century.
Some have commented that the result was expected, which means there were no surprises in this historic moment.
Since it developed from modernist-reformist interpretations of Islam, Muhammadiyah has had much success in programs dedicated to educating and improving the welfare of people in this country.
More recently it has also served to provide moral support in Indonesia’s fight against corruption, and has acted as an umbrella for other civil society organizations to monitor state policies.
What is likely to happen, then, given that Muhammadiyah has become overloaded with the expectations, hopes, wishes and beliefs put on the shoulders of every leader and member of this organization.
It is thus a bit unfair to put pressure on Muhammadiyah, particularly its newly elected leaders, when most parts of this country are running in different directions.
There are many questions as to whether Muhammadiyah can change in a positive direction to become more active in working either to serve society as a whole or to act as a sparring partner for government.
If we look back at the establishment of Muhammadiyah, during the Dutch and Japanese colonial periods, it was likely an accommodative and pragmatic organization that tendentiously did cooperate with the rulers in order to survive and achieve its main aims.
This organizational style had continued when it dealt with the repressive Soeharto regime of the mid 1980s.
The eventual decision to accept Pancasila as the sole ideology of Indonesia was clearly made to keep the organization alive.
While some Muhammadiyah leaders seem very critical of government policies, the organization as a whole will follow them.
Thousands of schools, and hundreds of hospitals and orphanages all need a lot of funding that is expected to come from government, which means Muhammadiyah cannot act independently as a civil society organization.
The programmatic success shown by Muhammadiyah over the past few decades can be interpreted as a result of lucrative pseudo-political lobbying carried out by its leaders to gain more funding and support from government.
However, as was seen in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, Mu-hammadiyah’s political role has declined after the remarkable contributions it made during the reformation era.
It seems it is out of favor with the current regime, as was seen in decisions to give traditional government positions, including that of the education minister, to the figures outside Muhammadiyah.
In terms of keeping a distance from politics and being ready to articulate criticism of the government, Muhammadiyah’s new role seems to have been reluctantly embraced, but while some of its leaders and youths have begun to campaign independently there is a dependency of Muhammadiyah on the state.
Because of its size and internal and external complexities, what kinds of changes can we expect
from this Islamic reformist organization?
The institutionalization of Muhammadiyah from a modernist movement into a bureaucratic organization, which was somehow adopted from imitating state structures, has had a profound impact on its internal dynamics and flexibility to handle the current social problems.
The writer is Phd student in sociology at the University of Essex, and the secretary of the Muhammadiyah special branch in the UK.
— JP
Copyright © 2010 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/21/what-can-we-hope-muhammadiyah.html
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Contesting the leadership of Muhammadiyah
Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)
Contesting the leadership of Muhammadiyah
The Jakarta Post | Tue, 07/20/2010 4:39 PM | Opinion
Ahmad Najib Burhani and Tuti Alawiyah
The 46th Congress of Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta wrapped up on July 8. One of several issues hotly discussed or dominantly appeared during the congress was leadership.
Several newspapers covered controversial issues such as the involvement of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono as one of 39 candidates for the executive board members of Muhammadiyah and the disharmony between its chairman, Din Syamsuddin, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Muchdi was not elected as one of 13 executive board members of Muhammadiyah for 2010-2015. And the conflict between Syamsuddin and Yudhoyono did not distract the former from being reelected as the head of the country’s largest Islamic organization.
Other leadership issues which occurred during, and continued since then are the colorless nature of the new leadership and the objection of women in Aisyiyah for not being involved or inserted in the new leadership of Muhammadiyah. Compared to the previous leaderships of Amien Rais, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, and the first term of Syamsuddin, the present leadership is dominated by scholars from Islamic higher education (State Islamic Universities or UIN/IAIN). Only two of 13, namely Bambang Sudibyo, former minister of national education, and Dahlan Rais, brother of Amien Rais, who are not scholars of Islam. No physician, engineer, lawyer, businessman, economist, and Non-Government Organization (NGO) activist in the leadership.
The absence of women on the executive board of Muhammadiyah has been an issue for several decades.
As a recurrent topic in every congress of Muhammadiyah, this problem has never been completely resolved or settled. In the 1960s and 1970s, women had formally been given the chance to be leader of Muhammadiyah. Under Maarif’s leadership, Muhammadiyah employed affirmative action by giving a special quota for women to be elected in the executive board. Unfortunately, this policy was annulled at the end of his leadership.
This article will focus on the role of women in Muhammadiyah and in its leadership. What is the main burden or difficulty that hinders the inclusion of women on the executive board of Muhammadiyah?
The establishment of Aisyiyah, the sister organization of Muhammadiyah, in 1917 was under a modernist paradigm. Different from fundamentalist paradigms that confine women to domestic and reproduction life, modernist Muslims empower women and allow them to actively participate in social activities.
The role of women in leadership roles in society (as doctors, lawyers or judges) and education (to pursue highest level of education and to play in the system of education) is essential. Modernist people rescue women from exclusion, but their social role is still segregated from men.
Under this paradigm, a question should be raised: what is the membership status of women in Muhammadiyah? Do they have full membership? Culturally, they are perfect members of Muhammadiyah. When this organization claims that the total number of its followers is such and such, women are certainly included in this calculation.
But when there is an issue of employing affirmative action by providing a special quota for women in the leadership of Muhammadiyah, the common rejection of this policy is that women already have their own organization, Aisyiyah, which needs devotion and if they want to run for leadership in Muhammadiyah, they have to follow normal process of election. There is another way to increase the possibility of being elected to the leadership of Muhammadiyah, namely by merging Aisyiyah to Muhammadiyah.
Leadership of Muhammadiyah is constitutionally open to both male and female. However, since the number of female representatives who have the right to vote is very limited, women find it almost impossible to be elected. And since there is segregation of activities between male and female, the chance of women being elected as leaders of Muhammadiyah’s regional branches, thereby becoming representatives in the congress is also limited.
Therefore, although theoretically woman could be elected as the president of Muhammadiyah, culturally there is no such opportunity. This is the reason why some people believe that without affirmative action, woman would never become executive board of Muhammadiyah, or at least they have to wait 100 years.
Affirmative action is deemed to be able to resolve social, cultural and practical hurdles that face women’s involvement in Muhammadiyah leadership. When conditions to gain equal participation cannot be achieved, especially in an organization as old and as large as Muhammadiyah, certain circumstances that promote women’s participation might be the answer.
This action would also speed up social change in regard to women’s equal involvement in this organization. If the cultural and natural process is so difficult to be achieved, as shown in women’s leadership in Muhammadiyah almost in every level, the central executive board of Muhammadiyah can provide a model to embrace women’s groups in its leadership. This action, hopefully, can penetrate the changes to other lower levels of Muhammadiyah.
The next question is why should women become involved in Muhammadiyah leadership? Since the members of Muhammadiyah are both male and female, it is not fair to “culturally” exclude women from participating in decision making and executing programs. This is about equal rights and participation.
Women’s engagement on the executive board of Muhammadiyah might promote a more dynamic leadership and give leverage not only to other women but also to men, young, adult, and older adult by providing different perspectives to solve several important issues from social, economic, educational, to political problems.
With the involvement of woman in Muhammadiyah leadership, unequal participation and the strict division between male and female would be dissolved without necessarily merging Aisyiyah with Muhammadiyah.
Ahmad Najib Burhani and Tuti Alawiyah are PhD students at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Texas, Austin.
— JP
Copyright © 2010 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/20/contesting-leadership-muhammadiyah.html
Contesting the leadership of Muhammadiyah
The Jakarta Post | Tue, 07/20/2010 4:39 PM | Opinion
Ahmad Najib Burhani and Tuti Alawiyah
The 46th Congress of Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta wrapped up on July 8. One of several issues hotly discussed or dominantly appeared during the congress was leadership.
Several newspapers covered controversial issues such as the involvement of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono as one of 39 candidates for the executive board members of Muhammadiyah and the disharmony between its chairman, Din Syamsuddin, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Muchdi was not elected as one of 13 executive board members of Muhammadiyah for 2010-2015. And the conflict between Syamsuddin and Yudhoyono did not distract the former from being reelected as the head of the country’s largest Islamic organization.
Other leadership issues which occurred during, and continued since then are the colorless nature of the new leadership and the objection of women in Aisyiyah for not being involved or inserted in the new leadership of Muhammadiyah. Compared to the previous leaderships of Amien Rais, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, and the first term of Syamsuddin, the present leadership is dominated by scholars from Islamic higher education (State Islamic Universities or UIN/IAIN). Only two of 13, namely Bambang Sudibyo, former minister of national education, and Dahlan Rais, brother of Amien Rais, who are not scholars of Islam. No physician, engineer, lawyer, businessman, economist, and Non-Government Organization (NGO) activist in the leadership.
The absence of women on the executive board of Muhammadiyah has been an issue for several decades.
As a recurrent topic in every congress of Muhammadiyah, this problem has never been completely resolved or settled. In the 1960s and 1970s, women had formally been given the chance to be leader of Muhammadiyah. Under Maarif’s leadership, Muhammadiyah employed affirmative action by giving a special quota for women to be elected in the executive board. Unfortunately, this policy was annulled at the end of his leadership.
This article will focus on the role of women in Muhammadiyah and in its leadership. What is the main burden or difficulty that hinders the inclusion of women on the executive board of Muhammadiyah?
The establishment of Aisyiyah, the sister organization of Muhammadiyah, in 1917 was under a modernist paradigm. Different from fundamentalist paradigms that confine women to domestic and reproduction life, modernist Muslims empower women and allow them to actively participate in social activities.
The role of women in leadership roles in society (as doctors, lawyers or judges) and education (to pursue highest level of education and to play in the system of education) is essential. Modernist people rescue women from exclusion, but their social role is still segregated from men.
Under this paradigm, a question should be raised: what is the membership status of women in Muhammadiyah? Do they have full membership? Culturally, they are perfect members of Muhammadiyah. When this organization claims that the total number of its followers is such and such, women are certainly included in this calculation.
But when there is an issue of employing affirmative action by providing a special quota for women in the leadership of Muhammadiyah, the common rejection of this policy is that women already have their own organization, Aisyiyah, which needs devotion and if they want to run for leadership in Muhammadiyah, they have to follow normal process of election. There is another way to increase the possibility of being elected to the leadership of Muhammadiyah, namely by merging Aisyiyah to Muhammadiyah.
Leadership of Muhammadiyah is constitutionally open to both male and female. However, since the number of female representatives who have the right to vote is very limited, women find it almost impossible to be elected. And since there is segregation of activities between male and female, the chance of women being elected as leaders of Muhammadiyah’s regional branches, thereby becoming representatives in the congress is also limited.
Therefore, although theoretically woman could be elected as the president of Muhammadiyah, culturally there is no such opportunity. This is the reason why some people believe that without affirmative action, woman would never become executive board of Muhammadiyah, or at least they have to wait 100 years.
Affirmative action is deemed to be able to resolve social, cultural and practical hurdles that face women’s involvement in Muhammadiyah leadership. When conditions to gain equal participation cannot be achieved, especially in an organization as old and as large as Muhammadiyah, certain circumstances that promote women’s participation might be the answer.
This action would also speed up social change in regard to women’s equal involvement in this organization. If the cultural and natural process is so difficult to be achieved, as shown in women’s leadership in Muhammadiyah almost in every level, the central executive board of Muhammadiyah can provide a model to embrace women’s groups in its leadership. This action, hopefully, can penetrate the changes to other lower levels of Muhammadiyah.
The next question is why should women become involved in Muhammadiyah leadership? Since the members of Muhammadiyah are both male and female, it is not fair to “culturally” exclude women from participating in decision making and executing programs. This is about equal rights and participation.
Women’s engagement on the executive board of Muhammadiyah might promote a more dynamic leadership and give leverage not only to other women but also to men, young, adult, and older adult by providing different perspectives to solve several important issues from social, economic, educational, to political problems.
With the involvement of woman in Muhammadiyah leadership, unequal participation and the strict division between male and female would be dissolved without necessarily merging Aisyiyah with Muhammadiyah.
Ahmad Najib Burhani and Tuti Alawiyah are PhD students at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Texas, Austin.
— JP
Copyright © 2010 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/20/contesting-leadership-muhammadiyah.html
Monday, July 19, 2010
The calming, tolerant voice of Muhammadiyah
Johan Jaaffar
New Straits Times, 2010/07/10
LAST week, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah celebrated its 100th year of existence, using the Hijrah calendar. The second biggest Muslim organisation in the largest Muslim nation was established in 1912 in Jogjakarta. It claims to have 29 million members, second only to Nahdatul Ulama. But Muhammadiyah has impacted upon the religious, social and political lives of Indonesians in various ways over the past 10 decades.
In turbulent times like these, not only Indonesia but the Muslim world also needs a Muhammadiyah. It is a calming voice amidst the call for militancy, a moderating force in the civilisational clash between Islam and the West, and the acceptable face of tolerant Islam.
According to renowned Indonesian scholar Dr Azyumardi Azra, Muhammadiyah is built on two principles: a religious ormas (organisasi massa or mass movement) that is rooted in religion as a vehicle to achieve a civil society, and the principle of wasyatiyyah (the middle path).
For that, it has gained many friends and admirers. It is not an easy route when the Muslim world is engulfed in anger and despair. Despair among Muslims is an understatement in Indonesia. There are simply too many issues bedeviling them. Poverty is one and economic representation is another. But more importantly is the feeling of helplessness among Muslims as they watch their brethren being invaded, attacked and marginalised in other parts of the world.
Indonesia could easily be a breeding ground for radicalism had organisations like Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama played to the gallery. Luckily for Indonesia, the two largest Muslim groups are never in support of militancy and violence. In fact, they condemn terrorism in whatever form. Sadly, this fact is lost in translation when Western observers discuss religious groupings in the Muslim world. The wasyatiyyah principle is never adequately explained. Most would lump Muslim movements under one category -- that they are all hotbeds for Islamic fundamentalism.
Education has always been the core of Muhammadiyah activism. In fact, when K.H. Ahmad Dhalan founded the movement, he cared more about the education of pribumi (indigenous people) than anything else. Ahmad Dhalan (born in 1868) was an Islamic scholar trained in Saudi Arabia. It was in the Middle East that he was exposed to the ideas of "reformist" Muslims like Muhammad Abduh, Jamaluddin al Afghani and Muhammad Rashid Ridha. These thinkers bucked the trend, questioning the age-old wisdom of conservative ulama. Their thinking spread like wildfire in the Muslim world, igniting new discourses among the young and pitting the reformists against the traditionalists.
In Malaya, the "Kaum Muda" (Young Turks) in the form of Syed Sheikh Ahmad Al Hadi and gang came out with a powerful publication called Al Imam to steer Muslims to advancement and modernity and to discard the mindsets of the old. They believed in ijtihad rather than taqliq, which meant they were audacious enough to accept new interpretation of the Quran and Hadith rather than that by conservative ulama.
In Indonesia, when Ahmad Dhalan came back in 1888, he realised the only way to unshackle his people from the yoke of poverty and illiteracy was to build schools for them. He built the first one, Sekolah Ibtidaiyah Diniyah Islamiah, in 1911 even before he started Muhammadiyah. He built five more schools between 1913 and 1918. In 1919, the first secondary school, Hodge School Muhammadiyyah, was built. They were proper schools modelled after the Dutch schools, but with a different curriculum. In those days, only children of the ningrat (nobility) were admitted to Dutch-sponsored schools.
Muhammadiyah was given the green light as a formal organisation in 1914. Even then, it was only allowed to be active in Jogjakarta. That did not deter Ahmad Dhalan from including the empowerment of women, health- care and poverty eradication in the organisation's activities. In fact, Ahmad Dhalan started Aisyiyah, the women's wing, in 1917.
It was his stand to change the mindset of Muslims that warrants attention. For far too long Muslims were influenced by local customs and beliefs, some of which were in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. He urged his followers to discard khurafat (superstition) and syirik (idolatry) practices. In line with the logo of a glorious shining sun, Ahmad Dhalan wanted the organisation to be the pencerah (the light) of fellow Muslims. He believed in deeds, for Islam is about good deeds and exemplary followers.
According to him, "the teaching of Islam is to be humanised, to be done with respect and propriety, and should be able to address genuine universal and local issues".
It is interesting that Muslims in Indonesia allowed the emergence of madrasah and pesantren (traditional village-based schools) run by various charitable organisations and individuals, and these outfits survived alongside more organised institutions run by Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama.
In fact, the demarcation can be misleading sometimes. True, some of these religious schools propagate a more militant view of Islam but as a whole, they, too, take the wasyatiyyah path. Perception that these schools are like the madrasah in Pakistan and Afghanistan is far from the truth.
At the time of the demise of Ahmad Dhalan, Muhammadiyah had 4,000 members. By 1938, the organisation claimed to have 250,000 members, managed 834 mosques, 31 libraries and 1,774 schools. Today, Muhammadiyah is managing 12,000 schools and 167 institutions of higher learning. It has 345 hospitals and clinics and a bank, Bank Pengkreditan Rakyat.
Muhammadiyah certainly has come a long way. One thing is certain, Muhammadiyah stays clear of politics. True, its leaders did get involved in political activism as Muhammadiyah members played a critical role in ridding Indonesians of the influence of "Gestapu PKI", the movement led by Parti Komunis Indonesia in the mid-1960s.
As an ormas, it does not endorse any political party. When its leader, Amien Rais, founded Parti Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party) and was one of the key critics of the Suharto regime, the organisation he led did not officially get involved. In fact, it was an unwritten agreement within the hierarchy that members "are free to join any political party" .
It is interesting to see how the latest muktamar or gathering (the 46th) will shape the new thinking in Muhammadiyah and how it addresses the issue of more assertive members. But at least by going back to where it was born, members will be reminded of the original spirit of the organisation as envisioned by Ahmad Dhalan.
Write to the Editor for editorial enquiry or Sales Department for sales and advertising enquiry.
Copyright © 2010 NST Online. All rights reserved.
Retrieved from: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/21muha/Article/
New Straits Times, 2010/07/10
LAST week, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah celebrated its 100th year of existence, using the Hijrah calendar. The second biggest Muslim organisation in the largest Muslim nation was established in 1912 in Jogjakarta. It claims to have 29 million members, second only to Nahdatul Ulama. But Muhammadiyah has impacted upon the religious, social and political lives of Indonesians in various ways over the past 10 decades.
In turbulent times like these, not only Indonesia but the Muslim world also needs a Muhammadiyah. It is a calming voice amidst the call for militancy, a moderating force in the civilisational clash between Islam and the West, and the acceptable face of tolerant Islam.
According to renowned Indonesian scholar Dr Azyumardi Azra, Muhammadiyah is built on two principles: a religious ormas (organisasi massa or mass movement) that is rooted in religion as a vehicle to achieve a civil society, and the principle of wasyatiyyah (the middle path).
For that, it has gained many friends and admirers. It is not an easy route when the Muslim world is engulfed in anger and despair. Despair among Muslims is an understatement in Indonesia. There are simply too many issues bedeviling them. Poverty is one and economic representation is another. But more importantly is the feeling of helplessness among Muslims as they watch their brethren being invaded, attacked and marginalised in other parts of the world.
Indonesia could easily be a breeding ground for radicalism had organisations like Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama played to the gallery. Luckily for Indonesia, the two largest Muslim groups are never in support of militancy and violence. In fact, they condemn terrorism in whatever form. Sadly, this fact is lost in translation when Western observers discuss religious groupings in the Muslim world. The wasyatiyyah principle is never adequately explained. Most would lump Muslim movements under one category -- that they are all hotbeds for Islamic fundamentalism.
Education has always been the core of Muhammadiyah activism. In fact, when K.H. Ahmad Dhalan founded the movement, he cared more about the education of pribumi (indigenous people) than anything else. Ahmad Dhalan (born in 1868) was an Islamic scholar trained in Saudi Arabia. It was in the Middle East that he was exposed to the ideas of "reformist" Muslims like Muhammad Abduh, Jamaluddin al Afghani and Muhammad Rashid Ridha. These thinkers bucked the trend, questioning the age-old wisdom of conservative ulama. Their thinking spread like wildfire in the Muslim world, igniting new discourses among the young and pitting the reformists against the traditionalists.
In Malaya, the "Kaum Muda" (Young Turks) in the form of Syed Sheikh Ahmad Al Hadi and gang came out with a powerful publication called Al Imam to steer Muslims to advancement and modernity and to discard the mindsets of the old. They believed in ijtihad rather than taqliq, which meant they were audacious enough to accept new interpretation of the Quran and Hadith rather than that by conservative ulama.
In Indonesia, when Ahmad Dhalan came back in 1888, he realised the only way to unshackle his people from the yoke of poverty and illiteracy was to build schools for them. He built the first one, Sekolah Ibtidaiyah Diniyah Islamiah, in 1911 even before he started Muhammadiyah. He built five more schools between 1913 and 1918. In 1919, the first secondary school, Hodge School Muhammadiyyah, was built. They were proper schools modelled after the Dutch schools, but with a different curriculum. In those days, only children of the ningrat (nobility) were admitted to Dutch-sponsored schools.
Muhammadiyah was given the green light as a formal organisation in 1914. Even then, it was only allowed to be active in Jogjakarta. That did not deter Ahmad Dhalan from including the empowerment of women, health- care and poverty eradication in the organisation's activities. In fact, Ahmad Dhalan started Aisyiyah, the women's wing, in 1917.
It was his stand to change the mindset of Muslims that warrants attention. For far too long Muslims were influenced by local customs and beliefs, some of which were in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. He urged his followers to discard khurafat (superstition) and syirik (idolatry) practices. In line with the logo of a glorious shining sun, Ahmad Dhalan wanted the organisation to be the pencerah (the light) of fellow Muslims. He believed in deeds, for Islam is about good deeds and exemplary followers.
According to him, "the teaching of Islam is to be humanised, to be done with respect and propriety, and should be able to address genuine universal and local issues".
It is interesting that Muslims in Indonesia allowed the emergence of madrasah and pesantren (traditional village-based schools) run by various charitable organisations and individuals, and these outfits survived alongside more organised institutions run by Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama.
In fact, the demarcation can be misleading sometimes. True, some of these religious schools propagate a more militant view of Islam but as a whole, they, too, take the wasyatiyyah path. Perception that these schools are like the madrasah in Pakistan and Afghanistan is far from the truth.
At the time of the demise of Ahmad Dhalan, Muhammadiyah had 4,000 members. By 1938, the organisation claimed to have 250,000 members, managed 834 mosques, 31 libraries and 1,774 schools. Today, Muhammadiyah is managing 12,000 schools and 167 institutions of higher learning. It has 345 hospitals and clinics and a bank, Bank Pengkreditan Rakyat.
Muhammadiyah certainly has come a long way. One thing is certain, Muhammadiyah stays clear of politics. True, its leaders did get involved in political activism as Muhammadiyah members played a critical role in ridding Indonesians of the influence of "Gestapu PKI", the movement led by Parti Komunis Indonesia in the mid-1960s.
As an ormas, it does not endorse any political party. When its leader, Amien Rais, founded Parti Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party) and was one of the key critics of the Suharto regime, the organisation he led did not officially get involved. In fact, it was an unwritten agreement within the hierarchy that members "are free to join any political party" .
It is interesting to see how the latest muktamar or gathering (the 46th) will shape the new thinking in Muhammadiyah and how it addresses the issue of more assertive members. But at least by going back to where it was born, members will be reminded of the original spirit of the organisation as envisioned by Ahmad Dhalan.
Write to the Editor for editorial enquiry or Sales Department for sales and advertising enquiry.
Copyright © 2010 NST Online. All rights reserved.
Retrieved from: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/21muha/Article/
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Muhammadiyah set to enter era of mobilization, excellence
Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)
Guest Speaker: Muhammadiyah set to enter era of mobilization, excellence
The Jakarta Post | Mon, 07/19/2010 4:33 PM |
Sri Wahyuni
Indonesia’s largest modernist Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, concluded its centennial congress last week. To learn more about what the organization has planned for its second century, The Jakarta Post’s Sri Wahyuni spoke with Din Syamsuddin who was reelected as its chairman for the 2010-2015 term in office. The following are excerpts from the interview.
Question: Where will you take Muhammadiyah in the next five years?
Answer: As was agreed on by the congress, the five-year programs aim toward the realization of the 2015 strategic vision, which (focuses on) mobilization and the improvement of the quality and excellence of the organization.
Our task as leaders is to run the programs with the spirit and values mandated by the congress.
There has been demand to include women in the central board (PP). What your comment?
There is no standard ruling regarding the issue. If we decide to add more members to the PP, our orientation would be based more on the needs of the leadership body, and what its 13 elected members lack. We will definitely pick the best from the Muhammadiyah cadres, regardless of their gender. (Our selections) are based more on reasons.
What will be the main focus of programs for this period?
The fields of activities, the core businesses, will basically remain the same as they were previously, with enlightenment as the central theme. Muhammadiyah is a movement of enlightenment aiming to help create a well-educated nation.
However, having mobilization as its strategic vision, we are required to be able to crystallize the impacts of different fields of activities.
We are required to be able to move the activities from the bottom. That is why there is also a recommendation for there to be a Muhammadiyah university in each province.
There is also a recommendation to build Muhammadiyah Islamic boarding schools in each regency or municipality, to serve as breeding grounds for new cadres.
How would you position Muhammadiyah in the political world?
Our (platform) must not have a structural, organizational relationship with any of the political parties, so that no political party is Muhammadiyah and there is no political party within Muhammadiyah. We maintain the same distance with (all) political parties. Of course when we have many cadres in a political party, it will influence our closeness. But this is more because of friendship.
My concern is that many Muhammadiyah members may not realize we have our Denpasar platform (2002), which mandates that we intensify our role in nation building. This is what we call (politics for the sake of the nation). It requires us do something if there is something going wrong in our country. This is what makes us different. It’s not enough to run an anticorruption campaign by just talking. We need to do more.
Of course the challenges are different from one period to the next. During my previous term in office we faced a situation that previous (Muhammadiyah) chairmen had not faced.
— JP
Copyright © 2010 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/19/guest-speaker-muhammadiyah-set-enter-era-mobilization-excellence.html
Guest Speaker: Muhammadiyah set to enter era of mobilization, excellence
The Jakarta Post | Mon, 07/19/2010 4:33 PM |
Sri Wahyuni
Indonesia’s largest modernist Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, concluded its centennial congress last week. To learn more about what the organization has planned for its second century, The Jakarta Post’s Sri Wahyuni spoke with Din Syamsuddin who was reelected as its chairman for the 2010-2015 term in office. The following are excerpts from the interview.
Question: Where will you take Muhammadiyah in the next five years?
Answer: As was agreed on by the congress, the five-year programs aim toward the realization of the 2015 strategic vision, which (focuses on) mobilization and the improvement of the quality and excellence of the organization.
Our task as leaders is to run the programs with the spirit and values mandated by the congress.
There has been demand to include women in the central board (PP). What your comment?
There is no standard ruling regarding the issue. If we decide to add more members to the PP, our orientation would be based more on the needs of the leadership body, and what its 13 elected members lack. We will definitely pick the best from the Muhammadiyah cadres, regardless of their gender. (Our selections) are based more on reasons.
What will be the main focus of programs for this period?
The fields of activities, the core businesses, will basically remain the same as they were previously, with enlightenment as the central theme. Muhammadiyah is a movement of enlightenment aiming to help create a well-educated nation.
However, having mobilization as its strategic vision, we are required to be able to crystallize the impacts of different fields of activities.
We are required to be able to move the activities from the bottom. That is why there is also a recommendation for there to be a Muhammadiyah university in each province.
There is also a recommendation to build Muhammadiyah Islamic boarding schools in each regency or municipality, to serve as breeding grounds for new cadres.
How would you position Muhammadiyah in the political world?
Our (platform) must not have a structural, organizational relationship with any of the political parties, so that no political party is Muhammadiyah and there is no political party within Muhammadiyah. We maintain the same distance with (all) political parties. Of course when we have many cadres in a political party, it will influence our closeness. But this is more because of friendship.
My concern is that many Muhammadiyah members may not realize we have our Denpasar platform (2002), which mandates that we intensify our role in nation building. This is what we call (politics for the sake of the nation). It requires us do something if there is something going wrong in our country. This is what makes us different. It’s not enough to run an anticorruption campaign by just talking. We need to do more.
Of course the challenges are different from one period to the next. During my previous term in office we faced a situation that previous (Muhammadiyah) chairmen had not faced.
— JP
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