World for Peace

From Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace: Has President Obama heard about Mohammad Othman?
October 2, 2009

Jewish Voice for Peace has launched an online campaign to pressure President Obama to pressure Israel to free Mohammad. Here is the text of the email:

Read more »

Our prayer

Ya Allah, how weak is our hearts. Show us the truth as truth and then we could follow it . Ya Allah, show us falsehood as falsehood and then we could stay away.

Photo Gallery

THE WISDOM OF INDONESIAN ISLAM

This image criticizes the legislative candidates who nowadays are busy campaigning generally just only for their narrow and pragmatic interests. The image is so good since it has done the critique wisely, subtly, but still very sharp. It represents Indonesian Islam, picturing wise pesantren Islam, but critical one. Indonesian Islam is contextual Islam where noble values of Islam contextualized to the real history. In the photo, such wisdom looks strongly. For example, kopiah, genuine Indonesian cap lies peacefully with the mobile originated from the West.

The photo is from M. Faizi email in which he allowed it to be published

Photo Gallery

COMMON PREJUDICE

It is very common for some little groups of Muslims to accuse simply people who cooperate with Westerners especially the American though for promoting humanitarianism, peace, intellectualism, and such, as a zionist or the US agent. On the contrary, they often assume someone laden with symbols of Islam as a pious and good Muslim; despite amount of his/her deeds are amoral.

Note
The 1-st picture is personal collection and the other is downloaded from indonesian daily Jawa Pos , on April 1, 2009

Letters

Here another letter from a Jewish Student. I think the letter very important for us to know the Israelis holistically



Dear Abd A'la,

I am Sahar Vardi. I am 18 years old, a senior in high school in Israel. As you probably know, all Israelis must serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, starting right after our last year of high school. I and dozens of other students, on examining our values, International Law, and what we believe is best for Israel, refused to serve in the Occupied Territories and be a part of a mechanism that suppresses millions of Palestinians.

Read more »

Photo Gallery

INDONESIAN DEMOCRACY (?)

Campaign for the 2009 Indonesian legislative general election has been in progress. The big question behind it, would this election bring changes for improvement of the people's fate? The historical record has been showing the most of representatives with their very big salary always sleep very well during their meeting. They manipulate democracy for their pragmatic interests. This phenomenon diametrically opposite the democracy and religion values.

(The picture was downloaded from Zamiel al-Muttaqin's email on March 20, 2009)

Letters

Dear All,
Due to many works I have to deal with at Graduate Studies of IAIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, I must apologize to all of you. I cannot update my blog for the time being. Thanks a lot for your attention

Letters

SPREADING THE PEACE

Below is another letter from Jewish Voice for Peace. Please join in it to spread peace.
This is the letter:

Sign the Open Letter.
Tell Obama and Mitchell they must to talk with everybody.

(You can also download posters of these images.)
Dear Abd A'la,
A long-standing conflict divided people according to their religion and nationality, causing enormous pain and claiming many civilian lives. The US sent an envoy with a strong conviction…
"a conviction that there is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings."
Sen. George Mitchell needed patience and determination to help broker an agreement in Northern Ireland. And he did.

Read more »

Photo Gallery

THE DEMORALIZING CONTEMPORARY LIFE
While some people waste money to give their passion free rein, the poor people are still very difficult just to survive. These pictures represent mostly the condition. The question, then, what have the believers done to solve the problem?. Ironically, some of them, even, have been engaged in worsening the condition.

The pictures were downloaded from Indonesian daily, Jawa Pos, published on February 14, 2009

Opinion

TERRORISM, GLOBALIZATION, AND MORAL VALUES
Abd A‘la

Terrorism and other similar actions have been bringing our world and life into chaos and disorder. The number of innocent victims has been innumerable. Even though, this inhuman action is still very possible to happen again in the future. The perpetrators of this barbaric action seem to continue their deadly actions.

To overcome this savage violence of terrorism, so far we have been trapped in reactive actions. Like someone distraught, we have appeared to act foolhardy against it. We were not able to offer a systematic wise critical solution other than mere declaring war against those terrorizing actions. At the same time, we tended to ignore the root of the problem. As long as our action spins around that, the terrorism, barbarism and the like will never disappear from our life.

Globalization

Though it can be debatable, one of the roots of spreading of terrorism and barbaric action in our contemporary world interacts to the contemporary unjust world order. At the global level, a few rich countries in the North not only have dominated source of natural wealth of the poorest countries in the South, but also the lives of their communities. Not enough with that, they to a certain degree also have lived in hypocrisy as well.

This domination has become stronger in this globalization era, from when the some developed countries in the Western World –as Sindhunata expressed (Basis 01-02, 2003) –, expanded their view of life that undermines those who are weak.

Such globalization has made many communities in the Third World more marginalized and powerless. As a result, they were frustrated to face the future. They felt defeated and inferior not only to the West, but also to the life itself.

In such conditions, they tried to find refuge, which in their view could provide a strong spirit to fight against the threat. On this side, they found religious symbols, which they freed from its moral values and universal meaning. They exploited the symbols to justify merely their frustration and to develop an ideology against the West from which they were of opinion that life is not more than a fight of power. Ironically, the power they owned is only to do violence and terrorism, or to spread outrage.

The impact then is the world becomes the massacre, both allegorically which the some western country have done, and literally developed by the terrorists.

Strengthening Moral Values

On the concept level, no any religion that teaches violence, especially in the form of terrorizing murder. Accurate research on the background of terrorism and alike spreading at this time finds that the violence action is no basic theological preferences. The religion was made only as justification to support their brutal actions.

They performed their actions was more triggered by conditions not conducive for the life such as poverty, inequality and the like that from time to time have become widen. This issues –not the religion issue –we need to discuss seriously. Therefore, we have to develop humane dialogue and a policy paying fully attention on the fate of majority of the oppressed people and the general public interests.

It does not mean that inter-religious dialogue is not important. We must deal with this dialogue, but it must be directed to anchor values of universal morality in public areas. In line with that, we need to develop the dialogue of civilization emphasizing on landing the values of civility and working out of a new world order being able to achieve social equality and solidarity amongst world communities.

To reach this agenda, we need to eliminate the greed and hubris that still shackle most of our attitude and behaviors. We must be ready to share with most people at the grassroots who truly marginalized from various aspects –education, economic and political ones. Indifference to their situation is not impossible to become a boomerang taking birth for perpetual terrorism©.

Opinion

THE JUSTICE THEOLOGY FOR THE VIOLENCE-VICTIMIZED WOMEN

Abd A'la

The law enforcement in Indonesia, especially for the violence-victimized women, has not been able to grant the true sense of justice. Slowness, even neglected of settlement of violence and mass rape in May 1998 is a concrete example of legal barrenness to bring justice into the community life.
The phenomenon has occurred since so far the enforcement of justice seemed to run strongly in the form of procedural justice emphasizing only on regularity and implementation of formal legal. In line with that, the substantive justice as source of procedural justice are still in partial concept not reach completely the ideas and the reality that should be intrinsic part of the justice enforcement.
In such conditions, the development and application of justice are less able to complete the problems faced by people or groups, which experienced injustice. Even it often happens, on behalf of the justice, those people or the group was more distant from the actual reach of justice. Voices of the victims as the subject who need very much the justice nearly ignored at all. This reality makes the enforcement of justice have ambivalent face peeled off from the essential values of justice, and sometimes it thrust justice itself.
Theology of Justice
To eliminate the weaknesses, it requires reconstruction of justice lied on the basics of ethical-morale principal. The moral ethics to develop is transformative morality based on the universal and perennial values from which the people have to contextualize into real human beings experience.
In Indonesian context, where religion plays an important role in the formation of people attitudes and behavior, its substantive values and teachings should be constructed as one of main basis of such justice. The Indonesian people need to lay the theological values of justice as framework for the oppression and victimization, which the people experienced. This theological justice should be in strong relationship with the other noble religious values, such as truth, sincerity, and honesty so they could achieve a holistic comprehension of the justice from various sides.
By the formulation of the justice from perspective of the victims, the victims who actually need justice would become the focus of all enforcement process. At the same time, it could touch the sense of justice and support totally the violence-victimized women.
This justice theology endows all of the nation elements with strong responsibility to completion of May-1998 mass rape and the other violence cases, holistically. For achievement of it, they –in part –will encourage the State –e. i. the Government –continuously to open the true truth, which still closed so tightly so far.
From time to time, they would urge the government to listen to the voices of those violence-victimized women who most of them currently are in the silence. They will “force” the government to be patient to get all of the voices, without prejudice, preconception, and so forth. Hence, the government would see the truth as the truth in spite of the government and the other institutions (few or many) soiled with stains.
Through anchoring the justice theology from the victim perspective, and the government's firm attitude toward justice enforcement, the victims will be able to enjoy a sense of actual justice.
Then, in the name of justice, all of the nation components altogether should build a better Indonesia now and the future©.

Opinion

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SUBSTANTIVE DEMOCRACY

AGAINST ABUSE OF POWER

Abd A‘la

Abuse of power is one of dominant phenomena that we stumble on almost everywhere in Indonesia nowadays. For instance, some leaders of political parties make the party as a just media to bring about their ambition and to strengthen their very subjective interests. Likewise are the party activists who become member of the legislative. Similarly, a number of head of provincial regions and districts imagine their powers as their own they use to secure their ambitions and interests. In the same way, those who have positions in various state institutions appear stuck in a tug to take advantage from the position they held.

The “end” of those is the pervasiveness of corruption and other dirty practices. It is almost no more institutions free of that evil practices that actually will destroy the people and this country. Even the institution managing issues related to religious affairs is almost alike.

Ironically, the public appears to let the dirty practices happen. Even many of them join in those acts by taking a short cut every time they deal with the bureaucracy. In their simple reasons, instead to get through winding roads, they choose to cut the line. For without doing so, they involved in a complicated business.

All of that show the morality degradation in the life of the nation. Noble values such honesty, responsibility, and the alike begin to disappear and place with boosting of ambition, greed, and pragmatic attitudes.

Hypocrisy

In this situation, the phenomenon of life, especially in public spaces, was full of ambivalence. Communities, especially their elites, have turned the reality upside down from which the appearance on the surface does not represent the fact. Crime has been seen as kindness, and vice versa.

Thus, it has nearly became a very normal scene when we saw someone who looked a day-to-day as a figure always preached about the importance of moral, suddenly did practices in contrast with the discourses he/she spoke out. Similarly, a formal leader appeared very devoted because he/she run diligently religious rituals in public areas suddenly engaged in mega-corruption.

In accordance with that situation, the other elites handling the problem accomplished their duty in concealment. Even in a wider level, the public institutions run a system tending to that concealment in directing all of the public affairs. They did transparency only in so formalistic and purely administrative manner. They did not lied responsibility based on morality and the substance of its meaning as a form of maintenance and development of trust from the people and the community. Thus, the action appeared to be much different with the actual goal, so that the cases are rarely can be completed in its true sense.

Responding to those practices, some people appeared half-hearted resistance. They seemed not to be so sensitive to the hazard of this moral deprivation. The resistance movements against the practice was often only in a glance, sporadic, and more artificial demonstrative one not attaching on the responsible moral commitment.

It may occur, in part, because they were going to take narrow and pragmatic benefits, both from the distorted practices or from their actions did.

To a certain degree, it showed that hypocrisy have been infecting some of people’s and the powering-elites’ attitudes and behaviors. Since there is great gap between the phenomenon and the factual reality, which in turn it will spoil not only the perpetrators, but also the state and the people as a whole.

Substantive Democracy

The explanation above highlights that the resistance movement against the abuse of power must be actually accompanied with the development of a holistic system emphasizing on openness in all public institutions both the governmental and the other ones, including NGOs and community itself. Thus, the people could access and know the performance of each exactly and accurately. Besides, one to another could carry out mutual supervision.

Along with that policy, the law should be stand on the values of justice so that it can reach all of the people and all institutions, and could treat all of them equally. In this context, the law enforcement agencies are required to develop a system that truly can touch the sense of justice, in which is no room to provide an opportunity for anyone to distort the law towards something in contrast with the values of substantive justice that principally is the right for every one. At the same time, anyone who violates the law, he/she should get reward according to the values of justice, without an expense of others who are not guilty.

At this point, it lays the actual urgency for the state to develop a substantive democracy, which is not simply glued on the formal democratic procedures and symbols.

Since the core of democracy is the people, justice, equality, and alike, the public areas absolutely belongs to their own which they must manage openly and fairly. In this framework, transparency becomes one of the cores of democracy as well. Because without transparency the public space as their own from which they are responsible to maintain will only become pseudo-available.

Consecutively, the transparency requests honesty, responsibility, fairness, and ethical-moral alike from all of nation elements, including from the communities themselves. Without all of these values, the people will be the object of certain people and groups interests; and at the same time, the public will never be mature and wise. Crimes that harm the country and people will continue to be in progress.

Moreover, transparency will put whom known for her/his integrity into a perpetual strivings to maintain consistently her/his ethical-moral. For every time, there is an opportunity to depart, the public will know and take control as early as possible. Therefore anchoring values of substantive democracy will make the noble morality become system not only for personal, but also for institutional.

That is the agenda we need to develop seriously and to implant into reality of the nation life from now on©.

Opinion

INDONESIA AND MULTICULTURALISM

Abd A ‘la

In the context of Indonesia, plurality is one side of the same coin called Indonesia. The other is the life itself. Since it would not be able to imagine Indonesia without plurality. Plurality of the races, ethnicities, cultures, and religions is basic element formed nationalism and pushed the communities reach the independence. Besides, the founders of this nation are the best children of the plurality.

In the broader spectrum, the diversity is the life itself. Life occurred because of variety of God's creation and creatures. Life is a couple of the day and the night, of the earth and the sky, of the sea and the land, of the West and the East, as well as of the plants and the animals. The dynamics continue to occur because natural multiplicity processed and developed by creative and clever men who also come from the variety of gender, race and ethnicity so that they construct different various cultures complementary to one another.

Multiculturalism in Theological Perspective

In the perspective of the Islamic values and teachings, diversity is character of life and the most basic nature of human being’s fitra, creation. In the al-Quran, surah al-Rum (30): 22 God explains the creation of heaven and earth, the different language, and color (race) of people are as signs of His Power. The sky has its own character as the earth has the form and nature far different from the sky.

The various differences not to differentiate, even not to contrast, but to complement each other. Al-Quran in Al-Hujurat (49): 13 states explicitly the purpose of those different creations. God created human beings from two different sexes, men and women, who later developed into a nation and tribes. All of these are intended in order to be familiar one to another to enrich their insight toward sustainable cooperation among them.

People are not only various in tribe and nation, but as consequence of those diversity, they also have a cultural property with its own character. Each has its own wisdom so that they can develop the cultures for a life represents the universal humanitarian values. Similarly, religion is not a single, from which any people do not have the right to make the single life as well. In fact, the belief emerges because of the existence of infidelity. The task of mankind is not to claim the truth, but to explain the truth wisely for the guidance not belong to men/ women, but belong to God reveals to men and women in ways that comply with human nature. Therefore Allah reminds in al-Quran surah Yunus (10): 99) the Prophet Muhammad (puh) in order not to trapped in the hatred against human beings not only because of not all human beings are believers, but also because a hatred will never solve the problem. The issue can only be solved through peaceful and humane ways.

Plurality in Indonesia

Based on those realities and the Islamic values, it can be concluded that disavowal of plurality is almost identical with denial of the life. In turn, it will bring about disaster in their lives. Honestly, one of the main factors of Indonesia multi-dimensional crisis in the last few years and is because of the new order regime (orba) disagreed with nation plurality. During its reign, the repressive regime diminished the plurality, and in the same time it forced unity in various dimensions of life. Single principle is applied so that there is no room for other cultural values to be alive. SARA (tribe, race, and religion diversity) as a concrete life of people was hatred. Discussing SARA was identical with violence disrupted the stability.

Such conditions made people lose their identity, and lose the real meaning of life. Whereas progress and welfare life only referred to little powerful elites and those who close to power, many people live in poverty and ignorance, as well as disappointment. The people life was in anomalies and in depressive atmosphere.

In turn, it usher the people to very vulnerable life, susceptible to conflicts, and easy to do violence. Pervasive mass violence in various regions as if it race, did not want to lose, with the violence that the state executed. As the result, Indonesia faced immense problems continuously keeping watch over the ethnic conflict and such that never finished up to this reformation era.

Reconstruction

To restore Indonesian nation to peaceful life (which will affect to the welfare and tranquility of life), all elements of the nation should reconstruct the paradigm of life. They have to change integralism regarding life as something that must be single uniform into pluralism and multiculturalism paradigm.

By this paradigm, cultural richness and diversity of the religions of the nation should be put in the appreciative and critical view. In this level, the nation needs to develop attitudes of mutual respect of the differences. They should respond the differences positively as a cultural treasure that will bring about to the solutions solving humane and complex problems. Hence, Indonesia Muslims need not hesitate. Since variety and appreciate of diversity are not only the reality of life, but also the Islamic core values and teachings.

At a Glance

RELIGION, FLOOD AND VIOLENCE

When it rains for just an hour, Surabaya –especially IAIN Sunan Ampel campus –is almost in flood. To what extent, it refers to people’s view and attitude toward this world life.

Many of them consider the world as themselves own, not as an entrusted from God. From theological perspective, they have a religion not to get God’s moral teaching, but to legitimize apparently their greed, even hostility among themselves. Though they have religion, they are not so religious in relationship, one with another, and with the universe as well. They do not set religion as a basic source for developing worldview. In turn, they lost morality control.

This religiosity brings about tragedy in human live, such perpetual violence in Palestine-Israel, terrorism threat, and environmental disaster. It is certainly included the flood in the IAIN Sunan Ampel complex coming almost every time when it rains.

Opinion

THE URGENCY OF HARMONY

AMONGST THE DIFFERENT BELIEVERS
Abd A‘la

Friction, even disagreement triggering violence among the different religious followers, especially Muslims-Christians, likely would still emerge in Indonesia and all over the world. The phenomenon around us shows that the essential harmony between them is still limited to the little elements in the community. For the rest, the harmony appeared more as a "cold war" or merely a formality not touching the essence of harmony itself. Beside, the harmony within the people shows a pragmatic nuance not based on solid theological values.

In such case, the provocation carried out against a certain group of people, or only a little friction amongst those different religions would simply ignite disagreement and hostility that could end with anarchist and other similar actions.

Mistrust amongst Different Believers

The nuance of harmony closing with unclearness to a certain degree lays on suspicion and mistrust on the different religious communities. Sardar states (2003), the suspicion of the Christians against Muslims in general is in shape of the theological distrust and the humanitarian distrust. While the suspicion of Muslims against Christians looks in the theological distrust, the experiential distrust, and the academic distrust.

Theological issue has become the place of suspicion amongst Muslims and Christians since each has a different faith, or even conflicting with one another. For instance, on the one hand, Muslims are sure that cult of Jesus, which the Christians believe is not authentic teaching. On the other hand, (some) Christians blame Islamic teaching is no more than just imitation of the Jewish law. They also argue that Islam is a religion has lost its universal values of humanity.

As far as each other put the differences on enlighten dialogue, it would not become problem for harmonious life. These differences will become serious problem when they make them accusation one to another causing hostility and alike amongst them.

The problems are going to become worse since some Muslims are burden with the historical experience they have been passing. Imperialism and colonialism in the past, which was an interrelated –directly or indirectly –with Christianity urge them in distorted imagination to bond Christian teachings with the "neo-colonialism" and such.

In accordance with that, some Muslims view simply the Islamic studies from the West, especially orientalism, no more than an effort to discriminate Islam and Muslims. This assumption is still sticky in mind of many Muslims up to now.

Based on those academic distrust, and experiential distrust, some Muslims nearly make Christianity identical with the West in which they belief that the two elements cannot be separated with dehumanistic popular western cultures.

Those suspicions and mistrust bonding to each of the different believers above actually is one of major obstacles in building a genuine substantive harmony. This situation in turn is not favorable to create sincere tolerance, particularly to build a strong perpetual cooperation between them.

Sincerity and the Dialogue

Responding the contemporary phenomenon, inter-religious dialogue and other similar programs growing fast in the present actually can be a pillar to build strong cooperation amidst those different believers. Ironically, besides the spectrum coverage of the dialogue is very limited so far, the roots of dialogue are in risk to invite suspicion. Based on his own experience, Sardar urges, the dialogue developing hitherto is more a product of fear (from the some Christian West), which they made up against Islam. It tends more simply to repress Muslims, and not to place on efforts to develop mutual understanding and mutual respect. Thus, sincerity to do dialogue is difficult to develop.

Moreover, the themes, even, do not refer to the real problems which humanity face. Furthermore, the discussion once in while only circle around the transcendental theological issues or just an effort to force the uniform views that is not possible to turn out to be in the sameness.

It is truly important that they have to discuss the theological issues in order to find the values of truth, from which they have to transform to build a strong cooperation for the sake of human being interests all over the world. Nevertheless, they must recognize the pluralistic world and human being potential conflict. Therefore, the problem is not to impose uniformity, but to widen sincere and wise attitudes being able to accept the pluralistic reality placed in the framework of a sustainable dialogue.

In this framework, the dialogue –borrowing phrase from Zebidi (1997) –always demand the respect of each other, and the will to listen one to another from which the different believers have to develop a dialogue not to be burdened by such suspicion, prejudice, and motives other than for the sake of collective interests.
At the same time, they need to expand contextual and critical dialogical issues currently challenging humankind and the world, and related with the broad public wellbeing. Thus, strategic issues, such as poverty, the moral and environmental degradation, and similar issues they should make as a priority agenda. Last but not lest, another issue they should seriously discuss is to formulate the agenda into the praxis©.

Letters

Dear all,

I wish you all the best. It is moment for us to evaluate our past, and make the future better for the other and us.

Opinion

THE SELF-RELIANCE OF PESANTREN

By Abd A’la

From 2002 to 2005, the US Foreign Office conducted an exchange program for leaders of pesantren (Indonesian-based Islam boarding school) from several regions of Indonesia. The United States invited the leaders to participate in workshops and comparative studies in matters pertaining to educational development.

At the initial stage of program, accusation were hurled that it was all a brain-washing program designed to change Islamic character of pesantren and to eventually mould them into US agents and supporters. They who accused also condemned those leaders –since acquiring knowledge from source –they deem “untrue and unauthentic”.

This judgmental response is essentially a challenge for pesantren to reinforce further their existence as critical and independent religious educational institutions. Indeed, pesantren that participated in this program were challenged to prove that the visits were purely based on the schools mission that is to introduce the values and teaching that conform to its moderate and transparent character. At the same time, the visit should be regarded as an integral part of pesantren traditions welcoming scientific development originating from whatever source, as long as it conforms to substantial Islamic values and teaching that are not based on the dichotomy, which assumes simply the West, is invariably bad, and the East (especially Islamic Middle East) is always good.

Confronted by this challenge, pesantren need to respond by looking back into their own history abundant with authentic values and traditions that so far provided them with a solid foundation in addressing social changes and development in human life. This retrospection reveals that one of pesantren characteristics is embedded in their independence or autonomy in developing educational institutions, and in conducting interactions with institutions outside the pesantren. It is through this independence that pesantren remain in existence and possess the opportunity to become an alternative educational institution.

The history has shown that because of their independence, the Indonesian Islamic boarding schools have always been capable of retaining their basic characteristics and innate nature but transforming in accordance with the context of the age. In the colonial period, pesantren transformed their independence into non-cooperation action against the colonizers. It underwent three different phases. First, the isolation phase it was when pesantren evacuated to rural and isolated areas in order to be out of reach from the colonial environment and atmosphere. Then they came the phase of silent and unobtrusive opposition through fostering and encouraging the spirit of resistance against the colonizers. Finally, it was the period of physical rebellion when pesantren collaborated in fighting and eventually evicting the colonizers from the home country together with communities and the founding fathers of the Indonesian nation.

When pesantren adopted the scholastic religious teaching system during the initial years of the country independence, they emphasis the meaning of independence placed on the autonomy to develop the school curricula. During the reign of the Soeharto, when the regime coerced pesantren to follow the uniform national education system, the institution still maintained their policy. Pesantren never lost the creativity to imbue significance into the values of their self-reliance as well as to contextualize them. With their creativity, pesantren were able to translate the forced national curricula into syllabi that continued to be combined with typical pesantren values and topics.

Such self-reliance enabled those Indonesian Islamic boarding schools to collaborate with the “outsider” without becoming subject to dominating influences, to safeguard the interests of their own Islamic mission in its widest meaning, and to develop a more substantial educational meaning and objective.

Within this perspective, a number of pesantren since mid of the 1970’s have carried out pioneering cooperation programs with non-governmental-organizations (NGOs) with objective to develop their mission in a more systematic, transformative, and emancipative manner, especially in empowering community. From this point, pesantren have customarily established critical working relations with other institutions, both at national and international level.

At the initial stage, insulting remark were addressed to pesantren considered to have abandoned their main mission as an Islamic institution, even accused of having imported non-Islamic missions from the outside. However, time has proved that none of the accusations has been validated. On the contrary, pesantren through community development program have successfully imbued with much more genuine meaning in the process of humanizing people as the Prophet and the Muslim generation did.

Those facts reveal that self-reliance has always been the major character accompanying pesantren activities most of all the time. It is such autonomy and influence-free from external interventions that –Abdurrahman Wahid stated –has afforded these Islamic institutions with ample space to develop necessary strategies by experimenting with ideas and concepts. In turn, this provides pesantren the flexibility to generate educational concepts that are new and fresh, playing culturally a complementary role in establishing a strong foundation for fundamental transformation, which the nation largely need.

In generally speaking, the open philosophy which pesantren adopted has never obliterated their autonomy. By means of their strong belief and noble traditions, pesantren keep on developing critical –and at the same time –“aggressive” relationships and communications with the governmental institutions and others, home and global. It is the fact ensuring pesantren to which the grasping influences of outside hegemony would never co-opt.

Based on the above-mentioned arguments, we should view the visit of a number of the pesantren leaders to US in the framework of the independence. As they stated, during their visit, they observed, discussed, and even criticized the US government, for example pertaining to its foreign policy being rife to what extent with double standard. Without embarrassment, they argued that the US should abandon its role as the “world police force”. Instead, the US should underline the prophetic mission; I e the mission of peace by implementing an approach imbibed with the spirit of caring and peace to all over the world.

Their critical attitude certainly does not erase their wisdom and as such. They have not only been able to scrutinize the negative points, but also have been able to appreciate the positive sides found in the US. They realize –for example –that the teaching methodology and learning process applying there–to some extent –have succeeded to develop the people as responsible individuals who are capable to comprehend and respect the rights and duties of other people.

Similarly, they have objectively observed the pluralism within the US communities besides a number of groups who still emphasize a radical evangelistic pattern of behavior, even foster antipathy toward Islam and Muslims.

The existing complicated reality they have viewed and discovered in the US has enabled them to empower a more critical view of the existing phenomenon around them. They have learned to be more objective and not to hastily or perfunctorily dismiss points that are indeed worthy to be introduced in to the realm of pesantren. Simultaneously, they have not lost their wisdom to criticize anything indeed contrary and against the values of substantive Islamic religion and universal humanity.

It is the point they have had to take into consideration when, following their visit to the US, they are to reconstruct the educational program and practices, and strategies of spreading Islamic values as well. Indeed, it is still much that pesantren have to do.

Published on the Point, November 30, 2006.