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.