tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21105271294184922912024-03-19T19:55:45.739+07:00IslamSubstantifWithout violence and hostility, and through anchoring honesty, sincerity, peace, and love, life would be so beautiful.Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-65549007971002305072010-11-11T09:38:00.003+07:002010-11-11T09:47:55.029+07:00Discussing Moderate Islam by Some Intellectuals<h6 style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are some intellectuals' articles discussing moderate Islam being downloaded from The Wall Street Journal. Please visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461503431290986.html?mod=WSJ_article_related </span></h6><span style="font-size: large;">The Ball Is in Our Court</span>By Anwar Ibrahim<br />
Skeptics and cynics alike have said that the quest for the moderate Muslim in the 21st century is akin to the search for the Holy Grail. It's not hard to understand why. Terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and the jihadist call for Muslims "to rise up against the oppression of the West" are widespread.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183RVE"></a>The radical fringe carrying out such actions has sought to dominate the discourse between Islam and the West. In order to do so, they've set out to foment anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. They've also advocated indiscriminate violence as a political strategy. To cap their victory, this abysmal lot uses the cataclysm of 9/11 as a lesson for the so-called enemies of Islam.<br />
These dastardly acts have not only been tragedies of untold proportions for those who have suffered or perished. They have also delivered a calamitous blow to followers of the Muslim faith. <br />
These are the Muslims who go about their lives like ordinary people—earning their livings, raising their families, celebrating reunions and praying for security and peace. These are the Muslims who have never carried a pocketknife, let alone explosives intended to destroy buildings. These Muslims are there for us to see, if only we can lift the veil cast on them by the shadowy figures in bomb-laden jackets hell-bent on destruction. <br />
These are mainstream Muslims—no different from the moderate Christians, Jews and those of other faiths—whose identities have been drowned by events beyond their control. The upshot is a composite picture of Muslims as inherently intolerant, antidemocratic, inward-looking and simply unable to coexist with other communities in the modern world. Some say there is only one solution: Discard your beliefs and your tradition, and embrace pluralism and modernity.<br />
<div class="insetContent insetCol3wide embedType-image imageFormat-D"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183NYG"></a>This prescription is deeply flawed. The vast majority of Muslims already see themselves as part of a civilization that is heir to a noble tradition of science, philosophy and spirituality that places paramount importance on the sanctity of human life. Holding fast to the principles of democracy, freedom and human rights, these hundreds of millions of Muslims fervently reject fanaticism in all its varied guises.<br />
Yet Muslims must do more than just talk about their great intellectual and cultural heritage. We must be at the forefront of those who reject violence and terrorism. And our activism must not end there. The tyrants and oppressive regimes that have been the real impediment to peace and progress in the Muslim world must hear our unanimous condemnation. The ball is in our court.<br />
<i>Mr. Ibrahim is Malaysia's opposition leader.</i> <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301211885653CNE"></a> <br />
<h6><span style="font-size: large;">A History of Tolerance </span></h6>By Bernard Lewis<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183UCF"></a> A form of moderation has been a central part of Islam from the very beginning. True, Muslims are nowhere commanded to love their neighbors, as in the Old Testament, still less their enemies, as in the New Testament. But they are commanded to accept diversity, and this commandment was usually obeyed. The Prophet Muhammad's statement that "difference within my community is part of God's mercy" expressed one of Islam's central ideas, and it is enshrined both in law and usage from the earliest times. <br />
This principle created a level of tolerance among Muslims and coexistence between Muslims and others that was unknown in Christendom until after the triumph of secularism. Diversity was legitimate and accepted. Different juristic schools coexisted, often with significant divergences. <br />
Sectarian differences arose, and sometimes led to conflicts, but these were minor compared with the ferocious wars and persecutions of Christendom. Some events that were commonplace in medieval Europe— like the massacre and expulsion of Jews—were almost unknown in the Muslim world. That is, until modern times.<br />
Occasionally more radical, more violent versions of Islam arose, but their impact was mostly limited. They did not become really important until the modern period when, thanks to a combination of circumstances, such versions of Islamic teachings obtained a massive following among both governments and peoples. <br />
From the start, Muslims have always had a strong sense of their identity and history. Thanks to modern communication, they have become painfully aware of their present state. Some speak of defeat, some of failure. It is the latter who offer the best hope for change.<br />
For the moment, there does not seem to be much prospect of a moderate Islam in the Muslim world. This is partly because in the prevailing atmosphere the expression of moderate ideas can be dangerous—even life-threatening. Radical groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban, the likes of which in earlier times were at most minor and marginal, have acquired a powerful and even a dominant position.<br />
But for Muslims who seek it, the roots are there, both in the theory and practice of their faith and in their early sacred history.<br />
<i>Mr. Lewis, professor emeritus at Princeton, is the author of "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" (Oxford University Press, 2004).</i> <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301211885653NHB"></a> <br />
<h6><span style="font-size: large;">Don't Call Me Moderate, Call Me Normal</span></h6>By Ed Husain<br />
I am a moderate Muslim, yet I don't like being termed a "moderate"—it somehow implies that I am less of a Muslim. <br />
We use the designation "moderate Islam" to differentiate it from "radical Islam." But in so doing, we insinuate that while Islam in moderation is tolerable, real Islam—often perceived as radical Islam—is intolerable. This simplistic, flawed thinking hands our extremist enemies a propaganda victory: They are genuine Muslims. In this rubric, the majority, non-radical Muslim populace has somehow compromised Islam to become moderate.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183H0E"></a>What is moderate Christianity? Or moderate Judaism? Is Pastor Terry Jones's commitment to burning the Quran authentic Christianity, by virtue of the fanaticism of his action? Or, is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual head of the Shas Party in Israel, more Jewish because he calls on Jews to rain missiles on the Arabs and "annihilate them"? <br />
The pastor and the rabbi can, no doubt, find abstruse scriptural justifications for their angry actions. And so it is with Islam's fringe: Our radicals find religious excuses for their political anger. But Muslim fanatics cannot be allowed to define Islam.<br />
The Prophet Muhammad warned us against <i>ghuluw</i>, or extremism, in religion. The Quran reinforces the need for <i>qist</i>, or balance. For me, Islam at its essence is the middle way in all matters. This is normative Islam, adhered to by a billion normal Muslims across the globe. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183HSH"></a>Normative Islam is inherently pluralist. It is supported by 1,000 years of Muslim history in which religious freedom was cherished. The claim, made today by the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia, that they represent God's will expressed through their version of oppressive Shariah law is a modern innovation. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183WXB"></a>The classical thinking within Islam was to let a thousand flowers bloom. Ours is not a centralized tradition, and Islam's rich diversity is a legacy of our pluralist past. <br />
Normative Islam, from its early history to the present, is defined by its commitment to protecting religion, life, progeny, wealth and the human mind. In the religious language of Muslim scholars, this is known as <i>maqasid</i>, or aims. This is the heart of Islam. <br />
I am fully Muslim and fully Western. Don't call me moderate—call me a normal Muslim. <br />
<i>Mr. Husain is author of "The Islamist" (Penguin, 2007) and co-founder of the Quilliam Foundation, a counterextremist think tank. </i> <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301211885653DOB"></a> <br />
<h6><span style="font-size: large;">Putting Up With Infidels Like Me</span></h6>By Reuel Marc Gerecht <br />
Moderate Islam is the faith practiced by the parents of my Pakistani British roommate at the University of Edinburgh—and, no doubt, by the great majority of Muslim immigrants to Europe and the United States. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183MBE"></a>Khalid's mother and father were devout Muslims. His dad prayed five times a day and his mom, who hadn't yet learned decent English after almost 20 years in the industrial towns of West Yorkshire, gladly gave me the impression that the only book she'd ever read was the Quran.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183RYC"></a>I was always welcome in their home. Khalid's mother regularly stuffed me with curry, peppering me with questions about how a non-Muslim who'd crossed the Atlantic to study Islam could resist the pull of the one true faith. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183TB"></a>Determined to keep their children Muslim in a sea of aggressive, alcohol-laden, sex-soaked disbelief, they happily practiced and preached peaceful coexistence—even with an infidel who was obviously leading their son down an unrighteous path. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183FK"></a>That is the essence of moderation in any faith: the willingness to exist peacefully, if not exuberantly, alongside nonbelievers who hold repellant views on many sacred subjects.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183WVH"></a>It is a dispensation that comes fairly easily to ordinary Muslims who have left their homelands to live among nonbelievers in Western democracies. It is harder for Muslims surrounded by their own kind, unaccustomed by politics and culture to giving up too much ground. <br />
Tolerance among traditional Muslims is defined as Christian Europe first defined the idea: A superior creed agrees not to harass an inferior creed, so long as the practitioners of the latter don't become too uppity. Tolerance emphatically does not mean equality of belief, as it now does in the West. <br />
Even in Turkey, where authoritarian secularism has changed the Muslim identity more profoundly than anywhere else in the Old World, a totally secularized Muslim would never call a non-Muslim citizen of the state a Turk. There is a certain pride of place that cannot be shared with a nonbeliever. Wounded pride also does the Devil's work on ecumenicalism. Adjusting to modernity, with its intellectually open borders and inevitable moral chaos, is brutally hard for monotheisms, especially for those accustomed to rule. But it happens. <br />
When I told Khalid's father that his children—especially his daughters—would not worship the faith as he and his wife had done, he told me: "They are living a better life than we have lived. That is enough." <br />
<i>Mr. Gerecht, a former CIA operative, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.</i> <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U3012118856539IF"></a> <br />
<h6><span style="font-size: large;">Don't Gloss Over The Violent Texts</span></h6>By Tawfik Hamid<br />
In regards to Islam, the words "moderate'" and "radical" are relative terms. Without defining them it is virtually impossible to defeat the latter or support the former.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183L0D"></a>Radical Islam is not limited to the act of terrorism; it also includes the embrace of teachings within the religion that promote hatred and ultimately breed terrorism. Those who limit the definition of radical Islam to terrorism are ignoring—and indirectly approving of—the Shariah teachings that permit killing apostates, violence against women and gays, and anti-Semitism. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183BQC"></a>Moderate Islam should be defined as a form of Islam that rejects these violent and discriminatory edicts. Furthermore, it must provide a strong theological refutation for the mainstream Islamic teaching that the Muslim <i>umma </i>(nation) must declare wars against non-Muslim nations, spreading the religion and giving non-Muslims the following options: convert, pay a humiliating tax, or be killed. This violent concept fuels jihadists, who take the teaching literally and accept responsibility for applying it to the modern world.<br />
Moderate Islam must not be passive. It needs to actively reinterpret the violent parts of the religious text rather than simply cherry-picking the peaceful ones. Ignoring, rather than confronting or contextualizing, the violent texts leaves young Muslims vulnerable to such teachings at a later stage in their lives. <br />
Finally, moderate Islam must powerfully reject the barbaric practices of jihadists. Ideally, this would mean Muslims demonstrating en masse all over the world against the violence carried out in the name of their religion. <br />
Moderate Islam must be honest enough to admit that Islam has been used in a violent manner at several stages in history to seek domination over others. Insisting that all acts in Islamic history and all current Shariah teachings are peaceful is a form of deception that makes things worse by failing to acknowledge the existence of the problem. <br />
<i>Mr. Hamid, a former member of the Islamic radical group Jamma Islamiya, is an Islamic reformer and a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.</i> <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301211885653IBH"></a> <br />
<h6><span style="font-size: large;">Mystics, Modernists and Literalists</span></h6>By Akbar Ahmed <br />
In the intense discussion about Muslims today, non-Muslims often say to me: "You are a moderate, but are there others like you?" <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U30120392918379H"></a>Clearly, the use of the term moderate here is meant as a compliment. But the application of the term creates more problems than it solves. The term is heavy with value judgment, smacking of "good guy" versus "bad guy" categories. And it implies that while a minority of Muslims are moderate, the rest are not. <br />
Having studied the practices of Muslims around the world today, I've come up with three broad categories: mystic, modernist and literalist. Of course, I must add the caveat that these are analytic models and aren't watertight. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2110527129418492291&postID=6554900797100230507" name="U301203929183ENG"></a>Muslims in the mystic category reflect universal humanism, believing in "peace with all." The 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi exemplifies this category. In his verses, he glorifies worshipping the same God in the synagogue, the church and the mosque. <br />
The second category is the modernist Muslim who believes in trying to balance tradition and modernity. The modernist is proud of Islam and yet able to live comfortably in, and contribute to, Western society. <br />
Most Muslim leaders who led nationalist movements in the first half of the 20th century were modernists—from Sultan Mohammed V, the first king of independent Morocco, to M.A. Jinnah, who founded Pakistan in 1947. But as modernists failed over time, becoming increasingly incompetent and corrupt, the literalists stepped into the breach. <br />
The literalists believe that Muslim behavior must approximate that of the Prophet in seventh-century Arabia. Their belief that Islam is under attack forces many of them to adopt a defensive posture. And while not all literalists advocate violence, many do. Movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the Taliban belong to this category. <br />
In the Muslim world the divisions between the three categories I have delineated are real. The outcome of their struggle will define Islam's fate.<br />
The West can help by understanding Muslim society in a more nuanced and sophisticated way in order to interact with it wisely and for mutual benefit. The first step is to categorize Muslims accurately. <br />
<i>Mr. Ahmed, the former Pakistani ambassador to Britain, is the chair of Islamic studies at American University and author of "Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam" (Brookings, 2010).</i>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-5447457012415675122010-06-04T20:06:00.000+07:002010-06-04T20:06:57.296+07:00Open the Gates: A Rabbinical Response to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla TragedyBelow is open letter from Jews Fast for Gaza <br />
Posted 05/31/2010 - 15:59 by Rabbi Brant Rosen<br />
<br />
Dear Friends,<br />
<br />
In the wake of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla tragedy, we once again feel the need to raise our voices as rabbis in the Jewish community.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
According to press reports, we now know that at least 9 people have been killed and many more have been injured when Israeli Navy Seals boarded a boat that held 600 people in the middle of the night – conducting a military operation against civilian activists in the midst of international waters.<br />
<br />
We also know that the essential aim of the Freedom Flotilla was to carry humanitarian aid to those who have been severely suffering under the effects of Israel’s crushing blockade of Gaza. We call upon our community not to turn away in denial or blame those of good will and good purpose who risked their lives to relieve the beleaguered people of the Gaza strip.<br />
<br />
We lift up our voices and call upon Israel to conduct an independent, transparent, and credible investigation of this incident. We also call upon the government of Israel to open the gates of compassion and allow these ships to dock so that they may deliver humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million citizens of Gaza. In so doing, we note the overall context of oppression in which this incident has occurred and call upon the government of Israel to turn away from the policies of occupation, siege and indifference to international law.<br />
<br />
Our silence now is an act of betrayal to the values we purport to live by and to the words of the prophet we read every Yom Kippur:<br />
<br />
Is this the fast I desire? A day for people to starve<br />
their bodies? Or bow their heads like a bulrush<br />
or wear sackcloth and smear oneself with ashes...<br />
No! This is the fast the Lord desires:<br />
Unlock the fetters of oppression<br />
Untie the cords of the yoke<br />
Let the exploited go free, break off every chain.<br />
share your bread with the hungry,<br />
Shelter the poor in your own house<br />
clothe the naked and do not ignore your own kin.<br />
<br />
As rabbis, we believe all human beings are our kin. We cannot abide the suffering inflicted upon the people of Gaza.<br />
<br />
We lift up our voices and say: Unlock the fetters of oppression. Untie the cords of the yoke. Open the gates.<br />
<br />
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb<br />
Rabbi Brant Rosen<br />
Rabbi Brian Walt<br />
Rabbi Alissa Wise<br />
Rabbi Rebecca Alpert<br />
Rabbi Marjorie Berman<br />
Rabbi JB Sacks<br />
Rabbi Michael Lerner<br />
Rabbi Arthur Waskow<br />
Rabbi David Mivasair<br />
Rabbi Chava Bahle<br />
Rabbi Eyal Levinson<br />
Rabbi Nina Mandel<br />
Rabbi Margaret Holub<br />
Rabbi Rebecca Lillian<br />
Rabbi Gershon Steinberg-Caudill<br />
Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman<br />
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling<br />
Rabbi Naomi Steinberg<br />
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak<br />
Rabbi Arthur Segal<br />
Rabbi Victor H. Reinstein<br />
Rabbi Phyllis Berman<br />
Rabbi Linda Holtzman<br />
Rabbi Andrew Gold<br />
Rabbi Michael Feinberg<br />
Rabbi Diane ElliotAbd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-10597320274904395952010-06-04T20:00:00.001+07:002010-06-04T20:08:12.577+07:00ACRI Admonishes Flotilla Takeover and Outcome, Calls for InvestigationThe Association for Civil Rights in Israel is appalled by today's military takeover of the Flotilla on its way to Gaza, and calls for an independent investigation of the event. It is unfathomable that a Flotilla whose purpose was to protest the siege imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip, ended with nine dead and many more injured.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Hagai El-Ad, Director of ACRI: "The same guiding principles of military force that put one and a half million people under siege in Gaza for four years is what led to this military action which turned into a bloodbath. These circumstances make necessary an immediate investigation by an external body into the events and their deterioration. This is all substantiated by the electronic force-field and limited media coverage imposed on today's events."<br />
<br />
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel repeats its call to the government of Israel to end the illegal and immoral siege which gravely damages civil society in Gaza.Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-11462441201696233542010-01-21T04:29:00.006+07:002010-01-23T06:30:28.809+07:00Wrote with Gus Dur at The Wall Street Journal<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:396.0pt 612.0pt; mso-page-orientation:landscape; margin:70.9pt 2.0cm 70.9pt 2.0cm; mso-header-margin:17.85pt; mso-footer-margin:51.05pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: black;">The Obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian Peace<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><b><span style="color: black;">By ABDURRAHMAN WAHID and ABD A'LA<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><b><i><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></i></b></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2008; Page A11</span></i></b></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a far-reaching impact not only upon the lives of those who dwell in the <st1:place st="on">Holy Land</st1:place>, but upon virtually every nation and community on earth. On a daily basis, self-interested parties are callously manipulating the most basic values of humanity and religion in order to advance their personal or political interests. Sectarianism, violence, arrogance and deception are constantly subverting the fundamental values of life, and turning religious principles upon their heads.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<o:p></o:p><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">This horrific process demands that every moral human being, religious community and nation throughout the world contemplate this tragedy and offer assistance, however small, to help resolve the profound human crisis in the <st1:place st="on">Holy Land</st1:place>. Peace is both a process and a goal that the world can neither morally nor practically afford to push off into the future yet again.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">We must develop and implement concrete strategies to resolve the conflict, while inspiring hope that peace can actually be achieved. The problem is that the various obstacles to peace seem nearly impossible to eliminate. These obstacles are rendered even more severe by the fact that both major parties in the conflict harbor groups absolutely convinced of the correctness of their mutually exclusive views and agendas.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Such groups reject not only the rights, but the very existence, of the other side. The corrosive effect of this phenomenon is the evocation and rationalization of the use of violence, either through terrorism or militarism. Prejudiced views on both sides, not only by those directly engaged in the conflict, but by their allies as well, further stoke the flames of hatred and violence.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">These prejudices contaminate public discourse throughout the world, and are constantly exploited by Middle Eastern regimes that fuel anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic emotions for political purposes, while displaying little or no actual concern for the well-being of the Palestinians themselves.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Under such conditions, it is nearly impossible for sincere dialogue even to occur, much less to develop or flourish. Instead, the cycle of violence breeds a hardening of mutual hatred.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The Palestinian side routinely condemns its enemy as a colonial power whose entire population is demonized as "imperialists," while the Israeli side brands its political opponents as terrorists, or terrorist sympathizers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">For six decades, the peace process has been conducted primarily by self-interested political players who cannot penetrate to the heart of the underlying problems, much less resolve them. This gives rise to deeply cynical views on the part of certain groups on both sides, who view the peace process as absurd, its goals unobtainable, and continued violence better than compromise.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Yet the difficulties that have swamped every Israeli-Palestinian peace process to date do not mean that achieving peace is impossible. Rather, they point to the need for a new and more holistic path to peace in the <st1:place st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. This path would mobilize the populations of <st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city> toward this goal, with the active encouragement and support of the rest of the world.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The December 2007 visit to <st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city> by a group of Indonesian ulama from the world's two largest Muslim organizations – LibForAll Foundation and the Indonesian Peace Delegation – represents one such effort, and the first step in a larger, systematic process. Conducted under the joint aegis of LibForAll Foundation and the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Simon</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Wiesenthal</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>, members of the group consistently observed that the silent majorities on both sides of the conflict sincerely desire an end to the cycle of violence, and peace for themselves and their children. This is remarkable, given the decades of incitement to hatred and violence in Palestinian mosques, schools and mass media, and a political culture that eschews compromise.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">It is tragic that the voice of the people –full of an honest and sincere longing for peace –should be drowned out by violence and the narrow interests of politicians and extremists on both sides. We have a responsibility to amplify the voices of the innocent who pay with their blood and sorrow the price of others' ambitions and hatred.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">We must also strengthen and facilitate the people's efforts to pressure their political elites – in a manner that is focused, intense and vocal, yet simultaneously civilized – to create a just and lasting peace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Palestinians and Israelis need the world's support to create a new reality, in which the highest values of religion and humanity are restored to their proper dignity. We must also help Muslim populations – not only in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city>, but throughout the Arab world – to rise to embrace a profoundly spiritual and tolerant understanding of Islam, and a humanistic attitude toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that acknowledges the legacy of suffering on all sides. Such an attitude is a necessary precondition for recognizing <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s unique history and right to exist, while truly advancing the interests of Palestinians as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Last year's LibForAll/Indonesian Peace mission to <st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city> was designed to initiate such a process. After the religious leaders who participated returned to <st1:country-region st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region>, they faced intense condemnation from Muslim extremists, who accused them of having betrayed their Palestinian brethren and embarrassed <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s Muslim community. Yet there is nothing shameful about working to realize the highest values of religion – which God intended to serve as a blessing, and not a curse, to all of humanity.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Although the obstacles to peace in the <st1:place st="on">Holy Land</st1:place> may appear insurmountable, it is the responsibility of religious leaders on all sides to attempt the impossible, and to accept whatever threats, slander and stigma may follow.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><i><span style="color: black;">Mr. Wahid is the former president of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and co-founder of LibForAll<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><i><span style="color: black;">Foundation. Mr. A'la is an associate dean of graduate studies at Sunan Ampel<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><i><span style="color: black;">Islamic <st1:placetype st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype> in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Surabaya</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
</div>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-84413103108860853532009-10-04T20:15:00.002+07:002010-01-22T21:10:00.955+07:00World for Peace<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">From Jewish Voice for Peace</span><br />
<br />
Jewish Voice for Peace: Has President Obama heard about Mohammad Othman?<br />
October 2, 2009<br />
<br />
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:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked whether there is an Arab counterpart to Jewish Voice for Peace. The implicit false assumptions behind the question are clear: Palestinians are violent; Jews seek peace but there is no one peaceful on the other side of the equation.<br />
<br />
Even President Obama, in his Cairo speech, exhorted the Palestinians to seek a resolution to the violent Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the use of nonviolence—without dedicating a word to Israel’s attack on the civilians of Gaza.<br />
<br />
I used to get frustrated when asked the question, because I know that that its framework is false. I no longer get frustrated—now I use it as an opportunity to share what I know about so many Palestinian organizations and individuals that carry out acts, both small and large, of peaceful resistance against the occupation. People like Mohammad Othman.<br />
<br />
My list is too big to contemplate, and the acts are nothing short of heroic. In reference to the weekly demonstrations in Bil’in against the theft of that village’s land to build the wall and to expand settlements, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Just as a simple man named Gandhi led the successful nonviolent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bilin are leading a nonviolent struggle that will bring them their freedom.”<br />
<br />
Bil’in is not unique, of course. Neither is the crushing response from Israel.<br />
<br />
Palestinians who travel abroad to advocate their cause are at risk too. They may be unjustly detained by Israel when they come back home. This is what happened to Mohammad Othman. He was arrested September 22 by Israeli soldiers on the Allenby Bridge Crossing, the border from Jordan to Palestine. He was returning from a trip to Norway, where he was advocating for Palestinian human rights. He is now sitting in jail. International pressure on Israel may set him free.<br />
<br />
Thank you in advance,<br />
<br />
Sydney Levy<br />
Jewish Voice for PeaceAbd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-67264879541817731042009-09-15T21:16:00.002+07:002009-09-15T21:19:39.831+07:00Our prayerYa 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.Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-11011866838894617092009-04-04T21:07:00.005+07:002009-04-06T19:26:56.134+07:00Photo Gallery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdYEglshYPhTzr9XH0n6GakqdlasnWcKZlqOU2BPg6c48lyiK_U6DHLzw_TP9LcB8jtkME2pkeXh_AS0ehSBADdpNWqRxcrk63v4MhVrAVlsKZ7KU6XLxBFqfE1PxqnFFuMzYHRlUrQQ7/s1600-h/Faizi1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdYEglshYPhTzr9XH0n6GakqdlasnWcKZlqOU2BPg6c48lyiK_U6DHLzw_TP9LcB8jtkME2pkeXh_AS0ehSBADdpNWqRxcrk63v4MhVrAVlsKZ7KU6XLxBFqfE1PxqnFFuMzYHRlUrQQ7/s320/Faizi1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320838123156659890" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >THE WISDOM OF INDONESIAN ISLAM</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The photo is from M. Faizi email in which he allowed it to be published<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-43303802790785112782009-04-01T22:36:00.019+07:002010-01-23T00:02:24.199+07:00Photo Gallery<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style> <br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">COMMON PREJUDICE<u1:p></u1:p></span><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQrXacKrDkYb_Ly40WnbvmGTl2y85Z_u8_joum1_iGYH12tPnEMKJQ4n5sqE4WDyry039fqMkzmue15XbUMz6p7XoYIUiuZ6hB9LUEdvdemC8FP_PX8CxO7T5SuqFyiQvn7jTXLnKI_0D/s1600-h/Amin-Holland.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="114" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319750496607038386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQrXacKrDkYb_Ly40WnbvmGTl2y85Z_u8_joum1_iGYH12tPnEMKJQ4n5sqE4WDyry039fqMkzmue15XbUMz6p7XoYIUiuZ6hB9LUEdvdemC8FP_PX8CxO7T5SuqFyiQvn7jTXLnKI_0D/s320/Amin-Holland.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" width="150" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">It is very common for some little groups of Muslims to accuse si</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">mp</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">ly people who cooperate with Wester</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">ners especially the American though for promoting humanitarianism, peace, intellectualism</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">, and</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> such, as a zionist or the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:country-region></st1:place> agent. O</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">n the contrary, they often assume someone </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">laden with </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">symbols</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> of Islam as a pious and good Muslim; despite amount </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">of his/her </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">deeds are amoral.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8O1x1jzgnE4Ea5EBit6YB9UzXtboOuNs7PlEr4WI2uDGUEhCKGXFImDw-c533Odra3kxOtccDfCrQtavn-izWzg5IF-di2yi2Gu1TTT9zDW0CVuYFBWbYXOk9Na85EqoY_ngy1NJv7cW/s1600-h/Untitled-1+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="110" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319750951175643298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8O1x1jzgnE4Ea5EBit6YB9UzXtboOuNs7PlEr4WI2uDGUEhCKGXFImDw-c533Odra3kxOtccDfCrQtavn-izWzg5IF-di2yi2Gu1TTT9zDW0CVuYFBWbYXOk9Na85EqoY_ngy1NJv7cW/s640/Untitled-1+copy.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> <br />
</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Note<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The 1-st picture is personal collection and the o</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;">ther is downloaded from indonesian daily Jawa Pos , on April 1, 2009</span></span> <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:113.7pt 3.0cm 3.0cm 113.7pt; mso-header-margin:35.45pt; mso-footer-margin:35.45pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><br />
</div>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-51397504973231952212009-03-26T09:12:00.010+07:002010-01-22T21:12:17.051+07:00Letters<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Here another letter from a Jewish Student. I think the letter very important for us to know the Israelis holistically</span><br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/PAKA%27L%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-9.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Dear Abd A'la,<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
For our refusal, we were sentenced to jail. Some of us were held in solitary confinement. Sometimes we were not allowed even to brush our teeth or change our clothes.<br />
Some of us contacted Jewish Voice for Peace for help, and they rallied so many people! People like you, who are pressuring the Israeli Military to let us out and to cooperate with international law. As a result, several of us were freed from jail, and conditions have greatly improved for all of us.<br />
I am writing to you in this e-mail for three reasons:<br />
<br />
1) Please know that if we could, we would write to each of you separately and thank you personally for all you did to help us. Your support produced tangible results, but also gave us the courage and commitment to continue our struggle, even to this day.<br />
<br />
2) Please continue your support for our struggle. If you are American, your tax dollars finance our occupation. The United States provides Israel with more military aid than any other country. Given the economic turmoil in the USA, we believe that this money ought to be used for health and well-being.Israel needs to build a more democratic society, and not use the military to solve deep-rooted problems.<br />
<br />
3) And, please support Jewish Voice for Peace. They need your financial help, in addition to your activist help, to continue their work. Take a moment right now to become a MEMBER of JVP if you aren't one already. You can do this easily online - just click this link.<br />
<br />
Jewish Voice for Peace is such an important part of our struggle here. We are told that by serving in the Israeli Defense Force we are protecting the security of Israel, but lasting security will only come through peace and negotiations, not weapons. Inside Israel, people like us do all we can to work for peace, and we do so with hands stretched across the water, joined with you.<br />
<br />
Become a member of JVP today Thousands of members have a stronger voice than just being on a e-mail list. Lift up your voice - we hear you and we are so thankful!<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,trebuchet ms,sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><img align="texttop" alt="" height="52" src="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/images/Memberdrive/saharvardisignature.png" width="125" /></span><br />
<br />
Sahar VardiAbd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-5412873158796451792009-03-20T22:38:00.011+07:002009-03-29T13:18:39.409+07:00Photo Gallery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhxhyIw8PEUeypHjXRu_TSASzHHj4C45w02rKDLqzkr2JLEHWVRSqyw0FXYf9gY_wnkm9-8MDRBEbp4vBv8D8SYLCQR4lyKVnjTM-OW07X2QnCdPwbijJ15OrV-S7eMkA7Cdx_ihF9XPw/s1600-h/Sleep.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhxhyIw8PEUeypHjXRu_TSASzHHj4C45w02rKDLqzkr2JLEHWVRSqyw0FXYf9gY_wnkm9-8MDRBEbp4vBv8D8SYLCQR4lyKVnjTM-OW07X2QnCdPwbijJ15OrV-S7eMkA7Cdx_ihF9XPw/s320/Sleep.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315294977448029874" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>INDONESIAN DEMOCRACY (?)<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: left; font-style: italic; font-family: lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span>The picture was downloaded from Zamiel al-Muttaqin's </span><span>email</span><span> </span><span>on March 20, 2009</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">)
<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left; font-style: italic; font-family: lucida grande;"> <span style=";font-size:85%;" ><span style="display: none;"><input name="sl" value="id" type="hidden"></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></div>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-37635429488820893152009-02-27T16:05:00.004+07:002009-02-27T16:16:30.253+07:00Letters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HihrN0qesOPugQsFoVA5k3bOJ5qAFBDB8l2bXB8YycGCqUNH7imx_L-jWBe9jhMFdPbIYBZDPSAmRK93fftcOttjqysPVI8jrgqtF0ZXGVf_FSepJdzycJsN6urJyPyPH3YTT8giKflx/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HihrN0qesOPugQsFoVA5k3bOJ5qAFBDB8l2bXB8YycGCqUNH7imx_L-jWBe9jhMFdPbIYBZDPSAmRK93fftcOttjqysPVI8jrgqtF0ZXGVf_FSepJdzycJsN6urJyPyPH3YTT8giKflx/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307402510406256306" border="0" /></a><br />Dear All,<br />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 attentionAbd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-3271663945646717672009-02-15T08:36:00.010+07:002010-01-22T21:13:48.178+07:00Letters<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPREADING THE PEACE</span></span> <br />
</div><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">Below is another letter from Jewish Voice for Peace. Please join in it to spread peace. <br />
This is the letter:</span> <br />
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2Bl65gKmjUZSSCJIShx19heQpTvkwFjik" target="_blank"><img align="center" alt="" src="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/images/jvphope-israel.png" style="height: 141px; width: 109px;" /></a> <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5ctlxHPziTMG4aYgzZhdy%2BQpTvkwFjik" target="_blank"><img align="center" alt="" src="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/images/jvphope-palestine.png" style="height: 141px; width: 109px;" /></a> <br />
<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LfY151fEvu7%2BjrgcxvnBWeQpTvkwFjik" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: larger;">Sign the Open Letter. <br />
Tell Obama and Mitchell they must to talk with everybody. <br />
<br />
(You can also download posters of these images.)</span></a><br />
Dear Abd A'la, <br />
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… <br />
"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." <br />
Sen. George Mitchell needed patience and determination to help broker an agreement in Northern Ireland. And he did.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
A key to his success was his ability to talk to all parties in the conflict. He engaged Sinn Fein -- the political wing of the Irish Republican Army - even before they agreed to lay down their weapons, weapons that had killed not just soldiers but civilians. <br />
Why? <br />
Because they were there. They had political power. And just as they held the power to harm others, they also had the power to stop harming others. And so without them, there would be no solution. <br />
Sen. Mitchell needs to talk with everyone, with Israel, with the Palestinian Authority, and with Hamas. <br />
Talking to everyone does not mean denying the very real suffering experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians, suffering caused by the various involved parties. <br />
It does mean acknowledging they have political power. And that just as they have the power to harm others, they have shown they have the power to hold their fire. Excluding any of these parties would make it literally impossible to reach a peace agreement. <br />
Tony Blair saw first-hand the positive effects of the Northern Ireland agreement. He saw what it took to get Sinn Fein to lay down their weapons, and he knows what it will take to get Hamas to do the same. In reference to Gaza, he said that his "basic predisposition is that in a situation like this you talk to everybody." <br />
The late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban would have concurred, "You make peace by talking to your enemies." <br />
And so do a large number of American Jews: 76% said last summer they supported negotiations even with Israelis "worst enemies." <br />
Jewish Voice for Peace and Just Foreign Policy have been calling for talks with Hamas for some time. Last Spring, both organizations collected thousands of signatures in support of President Carter's call to that effect, a call he has renewed. <br />
Talking with some and not to others while sealing off Gaza has been tried for a number of years. This has brought immeasurable suffering to the besieged Palestinians in Gaza and great trauma to the citizens of Sderot in Israel. <br />
We need change. <br />
<br />
Cecilie Surasky, <br />
Jewish Voice for Peace<br />
<h3><span style="color: #00681c;"> </span></h3><info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org>Sign the Open Letter to Obama. Tell Obama and Mitchell they must talk to everybody. <br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">Please click: <br />
</span></info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 10" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 10" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1814">http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1814</a><br />
</div><info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org><http: 301="" o="" org="" petition_key="1814"><http: 301="" o="" org="" petition_key="1814"></http:></http:></info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org><br />
Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-7672615378848728732009-02-14T21:39:00.007+07:002009-03-21T13:09:04.571+07:00Photo Gallery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQmeE4dqlYRRpf7itn9-d-bqWQDSH9z8BAl0IiOuEpLvRcv7OM6ad8GN2Rjo62wQwBvSMx5lPiyVpz7JZDS4sbXiH5oLO3VwkY_lURvu_7n2y-dM7C3X-Y_E99WwO-Ibuo0k8x32lcKEw/s1600-h/WeekEndJP.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQmeE4dqlYRRpf7itn9-d-bqWQDSH9z8BAl0IiOuEpLvRcv7OM6ad8GN2Rjo62wQwBvSMx5lPiyVpz7JZDS4sbXiH5oLO3VwkY_lURvu_7n2y-dM7C3X-Y_E99WwO-Ibuo0k8x32lcKEw/s200/WeekEndJP.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302663454004115106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >THE DEMORALIZING CONTEMPORARY LIFE
<br /></span>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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SqViEequKBeI80_yFL9BTeumv2wqOSd2uWgs3ipMJtNOXoYEBzfEu4xDZg4bLR-bzJuPcyW2KEP0pPb53esMJJkMZ_nMcET5xA3TKqzUk481Wq5LMuwLptfqkJV6YWL2pe5XyqtCcH2m/s1600-h/52252large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SqViEequKBeI80_yFL9BTeumv2wqOSd2uWgs3ipMJtNOXoYEBzfEu4xDZg4bLR-bzJuPcyW2KEP0pPb53esMJJkMZ_nMcET5xA3TKqzUk481Wq5LMuwLptfqkJV6YWL2pe5XyqtCcH2m/s200/52252large.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302664230240105922" border="0" /></a>, then, what have the believers done to solve the problem?. <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >Ironically, some of them, even, have been engaged in worsening the condition.</span><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >The pictures were downloaded from </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Indonesian daily,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Jawa Pos</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >, published on February 14, 2009</span>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-52155410233626737772009-01-31T17:40:00.004+07:002009-01-31T18:38:06.977+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; line-height:24.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; line-height:24.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; tab-stops:center 216.0pt right 432.0pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.MsoPageNumber {font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.9pt 70.9pt 3.0cm 4.0cm; mso-header-margin:42.55pt; mso-footer-margin:70.9pt; mso-page-numbers:1; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="2049"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">TERRORISM, GLOBALIZATION, AND MORAL VALUES</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">
<br />Abd A‘la <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Globalization </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Such globalization has made many communities in the </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Third World</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> 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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The impact then is the world becomes the massacre, both allegorically which the some western country have done, and literally developed by the terrorists.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Strengthening Moral Values</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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©.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ></span> <span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-24906542347587685862009-01-22T20:07:00.001+07:002009-01-22T20:28:16.755+07:00Opinion<div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;">THE JUSTICE THEOLOGY FOR THE VIOLENCE-VICTIMIZED WOMEN<br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;">Abd A'la<br /></div><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Theology of Justice</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">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. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then, in the name of justice, all of the nation components altogether should build a better Indonesia now and the future©.</span>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-47262583431282300072009-01-15T21:33:00.004+07:002009-01-31T17:52:54.458+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SUBSTANTIVE DEMOCRACY </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">AGAINST ABUSE OF POWER </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Abd A‘la </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Abuse of power is one of dominant phenomena that we stumble on almost everywhere in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> 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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Hypocrisy</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Substantive Democracy </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">That is the agenda we need to develop seriously and to implant into reality of the nation life from now on©.</span></p> <span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ></span>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-68795182632434566592009-01-11T12:09:00.013+07:002009-01-31T18:05:56.765+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><st1:country-region><st1:place><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia;">INDONESIA</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia;"> AND MULTICULTURALISM</span></b><o:p></o:p></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Abd A ‘la</span><o:p></o:p></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <span style="font-family: Georgia;"><u1:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></u1:smarttagtype><u1:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></u1:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <u2:worddocument> <u2:view>Normal<u2:zoom>0<u2:compatibility> <u2:breakwrappedtables/> <u2:snaptogridincell/> <u2:applybreakingrules/> <u2:wraptextwithpunct/> <u2:useasianbreakrules/> <u2:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</u2:browserlevel> </u2:compatibility> </u2:zoom> </u2:view> </u2:worddocument> </xml><![endif]--> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <u1:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></u1:smarttagtype><u1:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></u1:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <u3:worddocument> <u3:view>Normal<u3:zoom>0<u3:compatibility> <u3:breakwrappedtables/> <u3:snaptogridincell/> <u3:applybreakingrules/> <u3:wraptextwithpunct/> <u3:useasianbreakrules/> <u3:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</u3:browserlevel> </u3:compatibility> </u3:zoom> </u3:view> </u3:worddocument> </xml><![endif]-->In the context of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;">, plurality is one side of the same coin called </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;">. The other is the life itself. Since it would not be able to imagine </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> 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.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Multiculturalism in Theological Perspective</span></b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Plurality in </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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 </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> 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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> faced immense problems continuously keeping watch over the ethnic conflict and such that never finished up to this reformation era. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Reconstruction</span></b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; line-height: 12pt;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<br /><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p></p> Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-57330826030747624492009-01-08T18:33:00.011+07:002009-01-31T18:33:22.300+07:00At a Glance<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0lNIpsCwiXBGF6ZRF77yzo7skJVywVawd8Eab9o1AAhcRdM_yC7wO-ma4uc-4N4RJ88_xBw5qs2ZzcjmRRVZPQ7Ud2v2Z9x1hdIdJsyuekEBASppfSxIJnkVSkwyedXhuKUv1i-Rcve1/s1600-h/Banjir1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0lNIpsCwiXBGF6ZRF77yzo7skJVywVawd8Eab9o1AAhcRdM_yC7wO-ma4uc-4N4RJ88_xBw5qs2ZzcjmRRVZPQ7Ud2v2Z9x1hdIdJsyuekEBASppfSxIJnkVSkwyedXhuKUv1i-Rcve1/s320/Banjir1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288887454058446962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">RELIGION, FLOOD AND VIOLENCE <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; line-height: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">When it rains for just an hour, </span><st1:city><st1:place><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Surabaya</span></st1:place></st1:city></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> –especially IAIN Sunan Ampel campus –is almost in flood. To what extent, it refers to people’s view and attitude toward this world life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <u1:p></u1:p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; line-height: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Many of them consider the world as themselves own, not as an entrusted from God. From theo</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">logical perspective, the</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">y </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">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</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> developing worldview. In turn, they lost morality control. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgls6I-R1k6s1ylvlrsjobjvgn5w7_wCx5W2YzgjPjvumiWvb8q-ByoG2jjt-h56ecljPw2oxyk4fSF4KFSYQENzB5QcoEplRl84oFwRFlNI2v7rSOUI5RQgMqEh9ZcuIQfPbsV80LV5KtI/s1600-h/DSC01389.JPG"> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <u2:worddocument> <u2:view>Normal<u2:zoom>0<u2:compatibility> <u2:breakwrappedtables/> <u2:snaptogridincell/> <u2:applybreakingrules/> <u2:wraptextwithpunct/> <u2:useasianbreakrules/> <u2:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</u2:browserlevel> </u2:compatibility> </u2:zoom> </u2:view> </u2:worddocument> </xml><![endif]--></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <u3:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"><u3:stroke joinstyle="miter"><u3:formulas><u3:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><u3:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><u3:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><u3:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"><u3:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"><u3:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"><u3:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"><u3:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"><u3:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"><u3:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"><u3:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"><u3:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:f></u3:formulas><u3:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"><u1:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></u1:lock></u3:path></u3:stroke></u3:shapetype><u3:shape id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288891112123056690" spid="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgls6I-R1k6s1ylvlrsjobjvgn5w7_wCx5W2YzgjPjvumiWvb8q-ByoG2jjt-h56ecljPw2oxyk4fSF4KFSYQENzB5QcoEplRl84oFwRFlNI2v7rSOUI5RQgMqEh9ZcuIQfPbsV80LV5KtI/s1600-h/DSC01389.JPG" style="" button="t"><u3:imagedata src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_image001.jpg" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgls6I-R1k6s1ylvlrsjobjvgn5w7_wCx5W2YzgjPjvumiWvb8q-ByoG2jjt-h56ecljPw2oxyk4fSF4KFSYQENzB5QcoEplRl84oFwRFlNI2v7rSOUI5RQgMqEh9ZcuIQfPbsV80LV5KtI/s200/DSC01389.JPG"></u3:imagedata></u3:shape><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia;">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.</span></div><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:12;" ></span><p style="text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-60563463971202541422009-01-04T22:23:00.007+07:002009-01-05T22:27:38.927+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >THE URGENCY OF HARMONY <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >AMONGST THE DIFFERENT BELIEVERS
<br /></span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span>Abd A‘la <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><b><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >Mistrust amongst Different Believers <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >As far as each other put the differences on enlighten dialogue, it would not become problem for harmonious life.<span style=""> </span>These differences will become serious problem when they make them accusation one to another causing hostility and alike amongst them. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >In accordance with that, some Muslims view simply the Islamic studies from the West, especially </span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >orientalism,</span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" > no more than an effort to discriminate Islam and Muslims. This assumption is still sticky in mind of many Muslims up to now.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><b><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >Sincerity and the Dialogue </span></b><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.
<br />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©. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-35316293904117002562009-01-01T22:03:00.004+07:002009-01-02T05:29:08.222+07:00Letters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mvhBA8WOMMQJCHPLf1zpRMBOV_6QZ9gE8g7ft5DxXBshNPQY4puJJ4FQ9VCoB-py16rhtPAjTGfrPsNWblZVwFWQpxHggfKdyipGcBwaRcHO6KOVaVH_Xmt9EqkJJtdj5UKpBmwPX8KP/s1600-h/Greeting+Blog+08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mvhBA8WOMMQJCHPLf1zpRMBOV_6QZ9gE8g7ft5DxXBshNPQY4puJJ4FQ9VCoB-py16rhtPAjTGfrPsNWblZVwFWQpxHggfKdyipGcBwaRcHO6KOVaVH_Xmt9EqkJJtdj5UKpBmwPX8KP/s320/Greeting+Blog+08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286343664205043250" border="0" /></a>
<br /><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="text-align: left; font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Dear all,</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" >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.</span><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:14;" >
<br /></span>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-8713311699001579592009-01-01T21:02:00.001+07:002009-01-01T22:42:54.907+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">THE SELF-RELIANCE OF PESANTREN<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">By Abd A’la<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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 </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;">. The </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> invited the leaders to participate in workshops and comparative studies in matters pertaining to educational development.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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 </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> government, for example pertaining to its foreign policy being rife to what extent with double standard. Without embarrassment, they argued that the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> should abandon its role as the “world police force”. Instead, the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">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 </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;">. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Similarly, they have objectively observed the pluralism within the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> communities besides a number of groups who still emphasize a radical evangelistic pattern of behavior, even foster antipathy toward Islam and Muslims. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The existing complicated reality they have viewed and discovered in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">It is the point they have had to take into consideration when, following their visit to the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><i><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >Published on the Point, </span></i><st1:date year="2006" day="30" month="11"><i><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >November 30, 2006</span></i></st1:date><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >.<o:p></o:p></span></p> Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-1352134294358587162008-12-30T15:46:00.007+07:002008-12-30T20:47:30.129+07:00Letter<div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Opening The Eyes, Broadening The Horizon</span></p> <p></p></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"></span></p></span></div><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:small;" >Below, a letter from Jewish community called "</span><span email="info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Jewish Voice for Peace" voicing from another side.</span>
<br /></span></p></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Dear Abd A'la,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The news about the attacks in Gaza is beyond words. </span></span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">"Appalling" doesn't even come close. </span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">U.S.-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters have fired missiles and dropped over 100 tons of bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. Over 300 people are dead and at least 1,400 more are injured. Many if not most of them are civilians. </span></span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Food and medicine were already in short supply in Gaza and all medical facilities have been completely overwhelmed by this onslaught. Access to Gaza has been cut off by Israel.</span></span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">
<br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">This is the most violent and heartbreaking situation that has happened to the Palestinians in recent history, and it must stop.</span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In addition to calling for protests at Israeli consulates and federal buildings, as well as letters to the U.S. and Israeli governments, Jewish Voice for Peace staff and members are already putting together an aggressive campaign focused on Gaza. And, without a moment to waste, we call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I am Stephanie Roth and I've been an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace for many years, including serving on the board of directors. I've been involved with social justice issues my entire adult life - both in my professional life as an editor and fundraiser, and as a volunteer and activist. There is no issue I find more important or compelling than my work to end the Israeli Occupation. </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I am particularly saddened by this weekend's tragedy, occurring just a week after the uplifting days when the Shministim - the young Israeli conscientious objectors - caught the world's attention with their courage to say no to violence on December 18. I know that people in Gaza will stop dying when Israeli soldiers, like the Shministim, have the courage to say NO. </span></i></span><i><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">NO, we will not target civilians; NO, we will not follow immoral orders; NO, we will not contribute to the destruction of Palestinian society.</span></span></i><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Together with the Shministim, and with the 1,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv and thousands of others around the world who have already come out to protest the Gaza onslaught, we say YES. YES, stepping up to speak for justice and peace makes a difference; YES, we stand with the people of Gaza, of the West Bank, of Sderot in Israel and the innocent civilians everywhere whose lives are destroyed by cynical politicians and warmakers; YES, our voices together are stronger than the voice of any one of us alone; and YES, we are committed to the longterm goal of ending the Occupation and working for justice, peace and life.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Jewish Voice for Peace's goal - MY goal - of ending the Occupation is a long-term one. Today, I will be giving the biggest gift I can to insure that they have the resources for a swift and sustained response to this most recent atrocity. </span></span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">
<br /></span></span></p> <div> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">We are in this struggle for as long as it takes, and we need your help. </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AyQoY5g%2FcAVohr9NcXA9yYyrV4nVbuva" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><u>Please make the largest gift you can, today.</u></span></a> </span><span style="font-size:small;">Every gift is put right to work, and every gift makes a difference.</span> </span></p> </div> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">"If not us, who? If not now, when?"</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Stephanie Roth</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">P.S. <span>I know that Jewish Voice for Peace will be asking for help in a variety of ways over the next few days, weeks, months. Please, if you believe in peace, if you believe in the Shministim, stay tuned and help when you can. Thank you.</span></span></span></span></p></span>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-21197340626417101382008-12-29T10:11:00.018+07:002008-12-29T22:35:51.861+07:00Photo Gallery<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkEqG-YK5xv9wCiO2oc8YYsN6XvAAumtR8Q50dXsdy0JBtgBeWTGs1fUwrDe08hMKSdImRJGhkRV_YXiIN9mEwlNzRJpdE57SKKRYz15PkhsetIzofNfL59jsZWLgpbLPaolQXP-1RTzg/s1600-h/UN-Indonesian.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkEqG-YK5xv9wCiO2oc8YYsN6XvAAumtR8Q50dXsdy0JBtgBeWTGs1fUwrDe08hMKSdImRJGhkRV_YXiIN9mEwlNzRJpdE57SKKRYz15PkhsetIzofNfL59jsZWLgpbLPaolQXP-1RTzg/s320/UN-Indonesian.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285129376237684546" border="0" /></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Settling Israel- Palestine </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Conflict</span></p> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Indonesian Peace Delegation discussed seriously with </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >some Palestinian figures and UN </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Peacekeeping Troop </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >at different </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPE5dCAs83YzhKZsG94QwCxnZQt9RmjQXuFOeLfqnVPE7ZGq5RmGLaRPbQQrJw8Zz2YcqbhbalzI8gIAq1WkQc0N8QTJn2EMYcS7QjN6FBJn_-gLlevB9WGcnjistBlg2EwlfxvOJBkMQG/s1600-h/Palestinian1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPE5dCAs83YzhKZsG94QwCxnZQt9RmjQXuFOeLfqnVPE7ZGq5RmGLaRPbQQrJw8Zz2YcqbhbalzI8gIAq1WkQc0N8QTJn2EMYcS7QjN6FBJn_-gLlevB9WGcnjistBlg2EwlfxvOJBkMQG/s320/Palestinian1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285131231328846146" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >time and site</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > to settle perpetual conflict of Israel-Palestine.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Hostility and alike absolutely cannot solve the problem. </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Instead, a dialogue and </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >mutual trust between two countries are prime medium to get the </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >goal. Besides, the both countries should put gracious ethic-moral values in the front in which the substantive religious tenets could play significant role. </span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >Let us be committed to make no more hostility, violence, attack each </span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >other, and terrorism in the Middle East and all over the world.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_ARHl4ASPlMhIQdQWW11PDrPbNItDrsjnZjsCE3-KGzjVExiO2f3rYBMemBgIgPHeILj1Bq2jlJ9UN-bjS3z1imCROd-omGhRndXaO626DMYp6-66M3XXd4tGrZf6ZaNTtv9xoPyMEOK/s1600-h/After+meeting+with+palestinian+leaders.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_ARHl4ASPlMhIQdQWW11PDrPbNItDrsjnZjsCE3-KGzjVExiO2f3rYBMemBgIgPHeILj1Bq2jlJ9UN-bjS3z1imCROd-omGhRndXaO626DMYp6-66M3XXd4tGrZf6ZaNTtv9xoPyMEOK/s320/After+meeting+with+palestinian+leaders.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285131585821214914" border="0" /></a>Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-87894776005203885472008-12-27T14:13:00.029+07:002009-01-01T11:56:03.463+07:00Opinion<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPROF%7E1.A%27L%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CPAKA%27L%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:kashida; text-kashida:0%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" align="center"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">NO JIHAD IN </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">BALI</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> BOMBING<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center; line-height: 12pt;" align="center"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Abd A’la<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">As can be read from the mass media coverage, the advent of Amrozi and Mukhlas corpses in the village of their birth in Lamongan on November 10, 2008 greeted by some or groups of Muslim communities there as a martyrs, <i>mujahid</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Community who view those Amrozi <i>at</i> <i>al</i> as martyrs confirm the strong impression of supporting Amrozi <i>at al</i> bombing the region of Legian in Bali and killing hundreds of civil society on 12 October 2002 six years ago. They seem to view that terroristic attack on </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Bali</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> is not terrorism, but holy war (<i>qital-jihadi</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">This reality shows there are some people who still do not understand the whole concept of jihad. They were trapped in the naive belief understanding religious teachings partially. They may believe, doing violence to –even killing –non-Muslim in any condition and at any time is <i>jihad fi sabilillah</i>; the holy war.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Such views certainly had to face with the concept of jihad as in the Koran, Hadith of the Messenger, the views of ulama, and with Islam the history. Through this dialogue, we expected not too hasty in using religious symbols, especially for things that would harm Islam, people and their life overall.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Meaning of Jihad</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In Islam, the term of jihad is not a synonym words <i>qital </i>and <i>harb</i> (war/ physical battle). Meanwhile <i>qital</i> in the Koran always refers to self-defense and physical resistance, jihad laden with various meanings that have become the theological basis since the Meccan period. This can be tracked such from paragraph 25 of the Koran, which directs people to “fight” </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mecca</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> idolaters through the Koran. Because of this paragraph came down in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mecca</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;">, jihad clearly is not physical attacks, but argues and the like.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In addition, the hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad stated, who called <i>mujahid</i> is someone who struggled against her/his desire to obey God's teachings, and the Hadith in Imam Nasai declared, jihad for adults or other, male or female, and the strong and the weak one are doing pilgrimage (<i>hajj and 'umrah</i>). The meaning is clearly different with <i>qital </i>allowed when people fled to<i> </i></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Medina</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> with the goal solely for self-defense.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Related to the diversity of the meaning of jihad, Hossein Nasr (2005) argues, all of the effort in noble morality, including prayer (solat) and so is the <i>jihad</i>. Therefore, Khaled Abou El Fadl (2005:21) is not excessive when he states, jihad is a powerful symbol of perseverance, hard work, and all the success in Islam. history To certain degree, <i>jihad</i> has similarity with the ethics of Protestantism. Through this <i>jihad, </i>Islam and civilization achieve peak performance in the scholarly and sciences during the early to mid-century.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">It must be recognized, <i>jihad</i> during the first generation of Muslims often be connotated with <i>qital</i>. This is because the world at that time, i.e. Arabs, </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Byzantium</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> and the other were in the state of war. Such reality making the Prophet Muhammad (puh) and Muslims after flight to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Medina</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> were allowed to resistance against the polytheists. However, <i>qital-jihadi</i> (holy war or physically resistance) was allowed only for defense, and self-exemption from the fetters repression. More than that, connoting resistance with <i>jihad</i> means that it must be based on moral grandeur, and as last way when other efforts have been closed entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the next period, the <i>fuqaha</i> (Islamic legal experts) both the Sunni and Shi’ah formulated the requirements of <i>qital-jihadi</i> strictly. Based on the Koran and Sunnah of the Messenger, they assert that physical resistance by the people of Islam should never direct to the civilian population. In addition, only leaders have the right to declare the implementation and enforcement of resistance. In the context of the Sunni, the leader is the head of state, while of the Shi’ah is the priest.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">If it is drawn to the contemporary context, when the world is no longer in the state of war, and conflict between two or more countries should be solved through international agencies, the requirement of <i>qital-jihadi</i> must be more closely strict. Conversely, <i>jihad</i> in comprehensive and humanistic perspectives, and with its morality meaning need to be disseminated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">No Jihad in Terrorism</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Based on the meaning of <i>jihad </i>above, we believe the attack carried out by Amrozi <i>et al</i> has no relation, even contrary, to the true <i>jihad</i>. Moreover, the tourists to whom Amrozi <i>at al</i> targeted, according to al-Qardhawi, not only cannot be attacked, but also not to be disturbed. Furthermore, al-Jabiri (2003) asserts, the verses of the sword (<i>qital</i>), which is often used as the basis for certain Muslim groups to conduct terrorism is highly contextual, associated with the condition of Islam at that time. Even al-Faqih Ibn al-Arabi -quoted by al-Jabiri -states, the unbelievers (<i>kafir</i> or <i>mushrikun</i>) stated in the revelations is related to the unbelievers of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mecca</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> in that time. Thus, the infidel, especially the other non-Muslims, nowadays, cannot be make simply the same as unbelievers of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mecca</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In this perspective, explaining <i>jihad </i>accordance with the substance of the teachings of Islam is very urgent to be done. Thus, the existence of Islam as a religion of peace and as grace for all (<i>rahmatan lil alamin</i>) is no more an apology, but as reality anchored in the life firmly. Through the ideals of jihad, Muslims charged hard to build and develop civilization in order to reach the welfare for themselves and the humankind as a whole. For that reason, sincerity, honesty, and building firm-commitment between Muslims and Western countries to achieve the goal are a certainty that cannot be ignored©.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;" align="left"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia;">Originally published in Indonesian on </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia;">Jawa Pos<i> daily, </i></span></b><st1:date year="2008" day="19" month="11"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia;">November 19, 2008</span></i></b></st1:date><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><st1:date year="2008" day="19" month="11"><b><i><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span></i></b></st1:date></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;"><b><i></i></b></span><p style="text-align: left;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><i></i></b></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:78%;"><st1:date year="2008" day="19" month="11"><i></i></st1:date></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></p> Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110527129418492291.post-65637060866856028332008-12-27T09:57:00.002+07:002008-12-29T22:36:51.058+07:00Photo Gallery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibndiDFkhoIMEerY-F-7eXa4BOlu8QOrgbSiIJYF4_OibRJ3qrqHVp8zUEOiVYK8AguqPHRwq_qEXggw_Ju_enhjKgM6f9fYg7N2rANW1Co4LXBU5wMucIXCnEpWyCbgcGz_niGFmsNxHa/s1600-h/Sasson+Tiram+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibndiDFkhoIMEerY-F-7eXa4BOlu8QOrgbSiIJYF4_OibRJ3qrqHVp8zUEOiVYK8AguqPHRwq_qEXggw_Ju_enhjKgM6f9fYg7N2rANW1Co4LXBU5wMucIXCnEpWyCbgcGz_niGFmsNxHa/s320/Sasson+Tiram+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284298808010574418" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Urgent of Peace and Justice</span><br /></div>Cooperation among people with their various backgrounds to promote justice and peace in the world is no more we be able to avoid.Abd A'lahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624090871559850266noreply@blogger.com0