Jakarta, NU Online
Member of the Supreme Council of Nadlatul Ulama Jusuf Kalla has said he is grateful that unlike people in Arab countries who have to deal with a high incidence of civil war, Indonesians enjoy a peaceful and harmonious life.<>

“Every day, we see TV programs showing civil wars in several Arab countries, such as Libya and Yemen. Elements of society in those countries keep fighting, destroying each other. Alhamdulillah [thank God], we, people in Indonesia, do not experience such a situation. We can live in harmony,” the Vice President said as quoted by Antara during a visit to Nahdlatul Ulum pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Maros, South Sulawesi, on Sunday (7/6).

Kalla further said that all elements of the nation should safeguard Indonesia’s well-established harmonious life. Even when they encountered certain parties bringing radical views into the country, Indonesian people must fight them with pure thoughts or ideology instead of with violence, he said.

“No matter how sophisticated police or military weapons are, they won’t be effective [in fighting the spread of radical thoughts]. They should be fought through an ideology, the ideology of moderate Islam, which offers a neutral stance,” said Kalla.

The Vice President further explained that a country that suffered economic turmoil was easier to penetrate with radical ideologies. That was why civil wars had continued to soar in Arab countries.

Kalla said the government was continuously striving to improve people’s prosperity with various economic projects and develop Islamic institutions of higher learning to make Indonesians more educated.

“Many [Indonesian people] choose to pursue a higher education in Saudi Arabia, where armed conflicts and bombing occur everywhere. In other Arab countries, such as Yemen and Syria, the situation is even worse,” he said.

“Thus, it is much more important to get Islamic thinkers from pesantren in our country." (masdar)