Malang, NU Online
Member of the Advisory Board (Syuriyah) of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Prof. Dr. KH Tholhah Hasan, popularly known as Kiai Tholhah, said that Indonesian muslims in general and Nahdliyin (NU followers) in particular to understand the most important thing in dealing with the Islamic teachings, especially in differentiating between what so-called as ta'abbudi and ta'aqquli.

In offering 'salam' to other religious adherents for instance, Kiai Tholhah deplored fellow muslims strictly understanding the ways of Muslims in offering salam to other religious groups for focusing more on the ta'abbudi aspect.

Kiai Tholhah said there had been many religious arguments misunderstood by hardline groups propagating radical lines of thought in the country, saying that "not only should the Islamic teachings be understood based on doctrinal aspects, the teachings should also be approached through historical and cultural aspects."

"It is now time for Indonesian muslims to rethink their position for living in the most populous Muslim country in the world," he told NU Online here on Monday (18/04), adding that Islam was the second most popular religion in the world.

There were about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world in 2010, according to Pew Research. Muslims constituted about 23% of all people on Earth. The religion is currently in a period of rapid growth, and is expected to reach 2.8 billion by 2050, when the number of Muslims will probably approximately equal the number of Christians in the world.

For that reason, he added, the Indonesian Muslims should be proud of themselves for living in Indonesia and be the leading pioneer for other Muslims in other countries in preserving the religious teachings littered fully with tolerant and moderate ones. (Masdar)