'Indonesia should embrace Islam Nusantara'

Jakarta, NU Online
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said that the country should embrace “Islam Nusantara” (Islam of the Archipelago) and showcase itself as a Muslim-majority country with moderate views and an emphasis on religious tolerance.
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Lukman said after a discussion on Islam Nusantara at his official residence in South Jakarta recently, that the term did not refer to a mix of Islam and Javanese traditions. Instead he believes, Islam Nusantara promotes a synthesis of Islamic values and teachings and a variety of indigenous cultures.

“The teachings that have been implemented in our country for hundreds of years have manifested into something special that can’t be experienced anywhere else. This is what we now call moderate Islam, which is tolerant and full of Muslims who peacefully coexist with others — an Islam that supports human rights and the rights of women,” Lukman was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.

Lukman further said that Indonesia, which is a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, should promote its own version of Islam and become a model for other Muslim-majority countries around the world.

He also said the country needed an extensive dialogue to allow different Muslim groups to grasp the meaning of Islam Nusantara and to understand that the moniker did not, and would never refer to, a separate branch of Islam.

Meanwhile NU young intellectual Ulil Absar Abdalla said that Islam Nusantara was in fact practiced by a majority of people in the country.

“[Indonesian Muslims] are tolerant, easy going and rich. We [...] may not agree with each other but we rarely resort to violence,” he said.

He noted that early preachers of Islam in the country has made teachings in the Koran consistent with local cultures.

“Our Wahabist [a conservative sect of Sunni Islam] friends and members of the HTI all have the right to live here, as do atheists. All groups must have a guarantee that they may live in this country,” he said.

Even so, Ulil warned that the discourse of Islam Nusantara should not be muffled so as not to alienate other Muslim groups or religious minorities.

Despite claims regarding the compatibility of Islam with democracy and human rights, The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) published a report last month decrying Indonesia’s continuous intolerance of religions other than the Sunni version of Islam. (masdar)