NU: Islam in Indonesia must become world reference

Yogyakarta, NU Online
Islam in Indonesia must be able to become a role model and a reference for world civilization, member of the Advisort Board of Nahdlatul Ulama Jusuf Kalla said.<>

"Islam in Indonesia must become a pioneer in the development of ideas for better togetherness. It must become a reference for the world, a moderate Islam, Islam as a reference for the world," he noted in his speech during the opening of the 6th Congress of Indonesian Moslems (KUII) here on Monday (09/02).

The vice president remarked that Islam has, so far, been on the front line in the development of civilization in Indonesia, and it is in Indonesia where Islam is able to grow moderately until now.

He said Islam in Indonesia is different from that in the Middle East. In Indonesia, Islam has been propagated peacefully through clerics who are also traders or traders who are also clerics. The vice president called Islam being propagated by cleric traders or trader clerics as transitional Islam.

With regard to the Middle East, Jusuf Kalla pointed out that the region has, since long, been engulfed in conflicts and insurgencies.

Therefore, he remarked that Islam in Indonesia is moderate, and also, it is not surprising that it has grown along with other religions.

In the political area, he stated that all political parties in Indonesia have called themselves as religious nationalists, and Islamic parties too have presented themselves as nationalists.

"The general chairpersons of ten political parties all hold a Hajj title," he pointed out.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla is of the viewpoint that politics in Indonesia has also evolved and matured as compared to that in some other countries.

He said Indonesia is one of the biggest Muslim-majority countries in the world, and the situation in the country has been better as compared to other Islamic countries.

Indonesia has become a country that is respected by various quarters, he stated.

On the occasion, Din Syamsuddin, the general chairman of the Indonesia Council of Ulemas (MUI), noted that the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI) is the fruit of the hard work of the Muslims in Indonesia, and in view of that, the Muslims in the country are responsible for the future of NKRI.

Around 775 participants comprising 700 representatives from MUI, Islamic organizations, boarding schools, universities, domestic and foreign Islamic institutions, professionals, individual figures, and 75 observers participated in the congress.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saefuddin, Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, and Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid also attended the opening event.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, who is also head of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, hailed the congress being held in the city, saying that, as one of the sultanates (Islamic kingdom), Yogyakarta has played an important role in the history of Islamic movement in the country.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq