Regional

NU never interested in Khilafah Islamiyah ideas

Senin, 13 Juli 2009 | 05:05 WIB

Jombang, NU Online
As the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has never been interested in any ideas in regard with the khilafah Islamiyah (Islamic state). Since the beginning, NU has asserted that both Pancasila and the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) are the final form of the national state legitimate and binding all citizens including the Muslims.

Radical Islamic groups researcher M Kholid Syeirozi made the remarks on the sidelines of a dialogue at Pesantren Mamba'ul Ma'arif  Denanyar Jomabang East Java on Saturday.<>

Kholid was of view that NU had never been obsessed with the arabization and the internationalization of Islam. Instead, he added, NU had inherited long-standing preaching methods adaptive towards local cultures as developed by the nine saints (walisongo).

"This creative synthesis has properly been shown by the Walisongo's preaching models mostly manifested in Javanese terms which are actually littered with such Islamic values as Sekaten (traditional ceremony), Dalang, Jimat Kalimosodo," NU Online's Wahib Putra Pamungkas reported.

Islam ahlussunnah wal jamaah (Aswaja) adopted by NU, Kholid said, was a hope of the resurgence of Islamic world. In this case, he said, pesantren as center for teaching Islam Aswaja as adopted by NU should be capable of strengthening the material and intellectual basis of Aswaja as  line of thought and movement.

While, Idrus Ramil delivering a material entitled The Strategic Role of Pesantren in Facing the Penetration of Sects outside Aswaja said that there had recently been such truth claim in dealing with the meaning of Aswaja.

The author of the "Madzhab Asy'ari Benarkah Aswaja: Jawaban terhadap Aliran Salafi" said that recently the concept of Aswaja had also been claimmed by the Wahabi Salafi group.

"If we go to book stores, we will find many books about Aswaja written by Wahabi (followers)," he said.

Ramli reiterated that the massive attack of the wahabization internationally was inseparable from the financial assistance amounted to some Rp.700 trillion.

Present also in the forum was KH Aziz Masyhuri, stressing the importance of introducing Aswaja education since the early ages.

He said that education was one of strategies of pesantren to prepare santri (those studying in peantren) so that they would expectedly be able to address any challenge from outside.

Kiai Aziz added that pesantren and NU should introspect in regard with the teaching of Aswaja in pesantren and madrassa instead of criticizing the existence of sects outside Aswaja.

"We are not just enough to criticize (their existence). Rather, we should do self-introspection," he said. (yus/nam)