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May 25, 2006

US: Indonesian Ex-President Claims Islam Is Not Extreme

The man pictured on the right is Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, who, after the corrupt leader Suharto was deposed, became the president of Indonesia in 1999. Known also as "Gus Dur", Wahid is an outspoken moderate. Today he has an article in the Washington Post, entitled "Extremism Isn't Islamic Law".

Gus Dur is undoubtedly a mild and benign character, who worked to protect the rights of minority faiths in Indonesia. However, his views on Islam unfortunately seem to ignore some basic facts. He discusses in his article the case of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan Christian whom, as we described on March 19 was under threat of death for leaving Islam. In the end, even though Abdul Rahman had a coalition of 500 turbaned Mullahs calling for him to be executed as an "apostate", he was spirited away to Italy, where he then renamed himself "Joel".

In his article, Gus Dur states that "the Koran and the sayings of the prophet Muhammad do not definitively address this issue (the death penalty for apostasy)". He argues that Islamic law, despite its "divine" inspiration, is man-made.

He states that there are two fundamental points of Islamic jurisprudence, al-umuru bi maqashidiha and al-hukm-u yadullu ma'a illatihi wujudan wa adaman.

Al-umuru bi maqashidiha means "Every problem in accordance with its purpose". Gus Dur argues that under this condition, Rahman broke no law, and should, under Islamic law, have been protected, not placed under a potential death penalty.

Al-hukm-u yadullu ma'a illatihi wujudan wa adaman means "The law is formulated in accordance with circumstances". This means that Islamic law must change with changing times and needs, and is not fixed and inflexible.

He cites the Koran, Surah 2, verse 256, which states "Let there be no compulsion in religion," and uses this to condemn the Islamic extremists, such as those who called for the death of Abdul Rahman and also those calling for the death of the people responsible for the Danish cartoons.

He cites the case of Mahmoud Muhammad Taha, who was accused and convicted of apostasy in Sudan, under section 96 of the penal code (which still exists in law). Taha was executed on 18 January, 1985, aged 76, following a trial that lasted only two hours. He had been a liberalising figure in Sudanese politics, and his execution on the orders of President Gaafar Nimeiry was based on his suggestions that Islam itself needed liberal reform (al-hukm-u yadullu ma'a illatihi wujudan wa adaman), including better treatment of women.

According to Gus Dur, the countless victims of "Jihadist" violence in Sudan "would have been spared if Taha's vision of Islam had triumphed instead of that of the extremists."

Gus Dur was leader of the Nadhlatul Ulama, which represents some 40 million Indonesian Muslims, between 1984 and 1999. He was finally impeached as Indonesia's president in July 2001, partly because of his ill-health, and partly because of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption. Because of a series of strokes, the poor man is now nearly blind.

He is a humane and compassionate man, but his arguments are flawed, in two senses. Firstly, the concept of al-hukm-u yadullu ma'a illatihi wujudan wa adaman or "The law is formulated in accordance with circumstances" is always open to varying interpretations. And when Muslims have seen a potential "war" situation, they have adapted their interpretations accordingly.

Modern-day Salafism, which is an extremely hostile and pro-jihadist form of Islam is nothing new. Its followers derive from the early Kharjites or Khawarij. This movement started in 657 AD in North Africa. It was the murder by Kharjitists of Imam Ali that led to the schism between Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.

The rationalisation of all modern suicide bombers, it seems, is based on their own interpretation of al-hukm-u yadullu ma'a illatihi wujudan wa adaman. The sects in Britain called the Saved Sect, the Saviour Sect and Al-Ghurabaa justify suicide bombing because, for them, the rules, or circumstances, have changed.

We quoted the Saviour Sect's Abu Uzair saying that, because Britain was "at war" with Muslims in Iraq: "The banner has been risen for Jihad inside the UK which means, for them, it is allowed for them to attack."

Obviously, Osama bin Laden's raison d'etre is that, in Islamic jurisprudence, Islam is in a war, and therefore he can justify Islamically the attacks of 9/11 and any other atrocities he chooses.

The second failing of Gus Dur's argument is that despite the Koranic injunction "Let there be no compulsion in religion", the Hadiths do not support such a tolerant approach. Dur cites an agreement made by Mohammed called the Hudaibiyah Agreement,, made in 628 AD. This was a treaty or truce between Mohammed's followers in Medina with the Quraish (pagans). However, within a short time after this, the Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe in Medina, were attacked. Mohammed believed they were plotting against him, and therefore condoned the beheading of at least 400 men and boys from the tribe, effectively the entire male membership.

And as we reported earlier the Hadiths do not support the notion of Mohammed as a forgiver of apostates. The Sunan Abu Dawud states:

Ikrimah said: 'Ali burned some people who retreated from Islam. When Ibn 'Abbas was informed of it, he said: If it had been I, I would not have them burned, for the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do not inflict Allah's punishment on anyone, but would have had killed them on account of the statement of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him). The Apostle said: Kill those who change their religion. - Sunan Abu Dawud, Book XXXIII, Kitab al-Hudud.

Gus Dur is a well-meaning individual, but it seems his view of Islam is the view of Islam that he wishes it to be. Unless ALL Muslims can ascribe to his rose-tinted appraisal of the faith, the world will continue to rush headlong into the inevitable war between the supporters of extremist Islam and the supporters of freedom.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 25, 2006 1:23 PM

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