http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/blogs/can-muslims-take-non-muslims-as-leaders/543937
September 12, 2012 | by Abdul Qowi Bastian
Can Muslims Take Non-Muslims as Leaders?
Rhoma Irama arriving at the office of Jakarta Election Supervisory Committee
(Panwaslu). He was summoned to explain his mosque sermon against voting for
Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pairing Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
(Antara Photo) In the first day of Ramadan, two friends — one a member of
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), another a member of Jakarta
gubernatorial candidate Joko Widodo’s campaign team — and I were discussing the
results of the July Jakarta election in a public library in Menteng, Central
Jakarta.
Although named the official winners of the first round of the Jakarta
gubernatorial race, the Solo mayor and his running mate, Basuki "Ahok" Purnama,
still face an uphill battle.
Worried about “dirty” strategies that could be used by their opponent in the
runoff election, my friend who's a member of the Jokowi campaign team asked me
if there was a verse in the Holy Koran that allows Muslims to choose
non-Muslims as their leader. Not knowing the answer, I shrugged.
He said he wanted to look for the verse to back his candidate, Ahok, who is of
Chinese ethnicity and a Christian. He believes Islam tolerates Muslims
befriending non-believers.
The aim is to later “infiltrate” Muslim clerics in Jakarta by spreading these
messages during Idul Fitri, when large numbers of Muslims gathered in place of
worships listening to post-Ramadan sermons. Both my PDI-P friend and I objected
to the idea, arguing politics shouldn’t sink that low.
The conversation took place before the king of dangdut, Rhoma Irama,
controversially called on Muslims to vote for Muslims during a sermon. It was
before Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo sat among devotees at Al-Muttaqin mosque,
where a preacher delivering his sermon proclaimed, "Muslims must pick a leader
of the same faith."
The idea of using such low tactics to reach the desired goals perched on both
sides. The difference is one retreated, the other went on with it.
Sullying Idul Fitri
Idul Fitri is a holy time when Muslims celebrate the past month of fasting
from worldly desires. Allowing dirty campaigns into a public sphere like a
mosque is out of the question.
Sadly, during Idul Fitri prayer at a local
mosque in Sunter, North Jakarta, last month, the preacher quoted a verse from
the Koran that said Muslims should not choose non-Muslims to be their leaders.
As I was sitting in the mosque and listening to the khutba (or sermon), I
reached into my trouser's pocket and pulled out my iPhone. According to my
iQuran app, the verse cited by the preacher (QS 5:51) says:
"O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they
are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend,
then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people."
>From the iQuran version, clearly the verse makes no reference to a leader. So,
>I approached the preacher after the prayer session adjourned and asked for a
>clarification.
He told me the original word used, “awliya,” translates to leader or master.
But, from the solid proof I had in my hand, I insisted that it said “friend,”
not “leader.”
Our conversation didn't go anywhere, so I rushed home and consulted Al-Lubab, a
tafsir (interpretation) book, written by former religious affairs minister and
renowned cleric Quraish Shihab.
In the book, Quraish doesn't translate “awliya” to leader, but to faithful
friend ("kawan yang dapat dipercaya") instead.
In his interpretation, Quraish elaborated it to what I think is the most
important point in this debacle: That Islam allows Muslims to deal kindly and
justly with non-Muslims as long as they are kind and courteous.
Supporting this argument, another verse (QS 60:9) in the Koran says:
"Allah only forbids you with regard to those who fight you for your faith, and
drive you out of your homes and support others in driving you out, from turning
to them for protection (or taking them as wali). Those who seek their
protection they are indeed wrongdoers."
Quick Internet searches lead to this: In Sunni Islam, “awliya” is generally
short for “waliulah” or friend of God. Shiite Muslims, on the other hand,
believe the term means the one vested with the “authority of God.” And this is
the fundamental part where Sunni and Shiites diverge.
Shiites reject Sunni's interpretation that Muslims may not take non-Muslims as
a friend, whereas they interpret the verse as to not allow Jews and Christians
to act as “authorities” over Muslims.
Not to mention Prophet Muhammad's kindness and mercy to non-Muslims. Muhammad,
in his lifetime, was kind to the pagans in Mecca and fought them only when they
fought him.
The Koran Should Be Read in Context
Just last week, I encountered another similar topic during the Friday prayer
sermon at a mosque next to my office building in Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.
This time, the preacher cited another verse that carried the same message:
"O you who believe! Do not take for intimate friends from among others than
your own people; they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you; they love
what distresses you; vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their
mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still; indeed, we have made
the communications clear to you, if you will understand" (QS 3: 118).
Unwilling to deal with the same propaganda twice, I approached the preacher and
asked for clarifications. Again.
He said “awliya” has varied meanings. "It could be ‘intimate friends’ or
'master,'" he said.
Armed with my research, I proceeded to ask him another question: "But sura' Al
Mumtahinah verse 9 says that Allah only forbids us from taking non-Muslims as a
friend — or a leader, for that matter — in exceptional circumstances, such as
when they attack us or wrong us."
To which he replied: "No, it doesn't say so. Do not make allies with those who
are not from your group affiliation."
"Even if they do no harm toward us?"
"Yes. Muslims should only choose among ourselves."
"What about Muslims in countries where they're the minority group, and no
Muslim political leaders are running for position?"
"It's better to not use their political right than to have to vote for
non-Muslims."
'Leaders,' 'friends,' whatever the correct translation is, it's unwise to take
these verses at face value. The noble Koran is God's divine words and there is
a reason behind the revelation of the Koran and every verse in it. And one must
look at them contextually
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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