On MUI’s Fatwa The Jakarta Post, Thursday, January 29, 2009
I wonder whether the members of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) have ever been thoroughly tested as to their wisdom, spiritual maturity and profound understanding of the contents of the Holy Koran. Have these ulema ever taken the time and energy to seriously study all those activities they now declare as being haram? Are they just guessing? Are they pitifully uninformed or misinformed, or are they just too conceited? >From my own experience as someone who isn’t afraid to admit ignorance and who >is always eager to learn something new and useful, I have concluded that an >ignorant, uninformed but sincere person really thirsting for knowledge is >always willing to put personal pride aside, is willing to truthfully and >bravely admit ignorance, and is also willing to ask those who know to share >their knowledge. Or diligently seek the correct information and literature. Or engage in mutually beneficial dialogue. Those who are conceited, however, prefer to hide behind their own interpretation of knowledge, rather than lose their pride and admit to a lack of knowledge. Therefore, they remain “guessing” in the limbo of uncertainty, which is akin to living in fear. No wonder these guessing and conceited people insist on imposing their own narrow-minded decrees on those who wisely refuse to conform to their outlandish rulings. They cannot tolerate other beliefs and neither can they accept other ways of worshiping. I wonder what these intolerant, mindless individuals feel whenever they read the opening of each Surah in the Holy Koran: “In the name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful …” Do they still feel they are “real” Muslims, whatever that might mean? Surah “The Cow” (116 – 117) has this to say: “And the words of thy Lord are perfect in truth and in justice: None can change his words: He is the Hearing, Knowing. But if thou obey most men in this land, from the Path of God will they mislead thee: They follow but a conceit, and they are only liars.” Surah “The Night Journey” 72 says: “And he who has been blind here, shall be blind in the hereafter, and wander yet more from the way.” Don’t these truths contain clear enough warnings to those who really understand? I am bold in predicting that most of those activities now labeled as haram by the MUI will still be practiced anyway, and by a very large number of clear-thinking Muslims. By so freely, easily and ludicrously declaring a number of basic human rights as haram, the MUI will only make itself look more ridiculous and become more powerless at the same time. Is this a result of its bad karma, generated by the banning of the Ahmadiyah? Or is this, simply, “politicking” in order to win Muslim votes in this year’s presidential election? Only Allah, The Divinely Just and Merciful, knows! Tami Koestomo Bogor, West Java Source: THE JAKARTA POST URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/29/letter-on-mui’s-fatwa.html Mencari semua teman di Yahoo! Messenger? Undang teman dari Hotmail, Gmail ke Yahoo! Messenger dengan mudah sekarang! http://id.messenger.yahoo.com/invite/
