http://www.theage.com.au/world/indonesian-singer-tapping-into-fame-to-deliver-a-message-of-peace-20100530-wnfe.html

Indonesian singer tapping into fame to deliver a message of peace 
SELMA MILOVANOVIC, INDONESIA 
May 31, 2010 
 
Emha Ainun Nadjib promotes cultural dialogue between religions in indonesia. 
Photo: Selma Milovanovic



WHEN Emha Ainun Nadjib stood on a stage in Birmingham, England, in 2004, 
singing an Islamic prayer in Arabic to the music of Silent Night, a row of 
Indonesian nuns waited behind him to sing the carol's actual verse in 
Indonesian.

Any given month this year, when he attends a dozen public gatherings across 
Indonesia - each drawing crowds of between 1000 and 10,000 people - Nadjib is 
likely to use a similar technique to promote dialogue between religions.

This traditionally educated West Javanese Muslim, who describes himself as a 
''cultural pluralist'', has a cult following across radical and moderate 
Islamic movements in Indonesia, as well as Christians.

He entered public life in the 1970s as a poet and performer. He performed at 
the Vatican after the death of Pope John Paul II and has more recently 
organised commemorations for the late former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

''Muslim society in Indonesia is a little bit disorganised,'' Nadjib said. 
''Most of the guidance comes from . the gathering of only some ulama [religious 
scholars], which does not have civil legal force. People don't follow their 
fatwa [ruling]. They treat it as a joke.''

Instead, according to Nadjib, affectionately known as Cak Nun, ''TV decides who 
becomes ulama. Because of that, we have supremacy of image. People also become 
president not based on their capability but their performance and image, mainly 
on TV.''

Nadjib is tapping into this image-obsessed society by using cultural 
performances to spread his message.

He says he has no political leanings or interest in joining either of 
Indonesia's mass-membership Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama and 
Muhammadiyah, each of which numbers its members in the tens of millions.

But despite his criticism of many organisations, he gets on with all of them 
and even says he knows the controversial terror-linked Islamist cleric Abu 
Bakar Bashir well, ''although we are different''.

Speak to local journalists and they say many parties would be happy if he was 
president. Nahdlatul Ulama has twice unsuccessfully approached him to become 
the governor of Java.

According to Nadjib, political power in Indonesia has become a commodity and 
corruption is so acceptable ''everybody wants to be part of it''. Aspiring 
politicians have to have serious money to buy votes. Candidates for a district 
mayor's position are expected to pledge at least 5 billion rupiah ($A633, 307), 
he said.

''Whenever there are elections for district mayor, a thousand people come to 
[the candidate's] house to get money. It's known as the 'dawn attack','' Nadjib 
said. Then, candidates go to the ulema - whose own elections are often also 
influenced by politicians - to get a blessing.

Nadjib, who is planning to visit Australia in July, wants religions to engage 
in cultural and political dialogue.

Whether he speaks at a Dutch synagogue or stands on a stage in Yogyakarta, his 
message would be the same: ''If you are a goat, let them be a goat. If you are 
a buffalo, let them be a buffalo. But you can't mix a goat with a buffalo, so 
let everybody be what they are, but let them live in harmony in the same 
place.''

He is treated like a rock star wherever he goes, and has the same 
self-assurance: ''Nobody has the courage to threaten me, not even the 
government or the military,'' he said. ''I'm not a very important person in 
Indonesia. But what I have done is just fulfil the invocation of the people. 
I'm not a hero.''

Selma Milovanovic is in Indonesia as a fellow of the Asia Pacific Journalism 
Centre.


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