Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Around a thousand Muslim intellectuals, clerics and representatives from various Islamic organizations are currently gathering in Yogyakarta to discuss Islam and other national issues during the 6th Congress of Indonesian Muslims.
The congress, which runs through Wednesday, was officially opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Pagelaran hall of the Yogyakarta Palace on Monday with the theme of Strengthening the Political, Economic and Socio-cultural Role of a Fair and Civilized Indonesian Muslim Community.
"The meeting is a means of fostering brotherhood among Muslims and is a call to maintain unity and critical evaluation of both the internal and external conditions of Muslims," said Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin at the opening of the congress.
The congress is to discuss several issues, including how Muslims are responsible for maintaining and building the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). "The meeting will also discuss internal issues in Islam, such as how to enhance the role of Muslims in improving the nation," said Din.
With around 207 million of Indonesia's population of 240 million being Muslim, Islam's position in Indonesia is very strategic and whether Indonesia would advance would be determined by the role of Muslims, he said.Din said the position of Muslims was very important in Indonesia, so defining a clear role is necessary in its development.
"I hope the congress would give birth to a historical document, or a kind of edict, as a guideline for the commitment [of Muslims] to protect the NKRI and engage in a jihad [struggle] to secure our independence and responsibility to develop the nation," Din pointed out.
Besides being attended by various Muslim organizations and groups, representatives of 42 sultanates and kingdoms from across the country and dozens of foreign envoys were also attending the congress.
Vice President Kalla said Islam in Indonesia was moderate with a different cultural background and Islamic history was part of a peaceful history. Even if Muslims were at war, such as Prince Diponegoro and Imam Bonjol, they were fighting against colonial rulers.
"There is no record in the history of Islam in Indonesia of Muslims waging war and killing fellow Muslims because our Islam is different from that in the Middle East. As the biggest Muslim nation, we are relatively better at maintaining unity and being a pioneer of harmony," Kalla emphasized.
However, the size of Indonesian Muslims in terms of numbers was still lopsided when seen from the perspective of the economy. Out of 100 poor Indonesian people, 90 of them are Muslim; out of 100 wealthy people, only between 10 and 12 are Muslim, said the Vice President.
"This is due to the lack of Muslims' national spirit in economic matters and clerics are to blame for the imbalance," said Kalla.
Preaching, or dakwah, was currently still partial in terms of material, as it only focused on religious issues. "The persistence of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions in doing business to make a living has never been mentioned," said Kalla.
As the biggest religious community, he added, Muslims must build a national spirit as well as the spirit to do business, without which a nation would go nowhere, and prayer without labor would also be vain.
Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said the congress was partly meant to make Muslims reflect about themselves. "Clerics should also serve as a bridge between the people and the government," said Sultan. He added clerics should not only engage in religious dakwah, but also build Muslims' independent spirits.
To formulate a number of concrete recommendations, congress participants were divided into three commissions: namely, one on strengthening Muslim politics, one on economics and the other on socio-culture affairs.
The outcome of the commission meetings will be agreed on Wednesday before the close of the congress, which will be attended by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.