Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Fikri Harish, Surabaya/Jakarta – Inviting clerics from all over the world, Nahdlatul Ulama's central executive board is set to discuss the legitimacy of the United Nations Charter from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh, in the first International Congress of Islamic Jurisprudence on Civilization that takes place on Monday.
NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf, or Gus Yahya as he is popularly known, said this international congress, involving 79 clerics from 40 countries, was crucial as the UN Charter served as the foundation of global order and on the development of civilization.
"We hope that this congress will act as the catalyst [for further discussions], as so far, the Muslim community has never been involved in civilization development as written in the UN Charter," said Gus Yahya on Sunday at an event in Surabaya.
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad el-Tayyeb, Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam and Muslim World League Secretary-General Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa are some of the fiqh experts the NU has invited to partake in the congress, with Indonesia's biggest Islamic organization expecting their appearance would lend authority to the proceedings.
Conceived as a follow up to the Religion of 20 (R20) event, one of the many side-events held during Indonesia's G20 presidency in November, the NU chairman came up with the idea for the congress as he recognizes the many problems within the Islamic community and in its relationship with other communities.
"This is obviously an enormous undertaking, but [the international congress] will only serve as the trigger. I hope that future discussions could actually result in outlining scientific processes where Islam could help in furthering the development of civilization that could benefit everyone," Yahya explained.
Given the nature of the congress, NU Deputy Secretary-General Najib Azca explained in further detail that there would not be a declaration resulting from the discussions.
"[The result] will be in the form of a joint communique on how to legitimize the UN Charter from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence", said Najib at Sunday's event.
The International Congress of Islamic Jurisprudence on Civilization itself is part of a series of events held to celebrate NU's centennial anniversary, with the main event set to take place on Tuesday at Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java.
As part of the event, Yahya is set to read out the results of the international congress to the millions of nahdliyin, as the NU followers are popularly known, that the organization estimates will partake in the celebration.
The NU Chairman will also personally deliver the joint communique to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who is scheduled to make an appearance on Tuesday. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir are some of the delegates expected to accompany the President.