A number of high-profile issues have made headlines in the past month, including the planned construction of the Muria nuclear plant and the political maneuverings ahead of the 2009 presidential election. Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization, Hasyim Muzadi, discussed some of these issues with The Jakarta Post's Imanuddin Razak in a recent interview.

Question: Ulema and residents in Jepara, Central Java, recently rejected the planned construction of the Muria nuclear plant, with a declaration calling nuclear technology haram, or forbidden. What has really happened there?

Answer: The NU executive board supports the move by the Jepara ulema and residents as their rejection of the Muria nuclear power plant is based on their distrust that the plant would be safe for humans in the surrounding areas, and whether the government could guarantee there would not be any leaks or problems with the nuclear waste.

All the grounds they have provided in expressing their rejection of the Muria plant were objective. Therefore, we (NU executive board) support them.

What we have corrected of their action was the statement that nuclear technology is haram. Nuclear technology is an object which cannot independently be labeled haram or halal (permitted). It can be categorized as haram, if for example, it is used to kill people.

We also regretted them for their failure to communicate with the NU executive board prior to taking their action. Only after the case made headlines, with numerous figures, including chairman of the Board of Patrons of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, his daughter Yenny and musician Iwan Fals visiting the area, did we get involved in the matter. But we have met with the Jepara ulema and residents and the case is now settled.

Q: A number of regions, including Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province and Tangerang regency, have issued sharia-based bylaws. How does the NU see the issuance of such bylaws?

A: The sharia bylaw is formally and textually not necessary to be implemented in Indonesia, as it would only draw strong reaction from other faiths. Do you remember the Christian bylaw in Manokwari, which was none other than a response to Tangerang's sharia bylaw?

Issues like sex workers and gambling should not necessarily be regulated in a sharia bylaw, as they are already regulated in the Criminal Code, while social issues like poverty and unemployment are not the domain of Islam only, as other religions also regulate such matters. Such issues should, therefore, be regulated in bylaws within the context of state laws.

Q: How does the NU observe the jihad movement if compared with terrorism, as some jihad acts in Indonesia have been considered by many as close to terrorist acts?

A: All efforts to promote the development of religion – among others through the promotion of education, justice, human rights, prosperity and state unity – are considered jihad.

Waging war in Islam can also be considered as jihad, but only on the condition that it is taken as a defense against attack by other parties or countries. Jihad cannot be applied as an offensive.

As an example, the Lebanese people who have been attacked by the Israelis or Palestine's Fatah movement who have been severely attacked by the Israelis. There is nothing wrong with the Lebanese and the Palestinians fighting back if they were attacked. That's jihad.

Meanwhile, jihad cannot be applied in times of peace. So, bombing places in Indonesia in the name of jihad against the US, for example, while Indonesia is peaceful and not at war with the US, cannot be categorized as jihad.

Still in the context of jihad, Western countries should therefore not attack or invade other countries without clear or truthful reasons. The decision by the US government under President Bush to invade Iraq over the unproven existence of weapons of mass destruction and in the absence of the UN's approval only triggered radicalism, especially in Muslim countries.

Q: How does the NU view polygamy?

A: Polygamy should be viewed as an alternative in Islam and therefore should not be contradicted against (monogamy). Its (polygamy) implementation should be an individual concern. If a man is satisfied enough with one woman (wife), why should he look for more?

But every man is not the same. There are some who are hypersexual. Should those hypersexual men look for prostitutes because polygamy is forbidden? Or should we allow those men to have extramarital affairs with other women?

Another element for consideration in polygamy is the number of women in a region. In East Java, for example, there are two million more women than men. The same question is again whether we should let those men have extramarital affairs or practice polygamy.

By allowing polygamy, we will provide certainty of status for the children. Unlike children born to unmarried couples, children resulting from married couples, whether or not polygamous, will have a clear legal status of who their parents are.

Q: It's still two years away from the 2009 presidential election. How is the NU preparing for the 2009 election?

A: NU is not a political party. It will therefore not nominate nor support any presidential candidate.

But if an NU executive announces his or her candidacy, it is his or her personal right to do so and has nothing to do with the NU as an institution. And as part of the internal mechanisms in the NU, he or she must be non-active from the NU prior to running for president.

Q: What about the claim by Gus Dur that he has been mandated by senior NU ulema to run in the 2009 election?

A: I personally do not know about the issue. I do not know either whether they were really senior NU ulema or which ulema Gus Dur was referring to. Gus Dur has yet to talk to me about it and I think it should remain his business.

Q: In 2004, you were asked by Megawati Soekarnoputri (of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) to be her running mate in the presidential election. How about for the 2009 election?

A: Until now, I have not thought about participating in the 2009 election as I am still tasked with settling various problems in the NU.

Q: How about if NU members ask you to run?

A: There must be a mechanism to follow if they want to do so. But I have not seen any indications that they will do so. And I should not be geer (overconfident) that they would want me to run.

Q: Which would you prefer, an old face or a young one for president in 2009?

A: To me, age should not be the main consideration. If you look for young faces, why don't you vote for those on Indonesian Idol. Old and young are the same. The most important thing is that Indonesia needs improvement, not slogans.