When Ahmad Dahlan founded Muhammadiyah in 1912, he shocked his compatriots with the "Western" style of his organization. Focusing primarily on education, the early Yogyakarta-based Muhammadiyah schools adopted the Dutch boy-scout club and Western-attired teachers.

It was a grassroots movement that diligently filled a vacuum in the education sector vital for a country that was yet to be born. Its contribution to the nation's independence has since been invaluable.

As Muhammadiyah celebrates its 100th anniversary on Nov. 25, based on the Islamic calendar, the venerated Muslim scholar has every reason to be proud. Today, the organization has thousands of branches throughout the country and 18 branches overseas. It manages thousands of schools, 167 universities, hundreds of orphanages and thousands of charity activities.

The country's second-biggest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah has produced numerous luminaries including the revered freedom fighter Sudirman and the respected Muslim scholar Buya Hamka, down to more recent leaders such as A.R. Fachruddin, Amien Rais, Ahmad Syafii Ma'arif and today's chairman, Din Syamsuddin.

A gathering was held in Jakarta on Wednesday attended by top officials and politicians, including Constitutional Court chief Mahfud M.D. and Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar.

In a veiled reference to the legal controversy surrounding the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, Din called on the elite to fight graft and to take firm measures against corrupt officials.

"Don't be trapped by legal formalities that may offer a chance for a 'court mafia', case brokers and corruptors to exploit legal loopholes," he said.

We second his call on those in power to become more sensitive to the sense of justice of the people and to put the interests of the nation and the people above all others.

Muhammadiyah has made lots of contributions to the nation and is capable of making a lot more, particularly in helping the government fight corruption, which is the nation's most conspicuous social illness, in battling the rising tendency to reject pluralism and embrace religious intolerance, and in stemming the rise of Islam radicalism. It has the capacity to prevent the country becoming a radical movement hub and to lift the people out of poverty. For a century it has helped build the image of our country as a moderate and a tolerant one.

Recently, its leaders have repeatedly called on its more than 40 million members to uphold honesty. If followed through, it will have a significant improvement on the nation.

Ahmad Sjafii Ma'arif has tirelessly said that our biggest problem is the wide divide between words and deeds, that we have to rid the nation from becoming a pool of hypocrites. Muhammadiyah is well placed to remedy this situation. Failing that, our numerous problems will persist.