Al Makin from Heidelberg, Germany
What has often concerned me, and perhaps many other Indonesians, is the portrayal of Indonesia by the International Herald Tribune on October 29. The daily describes Indonesia as "the invisible giant of South East Asia". Whether it is a complement or not so, is up to us to interpret it. In either case, it leaves us with so many questions.
Among the questions is how to represent Indonesia better at the international level. In this regard, one may relate it to the latest visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Jakarta.
Does this indicate that the Muslim world in general has already taken Indonesia into account in the international political arena? The answer could be yes and no.
The first may be true though, as Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world. In addition, we can perhaps be proud of our achievement in advancing democracy. It is therefore important -- lets say from the political consideration -- for Mahmoud Abbas to visit Indonesia to win support for Palestine's peaceful struggle for sovereignty.
The second answer, however, may be true, too. This can be seen from the fact that the Palestinian President also visited Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia does not seem to make a difference from neighbouring Muslim countries.
Forget about our record of corruption, problems with poverty, and less prioritised education in the state budget -- these have already embarrassed us enough. Let us find our remaining strength, that is our national assets as a plural society in terms of religions, cultures, traditions, and ethnicities. We use to be so proud of it, which might enable us to boast of our tolerance with regard to our diversity.
Unfortunately, this is also not so well represented and not many nations know our unique character. The following illustration may confirm this.
In the last few months in Germany, the public debate about establishing a big mosque for Muslims in Cologne has been so heated. Pros and cons have coloured the media ranging from newspapers, TVs, and even personal blogs. Not to mention that Cardinal Karl Lehmann made comments on the matter a few months ago; this has also invited a long public discussion.
To present his words directly, "...dann mvchte ich in Saudi-Arabien Gottesdienst halten d|rfen, ohne verhaftet zu werden (...then I can also perform church-service in Saudi Arabia, without being bothered)."
What strikes me is why did he not recall St. Marie Church, known as Gereja Katedral, located just in the opposite of Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta. How proud I am, if any German mentions this symbol of tolerance in which two big houses of God belonging to different religions can stand side by side.
Churches do exist in Egypt and other Middle Eastern Muslim countries.
The position of Indonesia in the map of studies in Islam in general. But field many still subscribe to the view that Islam in the country is still peripheral, if not marginal. The centre of this religion, according to this perspective, is always in the Middle East.
If somebody wants to know more about Islam, it is therefore advisable to come to the countries in that region to learn their cultures and languages.
Apart from what we have seen, not all are bad stories. It is worth remembering that Bogor last April became the host of the International Ulama Conference.
The meeting endorsed a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis. Regardless of the effect of the meeting, the Indonesian Muslim leaders played a central role in it. At least Hasyim Muzadi-a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama-and Din Syamsuddin-a leader of Muhammadiyah-contributed in pioneering this meeting.
Lately, some works of young Indonesian scholars have appeared in the international publications, such as, Fuad Jabali, Amirul Hadi, Fauzan Saleh, Arskal Salim, Noorhaidi Hasan, Etin Anwar, Nadirsyah Hussein and others. Some have written in other international journals. This, however, is still far from sufficient to represent Islam in Indonesia to the wider international audience.
How can one know the unique character of Indonesia, if Indonesians do not represent themselves sufficiently?
How can one know that secularisation and democratisation in the Muslim world took place not only in Turkey, but also in Indonesia? Shall we wait for others to represent us? The younger generation in that case will quote their works.
Indonesian scholars deal only with formal topics: political, social, and scholarly aspects of Indonesia. In other sectors, to use a wild guess, we are not in so different a situation.
Taking a train between Heidelberg and Mannheim, for example, my eye catches accidentally a bill board of Malaysian tourism in one of the stations. In the picture, an Asian girl relaxes on a cradle held by two coconut-trees in a sunny beach. It reminded me of more beautiful natural scenery in numerous islands of Indonesia. The problem is, when and who will put up their pictures here.
...................................................
The writer is a lecturer at State Islamic University of Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta. He is also a Ph.D candidate at Heidelberg University, Germany and can be reached at
[email protected]— The Jakarta Post
