malsi fo ygoloehtpns

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Institut e of Interna tional Relations a nd Area St udies, Ritsumeikan University

Abstract

The democratic state is a secular state, characterized with

th ree elem ents th at are religious freedom, state ind ifference to reli-

gious affiliation, and separation of religious and state affairs.

S ecular state pretends to separate th e m anagem ent of the public

affairs of the state with th at of the private affairs of religion and it

does not m ean to prom ote secularism . In fact the state provides the

fund to the religious organizations played a role of civil society, an

important institution for the establishment of democracy and its

existence is prior to the establish m ent of democratic state and was

effective tool to challenge the th eocratic stat e. In spite of th e flow of fund from the state to private sphere, there is no theoretical rela-

tionship between public affair and private one so that modern

m an suffers from split identity of wh ich som e believe as the m ain

cause of the two world wars, gulf wars, and many revolutions

risked on h um an death.

Theology of Islam ic Dem ocracy is a n ew Islam ic theology pre-

tends to counter secularism in modern era by breaking the separa-

tion wall of public and private affairs to build hu m anistic civiliza-

tion. For that purpose Wahid suggests that religion should guide

the courses of public affairs, but to play such role successfully reli-

gion should leave its conventional theology and build the new one

by incorporatin g the developm ent of modern ph ilosophy and social

Abdu rrah ma n Wah id on Re formu lating

the The ology of Is lamic De mocracy to

Cou nte r Secu larism in Mode rn Era

ROCHMAT, Saefur *

R ITSUMEIKAN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Vol.4, pp.119-145 (2006).

* Graduat e student, Faculty of Interna tional Relations, Ritsumeikan University

It is a part of his master thesis and to such extend he is indebted much to his supervisor

Pr of. Matsu shita Kiyoshi-sensei an d his exam iner P rof. Tatsu zawa Ku nihiko-sensei. He is

senior lecturer at History Department of State Universi ty of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

rochm at @yah oo.com.


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logical st an dpoints used by Aristotle or P lato into Muslim world. It s m ain

concern had been with definition rather than with the precise relation

between phenomena so that it had lost itself in the search for essences

an d obscur e qualities. It emph asizes th e prominent role of ra tio to validat e

th e tr ut h of kn owledge an d views tr ut h bas ed on its logical procedur es an d

results in a black-white categories of the t ru th . It is u nsur prisingly due to

its lack of empirical observations by which we find a real feature of

hu ma ns living with a grey cat egory which m ixes th e black an d white cate-

gories of th e trut h.2)

Theology of Islamic democracy is built following the recent develop-

men t of the birth of social sciences using t he observat ion method for vali-dation of the truth. This approach will unify the truth with doing, consid-

ering tha t t he tr ut h is not exclusive from th e cont ext by which t he tr ut h is

applied.3) It is th e modern development of theology which combin es theolo-

gy, philosophy, and social sciences. By so doing, religion is applied to solve

the problems of human beings and consequently it brings religion into

public discourses, not in formal legal form but substantially by means of

cultural approach which emphasizes on universal values.4)

Indeed t he concept of tr ut h with doing (Verum et factum convertun tur)

as the character of divine knowledge had been seen in the Middle Ages,however this philosophy was not developed well due to the influence of

Stoic philosophy or Aristotelian-Scholastic science, not by the logical

standpoints used by Aristotle or Plato. Furthermore, the Moslem world

was dominated by the epistemology of the Bayani which emphasis the

s t r ic t ly tex tual re la t ionship wi th sacred resources of the Koran and

Hadith . This type of epistemology feels itself in a grove difficulty to have

internal dialogue with the epistemological traditions ofIrfani (intuitively

experienced type of knowledge) and Burhani (philosophical kn owledge)

within th e bond of Islam ic stu dies.5)

Theology defines as a science of God that is how to know supreme

rea lity, or in oth er words , the source of tr ut h. This ter m was cha nging dur -

Abdurrah man Wahid on Reformu lating th e Theology of Islamic Democracy to Counter Secular ism in Modern Er a Rochmat2006 121

2) Amos Funkenstein, 1986, Th eology and the S cientific Ima gination: from the Mid dle Ages to

the S eventeenth Centu ry, Pr inceton: Princeton University Pr ess, p. 13.

3) Suma r ta na, 2005 , Kepekaan Teolog i pada Tan da Zama n[The Need of Theology to

Accomodat e Modern Developmen ts ], in

ht tp://www.tokohindonesia.co.id/ensiklopedi/s/sumar ta na -th/suma rt an a_th2.shtm l, p. 7

.

4) Amos Funkenstein, op. cit., p. 13.5) M. Amin Abdullah, op. cit., p. 2.


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ing the Renaissance era in Europe and reached i ts epoch during the

Reformation era with the spread of Protestantism which caused the col-

lapse of monopoly of theology as the profession of clergymen. It implies

th at clergymens kn owledge of tru th becam e so nar row and at th e sam e

time non-clergymen were a ble to int roduce new kn owledge of tr ut h which

was very useful for the development of the sciences.

Non-clergymen t ried to unify th eology, philosophy, an d t he sciences in

general so as to theology was not only a matter of God with His essence

but also closely linked to the human problems in the world. Consequently

it is not enough for the Sunni Muslims to perform religious activities as

defined in th e five religious dut ies; th ey should also concern with th e prob-lems of poverty and s tarv ing in thei r society . 6) For the followers of

Protestantism, doing worldly human affairs such as saving money and

hard work were kinds of religious duties. Based on this finding it is mis-

leading to label modern E ur ope as a secula r society in ter ms of th ere being

no belief in God.7) Indeed they developed secular theology, not in form of

atheism but theology which links the existence of God with the actual

problems of human livings; however they still used theology as supernat-

ur al kn owledge.8)

Following the concept of religion as an open text, considering theKoran as the most authoritative Islamic teaching resources teaches man

through symbols which are open to multi-faced interpretations. Classical

Islamic law, as a result of interpretation of the Koran and Hadits by cler-

ics were formed and limited by certain situations and conditions which

were n ot free form historical an d political cont ext. Tha t is why we should

analyze these Islamic laws to revitalize them into the modern era. This is

ha rd work , for so doing th ere is a requir emen t for us to find t he essence

of the message of the Islamic laws. The difficulty lies on the object of

investigation, that is Islamic law is actually the discourse of a subject. To

analyze discourse is to investigate an object which is produced by a subject

RITSUMEIKAN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS122 Vol.4

6) A. Ha syim Muzadi, 2005, Busun g Lapa r dan Konstru ksi Keima na n [Reconst ru cting New

Theology for Solving The Problems of Starving], in Republika 19 J un e 2005

ht tp://groups.yah oo.com/group/kedun gcinta /messa ge/2165, p. 3 .

7) Indeed recently most Westerners do not believe anymore in religion. It is as a r esult of

long process of secularization which is accompanied with the negative effects secularism.

It happens due to Christianity as religion emphasize on the belief aspect of religion and

lack of law a spect, more pr ecisely ritu al a spect, which will remin d its followers in God long

everyday life activities.

8 ) Amos Funkenstein, op. cit., p. 4.


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and received by other subjects. It is one element of hermeneutics method-

ology as social analysis which concerns with the social-historical condi-

tions within which agents act and interact. It is to analyze both institu-

tional features and their historical specificity. The second phase of the

her men eut ical pr ocedure may be described as discursive ana lysis which

concerns structure as well as the sequence of events taking place for that

purpose. The last ph ase is int erpreta t ion, to move beyond t he discour se of

structure and to construct9)

That is why Wahid agrees to treat religion democratically by tolerat-

ing other different religious interpretations due to its symbolic nature of

text which is risky to adhere with any kind of ideologies; however on con-verse, this movement of absorbing ideology often finds justification from

religion. The acts of appreciating cultures or ideologies are obligatory for

religion t o ha ve a r ole as a libera tin g force, and on cont ra ry t he a bsence of

them will mislead religion in protecting the status quo, and interpreting

Islam which is compatible with the contemporary demands. However

Wahid does not believe that one single of ideology or theology or dogma is

sufficient to solve t he complexity of hu ma n life. He pr eten ds t o absorb th e

positive aspects of all ideology for that purpose; because believing in one

certain ideology meant we divide ourselves from the others so that itignores the existence of the tr ut h on other pa rt . Wah id believes th at tr ut h

spread everywhere so th at he wan ts t o absorb from a ny resour ces an d con-

sequent ly he does n ot devote h imself to one ideology.10)

Reinterpreting Islam is obligatory due to the interpretations of Islam

as a kind of contextualization of Islamic teachings, of which its truth is

limited by the situation and condition as well as the historical aspect

where the results of interpretation implemented. The existence of many

int erpr eta t ions of Is lam jus t i fies Wah ids per cept ion of Is lam ic law

(syariah) that just consists of a series of fundamental values which is

abstr act a nd u niversal; meanwhile how to realize th ese values into reality

is a resu lt ofijtihad.11)


9) J ohn B. Thompson, 1984, Studies in the Theory of Ideology, Cambr idge: Polity Pres s, pp. 9-

11.

10) Ulil Abshar Abdalla, 2002, Menyegarka n Kemba li Ajaran Islam [Revitalizing Islamic

Under sta nding], in Kompas, November 18, 2002, online

http://www.geocities.com/arsip_nasional/agama/agama16.htm?200516, p. 3 .

11) Ibid., p. 3. Ijtihad is endeavor to deduce a judicial decree (hu km -i Syari) on the basis of

(Continued on next page)


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Wahid believes that the character of Islamic civilization is cosmopoli-

tanism namely absorbing truth from other existing civilizations and then

crea tively form ing a new civilizat ion wh ich is more a dvan ces tha n t ha t of

the previous ones.12) In other words, Islamic universal values can not be

realized on ea rt h, an d for h uma n, if th ey do not intera ct with an d absorb

oth er existin g civilizat ions. Isla mic civilizat ion respects hu ma n dignity a s

th e ult imat e goal of Islam ic law (m aqashidu sy syariah ) which is manifest

in t he prin ciple of Islamic law kn own a s t he p rotection of five basic hu ma n

needs (daruriyyat), na mely (1) the protect ion of self (hifz al-nafs) from a ny

violence; (2) the protection of religion (hifz al-din) from any enforced con-

version; (3) the pr otection of fam ily an d t he n ext generat ion (hifz al-nasl);(4) the protection of personal property (hifz al-m al); and (5) the protection

of profession or in tellect (hiz al-aql).13)

Following the cosmopolitan character of Islamic civilization, Wahid

develops t wo appr oaches for r einter pret ing Islam which is compa tible with

the contemporar y deman ds tha t are pribumisasi an d m odernization. F irst

is by following Walisanga tradition to expound his Pribumisasi (domesti-

cat ion) appr oach a s a r esponse t o th e problem facing by Muslims t hr ough-

out their history that is how to incorporate the local culture (adah) into

norm (syariah), the same problem should be solved by ush ul al-fiqh . It isnot an oth er t erm for syncret ism becau se it does not an effort to har monize

the previous beliefs in supernatural power and its eschatological dimen-

sion with Islamic beliefs.14) He wants to remind us of adaptive legalism

legalism t ha t, while ma int ainin g Islamic principles, also implied a gra d-

ua l fra mework for cha nge th rough r eligious laws.15)

In his view, overlapping between the culture and religion are not

avoidable as long as human history and inevitably it will enrich the mani-


the au thentic arguments of the syariah . As th e use of th e term was gra dually extended t o

cover meditation on and study of arguments of the syariah , it demanded a knowledge of

various branches of learning; and who possessed a knowledge of them was called a muj-

tahid (A.K.S. Lambton, 1964, A Reconsideration of the Position of the Marja al-Taqlid

an d t he Religious Inst itution, in S tudia Islamica, vol. 20, p.126).

12) Mu j ib u r r ah m an , 1 99 9 , I s l am a n d Po l it i c s in In d o n es i a : t h e Po l it i ca l Th o u g h t o f

Abdurr ah ma n Wah id, in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 342.

13) Ulil Abshar Abdalla, op. cit., p. 1.

14) Mujiburrahma n, p . 342.

15) Abdurr ah ma n Wahid, 1983, Islam, the Sta te, and Development in Indonesia, in Godfrey

Guna tilleke, Neelan Tiruchelvam , and Radh ika Cooma ra swamy eds.,Ethical Dilemm as of

Developm ent in Asia , USA: D.C. Hea th an d Compan y, p. 49.

(Contin ued from previous page)


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festation of religion in human living which will create meaningful human

life. Indeed both are independence toward each other but they have over-

lapping ar ea su ch a s th e case with philosophy an d sciences th at one is not

able to develop philosophy without the help of sciences but it is mistake

for viewing sciences as philosophy.16)

Pribumisasi is to understand Islam which put the local culture into

its consideration for reformulating religious law without changing the

prin ciples of law itself. It does not pr eten d t o replace religion with cultu re

due to it is concern ed with t he m anifesta tion of th e Muslims religious life,

not to replace the fundamental beliefs of Islam and its formal rituals. It is

an effort to implemen t Isla mic un iversa l values by means of incorpora tingthem to the system of local culture or Indonesian cultural system. By

doing so, the manifestation of Islam in Indonesia is different from that in

Middle East because of its different cultural system. As a result, Islamic

laws (syariah) in Indonesia are slightly different from that in Middle

East. This approach does not want to replace religion in opposition with

th e cultur e.17)

I call t his a pproach hist orical Isla m, which tr ies to consider th or-

oughly th e influen ces of cert ain hist orical cont ext in t he implemen ta tion of

Islam ic law. This ap proach built on t he a ssum ption th at it is impossible tointroduce Islam within the community without understanding its culture

well. For example, Islam was successful on converting Indonesians on a

massive scale just after Islam was able to accommodate, corporate, and

surpass the Indonesian culture and it took centuries to understand the

cultu re. At first Islam was n ot in tr oduced int o Indonesian society in a doc-

tr ina l appr oach, considerin g it will cont ra dict to fun dam ent al beliefs of th e

Indonesians. Of course they modified the Islamic doctrine to fit the situa-

tion, condition, and history of the Indonesian people. The best approach

was t o solve th e actua l problems of Indonesian society at th at time wh ich I

call th e civilizat ion st rat egy appr oach.18)


16) INCReS eds ., 2000, Beyond the Symbols: Jejak Antropologis Pemikiran and Gerakan

Wahid [Beyond the Symbols: Intel lectual and Poli t ical Action of Wahid], Bandung:

INCReS a nd Rosda, p. 43.

17) Rumadi, 2003, Abdurra hma n Wahid [Abdurra hma n Wahid], in Mastu ki HS and M.

Ishom El-Saha eds., Intelektu alisme Pesantren: Potret T okoh dan Cakrawala Pem ikiran di

Era Keemasan Pesantren [Pesan t r en s In t e l l ec tu a l T ra d i t i on : Sch o la r s a n d th e i r

Int ellectua l Works in Golden Er a of Pesan tr en], J aka rt a: Diva Pust aka , p. 351.

18) Saefur Rochmat , 2004, Sejarah Islam Indonesia: Kontinyuitas Tradisi dan Modern isas [History

of Islam in In donesia: Continuity Tr adition an d Modernity], Yogyaka rta : BPFSS, p. 2.


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The h istorical Isla m a pproach will help Islamic activists t o clar ify th e

ta rget of their mission a nd form ulat e th e meth od an d str at egy of the mis-

sion. It will hinder th e birt h of ra dical Islam ists wh o believe in t he u niver-

sal mission of Islam and consequently they do not agree with the Islamic

historical approach which accommodates local culture. In the global con-

text, they are in opposition with the process of modernization which is

accused of being par t of a Chr istian plot on t he Is lam comm un ity. They do

not want to accommodate both local culture and global culture. It is not

surprising, for their top-down approach into religion means that they just

understand the religion as written scripturally in the Koran. Moreover,

they believe that there is only one manifestation of Islam, so they oftenaccused t hose who ha ve different opinions of ap ostasy.19)

The second is to follow the modernization approach,20) namely reinter-

preting Islam so as to be compatible with values of modern civilization,

such as, the concept of democracy. However, Wahid is critical of modern

civilization and tries to guide the courses of modernization in the frame-

work of religious thought. One of his efforts is to formulate a theology of

Islamic democracy. This theology of democracy is based on Islamic teach-

i n g s w h i c h h i g h l y v a l u e t h e l i f e o f h u m a n b e i n g s w h i c h i n t h e

Enlightenment era was called humanism and then gave birth to liberal-ism, but he is critical of th e En lightenmen t era for adopting both hu man -

ism and liberalism as an ideology. As humanist Wahid respects the status

an d value of hu ma n beings, so th at he does not t olera te a ny violence, espe-

cially human death in the name of ideology or revolution. Frans Magnis

Suseno correctly says that Wahid is not an ideologist but a pragmatist

becau se he will do somet hing u seful by all mean s with out a need for bind-

ing to any abstract principles except on petty moralistic attitudes.21) That

is why Wahid often misu nders tood by his opponen t a nd h is [s]hiftin g pro-

nouncements, allian ces an d public sta nds h ave led to a joke th at th ere ar e


19) Bassam Tibi , 2000, Ancaman Fundamentalisme: Rajutan Islam Politik dan Kekacauan

Dunia Baru [The Challenge of Fundamentalism], translated by Imron Rosyidi, Zainul

Abas, a nd Sint a Carolina , Yogyaka rt a : Tiar a Wacana, pp. 122-123.

20) Wahid prefers to use term of dynam ism which is more appropriate to explain the continua-

tion of good old values and modernization of old values to accommodate modern civiliza-

tion values.

21) Fra nz Magnis Suseno, 2000, Gus Dur: Bangsa Man a di Dunia Mempunyai Presiden

Seperti Kita![Gus Dur: No other countries have president like him], in Ahmad Suaedy

and Ulil Abshar Abdalla eds., Gila Gus Dur: Wacana Pembacaan Abdurrahman Wahid,

Yogyaka rt a: LKiS, pp. 19-20.


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th ree t hings you can n ever be cert ain a bout : life, deat h a nd Gus Du r.22)

The a bove two approaches a re n ecessar y for religion to ma ke a n effort

in developing a framework for implementing fundamental Islamic values.

Legalistic Islamic laws s hould be innovat ed by applying t hese a pproaches,

but also should be reconciled with fundamental Islamic values. Wahid

evaluates the limit of classical Islamic laws (fiqh) as a result of efforts of

i j t ihad by class ical c ler ics to be implemented in to the modern era .

Accordin gly, he su ggests th at Muslims r evita lize t he I slamic tea chings by

adopting modern values and institutions and by adjusting to a given cul-

tu re wh ere Isla mic laws wa nt to be implemen ted. In so doing, he only feels

at ta ched t o th e most funda ment al Islamic values in order t o make possiblea deconst ru ction pr ocess of religious tea chings. As long a s t he most fun da-

mental Islamic value is the concept of the Oneness of the God (tawhid)

that the God is the center of al l things namely everything starts and

retu rn s to the God alone.23)

Nasr24) describes this concept of the Oneness of the God convincingly

that Unity is the nature of the Absolute, a method of integration, a means

of becoming whole and also a means of realizing the profound oneness of

all existence. It implies tha t every existence of a h um an being should be

reconciled with the principle of There is no God but Allah ( La ilaha illal-Allah ) that man should devote himself just to the God and avoid any

subordina te a greement s with a nt i-God power. It is m ore directly saying, to

oppose th e tyra nn ical leader s becau se it cont ra dicts t he vert ical dimension

of Islam, namely intelligence which is free from any kinds of subordina-

tion but t he God.25)


22) Seth Mydan s, 1999, Revered, Criticized by Some, and often Pra nkish, in Th e New York

T imes October 21, Online http://proquest.umi.com/pqweb?index=23&retrieve.. . , p. 2

.

23) Ab d u r r a h m a n W a h i d, 1 99 9, Pr i sma Pemik i ran Wahid [The Paradigms of Wahids

Thought s], Yogyaka rt a: LkiS, p. 66.

24) Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 1985,Ideals and Realities of Islam , London: Allen an d Un win.

25) Wahid is appreciated with Na sr so tha t he an d Hasyim Wahid tran slates Nasr book titled

Ideas and Realities of Islam into Indonesian language with title Islam dalam Cita dan

Fakta, Jakarta: Lappenas, 1981. Please see INCReS, Karya Tulis Intelektual Wahid

[Wahids works], in INCReS, 2000, Beyond th e S ym bols: J ejak Antropologis Pem ikiran dan

Gerakan Wahid, Bandun g: Remaja Rosdakar ya an d INCReS, p. 257.


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. THEOLOGY OF ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY

1. The Importanc e of Theolog y for Muslims

Wahid considers important the role of theology for religion followers

who always consider all activities based on a religious point of view. For

them, theology functions as the driving force and at the same time as a

s ta nda rd to evalua te th e successes of huma n act ivi t ies . Al l Muslims

believe in Islamic law (syariah) and wan t to implement it in t heir life, but

they are divided amongst themselves concerning their approaches and

str at egies. Resear cher s in th is field ha ve alr eady divided these groups int o

four cat egories in r egards to th eir st ra tegies for form alizing syariah .The first group believes that the formalization of syariah must be

erected in a state without being associated to universal Islamic matters.

Their ideology is local a nd cont extua l, limited by t he t err itory of a n at ion-

sta te and does not have a r elat ionsh ip with t he concept ofdaulah (political

power), as has global characteristics. In the Indonesian context, irrespec-

tive of other factors, this model has already taken place in form of the DI

( Darul Islam) movement in Aceh, West Java, and Makassar. The second

group has ideas to establish syariah in a global cont ext or in oth er words

as a u niversa l Islam. Th is group ba sically struggles for syariah as a globalsystem of law neglecting the territorial borders of nations-states. This

group can be seen from the ph enomena of Hizbut Tahr ir Indonesia.

The t hird group is convinced th at th e esta blishment ofsyariah should

take place wherever and whenever, irrespective of the form of the state.

An example of the above group is Majlis Mujahidin Indonesia. The forth

group believes that Islam does not have to be materialized in the form of

th e na tion-stat e, but ra th er in th e sha pe of universally recognized values.

This group constitutes the majority of Indonesian Muslims who associate

with rel igious organizations of NU or Muhammadiyah. They are not

tempted to implement Islam as formal law, although in 1945 some of the

followers ha d ma de effort s for it via t he J aka rt a Char ter, and t his group is

n o t r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e r e c e n t m o v e m e n t a d v o c a t i n g t h e J a k a r t a

Charter.26)

Theology rest s on th e tr ut h so th at th eology is very cru cial for all reli-

gious disciples and only th ose who ar e able to claim the t ru th ha ve aut hor-


26) Lies Marcoes-Na tsir , 2004, The Brit tlenes s of a Woman s Womb in Syar iah , in ICIP

Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 2.


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ity or legitimacy over the society. Then, the question arises about what

kind of authority can be claimed by them? Is it only moral authority over

society? If it means political authority of rights to rule the state, the truth

will be supported by political power. If Islamic truth is based on the politi-

cal power, it means that Islam does not have universal values which do

not n eed an y support from political power. Consider ing th at Islam ic th eol-

ogy was not free from the political struggle for power as the basis of imple-

men tin g the t ru th , it is pa ra llel with th e role of ideology in modern t ime.

Indeed secularists argue that modern ideology has a long reached

implication compared with the previous role of ideology by religion, and

they persist that the modern term of revolution was firstly used for theFrench Revolution in 1789. For them revolution is created by man and it

is not a resu lt of imper sonal power or jus t h istorical cycles. Volta ire, one of

revolutions propagators, said Il see fera sans un jour une grande revolu-

tion dans les esprits, mean s th at th e actors of th e revolution have already

crea ted ideology with it s progra ms, besides form ed an organizat ion which

will try to implement the ideology into reality.27) Meanwhile, Albert Camus

elabora tes th e r elationship between ideology and revolution a s follows:

Revolution rejects the status quo, it is, as a motivation for political

behaviour, enact of choice so that it is justified by the pleasure of the

futu re. Ideology usu ally provides that justification.28)

However, in the middle ages, theology became the arena of political

contest which had misled the Islamic community at the time when some

Moslems used armed forces to support their claim of truth. For that pur-

pose they often accused the opponent of kafir, that is, those contravene

Islamic law so that they are excluded from Moslem and made lawful of

killing them. Kafirs ha ve no right to hold aut hority over Moslems an d th is

battle over authority fuels political unrest within Muslim communities.

Amongst Muslims t her e is no agreement concernin g those who ar e cat ego-

rized into kafir, that is, someone has committed a sin. There are three

basic positions on t he issu es of sin. F irst is th e Khawarij who believes t ha t

those who have commit ted a s in that demands thei r death are kaf ir .


27) A.T. Ha tt o, 1972, The Sem an tics of Revolut ion, in P.J . Vat ikiotis ed., Revolution in the

Middle East and Other Case Stu dies, London: George Allen an d Un win Lt d., p. 28.

28) P.J. Vatikiotis ed., 1972, Revolution in the Middle East and Other Case Studies, London:

George Allen an d Unwin Ltd, p. 8.


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Second is th e Murjiah who views such persons a s st ill Moslems. It is up t o

God to forgive the big sin or not. The major Islamic sects of Sunni and

Shiite follow this moderate stand. Third is the Mutaz ilaah who argues

th at th ose who have committ ed such sins ar e neither Moslems n or kafirs.

These theological sects say much about the role of the clerics in

Islamic communities. As the successors of Muhammad, they have a duty

to interpret the Koran and Hadits in conjun ction with th e developmen t of

the Moslem communities. In this way they supplement the mission of

Muhammad. However, the contents of their ijtihad often contravene the

core of Muh am ma ds mission because t hey ar e sha ped by political int erest .

Tha t is why Wah id is crit ical of th e classical int erpr eta tion of Islam ic th e-ology and ideologies in general for their non-neutral attitude toward the

real complexity of life and that certain groups justify violence to further

their political interests.

Indeed ideology and revolution quickly acquired a negat ive sense just

after the break out of the French Revolution. It was labeled with perpe-

trating doctrine by Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most responsible for

th e F ren ch Revolut ion in 1789. The negat ive conn ota tion of the ter m ide-

ology was pr eserved by Marx a nd E ngels in t heir at ta ck on Die deutsche

Ideologie (The Ideology of Germanic World), the view expressed by YoungHegelian s such a s Lu dwig Feur bach a nd Max St irner, for its t oo preoccu-

pied with ideas and the critique of ideas; it thus failed to see that ideas

and other pr odu ct of cons ciousness a re rooted in mat er ial cond itions of

social life.29) Of course, Wahid is not completely in agreement with Marx

an d En gels and as a Muslim he a lways tr ies to make balance in r egar ding

something so that he values the same importance of all aspects of human

beings that are ideas, materials, and emotion.30) If he places himself in

Mar x and En gels side it mea ns t ha t h e is in favor of th e ideology of Mar x,

considering that ideology is not something neutral but something of an

extrem e position.31)

Wahid is critical of all ideologies and theologies and he tries to man-


29) Terrell Carver, 1999, Ideology: The Career of A Concept, in Terence Ball and Richa rd

Dagger eds. Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader, New York : Longm an , p. 5. See also J ohn B.

Thompson, 1984, S tu dies in th e Th eory of Id eology, Cambr idge: Polity Pres s, p. 1.

30) Abdurr ah ma n Wahid, 2003a, Pent ingnya sebua h Arti [The import an ce of the Meaning],

in ht tp: / /www.gusdur.net / indonesia/print .asp?contentOID=1071, pp. 1-2 .

31) John B. Thompson , op. cit., p. 1.


13/28

age the dialogue in the middle of conflicting Islamic theologies by the

means of the process of democracy. Concerning the problem of the differ-

ent religious pillars of beliefs between Shiite and Sunni sects, Wahid fol-

lows th e tr adition of modern Islamic th inking from Mahm ud Sh altu t an d

Fa zlur Rahm an . Following Mahm ud Sh altut s responses, Fazlur Rahm an

cha llenges the Su nn i to take Islam ic universal values such a s justice an d

equality into their pillars of religion because these pillars are also very

important to be implemented into Muslim religious life. It is not surpris-

ing that Fazlur Rahman and Wahid have the same responses concerning

th e Shiite sect an d th e Muta zilah sect wh ich t ak e th e principles of justice

into t heir religious pillar s const itut ing th e five pillar s of religion (al-Mabdial-Khamsah).32)

However, after judging all the above universal Islamic values, Wahid

comes t o th e conclusion th at democra cy is the m ost fun dam ent al value for

Muslims to take into their religious pillar and it , of course, should be

implemented in conjunction with other Islamic values. He criticizes the

limit of the Shiite justice pillar due to its potential exclusive character to

be claimed as ideology such as had been done by Khomeini, who trans-

formed the reformist method of changes into a revolutionary one and con-

sequent ly it, to some exten d, produced a new tyra nn y which discar d thena tu re of just ice itself.33)

Wah id corr ectly evalua tes th e Islam ic Republic of Iran as a likely clas-

sical example of the stolen revolution. At first the Iranian Revolution in

1979 becam e a medium for all political powers t o part icipat e in t he r evolu-

tionar y process, but th en it t ur ned int o th e clerical r evolut ion by mean s of

the Islamic Republic of Iran Party. As a result, the Islamic Republic of

Iran was a kind of monolithic religious interpretation and its homogenous

religious bodies consolidated the forces of only one major political power

which won the revolution and to protect their power from other groups by

excluding th em from th e political process or at least by minimizing, to the

lowest level, their influences.34)

Wahid agrees with the liberation movement, but he does not tolerate

th e revolut iona ry met hod in t he na me of th e people. It is usu al for t he r ev-


32) Abdur ra hm an Wahid, 2004, Konsep-Konsep Kea dilan[The Concepts of J ust ice], in

h t tp : / /med ia . i sn e t . o rg / i s l am/Paramad in a /Ko n tek s /Kead i l an .h tml , p . 1 .

33) Ibid., p. 3.

34) Abdurrahma n Wahid, 1999, op. cit., pp. 184-185.


14/28

olutionary movement to find justification from ideology. For instance, the

Islamic Republic of Iran tries to find justification from the theology of jus-

tice which mingles with the theology of Imamate.35) According to Wahid,

the real liberation movement occurs when all man are able to develop

their own potential capabilities. It is impossible for the revolutionary

met hod to pur port th is libera tion becau se of its favor of one ma jor political

force. That is why Wahid correctly concludes that the true liberation

movement is a non-ideological movement, namely a movement without

any par ticula r ba sed isms.36)

He does not agree with th e Mar xism-Leninisms m odel of tra nsform a-

tion which cont ends th at tr an sform at ion just sta rt s at th e time of seizingth e power an d views on t he event s th at ha ppened before it just a prepar a-

tion for that transformation. This model also justifies the existence of an

avant guardof the revolution which will lead the course of the revolution

as well as guarantee the revolution not to be misused by those who are

irr esponsible. Wah id agr ees with Mar x an d Lenin s ana lysis on socio-eco-

nomic ma tt ers but he is opposed t o ideology of Marxism-Leninism a s h e is

critical of all ideologies. For him, transformation occurs before power is

diverted into a monopoly of a certain group in the name of ideology.

Transformation will happen in the form of the attitudes of all members ofth e society th rough t he edu cat iona l process which will last for a long dur a-

tion.37)

2. Theology of Is lamic De moc racy

The Theology of Islamic democracy is one effort in directing the true

meaning of democracy based on the overarching Islamic concept of the

Oneness of the God. Considerin g tha t dem ocra cy is an essen tia lly cont est-

ed concept whose meaning is disputed and defined in different ways by

different ideologies.38) Wahid defines democracy not as an ideology but as

an idea that different ideologies interpret in different ways. This concept

is sha red with Teren ce Ball and Richa rd Da gger.39)


35) Ibid., p. 167.

36) Ibid., p. 170.

37) Ab d u r rah man Wah id, 20 00 b, Tuhan T idak Per lu Dibela [The God Does Not Need a

Vangua rd], Yogyaka rt a: LKiS, p. 165.

38) Terence Ball and Richar d Dagger eds., 1999, Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader, New York:

Longman , p. 2.

39) Ibid., p. 1


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The formulation of the theology of Islamic democracy is very impor-

ta nt to cha llenge the a bove oth er t hr ee str at egies of implementing Islamic

laws. As cleric Wahid feels such responsibility to formulate theology of

Islamic democracy as guidance for Muslims to participate in modern era.

I f th is mains t ream of thought develops wel l in Musl im countr ies he

believes that the other three strategies will fail in their mission. His con-

cern is the spread of secularism which follows the process of secularization

in t he m odern era . By so doing he t ries t o minimize th e global diseases of

secularism.

He chooses the concept of democracy as an overarching concept in

Islam, however it should be in accordance with the sole Islamic concept ofthe concept of Oneness of God. He believes that t he concept of democracy

is more appropriate than the concept of justice to be included into the pil-

lars of religion because it does not like the concept of justice which has a

poten tia lly exclusive valu es, but it just a m eth od of regulat ing life properly.

In conjunction with the concept of the Oneness of the God, the theolo-

gy of democracy rests on the truth. It becomes invalid for democracy to

hide the truth beyond the instrumental apparatus of democracy, such as

inst itut ions a nd t he pr inciple of th e ma jorit y vote. It implies th at th e legit-

imacy of the govern men t depends on t he m odern concept of democra cy an dthe fundamental Islamic concept of knowledge (translated as truth). The

latt er a spect is also a requirement for assum ing religious leadersh ip in th e

Islam ic comm un ities. Subsequent ly, it is not enough t o int roduce the inst i-

tutions of democracy without developing democratic traditions such as it

tolerates some opinions; people are the same beyond the laws; and it

establishes a law-enforcement. Meanwhile, the majority vote should be

consulted with th e tr ut h which can be operat ed in its consistency with th e

prin ciple of just ice app lied to all ma n without discrim inat ion r egardless of

their religious background, their nationality, their ethnicity, and so on. It

implies that democracy accommodates all elements of political forces,

regar dless of how insignifican t th eir power.40)

Wahids t heology of democracy is built on t wo componen ts of Is lamic

th eology concern ing th e ar ra ngem ent of society as follows:41)


40) Abdurrahma n Wahid , 2002, Abdurrahman Wahid Selama Era Lengser[Abdurrahman

Wah ids P ost Pr esidency Er a], Yogyaka rt a: LKiS, pp. 230-231.

41) Abdurrahma n Wahid, 2001, Menggerakkan Tradisi: Esai-Esai Pesantren [Revitalizing the

Tra ditions of Islam], Yogyaka rt a: LKiS, pp. 146-147.


16/28

1. How to arr an ge living (th e na tu re of Islam ic hu ma n life), and

2. How to ma na ge power.

The above theology is in consistent with his political thought to establish

th e n otion of Islamic universa lism and cosmopolitan ism wh ich is reflected

in the Islamic law principle of the protection of five basic human needs

that are protection of self, property, religion, family and profession. These

five protections can be achieved by practicing three principles of universal

values of Is lam as the nature of Is lamic human l ife that are equali ty

(musawah), justice (adalah), and democracy (syura).42) In I slam , all activi-

ties should be based on these three principles which should be arrangednea tly to fulfill historical n eeds by accomm odat ing th e un ique dema nds in

the specific time and space. That is why Wahid in promoting democracy

encourages the other two principles of justice and equality at the same

time. Indeed he highly values democracy as the most essential nature of

Islamic life because of its natural difficulty to be claimed as the absolute

t ru th .

On th e cont rar y, Tocqueville is complet ely correct in his saying to live

in dem ocracy is to live in doubt an d it is fully hu ma n. He ma kes a good

metaphor as follows:

One could perhaps compare democracy to the sun that produces light

by rolling impetuously over itself and in ceaselessly agitating all of

the m olecules of which [it is m ade up].43)

Indeed, Tocqueville shares the same concept with Wahid of the role of

divinity as the ultimate source of the truth, but it is only in Das Sein not

in Das S olen .44) It implies th at democra cy rests on t he t ru th , but a ccording

to him there is no absolute truth, so that it makes sense that democracy

gives individual an au th ority t o sear ch cont inuously for th e tr ut h, but he

reminds us of no absolute truth. In other words, democracy is the process

of thought , an d it resem bles a s yllogism always in sear ch of a conclusion.

For him, the world is a closed book, empty of truths and of an absolute


42) Mu jib ur rah man , op. cit., p. 348.

43) Edua rdo Nolla, 1992, Intr oduction, in Edu ar do Nolla ed., Liberty, Equality, Democracy,

New York : New York Un iversity P res s, p. xx.

44) J ean Pierre Dupuy, 2005, Tocqueville on Democra tic Despotism, Lecture Material of

Political An th ropology, Kyoto: Ritsu meika n Un iversity, p. 12.


17/28

system so that he criticized correctly the practice of democracy in the

Un ited St a tes , wher e everyone closes h imself off completely, an d claims

from t his vint age point to be able to judge th e world.45)

It is wrong t o view democra cy as ideology due t o it s cont inu ous ly mov-

ing concept. If one tries to stop it from moving he has treated democracy

as an ideology becau se he t ries t o exclude oth ers from par ticipat ing in th e

political power arrangement. It is unjustifiable for claiming a vanguard of

democracy, but at the same t ime excluding the existence of minority

groups. It means that democracy is in opposite to ideology which justifies

revolution or exclusion of other groups in the political process for the pur-

pose of ma jor political power, of cour se, in th e n am e of people, by claimingit a s th e vangua rd of justice or equ ality.

As a continuously moving concept, democracy is always critical to the

status quo and will demand equality, and the love of equality constantly

increases together with equality itself.46) Tocqueville evaluates correctly

that America is a democrat ic s ta te but thei r people should not s top

encouraging democracy due to its threat, in his view, caused by the tyran-

ny of public opinion on freedom of thought. He is worried about the domi-

na nce of th e prin ciple of ru le by ma jorit y as it consequen tly devaluat es th e

qua lity of ra tional th inking by individual.47)

Concerning democracy is critical to the status quo it engages with

managing the power the second component of theology of Islamic democra-

cy. It should follow the above three characteristics of nature of Islamic

hu ma n life which will be tr an sform ed int o applying th e pr inciple of checks

and balances by accepting the existence of all political groups.48) Hoshino

Toshiya calls this democracy as endogenous democracy for its respect with

the concept of power sharing.49) Based on the concept of power sharing,

Wahid develops a unique concept of check and balance by developing cul-

tural approach which will be implemented gradually by means of evolu-

tionary process so that it will not develop its own structure with its own


45) Eduardo Nol la , op. cit., p. xix.

46) Jean P ie rr e Du pu y, op. cit., p. 6.

47) Ibid., p. 7.

48) Abdurr ah ma n Wahid, 2005, NU dan Keku at an P olitik [NU and Political Power], in Duta

Masyarakat http://www.dutamasyarakat.com/detailkajian.php?id=552, p. 2 .

49) Hoshino Toshiya, Securit y Comm unities, Power-Shar ing, and P reventive Diploma cy, p.

65.


18/28

ideology, but it t ries t o find some friends in th e existing str uctur e t o indig-

nity simultaneous liberation.50)

The principle of check and balance is also applicable to deal with con-

flicting concepts of the rights of individual and of state as the source of

authority.51) Wahid elaborates both rights based on Koran (2: 177) which

demarcates them with a line of which should be defined clearly by the

Muslims. Besides respecting their own rights, a demarcation line is an

a r ea for m u t u a l i n t e r f eren ces b etween t h e i n d ivid u a l r i g h t s o f t h e

Theology of Belief (Ruk un Im an ) and the societal rights of the Theology of

th e Religious Dut ies (Ru kun Islam ).52) This ar ea of mut ua l interference is

called by Wahid of the Theology of Public Affairs ( Rukun Sosial) in whichits mission is to provide social welfare. For that purpose, he offers the

Theology of Is lamic Dem ocracy.53)

The public affairs are to implement the truth as a manifestation of

tawhid, th e pr inciple of the On eness of th e God. The n orm at ive crit erions

of the truth should be implemented in real situations gradually because

th e tr ut h is not just a ma tt er of ra tiona l product but a lso implies an action

to implement it in the worldly life. Consequently man should avoid any

violence mea ns or in t he n am e of th e ma jorit y forcing to implemen ting t he

truth. Democrats should apply by means of consultation with all politicalgroups to reach approved collective programs, besides providing compen-

sates to certain groups and preparing the necessary conditions for the

implementation for collective programs. Accepting the existence of other

groups is a fun dam ent al condition for th e democra tic process and is a con-

dition for mutual dialogue. Dialogue is an arena to search for an applica-

ble tr ut h a nd commitm ent of all part ies, and it does not pretend to reach

the final truth but to search collective programs for enhancement of the


50) Abdurrahma n Wahid, 1999, op. cit., p. 169.


52) The Muslims believe in the pillars of belief (Ruku n Iman ) and th e pillar s of Islam (Rukun

Islam ). Wahid prefers to use terms of theology than pillars but it causes confusing for its

application to the theology of Islam because the latter should be applied to Islam as a

whole. Formerly the Muslims use theology is only referred to the pillars of belief but now

some have tried to use more loosely to the in-depth analytical of all knowledge which rest

on the claim of the truth. It is not surprising that the modern development of theology

mingles with philosophy and social sciences. I name the socially theology of religious

duties for Rukun Islam because to be Muslim it means that he should perform religious

dut ies as a par t of fulfilling Islam ic law (syariah ).

53) Ibid., pp. 148-149.


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qua lity, an d st an dar d of life.54) Wah ids view of the import ance of the pr in-

ciples of checks and balan ces is t he cont inua tion of what classical Is lamic

thinkers adopted from Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and

Arist otle who regar ded politics as mea nt minist ering t o th e affair s of th e

polis [community].55)

Based on the above two components, to manage the society in Islam,

Wahid convincingly argues that Islam is a religion of democracy.56) Indeed

he admits at macro level the majority of Islamic countries fall into non-

democratic states,57) besides, there h ave not been ma ny at tempt s to accom-

modate Islamic laws to modern civilization. At most, Islam as open text,

th at teaches man th rough symbols, provides an a rena for r eint erpret at ion.Indeed, it is a great and difficult task to reinterpret religious matters.

Considering the above difficulties, Wahid tries to launch revitalization

programs in religious affairs, not through legal Islamic laws (fiqh ), but

through religious thinking.58)

Wahid proposes some arguments to support his belief of Islam as a

religion of dem ocracy as follows:59)

1. Islam is a religion of law which defines Islam ic laws, a s a pplied t o

all Muslims, without discriminating against their social class, fromthe political elite down to the layman. Without such conditions,

Islam ic laws will not m at eria lize in h um an life.

2. Islam acknowledges the principles of democracy (Amruhum syuura

bainahum ), to discuss a ll ma tt ers a mongst th e people, which m ean s

that they are free to propose their thoughts to the public and then

th ey can tr y to reach agreement s.

3. Islam a lways tr ies to innovat e th e living, becau se t his worldly life is


54) Saefur Rochm at , 2005, Aspek Imm at erial dalam Modernisa si [Imm at erial Aspects ofModernization], in Inovasi , Vol.3/XVII/Maret 2005, http://io-ppi-jepang.org/article.php, p.

67. .

55) Farh a n g Ra jaee , 1 98 3, Is lamic Values and World View , Boston: Universi ty Press of

America In c, 52.

56) Abdurrahma n Wahid, 2000a,Membangun Demokrasi [Establishing Democracy], Bandung:

Rosdaka rya , pp. 85-86.

57) S tev en Ry an Ho fma n n , 2 00 4 , I s l am an d Demo cra cy: Micro -Lev e l In d i ca t io n s o f

Compatibility, in Com parative Political S tud ies, vol. 37, no. 6, pp . 652-676.

58) Ab d u r ra h ma n Wah id , 20 0 3, Ed u ca t ion in A Rein t e rp re t a t i on P ro cess, i n On l in e

ht tp://www.gusdu r.net /english/index.php?option=com_cont ent &ta sk=view&id=77&Itemid

=67, pp. 1-2 .

59) Abdurrahma n Wahid, 2000a, op. cit., pp. 85-86


20/28

in preparation to the hereafter life (Waakhiratu khairau waabqa),

a n d t h e h e r e a f t e r l i f e i s b e t t e r , a n d i s a p e r m a n e n t l i f e .

Consequen tly, the h um an life level is not st at ic but is in progress t o

welcome life in the hereafter. In other words, the standard for a

good life is in the hereafter, and consequently, this worldly life

should be directed t o life in t he h erea fter. Essen tia lly, it is th e prin-

ciple of democracy which implies the collective efforts to innovate

life, so Islam called th e religion of inn ovat ion (diinul islah).

Wah ids view on th e th ird point is similar to Nu rcholish Ma djid a nd

Khomeini who interpret verses (1:6) Ihdina al-sirat al-mustaqim (guideme to th e str aight pa th ). In th eir view, Islam views ma n a s Gods crea tu re,

which in essence is positive thought and optimistic (fitrah) , but at the

sam e time ha s potent ial limitat ions. The God sent down Muham ma d, th e

messenger, to expla in the m ean ing of th e Koran because of the Gods guid-

ance in the Koran in general. Concerning worldly affairs, Muslims are

challenged to do ijtihad, however, it should be done collectively, due to

ma ns limita tions a nd t he complexity of th eir pr oblems. In t he social

mechanism, ijtihad foster s democra cy th rough a series of discussions and

the contestation of arguments by all participants in public, besides theyask guidan ce from God so as t o be able to rea ch a greemen ts.60)

. THEOLOGY OF ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL ETHIC

Putting the concept of democracy into the theology of Islamic democ-

ra cy is necessar y, for th eology is n ot just concerned with religious ma tt ers,

but also tied with social cont ext in wh ich th e th eology is ba sed on for ha v-

ing justification. Now the concept of democracy has become a universal

value so that all states try to adopt democracy into their governmental

system. Moreover, authoritarian regimes also try to obtain their legitima-

cy by adoptin g inst itu tions of democracy.61)

Wah ids obsession t o pu t democracy into th e th eology of Islam is par -

allel with his mission to transform fiqhi qaulaini tradition into the mod-


60) Masy k u r i Ab d il lah , 1 99 9 , Demokras i Dipers impangan Makna, [Democracy and i ts

Confusing Values], Yogyakarta: Tiara Wacana, p. 83. Wahid and Madjid look like follow

Khomeini who interpreted Koran (1: 6). For Khomeinis view please see Farhang Rajaee,

1983,Islam ic Values and World View , Boston: Un iversity P res s of America In c, p. 52.

61) Masykuri Abdillah, ibid., p. 72.


21/28

ern era. It is due to his mourn to see that, up to now, just the secular

world ideologies which have been leading the process of history, mean-

while religion has little impact on it. This situation forges him to formu-

late the theology of Islamic democracy as a kind of Islamic revivalism

which accommodates modern values. By doing so, Islam will be able to

participate in the modern era by developing a democracy which is rooted

in religious thought, besides to determine the standards of democracy

which are substantively parallel with Islamic universal values. At result,

he h opes th at th e process of secular izat ion in modern life will not divert to

secula rism which ignores m ora l guidan ce from r eligion.

Theology of Islamic democracy is not an exclusive theology so that itinvites non-Muslims to carry out a series of dialogues which will socialize

a religious concept of democracy in Indonesia. Wahid also persuades non-

Muslims to formulate the same theology based on their respectively reli-

gions. In his view, if people are able to adopt some ideas of democracy

th rough r eligious mea ns it will lead political life in Indonesia t o become

more democra tic. Moreover, believers of all r eligions will un ify int o one big

theme a political democracy with roots in religious understanding in their

religions . At last , religious life is color ized by the comm itm ent of democra-

cy so that political life also becomes democratic.62) This theology of democ-ra cy will pur port th e st at ic tolera tion concept of co-existen ce int o the pas-

siona te t olera t ion concept of love an d a ffection ea ch other.63)

Wah ids pr oposal to encour age dia logue a mongst religions ha s global

outreach by inviting all religious leaders and scholars from all quarters of

th e world. They will discuss a nd form ula te t he global eth ic as a ma nifesta -

tion of universal values of religions in substantive form, for protecting sec-

ularization in the globalization era from becoming secularism. The forces

of secularism behind the globalization process are very strong and endan-

ger the existence of humanism as the essence of the universal mission of

religion. Th at is why it is not su fficient for th e Muslim alone to cha llenge

this monstrous force of globalization. Subsequently, Wahid is not conve-

nient with th e idea of Islam ic revivalism pr omoted by most Muslims, both

ra dical groups a nd t he Muslim ma jorit y alike.


62) Sarwono Kusumaa tma dja, 2000, Pembawa Bangsa P ascatradisional [Post- tradit ional

Leader], in INCReS eds.,Beyond the S ym bols: J ejak Antropologis Pem ikiran dan Gerakan

Wahid, Bandu ng: Rosda an d INCReS, p. 187.



22/28


23/28

spirit of state apparatus in running state affairs, and the state as a body

needs the inducement of moral ethics from religion. In this matter, the

existence of the state is not just a matter of a secular contractual agree-

ment amongst people but to view state as body which is fundamental for

i m p l e m e n t i n g u n i v e r s a l va l u e s a s G od s s u b s t a n t i a l t e a c h i n g s .

Mean while, religion h as a m ission t o esta blish a justice in t he world.65)

CONCLUSION

People often misunderstand modern era is inevitably secular as a

resu lt of th e influen ce of secular ists view th at th e world develops t hr oughthree stages that are myth, religion, and modern. The secular character

was clearly evidence in the early modern era when the Renaissance era

which pretended to introduce humanism faced by the church for its sup-

port for theocratic state. Consequently, secularists became sure to build

th e t heory of hum an ism ba sed on t he m ythology of Class ical Gr eek, which

views that there exists a confl ict ing and fighting status between sky

(Gods spher e) an d ear th (ma ns sph ere) so th at both ha te ea ch other.

Because of the bad experience with theocratic state, European supported

th e conception of democra cy to overth row th e th eocra tic sta te so tha t somepeople assumed that to establish a democratic state means to promote sec-

ularism.

Secularists believed that by nature man is good so that he must be

given freedom to develop h is ability which th en ma nifests int o liberalism.

Liberalism demanded the government not offend the rights of human

beings which were inherently received by man at birth. It was to criticize

an absolute government of the theocratic system and offered the concep-

tion of democracy as the only political system which would support the

existence of human rights. Then, democracy was intended to overthrow

th e th eocra tic stat es in Eu rope and t ried to find justificat ion from t he peo-

ple to esta blish a secular sta te, namely, a sta te governed not by priest s but

by the people.

Liberal-capitalists claiming themselves as the valid inheritor of liber-

alism waged revolution to overth row the r uling feuda l class which tr ied to


65) Marzuki Wahid and Rumadi, 2001, Fiqih Madzhab Negara: Kritik Atas Politik Hukum

Islam di Indonesia [Stat e-supported Islam ic School of Law: Crit ic to politic of Islam ic law

in In donesia], Yogyaka rt a: LKiS, p. 30.


24/28

find its justification by means of religion. Capitalists was successful in

struggling for power but they, then, failed to fulfill their promise for salva-

tion and welfare to all people due to liberalism treated life following to

jungle law survival of the fittest. Marxism revised it with the conception

of society without class, giving all people the same welfare. For that pur-

pose Marxism also waged revolution in the name of the people to over-

th row th e greedy capita list class. H owever comm un ism a lso failed t o fulfill

its promise after causing a lot of human death in the revolution due to its

contradiction with human nature of competition. Moreover, in 1989 as an

ideology communism collapsed after strong political power was not able to

support it.After scrutinizing the conceptions of humanism, liberalism, human

rights, and democracy I conclude that the above conceptions are secular-

ism namely in that they rest on the fulfi l lment of material aspect of

hu man beings. This research agrees with th e secular approach t o ma na ge

hu man affairs su ch society, stat e an d t he int erna tiona l sphere, but it con-

tends with the conceptions which rests the truth on the fulfillment of

ma ter ial a spect of hum an being. It crit icizes t he world ideologies both cap-

italism and communism which use revolutionary means to obtain their

aims because they cause human death which is in contradict ion withhu man ism as th e featu re of modernity.

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