By Makarim Wibisono and Namira Puspandari*
The Jakarta Post-Mar 23
Human rights are the rights that we believe are inherent to our being members of the Homo sapiens species. In many ways they are the aggregation of human aspirations down the centuries, yet their observance has been fitful at best for the vast majority of mankind.
And thus after one period of particular bestiality, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an effort to decree the minimum level of rights to which all nations should aspire to, will celebrate its 70th birthday this coming December.
These 30 basic human rights are, of course, the compilation of mere mortals, and while Article 18 provides for freedom of belief and religion, guidance on religious matters was rightly left to the individual religions.
In Indonesia, with its majority-Muslim population, this often means pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), which like similar religious institutions in other lands set out to not only provide religious instruction but also furnish students with the capabilities for life ahead.
While freedom to practice the six major religions is enshrined in the 1945 Constitution, the state’s primary obligation to promote and protect human rights is laid out in Law No. 39/1999 on human rights. Of late, however, there have been a number of reports suggesting growing intolerance for religious beliefs other than Islam and even calls for the formation of an Islamic state (IS) movement.
With pesantren being the bellwether for change in regard to the tolerance of Muslim students toward protection of human rights, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives has supported the Institute for Human Resources Studies and Development of Nahdlatul Ulama (Lakpesdam PBNU) and the Foundation for International Human Rights Reporting Standards (FIHRRST) in developing a short course to explore common areas between human rights values and Islamic teaching.
With its main title of Halaqah Islam Ramah HAM (Study Circle on Human Rights-Friendly Islam), the pilot course was presented on March 5 to 7 to the santri (senior students) of Al-Urwatul Wutsqo traditional Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java.
Besides enabling students to learn about human rights from the perspectives of international and national law, as well as from those of Islamic teaching and NU values, the course was designed to be interactive in nature.
Assuming the responsibilities of members of a democratic society, the students were encouraged to express their opinions on human rights, including such current issues as freedom of religious belief and the death penalty, from both an Islamic and human rights perspective.
The students were eager to embrace the opportunity for their views to be heard. Healthy debate across a wide range of topics resulted in almost unanimous agreement that the overall aim must be to find the common ground between religious teaching and human rights values.
On more specific issues, meanwhile, diverse opinions were expressed. Mainly, there was support for the retention of the death penalty at this current time, some arguing that it was the only way to address such areas as the drug problem and corruption in Indonesia: an interesting viewpoint on the latter.
Tolerance was certainly visible in regard to freedom of religious belief, particularly on the issue of religious minorities such as the Ahmadiyah and Shia.
Participants agreed that while some beliefs are contrary to their own religious teachings, their followers should be able to enjoy equal rights as citizens. Moreover, the majority stated that this must be guaranteed by the state and believed that such a guarantee would help promote greater tolerance.
Expressing his opinion on the outcome of the presentation, Rumadi Ahmad, chair of Lakpesdam PBNU, said he believed that such discussion will help broaden the perspective of students toward human rights and raise their awareness on the importance of tolerance toward those who have different beliefs or hold different views.
Meanwhile, the secretary of Lakpesdam PBNU, Marzuki Wahid, signaled his agreement that on the grounds of basic principles, there is no conflict between Islam and human rights.
For her part, the professor Istibsjaroh, head of Al-Urwatul Wutsqo Academy of Tarbiyah Jombang, strongly supported the implementation of the short course, seeing it as an opportunity to help broaden the perspective of students on human rights issues.
Nevertheless, expressing a belief that society in general is ill-informed and inadequately aware of human rights issues, she hoped that such an event could be organized on a regular basis.
The eagerness of the students not just to take part but to continue discussions with those delivering the course encouraged all involved that its presentation in this format had been a worthwhile exercise.
There are certainly high hopes that this particular group of students will integrate the experience into their own lives, spreading the values of tolerance and respect for human rights throughout their local communities, and being prepared to listen when others express differing views.
Going forward, the target now must be to expand this to the national level and provide students and communities elsewhere with the opportunity to undergo a similar experience.
By allowing our future leaders and teachers to demonstrate that human rights values have a meaningful role to play in their lives, Indonesia can show the world the face of moderate Islam that is peaceful, pluralist and
humanist.
*Makarim Wibisono and Namira Puspandari are respectively the cofounder of and program coordinator for religious tolerance, minority and death penalty issues at The Foundation for International Human Rights Reporting Standards (FIHRRST).
(first published in The Jakarta Post – http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/03/23/seeking-common-ground-human-rights-islam-in-java.html)
