WHICH PART OF CIVIL LAW IS NOT ISLAMIC? TO MAKE THINGS EASY FOR NADHLATUL ULAMA (NU)

 Here is an old article about Indonesia's Nadhlatul Ulama by Prof James Dorsey that popped up again which I want to comment on (again) :

• Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama, world’s largest, moderate Muslim civil society 
• called for abolishing concept of caliphate in Islamic law
• Nahdlatul Ulama wants nation-state  
• movement’s campaign to recontextualise Islamic law
• free it from obsolete, outdated concepts
• Nahdlatul Ulama believes essential to replace caliphate
• caliphate neither feasible nor desirable to unite Muslims against non Muslims 
• choice : caliphate or reform jurisprudence to embrace diverse cultures
• NU assault on caliphate insists to change religious jurisprudence
• NU has 90m followers, 18,000 seminaries, 44 universities, thousands of scholars

Dr. James M. Dorsey is Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technolaogical University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

My comments:

In my view the Indonesians are very fortunate in that they have a long history of civilizational development  over more than 2000 years through the presence of the Pallava, Gupta, Pala, Chola dynasties, the Sunda Kingdoms,  Tarumanagara, the Kutai (Martadipura) Kingdom, the Sailendras, Sri Vijaya, the Majapahit etc etc and great leaders like Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada. 

For over 2000 years Indonesia has been fully immersed in being "thalassocracy or thalattocracy or maritime empire, ie a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire".

Their society, their social and political dynamics, their trade, economy was largely maritime. In other words open to the world. Hence Nusantara.

Sumatra is the 'western' form of samudera (Samudra, Indian term literally meaning the "gathering together of waters", refers to an ocean, sea or confluence. It also forms the name of Samudradeva, the Hindu god of the ocean).

At different periods of their history Indonesia has fully absorbed Hinduism, Buddhism and of course the latest arrival Islam. This mix of flavors has made the Indonesian people historically cosmopolitan to a degree that perhaps no other civilisation has.

Hence their acceptability and the moderation towards diversity.  Their national motto is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika or Unity in Diversity. 

'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is the official national motto of Indonesia, inscribed in the National emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garuda's claws. The phrase comes from the Old Javanese, translated to as "Unity in Diversity." The phrase is also mentioned in the Constitution of Indonesia, specifically in article 36A'

Last year Sukmawati Soekarnoputri the 70 year old daughter of the late president Soekarno publicly converted from Islam to Hinduism.  Only in Indonesia.

Undoubtedly the NU's moderation cannot be separated from the history of the Nusantara.

Perhaps to hasten their process the NU can signify which parts of their civil laws  in Indonesia are not Islamic?

If they have a speed limit on their highways is that Islamic or no? 
If a registered corporation has to present annual audited accounts is that Islamic or no?
If the corrupt are caught and sent to jail is that Islamic or no?

They may also wish to look at the meaning of the word caliph. A caliph (khalifah) can be deemed a representative. Someone who represents others. 

Elected representatives certainly do represent others.  The president represents his electorate. Presidents are caliphs. So the world is already full of elected representatives. Why reinvent the wheel?

Suddenly in the 21st century some Muslims are debating if they should coexist with non Muslims. 

Here is a question - do the non Muslims care?

How relevant is the matter? Remember that alien space ship? If an alien space ship appears out of the sky and simply sucks up all the Muslims, will it make a difference in the world? Will there be no  more Toyotas in the world? Will there be no more I-Phones or Oppo? 

This is the 21st century. Elon Musk has already made his neural-link micro-chip. That is approaching warp speed. The Muslims are still arguing "shall we coexist with the non Muslims?"

Hopefully the Nadhlatul Ulama will speed things up a little more.

 The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.