Lesson Learned From Syria, Beware of Radicalism Seeds in Indonesia
written : Ratna Wulandari) *
One week has passed, but the polemic regarding the burning of a black flag that reads HTI sentences at the commemoration of the National Santri Day in Garut ago is still heating up.
The burning of the HTI flag carried out by Banser at the commemoration of the National Santri Day on October 22 last reaped various responses, from the pro to the contra. The incident, which showed a number of Banser individuals burning the HTI flag, was then led to misleading opinions that there was religious abuse, which led to mixed reactions in the community.
For the sake of a political interest and power, several groups have justified any means to be able to obtain it, including by impersonating religion. What happened in Indonesia is not different from the events that have occurred in Syria.
Events that are almost the same as the patterns that are not far different can drag Indonesia into a prolonged conflict in the community. This situation certainly brings a lot of losses in terms of fatalities and other material losses.
Many facts have shown that Indonesia is now being led to the civil war. This was corroborated by the opinion of the Secretary General of the Indonesian Syam Alumni Association and M. Najih Arromadoni of Ahmad Kuftaro University Alumnus Damascus, who stated that “The success of radical groups in the mid-East blast inspired radical groups in various parts of the world”.
In recent years, many Syrian patterns have been found which were adapted into radical movements in Indonesia. One of the obvious things is by politicizing religion, including making the mosque a demonstration base.
If in Indonesia made the Istiqlal Mosque the headquarters of the demonstrators, then in Damascus it was the Jami ‘Umawi mosque that was used as a gathering place for the demonstrators. Usually demonstrations are held on Friday, after Friday prayers. By beginning with various political blasphemy in a sermon to trick the public. This is exactly what happened in Syria before the crisis.
In addition, the second fact is eliminating people’s trust in the government. This was done by radical groups by continually spreading cruel slander. Al Asaad who was then president of Syria was once slandered as an infidel, a slayer of Sunnis and a Shiite group. There is even a news that Al Asaad once claimed to be God.
In this case, it is like what happened in Indonesia some time ago. Of course you still remember that the current President of the Republic of Indonesia has also been slandered as a communist, Chinese, anti-Islam and a series of other slanders by treason groups. The issue was deliberately exhaled to weaken people’s trust in the government.
Next is the murder of clerical characters. In various crises that occur in Syria, Ulama are easy targets that cannot be separated from slander arrows. Even the Middle East great ulema Sheikh Said Ramadhan al-Buthi did not escape the slander as courtiers and Shiites because they were considered to be at odds with their political views. Even though he was clearly an influential Aswaja figure.
Those are some facts that are currently happening in Indonesia after previously using the same pattern that has happened in Syria with the use of controversial hashtags. The use of presidential hashtags has also occurred in Syria. This opinion was expressed by PKB Secretary General Abdul Kadir Karding in his speech on Twitter some time ago.
He wrote the hashtag once used in Syria. “Why is Syria so messed up, it’s because of using the hastag instead of the president. And replacing the president means all kinds of things, so I think it’s good that the presidential candidate pair has replaced the hashtag,” he said.
According to Zuhairi Misrawi, who is a Middle East observer, we should learn from the political crisis that took place in Syria, which initially made peace, but ended in conflict because there were parties who tried to legitimize legitimate government.
From these various events, we should jointly block the efforts made by radicalism groups that are trying to destroy this beloved Unitary Republic of Indonesia.
If at present Syria is in a state of regret and wants to reconcile, then the conflict in the beloved country in the name of this religion has just begun. For this reason, the efforts to destroy the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia in the name of religion are increasingly becoming, including mobilizing large numbers of masses.
Responding to this, the Chairperson of PP Muhammadiyah, Haedar Nashir, once revealed that in a situation like this there is a test to practice the teachings about ukhuwah, rahmatan lil amin alamin, tasamuh and tawasut among Muslims and the Indonesian people.
Seeing the conditions currently happening Haedar also revealed that collective awareness especially for Muslims is very necessary. He also believes that Muslims and all Indonesian people are still able to maintain national integrity. This is because indeed a variety of bitter experiences before this are more than enough to become material spiritual lessons that make the people and this nation more mature and mature.
*) The author is a Student of Religious Education