Why Indonesians of different faiths are mourning Ahmad Syafi’i Ma’arif, the Islamic scholar who preached ‘co-existence’ over tolerance
- Religious scholar, referred to as ‘Buya’ was known for bringing a cosmopolitan vision to Indonesian Islam
- Ma’arif was in favour of Islamic principles, but his incisive, yet nuanced ideas were misunderstood, and often rubbed ultraconservative Muslims the wrong way
Ahmad Syafi’i Ma’arif, who passed away on May 27 at the age of 86, was known for his vision of inclusive Islam, a progressive attitude and a true champion of pluralism in the country.
Affectionately known as “Buya”– a term in Sumatra’s Minang culture meaning a person deeply versed in Islam – Ma’arif was the former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country’s second largest Muslim organisation.
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Widodo bestowed Ma’arif with the country’s highest civilian honour, the Mahaputra medal in 2015, which entitled him to a burial plot at the National Heroes’ Cemetery of Kalibata in Jakarta. But the modest Ma’arif opted to be buried at a graveyard tended by Muhammadiyah instead.
That gesture was reminiscent of another pioneer of inclusive Islam in Indonesia, the late Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur Wahid, who also shunned a state burial site. Gus Dur served as chairman of Nadhatul Ulema (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation, from 1984 to 1999, before becoming Indonesia’s fourth president.
“He was a lot like Gus Dur, although they both differed a lot in their views on Islam,” said Adrian Vickers, historian at the University of Sydney and author of A History of Modern Indonesia.
“His most important legacy is that he brought a cosmopolitan vision to Indonesian Islam. He also wanted to bring Indonesians to a global understanding of Islam, while remaining dedicated to Indonesia.”
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Former Australian diplomat Ken Ward said Syafi’i Ma’arif stood out among Indonesian public figures.
“When I met him for the first time 20 years ago, Ma’arif had a calm Dalai-Lama-like quality about him.”
The religious scholar’s legacy lives on through the Ma’arif Institute, an academy he founded in 2003, which is currently run by Abdul Rohim Ghazali.
“Buya didn’t just want Islam in Indonesia to be tolerant of other faiths. It wasn’t enough for him that Muslims should just tolerate people who were different from them. Rather, he believed in coexistence, which is a step further than just tolerance,” he said.
Ghazali said Ma’arif realised the pluralistic nature of Indonesian society made the implementation of Islamic law untenable without trampling on the rights of minority groups.
“Buya was publicly known to have rejected the idea that Islamic sharia [law] should be formally incorporated into normative law. Because of this, he was labelled by some as an Islamophobe.”
Ghazali said Ma’arif was in favour of Islamic principles being fundamental in policymaking, but his incisive, yet nuanced ideas were misunderstood, and often rubbed ultraconservative Muslims the wrong way.
Author Hasanudin Abdurakhman claimed that ultraconservative groups attempted to have Ma’arif disowned by his own ethnic group, the Minangs and expelled by the former organisation he had led, Muhammadiyah, for being a “liberal Muslim”.
Ma’arif had been a Fulbright Scholar at Ohio University and obtained his doctorate in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago, and many people believe his overseas education may have contributed to his liberal theology.
In 2005, when the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country’s highest clerical body, issued a fatwa declaring pluralism, secularism and liberalism forbidden, Ma’arif argued against the ruling in an op-ed the following year citing verses in the Koran which he interpreted to support pluralism.
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His stance upset conservative Muslims who accused him of sanctioning the idea there was salvation outside Islam. Muhammad Qorib, an academic at the State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullahin Jakarta, however, backed Ma’arif’s concept of pluralism.
In his thesis, Qorib argued Ma’arif still believed salvation was exclusively through Islam but he advocated empathy and love for people of different faiths.
In 2016, when the Christian and Indonesian Chinese Jakarta Governor Basukii Tjahja Purnama, better known as Ahok, was arraigned and charged with blasphemy against Islam, Ma’arif called the move misguided and that Ahok should not have to face prosecution.
His statement drew ire from many Muslims, including from the organisation he once ran. The Muhammadiyah sought clarification from Ma’arif, who explained that while he did not think Ahok’s public commentary on a Koranic verse was appropriate, he did not see how it amounted to blasphemy, let alone a criminal act.
Soe Tjen Marching, an academic at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and author of The End of Silence: Accounts of the 1965 Genocide in Indonesia, recalled meeting Ma’arif in 2010. Marching said Ma’arif was open-minded about many issues.
“I even criticised the practice by mosques in Indonesia in blaring prayers through megaphones and speakers. He listened and agreed with me that it was disruptive to others.”
Listening to others was something Ma’arif considered important no matter their age or background. Journalist and history-researcher Hendi Jo, who was in his late twenties when he struck up a friendship with the octogenarian, said there was one thing Buya had once said to him which he would remember again and again.
“He told me: if you have stopped listening to others, you will soon find yourself lost on what is surely a wayward path.”
