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By TimesOfFitan
In the Name of Allāh, the Beneficent, the Merciful [ ]
As millions of Indonesians prepare for this week’s presidential and parliamentary elections, mainstream media outlets scramble to provide their audiences with updates on the event. One headline that caught our attention appeared in an article published today [16th April 2019] on the Reuters website. (1)
The intriguing headline read, Indonesia’s Election: what you need to know. Reading through the article, the first thing that struck our team was the terminology being used to describe the events as they unfold. For example, the article begins by informing the reader of the amount of Indonesians who are eligible to vote and that “campaigns focused on the economy”.
The article then points out that political Islām is looming large over the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation. It states, “As conservative Islām gains traction, politicians including Widodo have taken pains to appear more Islamic”. Joko Widodo, who is the current President of the Muslim country, is described by Reuters as a moderate Muslim who “has had to fend off smear campaigns suggesting he was anti-Islām, a communist or in debt to China”.
From among the 245,000 candidates, Widodo’s main rival is a man 67 year old Prabowo Subianto who, according to Reuters, “has long harboured ambitions for the top job and has cultivated a strongman image and ties with hardline Islamist groups in the hope of boosting his chances.
So what is so striking about terms such as political Islām, Muslim-majority nation, conservative Islām, moderate Muslim, and hardline Islamist groups? Well it’s a matter of understanding the intended meanings and implications of these terms and their likes, as well as appreciating the impact that they have on the hearts and minds of the people. Indeed, the Messenger of Allāh said:
“And indeed in speech there is magic.” (2)
So, what the Muslim needs to know is that these terms only serve to create divisions and disunity within the Ummah, categorising Muslims according to their views on certain critical marker issues. This makes it possible for the disbelievers to determine which categories are compatible with certain values deemed to be acceptable, and those who are hostile to such ideals, and to deal with them accordingly.
Consider the term political Islām, for instance. This term has been coined so as to create in one’s mind the idea that Islām has no role to play in public affairs. It implies that those who believe that the religion should influence government policy are actually deviants who promote a distorted interpretation of Islām.
These type of Muslims are often labelled Islamists and are accused by western governments of promoting an extreme political ideology that is supported by a minority. In its article Reuters points out that this type of Islām is looming large over the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, a statement that clearly expresses the outlet’s, and that of the people it represents, hostility towards Islām. For Islām does not accept the western secular order, rather governance is an integral aspect of the religion, as can be understood from Allāh’s statement:
“Then We have put you on a Sharī'ah [i.e. a legal way] of commandment. So follow you that, and follow not the desires of those who know not.” (3)
Additionally, the English word looming, used in this article to describe political Islām, generally refers to something unpleasant that is going to happen soon and causing people to worry. Such media coverage is unsurprising, as Allāh تعالى says:
“Intolerable for the Mushrikīn is that to which you call them.” (4)
A more detailed discussion regarding these important issues is forthcoming in our The Reality of Counter-Extremism Series, Inshā’Allāh … Stay tuned.
◾ --- FOOTNOTES ---
(1). Reuters, Indonesia’s Election: what you need to know, 16 April 2019
(2). Sahīh Muslim: 869
(3). Sūrah al-Jāthiyah: 18
(4). Sūrah ash-Shūrā: 13