INDONESIAN MUSLIMS RESPONSE TO GLOBALISATION

By Akhmad Kusaeni

“Moderates embrace globalization with love and hope.
Radicals face globalization with hate and bomb,”

Thomas Friedman loves globalization. He writes many books on globalization. He believes globalization is a kind of humankind destiny. He says no countries in the world can’t stop globalization just like nobody in this universe can’t resist the sun comes up every morning.
Friedman makes intriguing theory on globalization. He defines globalization as a new international system that replaced the Cold War system. It involves the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before – in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is also producing a powerful backlash from those brutalized or left behind by this new system .
The driving idea behind globalization, according to Friedman’s theory, is free market capitalism and cultural homogenization. Globalization means the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world. Globalization also means the spread of Americanization –from Big Macs to MTV to Mickey Mouse—on a global scale.
Everyone in the world is directly or indirectly affected by globalization, but not everyone benefits from it. That is why the more globalization diffused, the more it also produces a backlash by people like Osama bin Laden who feel overwhelmed by it, homogenized by it, or unable to keep pace with its demand.
Osama bin Laden declared war on the globalization and Americanization in the late 1990s. After he organized the bombing of two American embassies in Africa, the U.S. Air Force retaliated with a cruise missile attack on his base in Afghanistan. The United States fired 75 cruise missiles, at $1 million a piece, at a person! That was the first battle in history between a superpower (America) and a super-empowered angry man (Osama). September 11 was just the second such battle
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Panji Gumilang, the leader of Indonesia Al-Zaitun Islamic Boarding School, has an eloquent answer to the question how Indonesian Muslims respond to the globalization. He says moderates embraces globalization with love and hope while radicals face it with hate and bomb.


Welcome to Al-Zaitun, one of Indonesia’s finest Islamic boarding schools. It is located in the District of Indramayu, around 4 hour-drive from Jakarta. Built on 1400 hectares of beautiful parkland and having an enrollment of 7300 students, Al-Zaytun has been known as a modern pesantren worthy of setting an example for other boarding schools in Indonesia.
“It is a center of excellence for modern and moderates Islam in Indonesia. It is neither a place for breeding terrorists nor suicide bombers,” said Panji Gumilang, the leader of Al-Zaitun.
There is an emerging stigmatization against pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) in the aftermath of the Bali and JW Marriot bombings. The suicide bomber, Amsar, reportedly was an alumnus of a pesantren, the Al-Mukmin in Ngruki, Central Java, which is led by the radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir.
The idea of linking pesantren to suicide bomber, according to Panji Gumilang, can ruin the image of moderate and tolerant Muslims in Indonesia. There are thousands of moderate pesantrens in the country, but only a few are radical pesantrens.
“The radicals make up only a small group. They represent a minority group, but they are very outspoken. They’ve hijacked the image of moderates Muslim Indonesia,” he added.
From outside, judging by the names or physical appearance, the moderates and the radicals’ pesantrens may look alike. But, in terms of teachings and moral values nurtured they are completely different.
“Just like night and day,” he stressed.
In a pesantren like Al-Mukmin, the school promoted a hard line interpretation of Islam. The radicals feel that Islamic religious identity is at risk and is being eroded by globalization and Americanization. They try to fortify their interpretations of religious ways of being through their selective retrieval and particular reading of Islamic doctrines and practices from a sacred past.
The differences between moderates and radicals can be seen by how both respond to the globalization challenge.
“Moderates embrace globalization with love and hope. Radicals face globalization with hate and bomb,” Panji Gumilang explained.
In moderate Al-Zaitun, the students wear the same clothes as people in London do. Some of them wear the New York Yankees cap. They watch MTV and speak English as well as Arabic. They play basketball and hockey. They log on to Internet and set up their own website. They run Al-Zaytun Magazine and practice freedom of press and expression.
On the other hand, in radical Al-Mukmin boarding school, students wear the same clothes as Osama bin Laden --their hero and idol-- does. They keep a long beard and practicing religious teachings in a rigid and exclusive way. They hate George Bush because they think America is against Islam. They believe that America, Israel and the Jews are conspiring to undermine Islam and dominate the world.
They burn American flags and shout “Bush is the King of Terrorists!”.
Moderates and radicals are, in fact, completely different, just like “night and day”.

Religion of peace
Islamic scholar Lily Zakiah Munir said that in moderate pesantrens, the teaching advocates three levels of brotherhood that need to be uplifted in pursuing peaceful coexistence of all humankind.
First, brotherhood among Muslims (ukhuwwah Islamiyah); second, brotherhood among people of the same nation (ukhuwah wathoniyah); and third, brotherhood among all human beings (ukhuwwah basyariyah) regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion and nationality.
“Islam is the religion of peace, not religion of terror,” Munir said.
Thus, she said, the radical’s type of Islam is not typical Indonesian. Islam in Indonesia has been known as tolerant, pluralistic and adaptable to local and foreign cultures. But, the bomb attacks on Bali and JW Marriot are often cited as evidence that Indonesian Muslims are becoming more radical.
The Indonesian Muslim University, IAIN, has recently conducted a research to see if the entire country is becoming more radical. Dr. Jamhari, one of the researchers, said radicalism has gained a foothold in rural areas since the downfall of President Soeharto in 1998.
Although there is no evidence to suggest that number of radical Muslim is rising, he pointed at the “growing intensity of their activities, training and media exposure”.
The economic crisis that has afflicted the country since 1997 has also produced more radicalism. “Many poverty-stricken people have taken refuge in religion,” Dr. Jamhari explained.
In the case of Indonesia, radicalism is not always based on religious motives. Poor and low-skilled people are easy to manipulate. They can easily be brainwashed to do “jihad” and ready to die or kill the infidels.
Hidup terhormat atau mati syahid (Life in honor or die as martyr) is a campaign slogan of radicals and it had attracted many followers.
Moderate pesantrens, as Munir said, should stay alert for this and enhance their teachings on pluralism to their students.