Muhammadiyah and Politics: So Close, Yet So Far

There needs to be awareness in positioning Muhammadiyah proportionally. Muhammadiyah was born long before Indonesia's independence. Their contribution to this nation and country is immeasurable, especially in preaching good and forbidding evil, social affairs, education and health. Therefore, the "parents" of this nation should be properly positioned in terms of their relationship with politics.

Don't lure these "old people" into getting involved in support-support politics, let alone just getting political positions. Encouraging religious organisations such as Muhammadiyah to get involved in politics, especially politics in the sense of "cheap" just fighting for power, is a far from elegant attitude and blind to history (ahistorical).

If the country's political elite can position Muhammadiyah proportionally, Muhammadiyah will place it proportionally as well, as a religious mass organisation that is always oriented towards national politics and keeps away from partisan political orientation. Positioning Muhammadiyah proportionally must at least be seen in two ways.

First, convince Muhammadiyah that political parties and politicians in the executive and legislative branches can produce political products in the form of political policies that are fully intended for the benefit of society. What happens is that, more often than not, the product of political policies is opposed to the interests and welfare of society.

Second, in the context of competition for political positions, political parties must also be able to convince Muhammadiyah by offering political candidates who share Muhammadiyah's da'wah mission and the interests of society at large. Don't hurt the feelings of Muhammadiyah in particular and Muslims in general by, for example, bringing up dirty-class political candidates who are not only useless for this nation but also become problem makers.

The 2017 DKI Jakarta Pilkada, where the majority of political parties offered a candidate named Basuki Tjahaya Purnama (Ahok), is a reflection of the party's political policies that are insensitive and fail to understand and understand the feelings of DKI Jakarta residents.

Nominating Ahok reflects the policies of parties that do not understand democracy well. Usually, in a democratic political system, the majority vote is the primary consideration in making political policies. In the case of the DKI Jakarta Pilkada, the principles of democracy were ignored. Ahok's candidacy is also a fundamental reflection that the parties supporting him failed to understand Indonesia and Pancasila.

Ahok is a real reflection of a figure who does not understand Indonesia and Pancasila. Of course, it's strange when a figure who fails to understand Indonesia and Pancasila is promoted to occupy a public position by parties that have often shouted about and feel they are the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, Pancasila and the underprivileged.

Finally, I hope that the DKI Jakarta Pilkada can be a lesson for all political parties in making political policies in the future, especially in nominating political candidates who will occupy positions in the public sphere. Hopefully.