Murjites: The Case Against Religious Intolerance

As was explained by Mustafa Akyol in one of his commentary:

“… the more urbane Murjites presented a brilliantly simple argument: No Muslim had the right to judge others on matters of faith; only God had that ultimate authority. Thus, they reasoned, all doctrinal disputes should be postponed to the afterlife, to be resolved by God – The Quran itself supports this view: “Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion] … To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ [5:48].” This is why they were called ‘Murjites,’ which means, ‘the Postponers.’”

This appears to be similar with what we have in Indonesia as many groups are now frequently fights to suppress and dominate others. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not helping for Indonesia’s unity, security, and prosperity.

This must be stopped. Unfortunately, as stopping it would be challenging – and requires a long term plan, a more achievable goal would be to prevent an escalation. One goal that is achievable by not giving any part of state authority for a particular group.

In addition, the government must prevent the temptation of doing that especially as part of an attempt to gain electoral vote. Not one of us should become the judge upon earth. Not any one of the group ever have the duty to do what God would be done in the judgment day.

For our part as young generations and the intellectual spearhead of our country, we must be able to approach such a delicate issue rationally. The core interests of our country – namely preserving the integrity of Indonesia – should be in our mind all the time and set the standard to divide good ideas from the bad one. Any idea that jeopardizes our core interests must be rejected and ruled out.

And the idea to empower a particular religious group is an example of the real dangerous and subversive idea that must be wiped out from our beloved country.

 

Written by: Zidny Ilman