As discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, the proponents of Sharia have endeavoured to adapt strategies to fit with evolving political and cultural conditions. The strategies include lobbying, advocacy and the politics of nomenclature. For instance, the implementation of Regional Autonomy Laws has provided an opportunity for district governments to enact regulations. This opportunity has been utilised by proponent groups to advance their agenda to implement Sharia. That is, regional autonomy has
enabled the supporting groups to implement Perda Sharia through advocacy and
lobbying district governments. Moreover, if the political situation benefits them, they will advance their objective to implement Sharia at the provincial and national levels. One of the informants explained that:
In order to establish Islamic Sharia in Cianjur district under the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, (we) implement Gerbang Marhamah (Gerakan Pembangunan Masyarakat Berakhlakul Karimah: the Development Movement for a Good Moral society) … however, in the future, it might not be beyond the realm of the possibility that Sharia Islam is implemented in Indonesia, because Sharia Islam is the most perfect moral code made by Allah for all humans
(Mustofa, Secretary of MUI, Cianjur, interviewed 21 March 2008).
Given that Indonesia does not have an Islamic constitution, and considering that the
of Sharia as regional regulations, they used this opportunity to implement regulations;
for instance, Gerbang Marhamah in Cianjur focuses only on moral issues. Although
they are only able to implement a small part of Sharia, they used the opportunity to socialise and promote Sharia Islam, so the community became familiar with Sharia
practices. By implementing Perda Sharia in the district, they introduced and educated
the community with part of Islamic Sharia’s values and teaching. For instance, the
implementation of Gerbang Marhamah, according to Mustofa, the Secretary of MUI,
is part of the educational process for the community to understand more about Sharia. Hence, in the regulation, there is no legal punishment or sanction. However, after the educational process has been conducted and the community understands about Sharia, then Sharia will be implemented comprehensively, and at this stage, sanction and punishment will be incorporated into the regulation (Mustofa, Secretary of MUI, Cianjur, interviewed 21 March 2008).
Abubakar Ba’ashir (Ba’asyir 2007a), former leader of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia,
argued that Perda Sharia is one of the ways to formalise Sharia Islam in Indonesia if
establishing an Islamic state is not possible. Other proponents believe that if more
regions implement Perda Sharia, then the possibility of implementing Sharia Islam on
a provincial or national level and then establishing an Islamic state will be easier. However, other proponents consider that under the national constitution, it is not easy to implement Sharia; therefore, they are using strategies such as using terms other than ‘Sharia Islam’ for district regulations (Ambo Tang, Department of Religious Affairs, Bulukumba, interviewed 16 June 2008). For instance, Cianjur used ‘Gerbang Marhamah’ as the name for Sharia-inspired regulations, and Bulukumba called the
regulation an ‘Islamic-nuanced regulation’ (Perda bernuansa keagamaan) to give the
impression that the regulation is not based on Sharia. However, the meaning they want to convey with this expression is that they desire to create a more religious environment. Mustofa, one of the leaders of the MUI in Cianjur, explained that:
This is the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), thus all of the regulations and laws must not separate us from the unitary state. Actually, some regulations may be under regional autonomy; however, religion affairs are still regulated by national laws. Cianjur wants to establish Islamic Sharia under the nomenclature ‘Gerbang Marhamah’ (because) in fact, we are not able to implement Islamic Sharia legally (Mustofa, MUI Cianjur, interviewed 21 March 2008).
As discussed in Chapter 3, Mustofa considers that NKRI is the final form of
Indonesian state. Thus, Gerbang Marhamah is a way to accommodate Sharia
regulations within the Indonesian state as it is presently constituted. In addition, proponents are aware that they have to abide by the national constitution, which implies that there will be little possibility to implement Sharia. However, as Muslims, proponents believe that Islam is the most perfect and complete religion with its laws. They also believe that it is their obligation to disseminate Islam and uphold Sharia, which makes them always eager to have Islam implemented in daily life and accommodated by the state. They are optimistic that there will be a chance to implement Islamic Sharia, particularly after the central government issued laws related to Islam:
Personally, I want the implementation of (Islamic) laws to be comprehensive, not partial. I am sure that it will be possible that all Islamic regulations and law will be accommodated in national laws, especially since the government already has legislated for religious courts, Zakat and the hajj (Mustofa, MUI Cianjur, interviewed 21 March 2008).
Proponents’ aspirations to have Islam imbued in daily life and accommodated by the government in regulations, laws and even in the Constitution are often contrary to
their arguments regarding the implementation of Perda Sharia in the districts.
Although they are optimistic that the government will eventually accommodate Islam in the Constitution, they are always reluctant to acknowledge that their district has
already been implementing Sharia-influenced regulation, Perda Sharia, particularly as
many of the proponents are government staff members. Andi Mahrus, the assistant Bupati in Bulukumba, expressed it thus:
We never made regional regulations about Islamic Sharia in Bulukumba and no one is able to do so. What we implemented were Islamic-nuanced regional regulations relating to Muslim clothes, Muslim attitudes and behaviour that needed to be done first. Is there a district foolhardy enough to implement Islamic Sharia? What would be the significance of a regulation compared with the Quran and Hadits (Andi Mahrus, Bupati Assistant Bulukumba, interviewed 10 June 2008).
This argument is common among proponents. They are reluctant to acknowledge that
their district has implemented Perda Sharia and endeavour to argue that their district
government has been implementing regulations under another nomenclature such as
explain clearly what they mean by Perda bernuansa agama and Perda Sharia. Andi Mahrus explains the approach:
Actually, Islamic-nuanced regional regulation also incorporates Sharia values. However, (when we made the regulation) we did not emphasize the Sharia inspiration, but rather we prefer to focus on Islamic values such as hospitality to guests, dressing so that the ‘aurat’ is appropriately covered in accordance with Islamic teaching and Islamic values. Socialising with good manners without getting drunk, not disturbing other Muslims or other people also involves Islamic behaviour as it is taught in Islam, and Islamic Sharia teaches about that, does it not? … so, our primary aim is to create a situation and an Islamic mode of behaviour so that everyone feels safe (Andi Mahrus, Bupati Assistant Bulukumba, interview 10 June 2008).
It is obviously difficult to distinguish between Islamic Sharia-based, Sharia- influenced and Islamic-nuanced regional regulations because the understanding of proponents about Sharia is not clear, as Andi Mahrus recounted:
The difference between Islamic Sharia-based Regional regulation (Perda Sharia) and the Islamic-nuanced regional regulation (Perda bernuansa Sharia) is that Perda Sharia relates to the laws of fiqh,65 which means that we do not need to regulate those matters that have been regulated by Al Quran and hadits. What we need to do is to make regulations with Islamic nuances in order to make the community aware that they are Muslims and behaves as Muslims (Andi Mahrus, Bupati Assistant Bulukumba, interview 10 June 2008). This suggests that the debate about the meaning and content of Sharia Islam has not yet finished. As Hooker and Lindsey (Hooker, M & Lindsey 2002) argue, the definition and content of Sharia are very diverse, depending on the interests and agendas of those involved. Moreover, the result is usually an unbalanced and incomplete definition motivated by established ideological or political positions. Proponents then take advantage of this condition as a strategy to avoid using the term
‘Sharia’ in the regional regulation (Perda), even when its content relates to Sharia.
This could be because they consider it against the state Constitution (UUD 45 & Pancasila) and Laws No. 22 and 25/1999 about regional autonomy; that is, the central government retains responsibility for religious matters. In addition, it is very risky for
their struggle because it will attract a response from the opponents of Shariaand the
government. I would argue that their strategy (not using Sharia as a name of Perda) is
successful, as there have been no cases where the Minister of Internal Affairs has
annulled Sharia-influenced Perda. First, the issue of Sharia Islam is a very sensitive
65 Originally, understanding, knowledge, comprehension; technically, it refers to the science of Islamic jurisprudence.
issue; hence, the government would take into consideration every decision related to
Sharia Islam. Second, the districts that implement Perda Sharia are not working
alone, but have developed networks with districts and Islamic groups. Third, the
implementation of Perda Sharia is the result of a long political process, where
proponents always take into consideration the local culture, the number of proponents
and the resistance of opponents. Further, during the political process of Perda Sharia,
proponents always follow the rules of the decision-making process in the local government. That is, proponents have followed the democratic processes of district governments.