THE VISA OF ULiL ABSHAR ABDALLAH WAS DENIED BY MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT

THE VISA OF ULIL ABSHAR ABDALLAH ,  AN  INDONESIAN CITIZEN, WAS  DENIED BY  MALAYSIAN EMBASSY,
This  visit is to attend  a  seminar and discussion wth the local  thinkers of Islam, about the  genuinely refreshing of  muslim way of thinking to accommodate modern world.  The national religion of Malaysia is Islam, therefore the Governmant  rules its implementation according to their will.     Ulil Abshar Abdallah is publicly known as  a person of  Liberal muslim  belief,  he wrote these in news papers,  and printed medias very often, especially in politics and religions,  particularly Muslim  religion. He is inclined  to    Gus Dur’s way of thinking.  Actually  his  opinions  were  disconcerting  his contemporaries  Islamic  self appointed holy cyndics.   He is an ardent member of Nahdkatul Ulama, a major muslim a social organization.
In Indonesia, there are  two mayor muslim organization.
These were founded since the Dutch colonial rule’s era.  About one  hundred years ago, Nahdlatul Ulama  and Muhammadiyah.
Nahdlatul Ulama was founded by reverent muslim  Hasyim Ashari’s  & family, during  the Dutch colonial rule ,  many  years  after Muhammadiyah ,  as a muslim scholar  and he worked  to teach Islam  belief,   using  traditional  muslim  method of education.  Although it was  dubbed as an old fashioned.  Most of their  disciples were coming from lower strata  of   indigenous  people.  True, superficially  their way of life and their  garbs, which consist of sarong,  caps / pici and   below- knee length of culot (short trousers – France), mostly black for male, and their female wears  head covers cloth some time just enough to cover their long hair which tightened in a bundle, loose  kebaya (similar to cardigans) and batik sarong, some time just below her knee   length ,  bounded  around her waist with long  cotton  woven  wide  band,  because  these  muslim  women also working in the shalow  muds of rice fields, this way to cover their  legs   are forbidden to muslimah  ( female muslim)  in Arab.  This is superficial  visible  customs, but  fundamentally the Nahdlatul Ulama  way of  garbing themselves and their way of life were entirely on purpose  to   resist the influences of the Dutch ‘s   in customs and style of anything.  This attitude  is named (internally)  amongst the NU members  as  “uzlah”  wich means a  resistent attitude toward  anything   the colonial Dutch were pushing to  the natives,  but not in wearing under wears   for male and female, and they ardently  care its  domonstatives implementations, such as  the NU peasants  declined to work as sugar cane fields  as  field  hands.  This is known by us just  recently.  Actually it   was patriotic.  Nevertheless NU was  accused to spread syncretism of  Islam  and  Hinduism, based on  the  cultural  interaction  of Islam teaching in Hindu society  in the  beginning  of Islam introduction in Java island, and in some ways.  it was true in unimportant matters.
Muhammadiyah, this muslims organization, founded by Ahmad Dahlan a serious scholar of  Islam,  on the beginning, this organization  worked  to patch social discrepancies during colonial era,  such as  educations and health cares to indigenous people.  Unlike of NU, this organization won  popularity  among the westernized  educated indigenous  people, because Muhammadiyah was not resisting westernized garbs,  such as pantaloon, shoes,  ties,  and short haircut  for men,  and modern garbs for women  under knee length of  gown, with head cover at  the same fashion as  Indira Gandhi’s, according to the hard liner of muslim    religion, this was inadequate,  the correct way the head and face cover named  burkah., not just hijab.   Lately the Colonial power  secretively hired an Acehnese of discendent, a certain gentleman  Muhammad  Basya Dahlan,  to be implanted in Muhammadiyah organization.  The Dutch colonial Administration  support  him financially to study Islam in Mecca , under the tuition of  the founder of Al Irsyad movement   Syech Ahmad Syurkati  in Mecca, which strongly inclined to Wahabi purification of  Islam  ( google– situs Pekalongan Utara  Bersatu judul Pelurusan distorsi sejarah yan dilakukan wahabi……)  unfortunately  the purifrication teaching of daily lives were very similar to Arab customs. This practice of garbing for women suited the fanatics but not the active women in tropical hot and humid climatic area, as the  murdered   Benasir Bhuto and her contemporaries for example our minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa and her alike, they prefer wearing hijab, of their own taste and wear  it as  determined by Islam.
The purification  which were introduced by Muhammadiyah  of  all the  life’s practices, customs, which were initiated by Wahabi-inclined- new-leader   He  made the  NU members to be suspected  as  mixing Islam with Hindu  beliefs, these practices should be eradicate,  such as showing respect to the dead in its grave, considered as heretics practices  because  this is very close to veneration  the deceased, to be considered as sinful.  While  NU believe that this practice  could  be tolerated,  because paying respect to the dead is harmless to the Islam religious principles.
This was intended to make a gap of schism among the Muslims factions in Dutch East Indie. And  alas,  the modern Muhammadiyah became  the  core  of  Islam hard lines, to infiltrate there.  Their student movement become  a training ground  for  fanaticism up to this moment. No wonder that Ulil was  symbolically sentenced  with death penalty   by several Islam  self appointed syndics from West Java, Central Jav and  East Java.  As he was blamed  by his adversaries  fanatics. It  is  a treason to Islam, in uttering  that all the acknowledged  religions by the  Fundamental Law of this Republic of Indonesia are the same good, it  is disparaging  to Islam.   They convinced  as a muslim,  it is forbidden  to discuss  about  the rule of conduct and thought dictated by Islamic rules . Otherwise they have  the moral , self righteous  strength  to  support  this verdict, because these Arabic customs are inseparable  parts of the  Islam’s  sacred ritual.
  Did Nahdlatul Ulama  understand  the advantages of their predecessors’ heritages  did’nt it ? – The predecessors  of    Javanese people who embrace  Islam, they called them as holy  teachers,  mostly were coming from Ynnan povice of China,  in 12 th century - 14th  century  later the Javanese reverently called  them   “Waliullah“  the nine  holy persons  elected  by Allah  to understand  His will.  During  the era of 13 th century,  their  efforts  to  win  Islam  teaching against very strong  influences Hinduism  and Buddism, could be observed, that most of the inhabitant of Java island were  discarding  the haram  habit to Islam  in every important aspect of life,  were accomplished ,  here were  the proofs:
In  two or three milleneum  from 13 th century to 15 th century  all inhabitant of Java Island  were  converted to Islam   peacefully,  almost without  traces of Hinduism and Buddism in habit and customs, i.e. : Nobody in Java Island consumes alcoholic beverages until this time being, although it is very easy to make it ,  except the downright hooligans. Nobody  consumes wild boar meat or  pork  in Java Island, except the Chinese who are the Buddhist, if they were not vegetarian and the  incoming  people from another islands.  People shy to do these haram thinks. No woman is roaming publicly bare breasted as happened freely in Bali where Hinduism  is  strongly embraced. But no Javanese looking  this disparagingly  and leering nonchalanty to them,  to  the  beliefs  and customs of people in another  island.  How come ?
These Waliullah and their disciples  purposefully touch  the lower caste of Hindu believers  literacy both Arabic’ and Palawa’ alphabet, unlike the Hindu’s  Brahmins (who viciously forbid the lower caste the waysia and the sudras learn to write nor read the holly Vedda  in sankritic language writing in palawa alphabeth), Waliullah and their disciples teaching them arithmatics and book keeping,  making and signed an invoices,  trading documents as  bill of lading and letter of credit ,  rudiments  of international trading.  Long before the Dutch Colonialism created europeanized customs and educations, in between segregative  colonial society.
These waliullah  created  irrigated rice field and canals mode of transportasions  along the mostly flat fast marshland  as an advantageus transport   to the  awaiting  giant china sailing ships to export  the most needed rice , against  Hindu’s Kingdom in the hinterland  which its rice productions  were basend on cascading down  terraced  irrigated rice fields far away from the sea harbors. They turned the vast marshland   in central  Java  into rice fields and  create an Islamic  kingdom there ( Demak Bintoro Kingdom- on 14 th century there about 20 thousand Ha shallow marshland – consist of trapped water in a ravine among the volcanic mountains  mount Merbabu, mount Telamaya  Northern carst   and mount Muria (lately was damaged irrevocably  by volcanic sands  and ashes  thick sedimentation in those fast area } Based on this economical strength, using the  Mesopotamian  technology,  to make  amelioration of  marshland  into arable rice fields twice a year of certain bountiful harvests. There,  in Pati area  muslims  society was not consuming  cattle but buffaloes meat, not to make offences to the reminding Hindus  in those area.  Last but not least all the Waliullah and their disciples initiate every of his deed with a credo of Islam  “bismillahirakhnanirakhim” – by the name of Allah the Most Mercifull and the Most Compassionate.  This holy credo to be a preamble of all the surrah of the Holy Qur’an except only one surrah At Taubah. Therefore all muslim and muslimah should be very patient, merciful, and compassionate to their  under developed  spiritually  contemporaries  of different  beliefs and schooling.  Ulil Abshar Abdallah  and many of his alike  are  many  generations downward descended  from these ancestors,  inherited  their schooling  of Islam, from generation to generations.
It was happened differently in  sparsely inhabited Sumatra and Malacca pininsula,  during  the time of Islam ‘   teaching exspandsion in South East Asia from Yunan (Prof Slamet Mulyono, historian) .  Indeed  scholars from Yunan represented  the  most  advancad  of science  and technologies  of  their era,  whch had developed in   civilizations of Mesopotamia and China, not only Islam  from the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alaihi wasalam. Their teaching was readily  to be implemented in well organized society, meanwhile in Sumatra and Malacca peninsula  where majority of their inhabitant were spread  in slash and burn agriculture,  Islam was  introduced among the  traders and  strongmen  who dominated the waterways  in every estuary of rivers,   these strongmen extracting  fee  from  trading  of forest’s produces. These  part of  inhabitant  in these area only could absorb  rudimental teaching of Islam, tend to be conformistic, fanatics  to win favor from Allah to grant  them the Heaven in life and after,  very impatient  to the local  pagan believers. ( document of Tuanku Rao – the war of Batak tribe ) One  discenden  of the leader of this troop  settled in Malacca peninsula  Tanku Tambusai  ( from documents of Tuanku Rao,  the same source of information) .  They were actually  local group of` Islam disciples who got re-education from  Muslim beliefs  of  Mamluk dynasty in Egypt, who coming down to these archipelago  in  several  ships,  to  reform the Yunan’s  scholars on Islamic teaching,.
Since those time, there  should be more  agressive and pure   islamic teaching.  In Aceh, part of Sumatra and Malacca peninsula  these new orde of islamic teaching was received by less civilized slash and burnt  of agricultural society ( lately in modern time they became   rubber collectors  by tapping    the turned to wild latex trees - Hevea brasiliensis, in fact it was a very valuable substance  to make the war machineries during the World War II ,  living sparsely in the forest most of the time, by the collectors  of  forest produces,  by the  strongmen of  river’s estuary  turned Tungku  Sultans for generations,  got the moral support from these Mamluk power ever since titled as Sultan.  No wonder they became  less toleran muslims,   strictly speaking Islam should be performed physically  and  mentally exactly  similar to practices in Arabian great peninsula, dot of finality, no discussion.  Islam  to be understood as  was written in the Holly Qur’an and the Hadists of Rasulullah salalahu allaihi wassalam.
Ulil Ashar Abdullah’s  ancestors was fully agreed  with all of these  rules,  they earnestly read and understood all the scriptures of the holy Al Qur’an and the Hadists of Rasulullah. From those 144 surrah of the holly Al Qur’an there are 143 surrah preambled  with this holy phrase Bismilahirakhmanirrakim – means By the name of Allah The most Merciful and The most Compassionate. – means the rest of the  intrinsic meaning  of these scriptures have to be weighted  by this important preamble's  light  of this particular holy phrase. Therefore  by truly understand these scriptures under the  Allah given  preamble phrase,  they were tolerans and very patient to their contemporaries of non Islam, they strongly  believed  that they were spreading the truth, seek for nothing worldly. Just to enable human being to transcend  to the creation of better world and universe  insya’Allah .
Therefore Ulil, dont worry if some one dubbed you as Akhmadiah follower, or of Syi’ah disciple, or of  Cristianized muslim, don’t  pay attention to them, you are the seeds of hard working ancestors. They who created rice fields so fast and bountiful in a short of  historical time to feed  the needy nations  which  were  very occupied in warring each other,  there in China sub continent., they who steadfastly stand in his own feed instead of the parasitic life of the landlords  who owned fast area of arable land as in anywhere else in Africa  and they understood the holy Qur’an and  Al Hadist of Rasulullah correctly * )

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