The Concept of 'Ummah According to the Glorius Qu'ran in the Context of Indonesian Society

Abstract

The first chapter of this study discusses some religio-communal terms in the Qur'an which indicate various existing religious groups, namely: ' ahl, qawm, millah and jamacah. In the development over time the meaning of these four terms narrowed down from the universal to the particular, namely to be- coming a reference to the followers of Muhammad. The second chapter deals specifically with the terra 'ummah. In the beginning 'ummah meant the oneness of mankind, united in its religious ways and attitudes towards Allah. This unity then became fragmented, something of a mystery indeed, a mystery willed by Allah and at the same time a consequence of human waywardness. Allah sent His messengers to this fragmented 'umraah in order to bring, explain and remind them of the Good News for the people. In the end-time this fragmented 'ummah will be judged by Allah. In the midst of this fragmented 'ummah arose 'uramah wasat as a holy 'ummah, a moral community, not only heard the Law of Allah but upholded and enforced it. This 'ummah wasat was the 'ummah muslimah, born to do Allah's work of uniting all mankind. The third chapter discusses the 'ummah mislimah, as the chosen people of Allah, which formed in the Arabian context is under the leadership of the prophet Muhammad who became conscious of himself as Allah's prophet. As an ingenious prophet and statesman Muhammad led and developed the 'ummah muslimah, making use of pre-Islamic Arabic as well as Jewish and Christian elements and potentials. Both the idea of 'Ibrahim' (as the common ground among the Jews, Christians and Muslims and as the focus of Arabic consciousness) and the idea of 'covenant ' (as a promise of commitment of the faithful to Muhammad) played an important role in the process of shaping 'ummah muslimah. Furthermore, where 'ummah muslimah transcented all racial factors, it united its members in the oneness of faith. In order to become a member of fummah muslimah, certain conditions were to be met which could determine the quality of the member's relationship to Allah and to 'ummah. The first of these would be an inner attitude to grasp such things as Islam, iraan, hanif and din. This inner attitude must manifest itself in outward deeds as salat, zakat s a w m and hajj. These things are discussed in the fourth chapter. Chapter five deals with the universal characteristic of 'ummah muslimah, which pertains to the whole of mankind. Because of man's hardness of heart this universal oneness became fragmented. 'Ummah wasat was born in the midst of this fragmented 'ummah for the purpose of uniting all of mankind. Therefore 'ummah wasat as the 'ummah muslimah expressed on the one hand universality and on the other particularity. This particularity became apparent in: -the status of the prophet Muhammad as the messenger of God for the whole of mankind; - the status of Islam as the true religion of Allah; - salvation or the grace of Allah is limited to Islam. In the framework of this particularity of 'ummah muslimah there was also evident an element of tolerance and intolerance, explicated by Muhammad both as the first Muslim and also, at the same time, in his capacity as leader of 'ummah muslimah. Starting from the particularity of 'ummah muslimah and in order to realize the universality of 'ummah muslimah the jihad was seen as a possible means to achieve the universality of 'ummah muslimah. In the beginning jihad represented the effort to really teach the divine message, but when 'ummah muslimah had gained its definite form, jihad developed into 'war', both defensive and offensive. In connection with jihad, qital too became a characteristic of the life of'ummah muslimah. Jihad was reenforced by qital which was both defensive and offensive in nature. Both jihad and qital were performed on Allah's path (fi sabil Allah), its accomplishments an inalienable part of 'ummah muslimah. The sixth chapter of this study discusses Indonesian society, which, already since the beginning of its history, has had the character of 'unity in diversity'. In its development, Indonesia as a pluralistic society is colored by cultural layers of indigenous Indonesian, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and modern western. The fact that Indonesia is a 'unity in diversity' society is made evident and supported by PancasilaPancasila evidently is effective in creating a pluralistic Indonesian society. It provides the necessary space for plurality in Indo- nesian society, within which each group can maintain their own identities. Yet, it also sees to it that this plurality makes a contribution towards the unity of Indonesia. In this framework the last chapter discusses the creative potential of 'ummah muslimah in the content of Indonesian society, which is based on Pancasila, namely: -as 'ummah wasat, 'ummah muslimah can bridge other 'ummmahs in its environment, so that harmony can be obtained;- the presence of 'ummah muslimah as the chosen people of Allah, c becomes an example for other 'ummahs who do good (macrf) and avoid munkar; -the genius of 'ummah muslimah can create a common ground for the plurality of Indonesian society, for example through the idea of tacawun; -the citizenry of 'ummah muslimah can permeate the Indonesian citizenry with for instance the concept of islara and din, as found in Bramah muslimah philosophy; - it is the genius of 'ummah muslimah that it is able to place itself flexibly and realistically among the other 'ummahs- 'ummah muslimah can develop a specific idea of tolerance, which will do much to create a harmonious, religious climate in a pluralistic Indonesia; - with the flourishing of the idea jihad in the context of Indonesian society, 'ummmah muslimah will be very useful in the development of Indonesian society by applying the motto: fa'astabiqu al-khayrati (strive to be foremost in what is good, s.5:48).