Obituary Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif: Simple and Courageous National Teacher

 

Obituary Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif: Simple and Courageous National Teacher

The stories of the simplicity of Buya Ahmad Syafii Ma'rif have been widely circulated through various reviews and viral photos. Buya who diligently rides bicycles everywhere, also Buya who commutes by train alone. Every time I read a story about Buya circulating on social media, I spontaneously thought of the best prayers for Buya, like we all send a prayer to our own parents.

Growing old with honor, and being called a true national figure, that's Buya. Medio 2017, for example, at a meeting of the Elders of the Nation at the University Club of Gajah Mada University, Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif was present with great enthusiasm. As usual, his steps were hurried even though he carried a stick everywhere.

The meeting was initiated by Nyai Hj Sinta Nuriyah Wahid who felt very concerned about the condition of the nation which was increasingly segregated in the name of group identity due to the effects of the Jakarta Pilkada campaign. People are getting smarter at throwing tadpoles and smuts and also cursing infidels and kadrun, especially in conversations that can be monitored through social media at that time.

Buya Syafii is one of the figures who often appears on television to give his statement on the Ahok case. Buya Syafii's statement includes two things. First, Ahok did not blaspheme religion and second, Ahok should not be imprisoned for blasphemy. 

Buya has never defended Ahok in his capacity as a minority. For Buya, the state as a super-power institution should not turn into an oppressor. Unfortunately, Buya Syafi's statement in the context of the constitutional responsibility to give justice to all citizens was later reduced to Buya Syafii defending Ahok.

"Because Gus Dur is no longer around, it's just me who is being chased by the media." That's Buya Syafi'i's joke that I can still feel from the Elders of the Nation forum a few years ago.

For me, how Buya Syafi appeared to be solid in his position in the Ahok case was very impressive. Later, I learned that Buya Syafii was indeed closely associated with bold dictionaries on various occasions. 

In recent years, Buya popularized the term misguided Arabism or heretical Arabism. Various national problems such as social and economic inequality are increasingly real, but surrendering to a counter-productive understanding of religion with science will not solve the problem.

Buya Syafi, for example, repeatedly mentioned that Arab countries are at the nadir of civilization. The terrorism of ISIS, which is called Buya, teaches the theology of death, and is the ruin of Arab civilization.  Another statement that is really harsh, posted on the @SerambiBuya twitter account on 23/11/2020 is, "For me deifying those who claim to be descendants of the Prophet is a form of spiritual slavery."

He expressed this thought in order to give confidence to the state of Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population with a democratic condition that has a far more future than the crisis experienced by Arab countries. "Indonesia's Muslim community as the majority must remain sane."

Buya Syafii, the true Muslim scholar, continues to publish new books and fresh articles in daily newspapers. The book entitled Islam in the Indonesian and Humanitarian Frames, which was published in 2009, for example, is quite popular among students of the Islamic movement.  In Buya's view, Indonesia has large social capital to translate Islam as an alternative to social change. This includes how progressive Islam is marked by the progress of its studies placing women as equal partners in managing public interests and other social humanitarian issues.

Buya Syafii believes that human status in Islam is equal, no matter what their background, as stated in QS Al-Hujurat verse 13. When we return to the Qur'an, diversity is a necessity, and Allah SWT wants diversity. work together for good. 

In the article Status of Women in Islam , Buya Syafii emphasized that the Quran never discriminates against women. The ignorant tradition of burying baby girls lived before Islam. The view that considers women as emotional beings and vice versa, lacks sense, grows in a patriarchal world. The myths and gender bias are of course not in accordance with the condition of women today, when women have worked together to build civilization.

Buya Syafii provides support for literature written by Muslim feminists, such as Riffat Hassan, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud Muhsin. Buya Syafii appreciated the courage of the feminist kiai who participated in Islamic gender studies, including Prof. Nasaruddin Umar and Buya Husein Muhammad. In the midst of the pros and cons of the debate whether feminism in Islam is relevant, Buya's discipline is a scientific attitude. Buya reviews arguments with arguments objectively, not condemning an argument, let alone misleading a thinker. 

Therefore, differences of opinion with fellow Muhammadiyah senior figures are a natural thing. The defense of women is not merely a defense of gender. First, the meaning of defending women is protection for humans, servants of Allah. Second, the meaning of defending women as part of a vulnerable group with unique biological experiences, including menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. Third, the meaning of defending women as part of society in a patriarchal culture that gives birth to gender-based discrimination and violence.

Conservative views view women's "vulnerabilities" as a limitation and make it a tool to bring women back into the very back corner of the house. However, a forward view based on the principle of justice places the biological and social experiences of women as the responsibility of a stronger group to provide facilities so that women are not left behind. Awareness to provide facilities for menstrual leave, maternity leave and breastfeeding leave, is an effort to humanize women. 

This awareness to facilitate women is not a form of male kindness, but a form of qawwam (protection). Qawwam is also not a tool to claim power, but the responsibility of collective life. The rest, men and women are the same, both servants of Allah and both human beings with the potential of common sense.

This is Buya's way of understanding gender equality in Islam. That mindset is consistent with Buya's spirit, speech acts, and spiritual practices in understanding Islam as a wellspring of knowledge that favors a sense of justice. Buya Syafii's thoughts as a role model for the nation have never been clouded by ambitions for power and the interests of identity politics. A humanitarian figure who makes us no longer see him as Muhammadiyah, let alone as mere party representatives, because he can speak for all humans and represent all groups. Something that is increasingly difficult for us to find today.