Bung Hatta's Islam

 

Bung Hatta's Islam  

Every now and then, try to compare reading the biographies of two of the pioneers of the proclamation of our nation's independence: Ir. Sukarno and Dr. Hatta. There you will find tons of differences and (only) a few similarities between them. In the biographical book written by Cindy Adams, Bung Karno: Connectors of the Indonesian People's Tongue , the first Indonesian president is seen as having a lively, courageous, humorous, talkative character, revolutionary thinker, and cannot be far from the love of women.

On the other hand, in the book he wrote himself, For My Country: An Autobiography , Bung Hatta shows a character who is completely opposite to his colleague. Bung Hatta was more calm, polite, silent a lot, liked to read, evolutionary thinker, almost never joked, indifferent to women, and more Islamic. This last trait is what made me a little surprised at the beginning. I'm sure, if you read his memoirs (especially in the first volume) intently, you will more or less say, "Well, is this an intellectual biography or a collection of religious lectures? It's great to read."

Investigate an investigation, it turns out that the vice president whose real name is Mohammad Athar is still a descendant of Sheikh Abdul Rahman, a prominent cleric and tarekat expert in the Sumatra, Kalimantan and Malaya regions. The strong religious environment in Bukittinggi, where Bung Hatta lived and grew up, plus being a member of a large family of religious experts, made Bung Hatta's Islamic education in childhood unquestionable. The Islamic values ​​that he learned from his family and teachers seemed to have become ingrained in his every action. In fact, because Bung Hatta's family was so Islamic, he had planned to continue his studies to Mecca and Cairo, although the plan was not implemented and Bung Hatta ended up traveling to Jakarta and Rotterdam.

One day, Bung Hatta told about the Padri War which took place in West Sumatra from the 1820s to the early 1840s. The Padri War began with a conflict between the adat and the religious community. The newly arrived religions from Mecca, who were influenced by the harsh and puritanical attitude of the Wahhabis, wanted to clean up the mixed tradition of Islam in Minangkabau. Bung Hatta deeply regretted the civil war that took place in his area. Moreover, this confrontation was exacerbated by the colonial side who took part in riding the indigenous people to smooth out their interests. This indicates that religion is a very effective tool for dividing people.

"They forgot that the highest law in Islam is peace," said Bung Hatta criticizing the war. "Peace brings prosperity to all groups and increases devotion to God Almighty. On the basis of peace, the Prophet Muhammad allowed customary law to apply in the Arab land which guaranteed public safety. But according to custom, the new followers of Islam who do not fully understand the teachings of Islam for the world and the hereafter are more fanatical than the Apostle and the first followers," he continued.

Bung Hatta's words, I think, are very essential in defining a religion. The ideals of "Islam of Peace" will basically continue to be relevant at any time, even to the present day. Bung Hatta's argument could be a hard slap on the cheek for Indonesian Muslims if you look at the conditions in recent years. Although there was no war, but cases of violence, intimidation, intolerance, arbitrariness of the majority against minorities, are very shameful. If Bung Hatta were still alive, I think he would scold us by saying, “Have you never learned anything from history? Hah?"

On the other hand, Bung Karno once talked about his polemic with Bung Hatta about how to achieve independence. Bung Karno wanted quick independence, namely by leading the people against the invaders openly. Bung Karno realized that there would be many people who died in this struggle, but the death of thousands of people would not be a big problem if one day they could save hundreds of millions of people from the clutches of the invaders. Bung Hatta strongly opposed this method. For Bung Hatta, in a struggle there should not be a single life lost. He also offers a more subtle way, namely by educating the people so that they are aware and able to fight the invaders in a more "educated" way. Although the struggle for independence in the style of Bung Hatta will take a long time, but there will not be the lives of thousands of people who will be lost.

We see Bung Hatta's humanistic spirit is so great. This human nature in Islam is part of the maqashid as-shari'ah (the main goal of the shari'a), namely hifdz al-nafs aka the right to life. This is what Bung Hatta defended to seize independence.

Bung Hatta's attitude could not be separated from his experience while living with his extended family in Bukittinggi. Bung Hatta once told of his close relationship with his grandfather who he called Pak Gaek. Pak Gaek has 18 horses in his yard. He made the horses to deliver the post by cart from Bukittinggi to Sibolga. To take care of his horses, Pak Gaek employs several helpers. It was this noble treatment of his assistants that became an imprint on Bung Hatta as a child. He was often advised by his grandfather about human values ​​in life. "We are both human. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be able to do that much work,” said Pak Geek one day.

There are many ways of Islam today. Allah sent down the Qur'an as a way of life that contains the truth for all mankind. But not all of a sudden all humans become automatically correct. Everyone always has their own way of understanding which then manifests into the way of Islam. Here, Bung Hatta's character more or less shows his own style of Islam. Perhaps, Bung Hatta's Islam, which prioritizes "Islam of Peace" and humanism, can be used as an example. Wallahhua'lam .