Amin Rais' Thought on Religion(Islam) and Politics
tawheed means unity of godhead, unity of creation, unity of mankind, unity of purpose of life.
a muslim is a secular person if he/she believes that Islam is only about rituals and spiritual things like prayer, alms giving, fasting etc.
So it is clear that Islam for Amin
is an ideology.
Therefore, according to Amin Rais
, all social problems like economic backwardness, intellectual stagnation, social degeneration etc are rooted in the decadence of tawheed.
said explicitly that the first commandment of Islam is justice, after that do good and avoid evil.
, however, according to Masykuri Abdillah, is a supporter of structuralist approach which focuses on transformation of socio-political institutions.
It also means that Amin Rais
is open to pluralism
Chapter V Reflection and recomendation
In this chapter the writer thinks that Amin Rais
is inconsistent.In 1987 he
launched the idea of high politics but then in 1999 he
founded Partai Amanat nasional (national mandate party). he
also thinks that Amin
as a scripturalist but also as someone who stresses on substance of Islamic values.
...Indonesia, Amin Rais and Globalization
June 14, 2008 on 3:56 am | In Globalization | 1 Comment Amin Rais
, no doubt, is one of the initiator of the reform movement in Indonesia known as reformasi in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language).He was born on April 26, 1944 in Surakarta (Solo).He
passed from Muhamaddiyya elementary school, junior high school and senior high school, in his
also studied in Mamba'ul Ulum and Madrassa al Islam in Solo.After that he
study at International Relations Department, Gadjah Mada university, in Yogyakarta.He
also studied at Tarbiyya department of Sunan Kalijaga Insitute of Islamic Studies in Yogyakartas where he
bachelor.Then he continued his study to United States where he got his master degree from Notre Dame University in 1974 and his Ph D degree from Chicago University in 1981.
In 1978-1979 he
studied at Al Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.After Soeharto fell from his office he established Partai Amanat Nasional (national mandate Party) and he became the chairman.In 1999 he became the chairman of Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People's Consultative Assembly).He
failed when he
ran for presidential election in 2004 and since then he
went back to Yogyakarta to teach.Today although he is no longer the chairman of National Mandate Party, he remain one of the prominent persons in Indonesian politics.
just launched his
book - Agenda mendesak bangsa - Selamatkan Indonesia (Urgent Agenda - Save Indonesia) . Here is the abstract of his
Chapter I : History repeats itself.He
wrote that what happened in Indonesia over the past several decade of 20th century and the 1st decade of 21st century, in many ways, is just repetition of our experience during colonial period. the difference is merely in format.Long time ago they used to occupy us using military power while today they use other power.To some extent we lose economic sovereignty that weaken our political, diplomatic and military power.He
appeals us to learn from the lessons of history.He
cited a Spanish philosopher George Santayana who said that 'those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them'.He
further wrote that the Dutch East Indies company
and the Dutch government could exploit Indonesia for more than three centuries due to mechanism of corporatocracy.
agrees with him.
insisted Indonesia to find a new agenda like land reform and investment in education and renegotiation of mining sector.
Joseph Stiglitz advice is similar to Amin's
and some Indonesian leaders'.
is sure that the US and its allies in the near future will decline.US has passed the peak of its political, military, social achievement.It is about time for them to go down.Amin
cited Cornelius Tacitus, Arnold Toynbee.
further reminds US to be humble and to learn from history lessons.
worries that Indonesian leaders suffer from the same mental disorder.He
remembered when Indonesia took a very long time to consider support to PLO office in Jakarta.Consequently Indonesia lose diplomatic support of about twenty Arab nations in UN on Timor case.He
also noted the way the Indonesian government handle their forest.Indonesian tropical forest are dominated and exploited by illegal loggers.
said that the American corporation
committed several crimes.First, to environment.Everyday they dispose about 300 000 tons of tailings that destroy the environment in the river Agwagon-Otomona-Ajakwa.Thousands of square kilometers of forest around Grassberg now become desert.Second, tax crime.In 1990 Amin
wrote that Freeport did not pay amount of tax in accordance to their obligations because their position was only number eight or nine of highest tax payers.
said Kwik forgets the third possibility : combination of both.
wrote that the present leaders is similar to Sultan Amangkurat I and II from Java who gave opportunity to Dutch EIC to rule over Java.
is sure that Indonesian government by itself or by colution with legislature, too often facilitate and protect exploitation of Indonesian natural resources by big corporations.
estimated that it is sold to foreigners for debt.
quoted other experts who wrote in details about Indonesia's
...They invited Amin Rais who is known as the initiator of reformasi and other prominent figures like vice president Jusuf Kalla, economist Kwik Kian Gie, who was the chief of Bappenas or the government agency for development planning, and Hendro Priyono who was the chief of army intelligence unit.
...Both Professor Amin Rais and Kwik Kian Gie blamed the government for the present economic situation.
stated that there are reform in the political structure but reform movement failed to bring prosperity to people.He
even wrote a book with the title of Selamatkan Indonesia or Save Indonesia.