Can We Be True Moderate Muslims?: A Beginning

By: M. Q. Aynan

Someone said, "Moderate is standing in the middle, not tilted to the right or to the left. If italic, it's called fake moderate."

Discussions on moderation in Islam are not new. because of the running of time, there are shifts in both practical realms and moderate shifts of meaning. The phenomenon of this century has made us need to reinterpret the so-called moderate Muslims. New issues that did not exist in the past such as democracy, freedom of religion, gender equality, secularization, human rights, and also the formalization of shari'a, became very interesting talks. These issues are interesting to talk.

Since Islamic studies centers opened in the West, there have been attempts to categorize Muslim societies, so then there are those categorized as either good or badly categories. Such efforts can be seen as the marginalization of some Muslim societies as "the other". Although it has passed, it is possible that there are still prejudices left. Some people still have fear when hearing the terms in Islam.

Fear comes not without any reason. Surely, we have not forgotten the bombing incident that occurred due to erroneous in understanding religion. Worse yet, there is a group of people who for the sake of short-term political interests deliberately maintain it. I myself have heard the underground news that the activities both in public place generally and on campuses particularly that lead to excessive attitudes in religion are funded by some people who have positions in government.

The term moderate can not only be confronted with religious fundamentalism. Moreover, market fundamentalism has a devastating effect within our eyes even though many people do not realize it. The free market has proven to be detrimental to the emerging countries which are inhabited by the majority of Muslim societies. Environmental destruction and lack of attention to workers are real impact of pro-free market policies. This extreme right then make some Muslims choose to tilt to the left.

Can we be a true moderate without a slight skew to the right or to the left? If possible, how? It is almost impossible to be in the middle without a slight incline to the right or to the left. The point is we can only try to be fair in looking at the issue and not using double standards.

There is a serious debate among the Muslim community itself on the meaning of being moderate. As short as I know, I myself still have not found a definition of being moderate muslim that is not as simple as everyday expressions. Moderate in talking or say moderate words is easy. Anyone can claim to be moderate. I myself am often confused when thinking and acting, whether my thoughts and actions have been moderate. The confusion arose as I faced reality. I am not sure if anybody who sees a global problem, for example, can easily identify which group or attitude might be called moderate. At the very least, for a while this is how to draw the discussion of moderate problems into the practical realm without causing disunity.