VII of X: A Jewel in Agony Continues

In fact, Indonesia has been dealing with tricky moral hazards from its cultural, political and unfair legal systems. The religious element pushes it even deeper into the crisis. As a country where 90% of its population is Moslems, Islamic way of doing things is ever prevalent.

Islam is a religion of law, a law of relativity. It is a highly philosophical religion framed with the concepts of rewards and punishments. In the hands of wise ulamas, Isalm can turn dirt into gold. In the wrong hands, the Al-Ahkam Al-Khamzah or the-four-cycle-of-reward-and-sin concept can set a nation ablaze.

Contrary to public understanding, halal; sunnah; wajib and haram are not absolute. (Footnote: Islamic Law by Muh. Daud Ali, Ph.D) They are in a constant moving cycle. Something halal means it is not rewarded nor sinned if done and not rewarded nor sinned if undone. Sunnah means rewarded if done, not rewarded nor sinned if undone. Wajib means rewarded if done but sinned if undone and haram sinned if done but rewarded if undone. A crime in normal cycle might become a halal activity in the certain circumstances, where it is "accepted" as long as it is performed in the name of the majority or for the sake of the faith. Could it be that those persecutors, who claimed to act so inhumanely towards the minority under the name of Islam, are those who misinterpreted -or even misused-The Four Cycle?

The imbalance in those four -legal, political, cultural and religious-issues, inevitably have turned Indonesia into its present state. The journey to reformation is still a long one. The jewel must be re-assembled; time is running out.

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