Syafi'i Ma'arif: "Many groups are more interested in symbols, not substance"
Lately Syafi'i Ma'arif has a long line of visitors waiting outside his office door. As Chairman of Muhammadiyah, he is often asked on the reactions of Islamic groups in Indonesia on the US attack of Afghanistan. Syafi'i was even invitedand asked to explainexclusively by ambassadors of the European Union countries. The topic was the pattern of Islamic movements here, from the radical to the moderates.
November 6, 2001
Chairman since Muhammadiyah's 44th convention (July 2000), he is most suitable as a source. Muhammadiyah is the second largest Islamic organization after Nahdlatul Ulama. Syafi'i himself is a peaceful, moderate Muslim scholar. When expatriates and non-Muslims became jittery at the angry reaction of most Muslims on the US attack on Afghanistan, he then became the person to ask opinions.
"There was even a Catholic intellectual who asked wh
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