This study focuses on the attitude of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI) in order to preserve the glory of the Qur'an in Indonesia. It is a study of four MUI’s fatwas relating to the Qur'an between 1975-2017 using the critical discourse analysis. This study states that there is political change influence towards opened up a space for MUI religious attitudes in establishing relationships with government and society. This can be seen, for instance, in the use of the sentence of the MUI’s fatwa. In the New Order era, MUI used a normative, suggestive and infirm language in its three fatwas. This is different from the fatwa in the period of “Reformation” which shows much more firmly with the phrase “obligatory to preserve the glory of the Qur'an” and placed on the part of the dictum or the content of its fatwa. It is a change in the use of language of fatwa decisions that indicate the turn of the MUI fatwa along with changes in its increasing position in society and tend to keep the distance from the government

Rohmana, Jajang A

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To Preserve the Glory of the ScriptureFour Fatwas of the Council of Indonesian Ulama on the Qur’anJ. A. Rohmana, R. Anwar, M. Zuldin, A. Muhammad, and M. SolihinUIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Bandung, Indonesiajajangarohmana@uinsgd.ac.idKeywords: The Qur’an, MUI, fatwa, considerance, dictum.Abstract: This study focuses on the attitude of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI) in order to preserve the gloryof the Qur'an in Indonesia. It is a study of four MUI’s fatwas relating to the Qur'an between 1975-2017 usingthe critical discourse analysis. This study states that there is political change influence towards opened up aspace for MUI religious attitudes in establishing relationships with government and society. This can be seen,for instance, in the use of the sentence of the MUI’s fatwa. In the New Order era, MUI used a normative,suggestive and infirm language in its three fatwas. This is different from the fatwa in the period of“Reformation” which shows much more firmly with the phrase “obligatory to preserve the glory of theQur'an” and placed on the part of the dictum or the content of its fatwa. It is a change in the use of languageof fatwa decisions that indicate the turn of the MUI fatwa along with changes in its increasing position insociety and tend to keep the distance from the government.1 INTRODUCTIONUlama play an important role in the historicaldynamics in Indonesia. There are a variety ofcharacters Ulama possess in it; some of them aregovernment supporters, some of them of the societyleaders, and some are in opposition. As they keephaving an important role in changing situations, it issafe to call them custodians change (Zaman, 2002: 2).In politics, their role is getting more important sincethe rise of Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI) onJuly 26, 1975 or Rajab 17, 1395 Hijri. The “birth” ofMUI was aimed to support government agenda interms of religious affairs during Soeharto’sadministration. Consequently, there are severalfatwas and preaches by MUI attached by thegovernment interests. The government alsoencourages MUI to get involved in socio-culturalaspects so that Islam is becoming not only politicalpower, but also cultural one (Effendy, 2011: 25-50;Hefner, 1987: 535). However, this situation haschanged as the “reformation” era began. MUI haskept their distance from the government an insteadtook the so-called conservative turn, or some mightcall the symptoms of Islamic authoritarianism(Ichwan, 2014: 102-3; Olle, 2009: 95-116). Thus,MUI declare that they are no longer governmentservants, yet they are public servants. One of theirmost obvious changes lies in their fatwa related to Al-Qur’an within the years of 1975-2017.The study focuses on the changes of MUI’sattitude described in their four fatwas in relation toAl-Qur’an, including the transliteration of Al-Qur’anin non-Arabic letters (1977), fatwa on Qira’atSab’ah, the seven variations of Al-Qur’an recitation(1983), singing Al-Qur’an verses (1983), and photosticking on Al-Qur’an mushaf (book) (2005). Using acritical discourse analysis approach, this study tries toreveal the mechanism of internal texts of MUI’sfatwas in the process of their wording (Eriyanto,2001: 7). This discussion is of an important mattersince the change of the fatwas’ wording is inseparable with the relationship between the religiousinstitution and the government in viewing the socio-political and cultural issues. The change can also beseen by MUI’s attitude which is getting stronger ingiving pressure to the government related to the issuecontroversial issue of Al-Qur’an, particularly that ofin relation to the statement of former Governor ofJakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) about Al-Ma’idah/ 5:51 in 2016.350Rohmana, J., Anwar, R., Zuldin, M., Muhammad, A. and Solihin, M.To Preserve the Glory of the Scripture - Four Fatwas of the Council of Indonesian Ulama on the Qur’an.In 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017), pages 350-353ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2Copyright © 2017 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved2 MUI’S FATWAS ON AL-QUR’ANSince its birth in 1975, MUI has had 249 fatwas.Those fatwas are made by the Commission of Fatwaand the National Sharia Board of MUI. Thecommission focuses on schools of thoughts inreligion, worship, socio-culture, food, medicine, andcosmetics and also science and technology. In themeantime, the board focuses on fatwas on shariaeconomy. In addition, there is also ijtima’, acollection of decisions by the fatwa commission of allthe commissions all over Indonesia in 2003. Ijtima’fatwas include issues on nation (masā’il asasiyyahwathaniyyah), contemporary fiqh (masā’il fiqhiyyahmu’āṣirah), and also law (masā’il qānūniyyah). Someof the fatwas by MUI can sometimes triggercontroversies such as those related to Christmascelebration, pluralism, liberalism, secularism,Ahmadiyah, abortion, economy, and so on (Sirry,2013: 100-17). Generally MUI’s early fatwas did notrefer to official letters. This fact can be seen from theformat of each fatwa which did not pay attention tothe number of the fatwas. Of those many fatwas byMUI, there are four of them related to Al-Qur’an.2.1 Transliteration of Al-Qur’an innon-Arabic Letters (1977)MUI’s fatwa on transliteration of Al-Qur’an in non-Arabic languages was set on June 27, 1977 by thehead of the commission, K.H. M. Syukri Ghozali andthe secretary, H. Amiruddin Siregar. In conclusion,the fatwa said that 1) there are some ulama allowingthe transliteration of Al-Qur’an in non-Arabic lettersand there are some that do not; 2) the pronunciationof Al-Qur’an should follow the Arabic one no matterin what letters it is written; 3) the transliteration of Al-Qur’an in non-Arabic letters often lead to difficultyof learning and reading it; 4) the transliteration innon-Arabic letters, since some think it is necessary,should be limited in certain contexts and should bewritten after the original Arabic version (Thearranging team, 2015: 323-4). Based on those fatwas,it can be inferred that the transliteration is actuallyallowed as long as there is the Arabic version alongwith it.What can also be implied from the fatwas is thatthere are two opposite opinions about thetransliteration. It seems that they are fully aware therejection is based on the worry of false Al-Qur’anrecitation. Thus, the decision making of the fatwasrefer to the substantial essence of Al-Qur’antransliteration, which is to be recited accordingly.This is actually a realistic idea to promote themessages of the holy book in the real life that keepschanging (Kaptein, 2004: 1).2.2 Qira’at Sab’ah (1983)The fatwas on Qira’at Sab’ah, the seven variations ofAl-Qur’an recitation, were born on Jumadil Awal 17,1403 Hijri or March 2, 1983 by Professor IbrahimHosen, LML as the head of the fatwa commission ofMUI and H. Musytari Yusuf, LA as the secretary. Thefatwa was actually the result of ‘communication’ and‘interaction’ with the national Al-Qur’an RecitationDevelopment Board (LPTQ). The decree number was53/LPTQNAS/ IU’83 set on February 5, 1983. Notonly did the participants in Indonesia get involved,but some experts in Cairo, Egypt were also invited tocontribute by having a meeting there. Regarding thefatwa, there are several important points related to theimportance of Qira’at Sab’ah and LPTQ as theofficial board studying and developing it: 1) thatQira’at Sab’ah is knowledge that, like other ones,LPTQ should take care of; 2) LPTQ should obey thedecisions made by experts in Cairo. In the meantime,there are two fatwas about Qira’at Sab’ah as follows:1) it is one of the branches of knowledge about Al-Qur’an, thus its existence needs to be preserved; and2) reading it is nor prohibited as long as it is done bylegal people (those who really master it (Team, 2015:172-3). Unlike the previous fatwas on thetransliteration of the holy book, which accommodatesthe new tradition, fatwas on Qira’at Sab’ah appear tostrengthen the old tradition of Al-Qur’an recitationsince the recitation using the seven variations arelimited in several areas and several people.2.3 Singing Al-Qur’an Verses (1983)MUI’s fatwas on singing Al-Qur’an verses were seton Shafar 27, 1404 H/ December 3, 1983 by the headof the commission at that time, Prof. Ibrahim Hosen,LML and his secretary, H. Mas’ud Saiful Alam. BA.There are four fundamental considerations on thefatwas covering: 1) that Islam basically acceptsartwork that is relevant to the teaching and law ofIslam; 2) that da’wah, calling people to the religiousways of life, can also be done through art; 3) that therehave been several musical groups whose lyrics aretaken from Al-Qur’an; and 4) that to glorify theholiness of Al-Qur’an, it is necessary to make fatwasabout it. Other consideration is Al-Qur’an itself;Yasin// 36:69 and Al-Muzzammil/ 73:4. Based onthat, MUI has finally come to two points: 1) singingTo Preserve the Glory of the Scripture - Four Fatwas of the Council of Indonesian Ulama on the Qur’an351the verses of Al-Qur’an should strictly follow therules; and 2) it is free to sing the translation of Al-Qur’an (The team, 2015: 355-6). In comparison withthe previous fatwas on Al-Qur’an, this fatwa isrelatively complete, particularly in terms ofconsiderance. Besides normative points of view ofAl-Qur’an and some of hadith in relation to that, thefact that there are some musical groups singing versesfrom Al-Qur’an is also taken as consideration. In thiscontext, there is even a statement that the holiness ofAl-Qur’an needs to be maintained as considerance.However, this is viewed as normative since the wordused is ‘need’ instead of ‘should’ or must’. As amatter of fact, considerance is usually a main idea orbackground of a fatwa making. This is different fromthe content of the fatwa which is the core.2.4 Sticking photos of Al-Qu’ran book(mushaf)MUI’s fatwa on sticking photos on mushaf wasofficially applied in Jakarta on May 12, 2005 orRabiul Akhir 1426 Hijri by KH. Ma’ruf Amin as thehead of MUI’s Fatwa Commission and Drs. H.Hasanuddin, M.Ag. As the secretary. In theconsiderance part, this fatwa explains that thebackground of the fatwa includes 1) the fact thatlately people start to stick several things includingphotos on their mushaf; 2) the issue has raised acontroversy among them on whether that is allowedor not; 3) starting for the controversial phenomenon,MUI finally agrees to make a fatwa on it; 4) inIndramayu, there was a fatwa about this No.1 2005;and 5) the meeting on this was held on Rabi’ul Akhir10, 1426 Hijri.In relation to that, the fatwa came up with twomain decisions covering 1) it is compulsory to glorifyAl-Qur’an; and 2) sticking stuffs on mushaf arestrictly prohibited (haram) if a) there is a tendency ofharassment towards Al-Qur’an; b) it has potentials toraise war and conflict (Fatwa team, 2015: 488-91).In comparison with the previously-discussedfatwa on singing the verses of Al-Qur’an, fatwa onsticking things on mushaf appears to be tougher. Thisindicates that MUI is getting better in positioningthemselves particularly in maintaining the glory andholiness of Al-Qur’an.The shift of MUI’s fatwa tone to be tougher alsoshows that MUI is making distance with thegovernment. This means that the conflict of interestbetween MUI and the government is getting lesser.Politically, when MUI declared the fatwa on stickingthings on mushaf, they were in the new order era.Meanwhile, the previous fatwa on singing the versesof Al-Qur’an happened when they were in the oldorder era. This clearly proves that MUI is turningfrom the servant of the government into the servant ofthe society.3 POLITICAL CHANGE ANDSHIFT OF FATWASFrom the four fatwas by MUI related to Al-Qur’an, itcan be seen that political situations from the neworder era to the reformation era play an important rolefor MUI to declare their religious points of view. Inthe new order era, it was obvious that MUI is thegovernment’s political vehicle so that their fatwas arealways supportive of the government no matter howthe situation was (Reid, 2009: 70; Hefner, 2000: 121).However, in the next era, the reformation era, theirfatwas started to be more objective; they do notbelong to the government’s representation anymore.The fatwas are actually the representation of ummah,the society (Ichwan, 2005: 71-2; Hosen, 2003: 68-80).Thus, the socio-political context does influencefatwa making. The process of discussion even debateusually the process of conflict of interest fight.Fairclough names this situation socioculturalpractice. Even though the practice does not directlyrelate to the fatwa making, it does influence the wholeprocess of fatwa declaration in situational,institutional, and even social levels (Eriyanto, 2001:320-2).The strength of MUI position among the societycan lately be seen in the recent case of Ahok’sstatement (the former governor of Jakarta) about Al-Ma’idah 51 on October 11, 2016. MUI has a verystrong tone about this case. The word “compulsory”is repeated six times in the fatwa (MUI, 2016). Thisis totally different from the previous fatwas in whichbold words such as compulsory are not repeated veryoften, either in the fatwa on singing the verses of Al-Qur’an or that of sticking things on mushaf (Fatwateam, 2015: 491). This fatwa is believed to be one ofthe biggest triggers of several big demonstrationssuch as “Aksi Bela Islam 411” and “Aksi Bela Islam212”. This finally ends up with a trial of the formergovernor the harassment of Islam case attended alsoby the head of MUI as one of the witnesses. As thecourt decided, Ahok was sentenced two-yearimprisonment. This shows that MUI’s fatwas havestrength to legitimize the law in Indonesia (Ichwan,2016: 87).ICSE 2017 - The 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education3524 CONCLUSIONSThis paper shows there is a shift of MUI’s attitudesand perspectives in the effort of glorifying Al-Qur’an.The shift is revealed in four fatwas of MUI declaredin different eras (1975-2017). This paper alsoemphasizes that the political situations from the neworder era to the reformation era influence MUI inmaking decisions. They turn from the agents of thegovernment into the agents of the citizens, even theagents of justice. In fatwas, the change or the shift canbe identified in the wording. 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To preserve the glory of the scripture: Four fatwas of the council of Indonesian ulama on the Qur’an

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To preserve the glory of the scripture: Four fatwas of the council of Indonesian ulama on the Qur’an

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