MUHAMMADIYAH.ID, YOGYAKARTA – Muhammadiyah Office of Yogyakarta welcomes Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB) of Deli Serdang, Sumatera Utara on Tuesday (29/10). The visit of the FKUB aimed at learning a concept of harmony from Muhammadiyah.
According to Secretary of the Central Board of Muhamamdiyah Agung Danarto, as the oldest Islamic movement in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah has received and implemented a concept of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity within Diversity). Thus, Muhamamdiyah believes that the notion of the concordance is final.
Well-known as an Islamic movement, Muhammadiyah is eminent as a socio-religious movement due to the existence of Muhmmadiyah charities which have assisted people, both Muslims and non-Muslims.
“Many people say that Muhammadiyah is a socio-religious movement. For instance, a lot of Muhammadiyah university students are not Muhammadiyah members; indeed, students of some Muhammadiyah universities located in areas where Muslims are a minority are non-Muslims,” told Agung.
The facts show that Muhammadiyah exists as an answer to the withdrawal of humanitarian values because Muhammadiyah dakwah focuses on education/enlightenment for all people based on values of divinity and humanity instead of converting to Islam.
“You do not need to worry about sending your children to Muhammadiyah schools,” conveyed Agung.
He mentioned that, in an area where most of the people are non-Muslims, Muhammadiyah was trusted to receive wakaf (endowment) of land to be utilized for an educational field. It portrays that interfaith issues in Muhammadiyah have been clear since there has been mutualism.
Besides, the existence of Muhammadiyah which has been established for more than one century and is older than Indonesia proves the integration between Muhammadiyah and Indonesian government to develop this nation.
Meanwhile, Chair of the FKUB of Deli Serdang Waluyo thanked Muhammadiyah for welcoming his group of people and providing an occasion to learn the interfaith harmony from Muhammadiyah. The visit was also a mandate from Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
He was aware that the harmony cannot be achieved if only one party works for it, but it engages all elements of this nation.
“Besides FKUB, Muhammadiyah cadres and other people play roles to create the accord. For example, roles in education are undertaken through Muhmmadiyah charities,” he asserted.