Voices of moderation lose sympathy for Bush - Financial Times
Published: March 6 2003 0:32 | Last Updated: March 6 2003 0:32
If you were to have searched for a model for a Washington-friendly moderate Islamic leader a year ago then Hasyim Muzadi (pictured) would surely have been it.
As chairman of Nadlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian group which, with some 60m members, claims the title of the world's largest Islamic organisation, Mr Muzadi spoke up in support of the US bombing of Afghanistan. He tried to calm fears among Muslims that the US war against terrorism was looking a lot like a war against Islam.
But these days Mr Muzadi feels betrayed by US policy towards Iraq. And that stands as a stark example of how the White House may be losing the sympathy of important voices for moderation in the Islamic world as a result of its current push for war.
Frustrated with US policy, Mr Muzadi turned down an invitation earlier this year to visit Washington for a multi-denominational prayer meeting as a protest against what he now calls "imperialist" aggression. "How could I go to Washington to pray for war in Iraq?" he said in an interview with the Financial Times this week.
"When the US attacked Afghanistan it was still logical, because of al-Qaeda," he said. "But if the US attacks Iraq it will be illogical."
Mr Muzadi's main concern is the fate of ordinary Iraqis. "Most Muslims in Indonesia don't like Saddam Hussein because he is cruel," he said. "But war is more cruel than Saddam."
But he also worries about what he argues would be the breakdown of international law and order if the US went to war without United Nations approval.
"There is a basic question that hasn't been answered by the US: who has the right to punish a nation? The United Nations or the US?"
In Indonesia - and elsewhere in the Islamic world - a war against Iraq could cause moderate Muslims to turn towards more conservative or even radical leaders, he argues.
"If the US [went to war in Iraq], then it would become difficult to differentiate between moderates and radicals," he said.
That, he believes, could mean profound political changes in places such as Indonesia where it could bolster the support of hardline Islamic political parties and undermine groups such as NU, which, with its brand of Islam imbued with Hindu and even animist practices, has been responsible for the maintenance of a moderate Muslim tradition.
Mr Muzadi admits some political self-interest. "If we [NU] are still co-operating with the US while they are attacking Iraq we will be blamed by the Muslim community in Indonesia," he says. "That could be a hurdle in running the leadership of NU."
He is against any war to topple Saddam Hussein, with or without UN backing: to him the key problem of US foreign policy is its support for Israel. "If the US exercised its foreign policy in balance through both Palestine and Israel then the whole problem could be solved," he says.
That latter view predates any Iraq crisis. It is Muslim world orthodoxy. But the broader change in Mr Muzadi's relationship with the US has been profound. So much so that he has started handing out a music video titled "Uncle Sam" to departing guests.
The song, by an Indonesian pop star, begins as an ode to America. "You show us your sweetness and lend us your styles," an early line goes. But it quickly moves into a plea for peace that causes Mr Muzadi to nod in approval. "Uncle Sam, I implore you, set your weapons aside. Conquer the world just with kindness and we will all join your line."
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