Religious leaders needed to tackle nation's problems

Jakarta, NU Online
General chairman of the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Said Aqil Siroj called for the importance of religious leaders to tackle various problems faced by the community and the nation, not a certain group.<>

Islamic scholars, in this case, should be involved without having to differentiate the background of fellow citizens. According to Siroj, social issues such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, could threaten humans irrespective of age, class, gender, religion, and other categories.

"The Islamic scholars are assigned to guide their people (liyundziru qaumahum)," Siroj said on the sidelines of a press conference here on Tuesday (9/10).

The threat of HIV transmission, for example, requires special care and the real role of the Islamic scholars. With moral appeals, the Islamic scholars could play their real role in reducing the deadly HIV invection rates.

He said that morally, the Islamic scholars could criticize any practices potentially causing such HIV transmissions as promiscuity, drug users' needles interchangeably, and so on, urging the Islamic scholars not to marginalize HIV-positive persons.

Thus, the religious religious should not only focus on religious matters. Instead, they should actively involve in various social problems which are in need of social concern and solidarity from many parties.

In addition to deepening the study of religion, social awareness and solidarity have become tasks that must be borne by Islamic scholars. The Qur'an has assigned them to the two tasks, Siroj added.

Writer : Alhafiz Kurniawan
Editor : Sudarto Murtaufiq