Beberapa hari yang lalu, harian the Wall Street Journal menampilkan sebuah wawancara dengan judul yang membuat saya penasaran, "The Last King of Java". Kalimat pembukanya pun eye catching:
Suppose for a moment that the single most influential religious leader in the Muslim world openly says "I am for Israel." Suppose he believes not only in democracy but in the liberalism of America's founding fathers. Suppose that, unlike so many self-described moderate Muslims who say one thing in English and another in their native language, his message never alters. Suppose this, and you might feel as if you've descended into Neocon Neverland.
In fact, you have arrived in Jakarta and are sitting in the small office of an almost totally blind man of 66 named Abdurrahman Wahid. A former president of ndonesia, he is the spiritual leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), an Islamic organization of some 40 million members. Indonesians know him universally as Gus Dur, a title of affection and respect for this descendant of Javanese kings. In the U.S. and Europe he is barely spoken of at all--which is both odd and unfortunate, seeing as he is easily the most important ally the West has in the ideological struggle against Islamic radicalism.
Yah, kalau soal Gus Dur, kita semua tahu tentu. Baik yang pro maupun yang kontra, Gus Dur adalah pembela demokrasi dan kebebasan.
Tulisan di koran itu tidak ada yang baru bagi mereka yang sudah familiar dengan Gus Dur, saya kira tak ada lagi yang menarik untuk dikomentari... tetapi ada satu pernyataan kontroversial yang baru saya temukan dari wawancara itu. Gus Dur bilang:
"Young people like to kiss each other," he says, throwing his hands in the air. "Why not? Just because old people don't do it doesn't mean it's wrong."
Wah, Gus.... ini benar-benar liberal! Saya nggak tahu apa ini salah terjemah atau memang Gus Dur benar-benar mengatakannya dengan konteks kalimat yang lebih luas... misalnya "it doesn't mean wrong [legally]" boleh saja cium-ciuman menurut aturan negara tetapi bukan berarti boleh menurut moral agama... misalnya menurut kitab sulam al-tawfiq yang banyak ditakuti santri-santri itu. Kita kan susah membedakan kapan Gus Dur menjadi kiai dan kapan beliau menjadi politisi.
Salam hangat Gus, kangen rasanya menunggu gagasan-gagasan segar njenengan...
Selengkapnya tentang wawancara itu, silakan cek:
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