“The Concept of Khilafah: Spreading the Rule of Law all over the World”
NAKATA Ko, Doshisha University
1. Introduction
The aim of this paper is to show (1) that the mission of the highest priority in Islam is to spread the rule of law all over the world, i.e, Khilafah, not the proselytization for the Islamic faith, (2) that Khilafah is secular, pluralistic and anti-totalitarian, (3) that Khilafah is nothing other than the Rule of Law, and (3) that we can understand the reality of Khilafah more clearly by comparison with the classical Chinese political thought than by comparison with the Western one.
2. Islamic law as a Jurist’s Law
Islamic law is said to be a typical jurist’s law beside Roman law. Actually, while Roman law became law after its authorization by the Emperor and he is above the law, formation of the Islamic law had been independent from Khalifah’s authorization, rather the jurists, Fuqaha’ had rejected any interference from Khalifah in its formation, needless to say admitting that Khalifah is above it.
Islamic law is still valid for all the Muslims, in spite that the rulers of the Western-made territorial nation states in the former Dar al-Islam have no longer enforced Islamic law, because the ruler has nothing to do with the formation of Islamic law, and consequently its validity is not depending on their enforcement.
Thus the legitimate Islamic polity is still Khilafah, even if its throne is now vacant. Among the contemporary jurists, Fuqaha’, there is still consensus that the establishments of Khilafah is obligatory. Not only the most widely-read book of Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) among the contemporary jurists, al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatu-hu(11 vol.), written by Dr. Wahbah al-Zuhaili, but the most voluminous and authoritative Encyclopedia of Islamic law officially edited by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Kuwait and Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs of Arab Republic of Egypt, al-Mawsu‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah,(45 vol.) declare definitely that the establishment of Khilafah, Nasb al-Imam, is obligatory.
3. Definition of “Khilafah”
Here we use the term “Khilafah” as the name of Islamic polity according to Sunni Islamic science. In literatures of Fiqh and Usul al-Din(Theology), Khilafah is synonymous with Imamah Kubra, but we prefer to the term Khilafah lest it should be confused with Shiite Imamah. As for the Shiite theory, Imam is the divinely appointed infallible successor of the Apostle of Allah Muhammad. On the other hand, Sunni Khalifah is neither divinely appointed nor infallible.
The inaugural speech of the first Sunni Khalifah Abu Bakr, ; “as long as I follow Allah and His Apostle, follow me. Supposing I disobey Allah and His Apostle, it is not obligatory for you to follow me.”(narated by al-Tabari),shows clearly that the Sunni Khalifah, the successor of the Apostle, was homogeneous as the fallible Apostolic deputy officials under the reign of the Apostle who obeyed the Divine commandments embodied in Qur’an and Sunnah. Namely, Khilafah is “the rule of law” contrary to Imamah which is “the rule of man”, for the Divine Will is known through Shari‘ah, Divine Law, according to Sunni thinking, while it is known only through the divinely appointed infallible Imam according to the Shiite Imamology.
4. Khalifah of the Earth
Khalifah must also be one person and two or more Khalifahs(Khulafa’)’ coexistence is severely forbidden. The Prophet Muhammad ordered loyalty to single Khalifah in one age in order of accession to the throne, saying,; “although there is no prophet after me any longer, Khulafa’(successors) will appear and their number will quite a large. Give loyalty in order one by one, and follow the authority which Allah vested in them.” (Muslim), and he did not only rejected the legitimacy of the second and following Khalifahs but ordered decisively execution of them, saying,; “When the pledge of allegiance is given to two Khalifas, kill the second one.” (Muslim)
When the Prophet Muhammad passed away, many tribes of Arabia refused to give Zakah(charity) to Madinah, the capital of the Khalifah Abu Bakr. At this time, the Khalifah Abu Bakr subjugated them in spite that they confessed “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the apostle of Allah” and performed the prayer (Salah). This battle is called “apostasy(Riddah)” war. This decision of the Abu Bakr shows that the supremacy of the headship, Khilafah, and the unity of the Ummah(Muslim community) are fatal for Islam.
Although in Fiqh, Khalifah is abbreviation of Khalifah Rasul Allah, i.e., the successor of the Apostle of Allah, not Khalifah Allah, the vicegerent of Allah on the Earth, but the connotation of the vicegerent of Allah on the Earth has never been forgotten. Allah is the Lord of the heavens and the Earth, Rabb al-Samawat wa-al-Ard. In this context, the term “al-Ard(the Earth)” is always single contrary to “al-Samawat(heavens; plural)” . That is because the earth is one and indivisible, and consequently, the Khlifah as the vicegerency of Allah on the Earth should be one and indivisible as the lordship of Allah for the earth is one and indivisible, there is no god but Allah.
However, in order to understand the true significance of the adherence of Islam to oneness of the Khalifah, it is necessary to clarify the character of Islamic mission first, even if it results in taking a long circuit.
5. Islamic Mission in its Completed Form
When the Prophet Muhammad began his mission in Makkah, its main contents were faith of the unseen like Allah, the Last Judgment, the paradise and hell, and the ethics such as aids of the poor and the weak, and they were targeted at the individuals. However, after a “city state” centering on Muslims was materialized in Madinah after Hijrah in 622, legal provisions of maintenance of the security by execution of punishments on crimes, such as injury homicide, a burglar, and theft, tax collection, welfare, and dealing of non-Muslims and warfare, i.e., obligations which the political authority should perform, was added. And when Makkah was conquered, the Arabian Peninsula was unified under the banner of Islam, and the revelation given to the Prophet Muhammad was completed, the Islamic mission transformed from propagation of the individual faith and ethics in Makkah term to the liberation of the Earth by spreading the Islamic order.
The transformation of Islamic mission to “the liberation of the Earth by spreading the Islamic order” does not mean abrogation of propagation of faith and ethics on the level of individual and society, but it means that the spread of Islamic order came to given a priority as the aim of group behavior of the Ummah which came to have the military strength which now enables them to establish the Islamic order.
This is shown clearly in Islamic rules of warfare. Allah says,; “Fight those who do not believe in God, nor in the Last Day, and who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, nor do they practice the religion of truth, from among of those who have been given the Scripture, until they pay the Jizya tribute, readily being subdued.”(9:29)
And al-Mugirah, a companion of the Prophet, said to the Persian army on the day of battle of Nihavand,; the Prophet who is the Apostle of our Lord ordered “Fight until you worship only Allah or you pay the tax (Jizyah)”. (al-Bukhahri).
If only the Jizyah tax is paid, fighting is no more allowed, even though they don’t embrace Islam. But fighting becomes inescapable when tax payment is refused. That is, the purpose of the jihad was admission of the Islam order by tax payment, not conversion to Islam. In other words, spread the Islam order was the first priority which must be promoted even with military force.
Muslim community started to perform their mission toward the whole world after the completion of the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad and the unification of the Arabian Peninsula. However, what was not allowed to refuse in confronting this mission and was to be forced even by military power was the payment of the Jizyah tax, not conversion to Islam.
6. “Secularism” of Khilafah
The regime of Khilafah is “secular”, although it may sound unexpectedly. Strictly speaking, the concept “secular” is so Western culture-laden that we can not apply it only to Islam but also any other religion like Judaism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, but we use it here just as a matter of convenience for comparative study.
The Western political sciences cannot describe the Islamic governance effectively with the analysis of the Religion-and-Politics-relation because of the lack of clear consciousness of difference of legal system and political system, but if we can differentiate them, it is rather obvious rather that Khilafah is “secular”.
The Prophet Muhammad’s government was based on “unity of Religion and Politics”, thus “religious.” As already stated, the Prophet Muhammad was governing based on Allah’ revelation. That is, a political decision of the outbreak of war etc. was also made based on Divine Will. And much of revelation had taken the form of the individual command responding to each situation, a legal system had not been formed yet, a political system and legal system were still undifferentiated. That is, the Prophet Muhammad’s government is “religious”, in the meaning that it was based on the transcendental authority of the divine will of a revelation of Allah to which common believers has no access, and is based on the “unity of Politics and Religion” in the meaning that both of the law and the politics were based on transcendental authority in the undifferentiated form because the legal system and the political system was still undifferentiated.
The Prophet Muhammad’s government was typical “hierocracy” or “theocracy” in terminology of Western political sciences in the meaning that the religious person who represents divine will governs. However, the revelation ceased since the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Khalifah does not have access to the Divine Will. Thus there was no transcendental element in the Khalifah’s political determination, it was carried out through the realistic worldly calculation of political interests, and it was completely same with the Khalifah’s subordinates.
In the 8th century of the infancy of the Islamic legal system, Fuqaha’, jurists as specialists of the Fiqh, Islamic law, appeared and Qadi, official judges, came to be appointed out of such jurists since Abu Yusuf(d.798) took the position of Qadi, Islamic Judge, a famous disciple of Abu Hanifah(d.767) who himself staunchly rejected its position in spite of persecution. After this, although the idea that the Khalifah inherits the judicial duty of the Prophet was not lost, it becomes a custom that the Khalifah entrusts his judicial authority to jurists, thus executive power and a judicial power has been divided completely.
Islamic legal system is a legal system after all, as same as Common Law(of Britain) is a legal system, so both of them are neither irrational nor mysterious beyond the understanding by the reason, but completely rational, in the meaning that the function of both these legal systems has nothing to do with the divine inspiration, and what is needed is not an understanding by faith but an understanding by professional training of legal reasoning.
We can understand this more clearly, if we take into consideration the fact that the existence of the mystic called Sufi who receives the inspiration from God is recognized widely in the Islamic history, and among jurists there are a lot of such mystics or Sufis, but at the place of a judicial trial, such inspiration is never adopted as a proof.
The Islamic law was “secularized”, after the system of Islamic law had been materialized and the jurists had become professionals. That is, the trial is not performed by the transcendental authority which receives the inspiration from God to which common people has no access, but by the jurist who receives special professional training of legal reasoning, based on the legal provisions found in the authoritative classics of Islamic jurisprudence to which any lettered man can refer.
As for the origin of law, the fact that the origin of the Islamic law is a divine revelation does not mean that its legal system is divine. Because, whether the legal system is religious or secular, the origin of all the laws is related to the “myth” of foundation of the country, thus inevitably “sacred” and “irrational”, as in the United States’ Declaration of Independence it is stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights.” Therefore, it is unsuitable to call the Islamic law “religious” only because its origin is based on the divine revelation.
The transcendental authority which has access to the divine will to which common people has no access, i.e., the religious authority which Western political science assumes, is in the hand of mystics called Sufis in Islam.
In Sunnite Islam, the Prophetic authority, is divided into political authority, “legal authority”, and “religious authority” in the narrow meaning, and succeeded by Khalifah, Fuqaha’ and Sufis respectively, but we don’t discuss about role of Sufis in this paper.
That is, in Islam, law, religion, and politics are completely divided and the Khilafah is secular regime separated from religion not only in its administration but in its jurisdiction also.
7. Religious Pluralism and Anti-totalitarianism of Khilafah
The Islamic law is pluralistic because it is divided into “common” law which all the residents should obey and “religious” law which only Muslims should obey and admits for the other communities their autonomy according to their own religious law.
Khilafah based on this pluralistic Islamic law is secular because it secures the safety to all the residents by ruling according to Islamic “common law” and leaves to Muslims and non-Muslim communities the self-government in the domain of religion which contains not only a religious rite but family law, a dress code, etc.
Moreover, pluralistic Khilafah is anti-totalitarianism. All residents are not forced conversion to Islamic ideology, although the Khilafah is based on Islam. Non-Muslim is not required any inward commitments to Islam. It is sufficient for them to observe Islamic “public law” only externally. Even for Muslims, Khilafah does not interfere in the inside of their mind. The obligation of Khilafah is merely the enforcement of the “external” Islamic law.
Moreover, Khilafah does not interfere in individual’s “privacy” in private space as well as it does not interfere in ones interior faith. It is because Islam strictly prohibits revealing the hidden wrong, and inquiry and espionage by the Holy Qur’anic verse ” And spy not “(49:12).
So Khilafah is located just in the opposite poles of a police state. Khalifah controls only infringement of the Islamic rules in public space, and he leaves the referee to Allah about the individual act in private space.
Unlike the nation-state based on the totalitarianism, in the meaning that it presupposes that the nation is homogeneous entity, which kidnaps its children and confines them to brainwash with its official ideology during a certain period under the name of compulsory education, the education is not the job of Khilafah regime. In Islamic history, although Khalifahs and kings built schools, Madrasah, it was not their “official” job but their personal or individual contribution. That is, in the Khilafah, education is left to the family and the society.
The political responsibility for the maintenance of security, order, and peace under the pluralistic and anti-totalitarian Khilafah is shared only among Muslims under Khalifah according to their capability, contrary to the deceptive fabrication of national representative system of the so-called “democratic” nation-state, in which it is to be assumed by all the citizens.
Under Khilafah non-Muslims are not required any political responsibility for the cause of Islam in which they do not believe but required only tax payment and outward observation of Islamic “common” law as “passive citizen”, while all the Muslims assume the responsibility for participation in Khilafah as a judge, a soldier, etc. according to one’s capability as a “positive citizen” because of his faith in the cause of Islam.
Such secular, anti-totalitarian and pluralistic Khilafah is the political system that enables the realization of the Islamic order which Muslim community has the mission to spread to the whole earth even with resort to military force.
8. Islamic order as the Rule of Law
As we have explained, the mission of Khilafah is to spread Islamic order. Now we try to argue that Islamic order is nothing but the rule of law, moreover, that Islamic order is the very Rule of Law and there is no rule of law except Islamic order in the contemporary world.
A famous German legal philosopher Gustav Radbruch (d.1949) pointed out that the law has 3 mutually contradicting elements, Gleichheit (justice), Zweckmäßigkeit (purposiveness or effectiveness) and Rechtssicherheit(legal certainty), but the most fundamental is the legal certainty. The legal certainty means stability and predictability. The law should be unchanging and continuous to some ranges of time as well as understandable and well known to people.
As for the stability, the Islamic law system started to be formed around in 8-9 century and had been established around in 12-13 century and has little change since then. It remains unchanging and valid, thus it is still taught from the elementary school to the graduate school of the university in the Muslim world.
Citing Justice without Frontiers, by Weeramantry, C, (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1997, p.132), even Wikipedia admits that the supremacy of law was developed by Islamic jurists before the twelfth century, so that no official could claim to be above the law, not even Khalifah.
Comparing to Islamic law, only Common Law of England has some limited stability, but “the rule of law” had been established only late in 17 century thanks to the efforts of Lord Chief Justice Edward Coke(d.1634) and the like, and it had never ceased to be developed until courts of law and equity were combined in 1873 and 1875 and the current features of the common law had been completed.
Even this English Common Law is said to be influenced by Islamic Law through Norman conquest of England by the Normans, who conquered and inherited the Islamic legal administration of the Emirate of Sicily since the publication of legal scholar John Makdisi’s “The Islamic Origins of the Common Law” in the North Carolina Law Review, (Makdisi, John A. (1999), North Carolina Law Review 77 (5): 1635–1739.)
Criticizing John Austin’s(d.1859), a famous British legal positivist jurist, theory that law is the command of the sovereign backed by the threat of punishment, H. L. A. Hart (d.1992), one of the most influential legal philosopher of the 20th century, pointed out in his famous The Concept of Law that the ad hoc orders of the rulers cannot be called law. Such things like 12,000 yen flat-rate benefits enacted in 2008 under Aso Cabinet in Japan, 200 million dollar of bailout for AIG(American International Group), and imposing 90% tax on bonus for its executives, both of which were legislated under Obama government in 2009, do not deserve the name of law. Even if they were legislated by parliaments or Congress under the name of law, they are in reality nothing other than arbitrary ad hoc commandments of “men”. Nowadays there is no country where the true “rule of law” exists, even though there might be a Rechtsstaat which rules “by law”.
Here it is worth mentioning that in Islam even the taxation is under “the rule of law”, not “the rule of man”, contrary to the West in which the taxation is under “the rule of man” justified by the slogan “No taxation without representation”, hence “the representatives” can impose taxes as they like under the name of “people”. On the other hand, Islam does not approve of any tax except what is legislated by Shari‘ah, Islamic Law, i.e., Zakah for Muslims, Jizyah for Non-Muslims, and Kharaj for the utility of the lands conquered. Any other taxes imposed by human beings are strictly prohibited. A great Hanbalite jurist Ibn Taimiyyah(d.1328) says; ‘Levying taxes are what is not permitted by the agreement of legal schools’.(Ibn Taimiyyah, Majmu‘ah al-Fataws, al-Mansurah, 2001, vol.28, p.155) Another great jurist of the Hanafi legal school, al-Jassas (d.981) is so severe that he says that every Muslim should fight against those who levy taxes(Al-Jasas, Akam al-Qur‘an, 1986, Beirut, vol.1, p.472), and he should even kill them if they are armed. an influential legal philosopher of the 20th century. Consequently, any tariff is not allowed in Dar al-Islam, in which the rule of law is prevalent, because Dar al-Islam is an unified law-governed space, thus it is not permitted to make borders in it to prevent the free movement of people, commodities, and money or capitals by imposing man-made tariffs or any other kind of taxes or fees.
As for the legal certainty as the predictability, Muslims are familiar with Islamic law, both substantial rules, Ahkam Taklifiyyah, and legal concepts, Ahkam Wad’iyyah, because the learning of Islamic law is obligatory on every Muslim. So it is not unusual that ordinary Muslim children learn classical texts books of Islamic law even in elementary school or junior high school.
Comparing to Islam, in Japan, for example, the jurisprudence is not included in curriculum of compulsory education, i.e., elementary school and junior high school at all. Only small parts of the constitution is taught in junior high school as a part of the subject “The Contemporary Society”, and even the penalty of murder of penal law is not taught. There is no rule of law in Japan, where the basics of the law and jurisprudence are not taught to its citizens but they are ordered to be a lay judge to judge others.
9. Khilafah in Comparison
Khilafah is the very Rule of Law, the most stable and certain divine law in the world, which liberates all the human beings from the rule of men and guarantees the security of life, property, and honor for all the inhabitants, ant this law-governed space is called Dar al-Islam or “House of Islam”, in which Khalifah , the head of the Ummah, rules according to Islamic law and plural religious communities coexist enjoying religious self-government. The fact that Khalifah should be single symbolizes the unity of “Dar al-Islam” to guarantee the freedom of movement of human beings, commodities, and information. So the abolishment of borders which hinder the movement of the people is the indispensable essential part of Islamic order. And the outside of this law-governed space, Dar al-Islam, is called Dar al-Harb, literally “House of War”, or “Lawless Land”.
The pivot of Khilafah is the law, Shari‘ah, not the person of Khalifah himself. We find the clearest expression of it in the works of Ibn Taimiyyah. In his book on Islamic politics, al-Siyasah al-Shar‘iyyah, he not only ignored the role of Khalifah but never mentioned about the Khilafah at all. And in his treatise on the revolt, he affirmed that the true revolt which should be subdued as the apostasy is the violation of Law, Khuruj ‘an Shari‘ah, not the revolt against the ruler, Khalifah.(Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu‘ah al-Fatawa, vol.28, pp.468-469, pp.502-504, pp.520-521)
But the Western scholarship obsessed with the Aristotelian tradition of typology of ruler can neither understand the real nature of Khilafah nor esteem its significance correctly; hence they tend to regard it as the monarchy or dictatorship focusing only on the number of the ruler, if it is one, monarchy, if minority, aristocracy, and if majority, democracy.
Without exception in human history, head of state must be one and alone by whatever name the regime is called, democracy, monarchy, republic, or Papacy, in terms of official institution and constitution, and sociologically speaking, no head of state can rule alone with nobody’s support at all. The Caliphate, Khilafah, is not an exception. That is all.
Here it seems useful to refer to Chinese political thought for triangulation. In Chinese political thought, the rule is classified into 徳治Dézhì, or rule by virtue of 儒家Rújiā, Confucian school, and法治Fǎzhì, or rule by law, of 法家Fǎjiā, legalist School.
The ideal of the main trend of Chinese political thought has been dézhì, the rule by virtue, despite Fǎzhì, the rule by law, has been always real politics in the history.
The world view of this Chinese political thought is called 華夷秩序Huayizhìxù, China-barbarian order. In this world view, the moral teaching of Confucianism is pivotal and it is regarded as the very Civilization itself and any country which accepts this teaching become a part of 中華Zhōnghuá Sinocentric world, thus, 王土Wángtǔ, literally Land of King, or 神州Shén zhōu, Divine State, which is the land of the Civilization and the areas outside this Sinocentricworld are called 化外之地Huawaizhidi, uncivilized land. Although 皇帝Huángdì the emperor is regarded as 天子Tiānzǐ, Son of Heaven, he is not above this teaching, but he is required to rule embodying the virtues of this teaching.
For both of them, Islamic political thought and Chinese one, the central idea is the divine order which is the aim to be realized by the politics, not the person of Ruler. In Islam, this order is conceptionalized as the Law, the Revealed Divine law, Shari‘ah, while in China it is called 王道, Wángdào, literally the Way of King, virtuous rule according to Confucian teaching.
Historically speaking, Khalifah had lost his real power early Abbasid (750-1258) and his authority had become nominal and the political power had shifted to his subordinates, Sultans, Amirs, and Waziirs, a parallel phenomenon of which we find rather in history of 天皇制Tennnousei, institution of Japanese Emperor, rather than institution of Chine Emperor itself.
Both of them claim that their political order is universal, thus their rule is the sole legitimate rule. This universalism is expressed by the dichotomy of Dar al-Islam – Dar al-Harb, House of Peace – House of War, Law-governed Space – Lawless Land, in Islam, and 中華, or王土,神州－化外之地, Zhōnghuá, or Wángtǔ, Shén zhōu －Huàwài zhīdì, Sinocentric world, or Land of King, Divine State, Land of the Civilization －Uncivilized Land.
In spite of their universalism, both of them are not totalitarian, contrary to the notion of the modern Western territorial state, but multi-ethnic and multi-religious.
As for the multi-ethnicity, beside the fact that various ethnic groups had coexisted in Islamic Caliphate and Chinese Empire, the political power has been shifted from Arab to Persian, then to Turk in case of Islam, and Chinese history has Mongol dynasty of 元 Yuán(1279-1368) and Manchurian Dynasty of 清Qīng (1644-1911).
Regarding multi-religiousness, though indeed Islam in Khilafah and Confucianism in China were the base of their respective rule, both of them is not “theocracy” in the Western sense, i.e, the rule by the priests, and the “freedom” of religion, in the narrow sense of the West, had been enjoyed by people respectively in their “communal-private” sphere, for there were no “individual” in traditional Islamic and Chinese society, and besides Ulama’ or Fuqaha’ in Islam and 儒者rú zhě in China, who constituted the religious establishment of the Empire, were rather scholars than priests.
In Islam, Christian, Jew, and Zoroastrian were accepted as Dhimmi, protectee, then the category of Dhimmi is expanded to followers of all religions, while in China, Prof. 杜維明Tu Weiming said ;“Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Islam were lumped together as ‘the four teachings’ of China”.( Osman Bakar, “Confucius and the Analects in the light of Islam”, Osman Bakar(ed.), Islam and Confucianism, p.68.)
Islamic Dar al-Islam and Chinese 中華Zhōnghuá, Sinocentric world or王土Wángtǔ is a space in which Divine Order is established, and as such its boundary must be rather vague, not clear cut, contrary to the notion of the territorial nation state. The boundary of Dar al-Islam and 中華Zhōnghuá, 王土Wángtǔ is continuously changing according to the religio-cultural condition of the inhabitants and the power relations with the outer world.
Although the similarities are remarkable, there are some important differences between Islamic political thought and Chinese one.
Because Confucian teaching is focusing on moral codes and rules of courtesy while Islamic Shari‘ah includes public law and private law as well as moral codes and rules of courtesy, definition of “self and others” and rules relating “self and others” both inside of Dar al-Islam and outside of it, in Islam is, positively speaking, more articulated, stable and predictable than ones in Confucianism, or, negatively speaking, more inflexible, rigid, fossilizing, difficult to adapt itself to changing situations.
The boundary of 華夷Huáyí is quite ambiguous both at the level of countries and at the level of individuals. We can find only difference of graduation in mastery of virtues of Confucian teaching, while in Islam distinction between ‘self and others’ is rather dichotomic. Consequently, Chinese political thought rejects categorically to spread territory of中華 Zhōnghuá, Sinocentric world or王土Wángtǔ , by force as the condemnable 覇道Bàdào, way of hegemon, and considers its spread through its voluntary acceptance by others yearning for it,王化Wánghuà, Islam rather regards it obligatory to spread its order or the rule of Law, Shari‘ah, not Islamic faith, all over the world by military force, even though this missionary campaign should be performed according to Islamic law of warfare.
Contemporary warfare in which inhumane weapons of mass-destruction are used quite clearly opposes the war ethics of Islam. The Holy Prophet ordered the killing of the enemy but prohibited burning them to death, saying “; “Torment by fire is not allowed for other than the Master of Fire”(Hadith:al-Bukhri, Ahmad) In a contemporary war, soldiers are slaughtered indiscriminately by missiles, bombs, and heavy weapons, without having the opportunity to surrender, and without even seeing the face of the enemy who kills them. Not only soldiers, but even innocent civilians too are massacred through being caught up in the battle. In modern warfare this is called collateral damage, but in Islam it is a serious crime.
However, the boundary between Dar al-Islam, Law-governed space and Dar al-Harb, Lawless land, is in practice not so clear cut and there has been always vague peripheries status of which is ambiguous. Dar al-Sulh, truce area, on which armistice is signed between Muslims and Others, of which inhabitants enter under Islamic order of rule of Shari‘ah voluntarily, especially after the authority of Khalifah declined, who alone has the prerogative of decision of war and peace theoretically.
10. Conclusion
We tried to demonstrate that the mission of the highest priority in Islam is to spread the rule of law all over the world, i.e, Khilafah, not the proselytization for the Islamic faith, that Khilafah is secular, pluralistic and anti-totalitarian, and that Khilafah is nothing other than the Rule of Law.
Then we clarified that Islam shares with Chinese Empire centrality of the universal divine order, multi-ethnicity, multi-religiousness, openness of its boundary but Islam is more articulated in rules relating “self and others” and consider it obligatory to spread Islamic order of Rule of Law, Shari‘ah all over the world even with resort to military force.
However the reestablished Khilafah will not rush into war for Islamic mission, because the contemporary war in which inhumane mass-destruction weapons are used opposes war ethics of Islam clearly. Therefore the relation between the Khilafah, or Dar al-Islam and the external world might be a “peace” by truce in principle. The coming Khilafah in Dar al-Islam, Law-governed space, will vie with Dar al-Harb, Lawless Land, the external world in attracting immigrants under the truce, for which is more comfortable to live in.
In order to find the way of co-existence with Muslims, the West should understand the intrinsic logics of Khilafah and Dar al-Islam, and we hope that our comparative studies would contribute to this aim.
Reference:
Hassan Ko Nakata, The Mission of Islam in the Contemporary World － Aiming for Liberation of Earth through reestablishment of the Caliphate, 2009, Saba Islamic Media, Kuala Lumpur
Oleh:
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management Head
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
Keraguan konsumen terhadap kehalalan produk masih terjadi. Setelah kasus dendeng babi, kita dihadapkan vaksin meningitis (radang selaput otak) bagi jamaah haji dan umrah. Klaim produsen, Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), bahwa vaksin meningitis bebas dari material bovine (sapi) dan pocine (babi) tidak terbukti. Pembuatannya masih menggunakan enzim babi. Inilah hasil presentasi GSK di Majelis Pertimbangan Kesehatan dan Syara (MPKS) Depag, Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan Obat-obatan dan Kosmetika Majelis Ulama Indonesia (LPPOM MUI), Komisi Fatwa MUI, serta Badan Pengawasan Obat dan Makanan (BPOM) Rabu (20/05/09).
Fakta ini menunjukkan bahwa tanpa payung hukum yang kuat, hanya membuat masyarakat terus disibukkan isue kehalalan produk yang mereka butuhkan. Di sinilah pentingnya memprioritaskan pembahasan RUU Jaminan Produk Halal (JPH) di DPR. Sebelumnya, Ketua Panja RUU JPH, Said Abdullah menyatakan, akan mengupayakan RUU ini selesai pada persidangan sebelum dilantiknya DPR baru. Hal ini perlu kita dicermati karena janji serupa telah berulang kali kita dengar. Kita berharap legislasi UU JPH akan menjadi dasar hukum yang kuat untuk mengarahkan produksi, distribusi, dan konsumsi produk halal di negeri ini.
Legislasi masa lalu
Legislasi produk halal di Indonesia bukan hal baru. Permenkes No 280/Menkes/Per/XI/1976, pasal 2 telah mengatur peredaran dan penandaan makanan yang mengandung bahan asal babi. Singkatnya, wadah atau bungkus makanan mengandung bahan asal babi harus dicantumkan peringatan gambar babi atau tulisan MENGANDUNG BABI berwarna merah.
SKB Menag dan Menkes, No 427/Menkes/SKB/VII/1985 dan No 68/1985 pasal 1, 2, dan 4 juga mengaturnya. Pasal 2 meyatakan produsen yang mencantumkan tulisan halal pada label atau penandaan makanan produknya bertanggungjawab terhadap halalnya makanan tersebut bagi pemeluk agama Islam. Pasal 4, pengawasan preventif dilakukan Dirjen POM mengikutkan unsur Depag, sedang di lapang diawasi oleh aparat Depkes. Fakta menunjukkan pengawasan label halal atau tanda produk mengandung babi, jauh dari harapan. Munculnya heboh lemak babi pada 1988 menghentak kesadaran masyarakat, MUI, dan pemerintah untuk menanganinya lebih serius.
Melalui perdebatan panjang masuklah kata halal dalam UU No 7 tahun 1996 tentang Pangan pasal 30, 34, dan 35. Pasal tersebut menyatakan, setiap orang yang memproduksi atau memasukkan ke dalam wilayah Indonesia pangan yang dikemas untuk diperdagangkan wajib mencantumkan label pada di dalam dan atau di kemasan pangan (pasal 30 ayat 1). Label tersebut sekurang-kurangnya memuat a. Nama produk, b. Daftar bahan yang digunakan, c. Berat bersih atau isi bersih, d. Nama dan alamat pihak yang memproduksi, e. Keterangan tentang halal, dan f. Tanggal, bulan, dan tahun kedaluarsa.
Sayang, ada kontradiksi di penjelasan pasal 30 ayat 2 mengenai keterangan halal produk pangan tersebut pencantumannya pada label pangan baru merupakan kewajiban bila produsen atau importir menyatakan bahwa pangan yang bersangkutan adalah halal bagi umat Islam. Semangat memproduksi dan memperdagangkan produk halal dalam satu ayat dimentahkan dalam penjelasannya. Pernyataan halal yang sukarela inilah yang diduga menyebabkan sertifikasi dan pencantuman logo halal dilakukan produsen jika merasa untung.
Kita berharap pengalaman masa lalu tidak terulang lagi dalam pembahasan RUU JPH di DPR saat ini. Karena itu pembahasan RUU JPH perlu dilakukan lebih serius dan komprehenship.
Menatap masa depan
Upaya pengajuan RUU JPH dari Depag yang masuk program legislasi nasional (prolegnas) perlu dihargai. Namun, pasal demi pasal dan penjelasan RUU tersebut perlu dicermati. Jangan sampai harapan mendapatkan jaminan halal yang komprehenship terkorbankan. Salah satu masalah yang mengemuka saat dengar pendapat dengan pihak terkait adalah pemerintah melalui menteri agama melakukan pemeriksaan dengan menunjuk atau mengangkat lembaga yang berwenang untuk itu. Lalu meminta MUI untuk menetapkan fatwa halal-nya. Tanggapan berbagai pihak nampaknya masih menginginkan lembaga pemeriksa halal di LPPOM MUI dan fatwa dari Lembaga Fatwa MUI. Melihat kondisi di atas, dalam pembahasan RUU JPH perlu dicermati.
Pertama semangat untuk memberikan jaminan halal ini perlu didukung semua pihak. Jangan sampai dorongan keimanan dan pemenuhan hak konsumen, berbelok pada siapa yang berhak memberikan sertifikasi dan logo halal. Akan lebih penting jika bentuk dan ciri yang jelas label halal yang absah ditetapkan, sehingga masyarakat tidak kebingungan dengan banyaknya label halal seperti saat ini.
Kedua sembilan belas tahun, kiprah LPPOM MUI merintis dan melakukan sertifikasi dengan Sistem Jaminan Halal (SJH) perlu didukung dan dikembangkan lebih lanjut. Jangan sampai bangsa ini lupa sejarah bahwa LPPOM MUI telah diakui pengusaha dan pasar domestik dan internasional. Kelembagaan pemeriksa dan fatwa halal perlu legimitasi yang kuat.
Ketiga cukup krusial jika pemeriksaan (auditor) halal dilakukan Depag atau lembaga baru yang ditetapkan menag dan masih dipertanyakan kemampuan dan kredibilitasnya. Hindarkan peraturan yang memberi peluang pemeriksaan halal dapat dipengaruhi lobi yang menurunkan kepercayaan konsumen,
Keempat audit halal halal berbeda dengan audit mutu. Auditor mutu umumnya cukup dituntut kemampuan sains dan aplikasinya di lapangan. Di sisi lain, auditor halal dituntut kemampuan sains, integritas dan rekam jejak yang baik, serta diakui ulama (lembaga fatwa). Ini wajar karena, audit halal telah masuk ranah keagamaan yang menuntut zero tolerant dan kredibilitas yang tinggi di masyarakat.
Kelima lebih tepat jika pemerintah berperan sebagai law-enforcement dengan menetapkan UU JPH secara legal dan mengawasi secara ketat. Seringkali implementasi pengawasan dan tindakan tegas sulit dijumpai. Terjadinya kasus dendeng babi akhir-akhir ini membuktikan hal ini. Ketidakjelasan lembaga pengawas atau sporadisnya pengawasan akan menyeret kerugian pada pengusaha sejenis yang ikut tidak dipercaya konsumen. Tentu ini tidak kita harapkan.
Keenam diperlukan perubahan mendasar menuju jaminan halal bersifat mandatori (kewajiban) dari perundangan sebelumnya bersifat voluntary (sukarela) bagi produsen dan pelaku pasar.
Dari sini pemerintah memiliki payung hukum mengontrol produksi, peredaran, dan konsumsi produk halal. Perlu antisipasi kesulitan yang muncul dengan kebijakan teknis. Misalnya besarnya UKM yang belum melakukan sertifikasi halal karena kesulitan biaya, kehalalan produk non kemasan seperti produk kuliner, ayam, daging, restoran, dan lain-lain.
Terlepas dari kompleksnya masalah penerapan jaminan halal, masyarakat tidak boleh melupakan semangat legislasi ini. Hal ini menyangkut hak sekaligus kewajiban konsumen muslim. Adanya perundangan JPH yang komprehenship tidak hanya menentramkan mayoritas penduduk negeri ini, tetapi menjadi instrumen untuk mendapatkan akses pasar yang lebih luas di dalam negeri maupun luar negeri. Sekarang produk halal bukan hanya diminati muslim tetapi juga non-muslim di berbagai belahan dunia. Berbagai pihak perlu berperan dalam mengawal legislasi RUU JPH ini. Semoga UU JPH mewujudkan proses sertifikasi yang sederhana, efisien bagi produsen dan lembaga sertifikasi, serta menetramkan konsumen.*** (Dimuat di HU Pelita, 28 Mei 2009)
Oleh:
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management Head
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
Pasar tradisional di negeri ini tidak terlepas dari sejarah dan budaya nenek moyang kita. Namun, seiring perubahan gaya hidup konsumen, pasar tradisional semakin termarginalkan. Tumbuhlah pasar modern, berupa mal, supermarket, bahkan hypermarket, yang menjadi lahan subur pemilik modal asing berebut keuntungan. Ini bermula dari Keppres No 96/2000 tentang usaha tertutup dan terbuka bagi penanaman modal asing (PMA). Perdagangan eceran (ritel) terbuka bagi asing. Hypermarket berdiri di berbagai kota. Bahkan, 2009 peritel asing, Wallmart, Casino, Tesco, Central Thailand, tertarik masuk ke Indonesia. Peritel asing yang sudah lama mencengkeramkan kukunya dengan mengakuisisi ritel nasional. Akibatnya, hypermarket tumbuh dari 83 tahun 2005 menjadi 121 pada 2007, minimarket dari 6.465 tahun 2005 menjadi 8.889 tahun 2007. Menurut pengamat ritel Hidayat (12/2), hal ini didukung diterapkannya bunga rendah dan perputaran yang tinggi, sehingga Carrefour merajai pasar. Ketua Umum Asosiasi Pengusaha Retail Indonesia (Aprindo), Benjamin Mailool menyatakan, Carrefour menjalankan strategi akusisi dan internal growth. Ini didukung besarnya penduduk Indonesia. Konsumen ibarat raja. Gaya hidupnya terus didorong berubah dan dikendalikan pengelola pasar modern. Sejumlah kelebihan ditawarkan pasar modern. Harga lebih murah, diskon, hadiah, jaminan kualitas, tampilan menarik, dan kemudahan akses informasi produk. Ditunjang fasilitas lain sebagai alternatif hiburan bagi pembeli, seperti tempat bermain, tempat jajan, maka akan menarik konsumen. Di sisi lain, ketidaknyamanan, seperti lorong penuh dagangan, bau pengap, tempat kotor, bahkan harga lebih tinggi, sering dijumpai di pasar tradisional. Inilah sebagian pemicu ditinggalkannya pasar tradisional. Lantas, apa yang harus dibenahi agar pasar tradisional dapat bersaing? Apa peran pemerintah?
50,4 Juta Penduduk Bergantung Pasar Tradisional
Bagaimanapun kondisinya, ada sejumlah alasan konsumen tetap memilih pasar tradisional. Di antaranya alasan budaya, sejarah, mudah dijangkau, harga bisa ditawar atau diutang lebih dahulu, rasa kekeluargaan yang cukup tinggi, tidak seboros berbelanja di pasar modern, bahkan menawarkan peluang usaha dan pekerjaan. Inilah sisi positif yang tidak lepas dari potensi sosial, budaya, dan ekonomi yang telah mengakar. Meskipun pasar tradisional pada 2002-2008 turun 11,7%, sedang pasar modern tumbuh 31,4%, saat ini pasar tradisional masih menjadi pilihan rakyat di tengah lesunya perekonomian. Menurut Departemen Perdagangan, ada 13.450 pasar tradisional di Indonesia yang menghidupi sekitar 12,6 juta pedagang (Kontan, 17/03/09). Jika setiap pedagang menanggung tiga orang maka sekitar 50,4 juta penduduk bergantung pasar tradisional. Belum lagi konsumen di pasar ini. Hal ini menyangkut hajat hidup orang banyak. Hingga 2007 saja, Perusahaan Daerah (PD) Pasar Jaya masih mengelola 151 pasar di DKI Jakarta beraset lebih dari Rp 3 triliun. Nilai perdagangan di seluruh pasar yang dikelola PD Pasar Jaya lebih dari Rp 150 triliun per tahun dari tempat usaha mencapai 98.507 unit. Setiap hari dikunjungi lebih dari 2 juta atau 20% penduduk Jakarta. Apakah potensi ini dibiarkan tergilas arus perubahan? Pemilik kebijakan harus jeli merancang masa depan pasar tradisional. Besarnya PHK akibat krisis ekonomi saat ini, perlu dicarikan solusi alternatif. Pemberdayaan pasar tradisional bisa jadi membuka kesempatan kerja informal bagi sebagian korban PHK. Pasar tradisional juga menjadi tempat distribusi produk lokal hasil pertanian rakyat kecil. Ini akan menjadi penyelamat petani dan pedagang dari dominasi pertanian dan pasar modern.
Cermati Peritel Multinasional
Walaupun menuai pro dan kontra, pemerintah telah mengeluarkan dua peraturan, yaitu Perpres 112/2007 dan Permendag 53/2008, untuk mengatasi polemik ini. Pada 2009, pemerintah juga menyiapkan sekitar Rp 490 miliar untuk revitalisasi pasar tradisional agar dapat bersaing dengan pasar modern. Revitalisasi bukan sekadar renovasi fisik. Seperti Pasar Berseri (bersih, sehat, ramah lingkungan, dan indah) yang diluncurkan di Jakarta 16-18 Juni 2008. Kemampuan manajemen sumber daya manusia (SDM) pelaku pasar, layanan konsumen, dan rantai distribusi juga harus diperhatikan. Panjangnya rantai distribusi, terpusatnya komoditas tertentu pada sekelompok orang, dan pungutan yang tidak perlu, layak dipangkas untuk mengefisienkan pasar tradisional. Hal ini akan meningkatkan kepuasan konsumen. Program pemerintah mengalokasikan Rp 100 miliar untuk perbaikan dan pengembangan pasar tradisional dan lokasi pedagang kaki lima (PKL) dengan segala kriterianya dinilai tepat. Namun, dibanding porsi pembayaran cicilan pokok dan bunga utang yang mencapai Rp 162 triliun dalam APBN 2009, tentu jauh dari cukup. Pemerintah perlu lebih fleksibel dalam penyediaan dana mengingat pasar tradisional tempat bergantung rakyat.
Besarnya cengkeraman perusahaan ritel multinasional perlu dicermati. Dengan pilar: capital power, trend setter, consumer traffic maker, cheapest price pasar modern mempunyai market power yang cukup besar. Penjualan 10 peritel besar di dunia mencapai US$ 1.091 miliar tahun 2008. Lima di antara 10 ritel besar itu meliputi Carrefour, WallMart, Metro Group, Tesco, dan Seven & 1 (Kompas, 1/9/08). Mereka sering mempengaruhi kebijakan pemerintah, terutama pemda, untuk memuluskan nafsu keserakahannya. Ini tentu sangat tidak sebanding dengan power yang dimiliki pelaku pasar tradisional. Jika pemerintah tidak memberikan regulasi yang jelas dan tegas maka sangat mungkin potensi sosial, budaya, dan ekonomi pasar tradisional akan tergilas.*** (Dimuat di Sinar Harapan, 22 Mei 2009)
Oleh:
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management Head
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
World Halal Forum (WHF) menggelar pertemuan ke-3 pada 4-5 Mei di Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, bertema Achieving Global Halal Integrity. Acara tersebut diperkirakan diikuti sekitar 2.000 peserta berasal dari delegasi industri, pemerintahan, organisasi penelitian, universitas, dan asosiasi konsumen.
Hal itu perlu dicermati karena forum tersebut mempresentasikan standar halal internasional yang dirintis Islamic of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) dan Organisasi Konferensi Islam (OKI) Maret 2009 di Jeddah. Standar internasional itu diharapkan mengefisienkan dan meningkatkan akurasi proses sertifikasi halal. Tentu ini sangat dinantikan pelaku bisnis.
Besarnya peluang bisnis produk halal dunia menyita perhatian pelaku bisnis. Halal Expo menjadi acara tahunan di berbagai negara. Thailand, Australia, dan Selandia Baru dikenal sebagai penghasil produk bersertifikat halal. Akhir 2007 transaksi produk halal sedikitnya US$1 triliun, tumbuh rata-rata 20%-30% per tahun. Pada 2009, transaksi diperkirakan mencapai US$2 triliun.
Sayang, pesatnya bisnis produk halal belum didukung secara kuat pengembangan Sistem Jaminan Halal (Halal Assurance System) dan kelembagaan sertifikasi halal global dan diratifikasi banyak negara. Saat ini, lembaga yang ada banyak bersifat nasional, belum terstandardisasi, dan belum ada lembaga auditornya.
Di Indonesia, sertifikasi halal ditangani Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan, Obat-obatan, dan Kosmetika Majelis Ulama Indonesia (LPPOM-MUI). Di luar negeri banyak lembaga sertifikasi halal dalam satu negara.
Riaz dan Caudry (2004) mencatat dari 40 lembaga sertifikasi halal di AS tahun 2001, hanya 16 lembaga yang diakui Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim), bahkan hanya lima yang diakui MUI. Ini bukan tanpa alasan. Lembaga sertifikasi halal luar negeri ada yang ditangani hanya 2-3 orang dan diragukan kredibilitasnya.
Oleh karena itu, dinilai tepat langkah LPPOM MUI mengeluarkan 39 lembaga sertifikasi halal luar negeri yang direkomendasi di antaranya di Australia 11, Selandia Baru 3, AS 8, Belanda 3, Irlandia 4. Sementara itu, di Singapura, Malaysia, Thailand, Philipina, dan Jepang masing-masing 1 lembaga direkomendasi.
Kondisi itu akan menggerus kepercayaan konsumen dan mempersulit produsen dan pebisnis produk halal antarnegara. Sertifikat halal dari lembaga sertifikasi halal suatu negara, sering ditolak majelis ulama dan atau lembaga sertifikasi halal negara lain.
Lembaga sertifikasi halal yang dipercaya negara pengimpor harus melakukan sertifikasi ulang. Hal ini menyebabkan inefisiensi bagi semua pihak. Perbedaan hasil audit produk dari AS pernah terjadi.
Menurut Jakim, produk dianggap halal tetapi LPPOM MUI menilai belum memenuhi standar halal. Jika terus berlangsung, hak konsumen memperoleh jaminan produk halal akan terabaikan.
Upaya penyatuan
Upaya penyatuan standar halal telah dilakukan. Pada 2003, MUI mengintroduksi standardisasi lembaga fatwa halal bagi ASEAN. Februari 2004 anggota World Halal Concil (WHC), yang sekarang dipimpin ketua LPOM MUI, menyepakati persyaratan lembaga sertifikasi halal dan prosedur umum sertifikasi halal. Demikian juga prosedur standar untuk audit flavor, produk mikrobial, dan penyembelihan hewan.
Pada konferensi WHC 2007 di Malaysia telah dicapai standardisasi sertifikasi halal bagi anggotanya. Selain itu juga, kerja sama Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT). Pada 2008, WHF ke-3 memberi mandat International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI Alliance) untuk mengembangkan standar halal internasional. Hasilnya di presentasikan pada WHF ke-4 Mei 2009.
Menghasilkan standar halal internasional bukan perkara mudah, melainkan tidak mustahil. Beberapa problem di antaranya. Pertama, perbedaan mazhab dan ushul fikih ulama komisi fatwa yang memengaruhi halal tidaknya suatu produk. Misalnya, sebagian ulama menilai semua makanan laut halal, sedang ulama lain menilai udang laut dan belut tidak termasuk makanan halal.
Kedua, untuk memastikan kehalalan, auditor harus memeriksa langsung ke semua tempat produksi atau cukup menerima info tertulis jika dianggap tidak terkait dengan bahan berpotensi haram.
Ketiga, pendekatan standar audit yang digunakan. Dalam standar Internasional Organization For Standardization (ISO) ada toleransi seperti standar kualitas. Namun, kehalalan dalam Islam tidak ada toleransi (zero tolerant). Begitu satu bahan atau proses diragukan kehalalannya, harus diganti atau diperbaiki agar memperoleh sertifikat halal.
Ke depan, harmonisasi dan standardisasi sertifikasi halal antarlembaga dan atau antarnegara perlu dilakukan bertahap. Kita berharap sertifikasi halal internasional akan diterima berbagai pihak. Hal ini menguntungkan.
Pertama, memperjelas model audit lembaga sertifikasi halal. Kedua, efisiensi proses produksi bagi produsen dan pelaku bisnis karena tidak perlu sertifikasi ulang yang menambah biaya. Ketiga, lebih menjamin terpenuhinya hak konsumen. Selayaknya standar yang dipakai berdasarkan ajaran Islam, karena halal adalah Islamic term dan Islamic law.
Dibutuhkan kerja sama lebih erat antarlembaga sertifikasi halal, produsen, ulama, peneliti, dan pemerintah, serta pihak-pihak terkait. Kita berharap berkembangnya standar halal internasional akan mendorong tumbuhnya bisnis produk halal.
Dengan ditopang proses sertifikasi halal yang efisien dan akurat akan memudahkan pelaku bisnis dan menguntungkan semua pihak.*** (Dimuat di Bisnis Indonesia, 7 Mei 2009)
Oleh:
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management Head
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
Akhir-akhir ini bisnis ritel modern menjadi sorotan publik. Harapan peningkatan pergerakan ekonomi dengan berdirinya ritel modern, harus dibayar mahal dengan ekses negatif penyertanya.
Beberapa problema
Beberapa problema yang perlu dicermati berkait dengan ritel modern, antara lain: Pertama, bisnis ritel modern turut memarginalkan pasar tradisional. Bermula dari Keppres No 96/2000 tentang usaha tertutup dan terbuka bagi penanaman modal asing (PMA) yang memasukkan ritel terbuka bagi asing, riitel asing-pun menguasai berbagai kota. Akibatnya hipermarket tumbuh dari 83 pada 2005 menjadi 121 pada 2007, minimarket dari 6.465 tahun 2005 menjadi 8.889 pada 2007. Pada 2002-2008 pasar modern tumbuh 31,4 %. Bahkan, pada 2009 peritel asing, Wallmart, Casino, Tesco, dan Central Thailand, berebut masuk.
Adapun, pasar tradisional pada 2002-2008 turun 11,7 %. Sepuluh tahun terakhir, pedagang pasar tradisional turun 40%. Menurut pengurus Asosiasi Pedagang Pasar Seluruh Indonesia (APSI), penurunan ini akibat desakan hipermarket dan pedagang tak mampu mempertahankan kios terenovasi karena tidak terjangkau biaya tebusnya.
Kedua, indikasi praktek monopoli dan persaingan usaha tidak sehat. Hal ini mengemuka seiring diperiksanya Carrefour pasca akuisisi 75% saham PT. Alfa Retailindo TBK (ALFA) oleh Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha (KPPU). Pangsa pasar ritel (upstream) Carrefour diduga meningkat dari 44,72% menjadi 66,73%, sedang pasar supplier (downstream)-nya naik dari 37,98% menjadi 48,38%. Sayang, tingginya posisi tawar ritel asing ini digunakan menekan pemasoknya dengan berbagai syarat perdagangan (trading term). Pemasok kosmetik mengaku dibebani biaya sebelum akuisisi 13% menjadi 33% setelah akuisisi.
Carrefour tampaknya tidak belajar dari larangan minus margin dari KPPU di masa lalu. Minus margin adalah syarat perdagangan yang mengharuskan pemasok membayar ganti rugi sebanyak barang yang tidak terjual jika pemasok terbukti menjual barang serupa kepada pesaing Carrefour dengan harga yang lebih murah.
Ketiga, ritel modern sering menimbulkan konflik sosial ekonomi, lingkungan hidup, serta tata ruang wilayah. Gejolak sosial karena dekat kawasan pendidikan atau pasar tradisional, banjir karena Analisis Mengenai Dampak Lingkungan (Amdal) yang buruk, dan kemacetan karena arus lalu lintas yang tidak sebanding ruas jalan, begitu “dimaklumi” semua pihak.
Pelajaran bagi semua
Ritel modern memang merupakan aset. Bila dikelola dengan baik, bisnis ini akan mendatangkan kesejahteraan. Banyaknya problem saat ini membutuhkan solusi yang tepat. Ada beberapa hal yang perlu dilakukan ke depan. Pertama, perlu keberpihakan. Meskipun masih ada kelemahan, perlu ada penegakan Perpres 112/2007 dan Permendag 53/2008. Ekspansi ritel modern yang “kebablasan” dan melanggar aturan perlu ditindak tegas. Di sisi lain, potensi pasar tradisional yang berakar dari aspek sejarah, budaya, dan ekonomi rakyat layak dipertahankan. Apalagi, pasar tradisional juga menjadi tumpuan distribusi produk lokal hasil pertanian rakyat kecil. Menurut Departemen Perdagangan, ada 13.450 pasar tradisional di Indonesia yang menghidupi sekitar 12,6 juta pedagang (Kontan, 17/03/09). Jika setiap pedagang menanggung 3 orang, sekitar 50,4 juta penduduk bergantung pasar tradisional. Belum lagi konsumen di pasar ini.Pemberdayaan pasar tradisional diharapkan membuka kesempatan kerja sebagian korban PHK. Stimulus dana Rp 490 miliar untuk revitalisasi pasar tradisional dan Rp 100 milyar untuk pengembangan pasar tradisional dan lokasi pedagang kaki lima (PKL) tahun 2009 dinilai tepat. Kedua, indikasi praktek monopoli harus diusut tuntas KPPU. Jangan sampai kasus Carrefour menjalar ke peritel modern lain. Kalau akuisisi Carrefour atas ALFA terbukti melanggar pasal 28 Undang-Undang No. 4/ 2009 tentang Larangan Praktek Monopoli dan Persaingan Usaha Tidak Sehat, akuisisi harus dibatalkan. Kita sadar bahwa saat ini pendekatan bisnis bukan menang kalah (win lose solution), tetapi perlu saling menguntungkan (win win solution). Keuntungan yang layak bagi pemasok dan ritel modern mesti diusahakan bersama dan lebih tranparan. Etika ekonomi perlu dikembangkan untuk menciptakan kepercayaan antara pemasok dan ritel. Karena itu.bentuk trading term yang berpotensi merugikan perlu diselesaikan secepatnya. Disinilah peran KPPU menuai maknanya. Ketiga, kecerobohan atau “perselingkuhan” pejabat dalam membuka ritel baru harus dihentikan. Dampak pengembangan ritel yang kurang memperhatikan aspek sosial ekonomi, lingkungan hidup, dan tata ruang wilayah sudah kita rasakan. Seharusnya ini menjadi pelajaran bagi semua pemangku kepentingan. Kalau perlu, izin pembukaan ritel baru, terutama ritel asing, perlu berlapis. Aturan zonasi pada ritel modern dan proporsi ritel modern dengan jumlah penduduk perlu dipertegas. Kepentingan rakyat banyak mestinya yang diutamakan. Berdirinya ritel modern yang mengancam sosial ekomomi rakyat layak ditolak. Mungkin harapan di atas terlalu besar. Cengekraman ritel multinasional dengan capital power, trend setter, concumer traffic maker, cheapest price turut mempengaruhi kebijakan pemerintah dan pejabatnya. Tapi, jika punya kemauan, peraturan yang pro-kesejahteraan rakyat banyak masih mungkin ditegakkan. Semua berpulang pada masing-masing pelaku bisnis. Semoga.*** (Dimuat di Kontan, 1 Mei 2009)
Oleh:
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management Head
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
Di tengah gejolak krisis ekonomi, bisnis waralaba nasional (lokal) dituntut eksis dan berkembang. Waralaba menjadi salah satu pilihan investasi bagi korban PHK yang memiliki modal. Tentu hal ini sangat diharapkan bagi pebisnis waralaba.
Sejak terbitnya Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) No. 42 Tahun 2007 tentang Waralaba menggantikan PP serupa tahun 1997, pertumbuhan waralaba nasional cukup terpengaruh. Menurut Ketua Asosiasi Franchise Indonesia (AFI) Anang Sukandar, dari total 700 waralaba lokal yang beroperasi, hampir 600 di antaranya terkategori business opportunity atau semiwaralaba. Prediksinya tahun 2009 business opportunity tumbuh 10-15%, sementara waralaba hanya tumbuh 3%.
Dari aspek manajerial, banyak waralaba nasional yang belum memenuhi PP No. 42 Tahun 2007, terutama aspek keharusan adanya “bimbingan dalam bentuk pelatihan, penelitian dan pengembangan” dari pewaralaba (franchisor) ke terwaralaba (franchisee).
Waralaba tumbuh masif periode 2006-2008. Jika awalnya terbatas di pusat perbelanjaan strategis dan terkesan mahal, saat ini waralaba mudah dijumpai di pinggir jalan dan lebih terjangkau harganya. Bisnis yang diwaralabakan mencapai 56,7% pada 2006-2008. Perkembangan penjualan melalui waralaba mencapai Rp 81 triliun atau 9 miliar dolar AS pada 2007. Kepemilikan waralaba oleh pengusaha nasional mencapai 64,3%, sedangkan asing 35,7 %. Jenis waralaba terbanyak adalah usaha makanan dan minuman 42,9% (Info Franchise, 2008).
Namun, waralaba pemasang label “halal”, “100% halal”, bahkan “halal 101%” pada produknya banyak yang belum mendapat sertifikat halal. Sampai akhir 2008, baru 6% atau 18 perusahaan waralaba pangan bersertifikat halal (LPPOM MUI, 2008). Dari 6% ini kebanyakan franchise asing. Hal ini bertentangan dengan Undang-Undang (UU) No. 7 Tahun 1996 tentang Pangan, UU No. 9/1999 tentang Perlindungan Konsumen, dan PP No. 69 tentang Label dan Iklan Pangan. Ini juga bentuk pembohongan publik. Jika terus berlangsung, tentu akan menggerus kepercayaan konsumen. Akhirnya, daya saing waralaba nasional menurun.
Apa penyebabnya?
Jika dicermati, setidaknya ada tiga penyebab. Pertama, keyakinan konsumen terkait wajibnya mengonsumsi produk halal belum diikuti konsistensinya memilih produk bersertifikat halal. Kedua, pengusaha waralaba banyak yang menganggap produknya tidak memakai bahan haram, padahal anggapan ini belum tentu benar. Selain itu, bervariasinya produk, jumlah, dan sebaran waralaba di beberapa kota, serta dianggap susah dan mahalnya sertifikasi halal. Ketiga, dari aspek yuridis, sertifikasi dan labelisasi halal di Indonesia masih merupakan pilihan hingga saat ini. Bahkan RUU Sistem Jaminan Halal (SJH)-nya masih diperdebatkan di DPR.
Tuntutan konsumen terhadap mutu direspons dengan menerapkan sistem jaminan mutu (SJM). Namun, tuntutan pada produk halal belum diikuti diterapkannya SJH yang merupakan prasyarat memperoleh sertifikat dan label halal.
Untuk meraih sertifikasi halal tidak mudah, tetapi dapat diusahakan. Buktinya, sudah banyak waralaba asing yang bersertifikasi halal. Dengan ketulusan niat untuk menghargai konsumen, kesungguhan, dan kerja keras, waralaba pangan nasional pasti mampu memperoleh sertifikat halal. Modal awalnya perubahan paradigma bahwa sertifikasi halal menguntungkan bagi konsumen dan produsen. Setelah itu, baru mempersiapkan proses pengadaan bahan, produksi, penyimpanan, dan penyajiannya.
Pelaku waralaba nasional perlu menelaah SJH yang dikembangkan dari Total Quality Management. Sistem ini terdiri atas empat unsur, yaitu komitmen, kebutuhan konsumen, peningkatan mutu tanpa tambahan biaya, dan menghasilkan barang setiap waktu tanpa reject, rework, inspection. Dengan diterapkannya three zero`s concept, bahan haram tidak boleh ada pada level mana pun (zero limit), tidak memproduksi produk haram (zero defect), tidak ada risiko merugikan jika mengimplementasikan sistem ini (zero risk).
Banyak manfaat
Setidaknya ada keuntungan sertifikasi ini, yaitu pertama, menanamkan rasa tanggung jawab pada produsen untuk selalu berproduksi secara halal dan toyib. Kedua, meningkatkan keamanan dan ketenteraman batin konsumen. Ketiga, menjadi selling point yang memberikan nilai tambah dan prospek untuk membuka pasar baru baik di dalam maupun luar negeri. Keempat, memberikan nilai kompetitif pada produsen waralaba. Kelima, khusus bagi pengusaha Muslim, sebagai wujud aktualisasi nilai-nilai ibadah, sehingga selain memperoleh pahala, juga keuntungan material yang diraih dari produk yang dapat diterima oleh masyarakat luas. Bukankan ini cukup menjanjikan?
Inilah harapan pelaku waralaba dan konsumen. Selayaknya dihindari pembohongan publik pada konsumen yang telah berjasa memberikan keuntungan bagi pelaku bisnis ini. Tentu kita tidak ingin kesetiaan konsumen, khususnya Muslim, pindah ke waralaba asing yang sudah konsisten melaksanakan jaminan mutu dan jaminan halal. Semuanya berpulang pada kesungguhan dan ketulusan niat pelaku waralaba nasional.*** (Dimuat di Pikiran Rakyat)
Dendeng Babi dan Sadar Halal
Pengaturan jaminan produk halal di Indonesia sangat potensial. Selain menentramkan mayoritas penduduk negeri ini, juga akan menjadi salah satu instrumen penting mendapat akses pasar yang lebih luas. Ini tentu akan memperkuat daya saing produk domestik.
KERESAHAN masyarakat terhadap dendeng babi masih berlanjut. Bermula dideteksinya dendeng berlabel halal (gadungan) mengandung babi di Kota Bandung dan Bogor, diketahui produsennya di Kota Malang. Hasil uji Dinas Peternakan Jatim No 524.3/017/115.05/2009 tanggal 31 Maret 2009 menyatakan dendeng yang positif mengandung babi adalah Kumala Asli, Cap Sapi, Istimewa No 1, dan Istimewa Cap 999 (Surya, 8/4/2009).
Lemahnya jaminan dan pengawasan mengenai produk halal dari pemerintah bukan hal baru. Kasus lemak babi (1988), Sprite (1996), sapi gelonggongan (1999-2002), Ajinomoto (2001), ayam tiren (mati kemarin) (2003) begitu mudah dilupakan.
Bahkan hingga saat ini menurut Direktur Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan, Obat-Obatan, dan Kosmetika Majelis Ulama Indonesia (LPPOM MUI) sekitar 90 persen rumah potong hewan (RPH) milik pemerintah di seluruh Indonesia tak bersertifikat halal.
Pembahasan RUU Jaminan Produk Halal (JPH) tertelan ingar-bingarnya pemilu. Energi anggota DPR seolah terkuras buat kampanye. Kuatnya dorongan mempercepat pembahasan RUU JPH belum didengar DPR. Demikian juga hasil pertemuan ulama III Komisi Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) yang menetapkan fatwa mewajibkan pemerintah mengawasi kehalalalan sebuah produk.
Cukup seriuskah pemerintah dan DPR melindungi konsumen? Apakah peran kita untuk menjamin kehalalan produk? Pencantuman label halal pada produk yang terbukti mengandung babi merupakan pembohongan publik.
Ini bertentangan dengan berbagai peraturan yang ada, yaitu Undang-Undang (UU) No 7 Tahun 1996 tentang Pangan pasal 30, 34,dan 35, UU No 9 tahun 1999 tentang Perlindungan Konsumen, Peraturan Pemerintah No. 69 tentang Label dan Iklan Pangan, Permenkes No 280/Menkes/Per/XI/1976, tentang keharusan adanya peringatan yang jelas pada produk yang mengandung bahan berasal dari babi.
Lalu, SKB Menag dan Menkes No 427/Menkes/SKB/VII/1985 dan No 68/1985, di mana pasal 2 dinyatakan produsen yang mencantumkan tulisan “halal” pada label atau penandaan makanan produknya bertanggungjawab terhadap halalnya makanan tersebut bagi pemeluk agama Islam.
Kasus di atas menunjukkan rendahnya kinerja pemerintah dalam melakukan fungsi pengawasan.
Jika dicermati, setidaknya ada tiga penyebab. Pertama, keyakinan konsumen muslim terkait wajibnya mengonsumsi produk halal belum diikuti konsistensinya memilih produk bersertifikat halal standar. Sebagai konsumen, kita sering menjadikan harga murah sebagai penentu pilihan.
Kedua, produsen sering menganggap produknya tidak memakai bahan haram. Anggapan ini belum tentu benar karena banyak bahan tambahan yang berpotensi haram. Selain itu, variasi produk dan dianggap susah dan mahalnya sertifikasi halal, mendorong produsen enggan melakukan sertifikasi.
Ketiga, dari aspek yuridis, sertifikasi dan labelisasi halal di Indonesia baru merupakan pilihan. Bahkan dalam UU Pangan pencantuman label halal dibolehkan tanpa harus memperoleh sertifikat halal dahulu. Baru kalau terbukti tidak halal dapat dikenai sanksi. Inilah titik rawan regulasi yang berlaku dan sering disalahgunakan produsen.
Sadar Halal
Kita harus sadar bahwa konsumen adalah raja. Lemahnya respons produsen terhadap tuntutan kehalalan produk, mestinya menyadarkan kita untuk turut mengontrol produk yang beredar. Produk yang secara rasional terlalu murah atau berlabel halal tidak standar, perlu diwaspadai dan tidak kita beli.
Kalau kesadaran ini tumbuh, produsen tidak akan bermain-main terhadap label halal produk.
Produsen perlu sadar bahwa konsumenlah yang memberi keuntungan baginya. Meski proses sertifikasi halal tidak mudah, tetapi dapat diusahakan. Dengan iktikad baik untuk menghargai konsumen, produsen nonmuslim sudah banyak yang memperolehnya.
Modal awalnya adalah mengubah paradigma bahwa sertifikasi halal tidak hanya menguntungkan konsumen tetapi juga produsen. Dari sini orientasi produksi tidak hanya keuntungan ekonomis tetapi juga halal.
Keuntungan sertifikasi di antaranya, pertama, menanamkan tanggungjawab pada produsen untuk selalu berproduksi secara halal. Kedua, meningkatkan keamanan dan ketentraman batin konsumen. Ketiga, menjadi selling point yang memberikan nilai tambah dan prospek untuk membuka pasar baru baik di dalam maupun luar negeri.
Keempat, memberikan nilai kompetitif pada produsen. Kelima, khusus bagi pengusaha muslim, sebagai aktualisasi nilai ibadah, sehingga selain memperoleh pahala, juga keuntungan material yang diraih dari produk yang dapat diterima masyarakat luas. Bukankan ini cukup menjanjikan?
Pemerintah melalui aparat kepolisian, dinas peternakan, dan perdagangan perlu lebih pro aktif mengawasi label halal pada produk yang beredar di pasar. Jangan sampai menunggu masyarakat resah, pengawas baru bergerak. Sanksi tegas dari aparat pemerintah mutlak dilakukan.
Jika tidak masyarakat mungkin akan bertindak sendiri yang akan merugikan bagi banyak pihak. Lambannya aparat berpotensi merugikan pengusaha sejenis yang poduknya halal. Tentu ini tidak kita inginkan.
Regulasi produk halal yang masih tersendat di DPR perlu segera diputuskan. Ini akan memperkuat payung hukum bagi jaminan produk halal. Harapan umat Islam agar tenteram dengan mengonsumsi produk halal perlu didukung regulasi yang memadai. Ini mestinya menyadarkan DPR agar pembahasan RUU JPH tidak ditunda-tunda lagi.
Perlu diyakinkan bahwa pengaturan jaminan produk halal di Indonesia sangat potensial. Selain menentramkan mayoritas penduduk negeri ini, juga akan menjadi salah satu instrumen penting mendapat akses pasar yang lebih luas. Ini tentu akan memperkuat daya saing produk domestik di pasar internasional.*** (Dimuat di Surya, 15 April 2009)
Oleh :
Sucipto, STP., MP.
Marketing and Halal Management
Perhimpunan Intelektual Muslim Indonesia (PRIMA)
Perdagangan bebas Asean, Australia, dan Selandia Baru (Asean Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement/AANZ FTA) telah ditandatangani dalam Konferensi Tingkat Tinggi ke-14 Asean di Hua Hin, Thailand.
Sekitar 93% komoditas ekspor Indonesia, termasuk bahan kayu, tekstil, kertas, nikel, dan sepatu, senilai US$2,4 miliar atau Rp28,8 triliun akan bebas bea masuk ke Australia mulai Oktober 2009. Sebelumnya, bea masuk tekstil dan sepatu mencapai 5%-17,5%.
Adapun dengan Selandia Baru sekitar 79% komoditas ekspor Indonesia senilai US$325 juta atau Rp3,9 triliun pun akan bebas bea masuk.
Kompensasinya, mulai 2009 sampai dengan 2015 Indonesia harus menurunkan bea masuk 85% komoditas. Menteri Perdagangan Mari Elka Pangestu menyatakan penurunan bea masuk akan dilakukan bertahap 13% per tahun.
Beberapa komoditas, yaitu alumunium, kapas, makanan ternak, dan garam asal Australia akan mengalami penurunan pada 2009. Sementara sektor sensitif seperti hasil peternakan sapi dan susu dijadikan prioritas terakhir dalam perjanjian untuk diturunkan pada 2017-2020.
Kebijakan itu perlu dicermati karena hasil konsultasi menteri ekonomi Asean, Australia, dan Selandia Baru di Singapura pada 28 Agustus 2008 mencatat kesepakatan tersebut tidak hanya perdagangan barang, tetapi juga meliputi investasi, servis, finansial, telekomunikasi, elektronik, perpindahan tenaga kerja, hak kekayaan intelektual, kebijakan kompetisi, dan kerja sama ekonomi.
Apalagi, komoditas yang disepakati menyangkut kepentingan banyak orang, terutama garam, pakan ternak, daging, gandum, dan kapas.
Kita tidak boleh hanya melihat tren ekspor impor barang antara Indonesia dengan Australia dan Selandia Baru saat ini. Lebih dari itu perlu dicermati apa yang akan dimainkan Australia dan Selandia Baru dalam sektor investasi, hak kekayaan intelektual, teknologi, tenaga ahlinya pada Indonesia terkait dengan isi perjanjian di masa depan.
Liberalisasi perdagangan internasional atau regional adalah sesuatu yang niscaya. Dengan keunggulan yang berbeda, tidak satu pun negara di dunia dapat menghasilkan semua produk yang dibutuhkannya secara efisien.
Sepintas, produk yang dinegosiasikan dalam perjanjian ini dianggap komplementer, tidak seperti perdagangan bebas Asean yang bersifat substitusi, sehingga dirasa menguntungkan.
Dalam perjanjian ini tidak hanya arus ekspor impor itu sendiri yang harus diperhatikan. Bukan pula sekadar harga impor yang lebih murah dibandingkan dengan harga domestik, sehingga konsumen lebih diuntungkan. Melainkan, apakah kemandirian bangsa dan kesejahteraan seluruh rakyat telah menjadi ukuran?
Cermati liberalisasi
Selama ini liberalisasi bias ke negara maju dan menyulitkan negara berkembang dengan sektor pertanian, perikanan, di mana petani dan nelayan kecil terkonsentrasi.
Negara maju dengan keunggulan modal, teknologi, informasi, dan sumber daya manusia (SDM) leluasa masuk ke negera berkembang. Di sisi lain, terjadi reduksi peran pemerintah di negara berkembang untuk mengelola keunggulan komperatifnya berupa sumber daya alam dan pasar.
Kita layak bertanya cukupkah upaya pemerintah dan swasta nasional mengatasi supply side constraints seperti kualitas SDM, teknologi, informasi, dan infrastruktur, yang merupakan prasyarat perdagangan bebas yang adil? Yang sederhana, apakah petambak garam, peternak sapi daging dan susu telah cukup diperhatikan?
Australia dan Selandia Baru dikenal sebagai negara maju yang menguasai produksi dan perdagangan pangan dunia untuk komoditas tertentu, yaitu jagung, gula, gandum, daging sapi, susu, mentega, dan keju.
Selain itu, negara maju cenderung lebih kuat karena supply side constraint yang hampir tidak ada, pandai melobi atau menekan mitra dagang, dan lebih tahu yang apa diperjuangkan. Mereka juga melindungi petani dan nelayan dengan subsidi besar. Dengan posisi tersebut apakah petani dan peternak kita mampu bersaing?
Ke depan, masalah perdagangan bebas bukan sekadar pro atau anti. Kita perlu memahami perdagangan bebas yang dianggap adil adalah yang mendatangkan kesejahteraan bagi seluruh warga negara.
Karena itu, liberalisasi harus dikendalikan agar tetap pro pemerataan dan pertumbuhan yang mampu mengatasi kemiskinan dan pengangguran.
Indonesia harus memecahkan supply side constrains secara terencana agar dapat bersaing. Hal ini menyangkut peningkatan SDM, teknologi, infrastruktur distribusi, sehingga berproduksi efisien.
Ekspor komoditas unggulan harus bergeser dari produk hulu menuju hilir dengan dukungan kebijakan industri nasional dan perdagangan. Selain itu, perlu penajaman prioritas industri hilir yang kuat, misalnya sawit, kakao, karet, dan tuna.
Mungkin, Indonesia lebih berhasil dalam ekspor dan membangun industri jika melakukan kombinasi pembenahan dulu terhadap supply side constrain, disusul pengurangan proteksi dan liberaliasi secara bertahap.
Penandatanganan Indonesia dalam perdagangan bebas Asean-Australia dan Selandia Baru semoga bukan sekadar gengsi dari Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam.
Perlu ada tindak lanjut dengan road map terintegrasi yang memadukan keunggulan komperatif dan kompetitif sehingga berujung pada kesejahteraan seluruh rakyat.*** (Dimuat di Bisnis Indonesia, 2 Maret 2009)
Islam is a complete way of life revealed for all of mankind, from the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم until the Day of Resurrection. It encompasses rules for every sphere of life including spiritual, economic, social, judicial and political. As Islam came from the Creator of the universe, it is a superior system, free from the inconsistencies and disparities, which riddle man-made systems such as Capitalism and Communism. With this in mind, we may expect the Muslim world, whose population follows Islam as a religion, to be at the forefront of development and science, as they have at their disposal, a flawless system to regulate their affairs and drive them forward. However, what we find instead is that most of the Muslim world labours in poverty. It is no wonder then that the Muslim world has stagnated when it comes to scientific and technological research. Some of these countries do not even have basic infrastructure in place such as schools, hospitals and roads, which would enable them to have a standard of living considered necessary. In stark contrast, countries which have adopted the Capitalist economic system, appear to have a monopoly on scientific advancement and are at the forefront of the development of new technologies. The populations of these nations, on the whole have a high standard of living, with their basic needs catered for. This situation begs some very pertinent questions: – Why do the countries which follow the Capitalist ideology, appear to have advanced if they are following an incorrect doctrine? – Why has the Muslim world failed to make a contribution to science and development for the last 300 years? – Is it due to some inherent problem with the deen of Islam or with the Ummah? And what is the way forward for the Ummah? – Should the Ummah adopt the same system as the Western nations in order to reach the same level of advancement?
Understanding Western development The countries of Europe and North America have achieved some phenomenal developments in the last few centuries. After the decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century CE, Europe broke off into small feudal states, entering a period known as the “Dark Ages” which was marked by cultural and intellectual decline, superstition, an antipathy toward science. It was during this time that the Muslims conquered Spain and established the Islamic state there. The ruling system of Europe in the Middle Ages consisted of kingdoms, such as England, which were supported by the Roman Catholic Church, and independent city states, such as Venice. During the Crusades, the knowledge gained in fields such as Science, Geography, Language and Economics in the Arab world reached Europe and influenced the “Early Modern” period of European history. In this time, the Renaissance occurred and Latin and Greek texts (translated in part, by Arab scholars) influenced the intellectual life of Europe and a great importance was placed on the seeking of knowledge. This was also the period when the Europeans colonised and settled in the Americas. The age of Enlightenment took place in the 18th Century, where, following the weakening of the Catholic Church and the increase in exploration and trade with the Old World nations, Capitalism slowly begun to replace feudalism as the main form of economic organisation. Also, modern Science was starting to be developed and its findings were applied to technological advancements. The industrial revolution occurred in the 19th Century, where changes in agriculture, transport and manufacturing caused a shift from an economy based primarily on manual labour to one based on industry. Political revolutions occurred across Europe and America during this time, leading to the abolition of feudalism and the formation of nation-states, using Capitalist values to draw their respective constitutions and with the monarchies being retained only for ceremonial purposes.
The 20th Century is considered by many historians, to be the most bloody in history, due to both World Wars and the Cold War, between the Soviet Union and the US. This was also the time when the USA and the European nations drew peace treaties and began to recognise their common goals through their shared values of Capitalism and freedom. They formed the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in order to facilitate this cooperation. Understanding Science Science is a fast moving discipline, its definitions continue to change and many advancements have had a huge impact upon human development. In the Medieval period, theories such as spontaneous generation, were abound to explain the evolution of living things, by stating that life spontaneously emerged from inanimate matter. The practice of medicine in this era was equally haphazard, with the theory of the four humours being used to explain the development of disease. Between the 17th and 20th Centuries, massive developments were made in scientific thought. In the field of Physics, Isaac Newton established his laws of Motion and Gravity; the Atomic bomb was produced; Einstein, Bohr and Planck contributed to quantum mechanics and Edwin Hubble’s discoveries led to the formulation of the Big Bang theory. In the field of Chemistry, Mendeleev added newly discovered elements to the Periodic table and Watson and Crick proposed the double stranded helix structure of DNA. In the field of Biology, Darwin proposed his infamous theory of Evolution by natural selection. More recent developments in the 20th and 21st Centuries include the Internet, robotics, military development, the Human Genome Project, the exploration of Mars, anti-retroviral drugs and the HPV vaccination.
The reasons behind the huge leaps made in science and technology by the West can be understood when we examine the influence of Capitalism and its impact. The Western nations followed capitalism in its entirety, using it to mould the development of their ideas and to solve the problems they faced. They became successful as they took all their solutions from the same basis. They embraced an ideology as used it to judge all of the problems in society. This avoided the inconsistency and internal conflict seen in countries which try to adopt multiple ideologies. The adoption of common ideals by the Western nations allowed the basic needs of society to be catered for. This allowed citizens to concentrate on ways to better their standard of living. This drive of profit and general advancement led to many developments. Capitalisms potential to derive a profit has driven and continues to drive the motivation of the Western nations to develop.
More importantly though, governments in the Capitalist nations provide the conditions for progression to take place, by fulfilling the basic necessities of their respective populations. They also provide financial investment and an environment which encourages growth and facilitates the development of technology. For instance, the UK has established 5 research councils, which in addition to the spending provided directly by the government, coordinate and fund particular areas within medical, biological, natural environment, engineering and physical science. The oil rich states of Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, whose economies are comparable to those of the Western nations, spend only 0.2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), on Science – less than a tenth of the 2.3% developed nation average. The number of scientific researchers in the Organisation of Islamic countries (OIC) is also low, with an average of 500 researchers per million, which is minute, compared to the average of over 5000 per million people, in Finland, Iceland and Japan. The Muslim world The Muslim world has made very little contribution to the world of science and technology in the last century. When we look at the reasons behind this under development, it becomes clear the economic and social problems facing these countries have impeded their development alongside factors such as war, famine and poverty have compounded the situation greatly. Countries such as Afghanistan and Somalia have been embroiled in civil wars for many decades and more recently, have been the target of military invasions by the USA. Many of these nations were under colonial rule at some point, often for hundreds of years. For example, Morocco and Algeria were occupied by France, for 40 and 120 years respectively. After gaining independence from the colonial nations, the Muslim world was left in a debilitating economic situation, with much of their resources usurped and which compelled the rulers of the newly formed republics and kingdoms to take loans from the World Bank. For the majority of countries, the interest accrued on these loans is still being paid back; many decades after the original loans were paid off. Indonesia for instance, which was colonised by the Netherlands and is a country which is considered to be managing its debt well, by the World Bank, it pays $1.4 billion a year of its original loan repayments and an extra $500 000 a year in interest repayments, money which could be spent on technology which would aid the country. When the colonialists left the Muslim World, they did not leave the inhabitants of those countries to govern themselves; instead, they installed rulers who would continue to support the financial and political institutions of the West and who would be subservient to Western governments. In Iraq, the British colonialists installed King Faisal I as leader, who supported them in the First World War and organised a revolt against the Uthmani Khilafah. In return for their subservience, the governments of Europe and America provided financial and military support to the rulers in the Muslim countries, often ensuring that brutal regimes remained propped up for many decades. This situation remains until the present day, where the rulers of the Muslim countries do not have the interests of their peoples at heart. Rather, they are only concerned with maintaining power and control over their populations and preserving this power within their families or social circles. The Golden Age of Islam If we compare and contrast the status quo of the Muslim countries to the Muslim civilisation in the past, the gulf between the two is vast. During the Golden Period of Islam, the time of the Abbasid Khilafah, from the 8th Century to the 15th Century scientists, geographers, poets, engineers and philosophers amongst others, contributed significantly to their respective fields, by creating new inventions and by preserving and building upon earlier work. Their contributions directly affected every major civilisation to come after them and continue to be invaluable to the present day. Institutions such as public hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, astronomical observatories and public libraries, were the development of Muslims; they made developments in all of the major fields at the time. The deen of Islam, rather than holding these scientists back, was actually the cause of their advancement. In Medicine, the Persian scientist known as Ibn Sina or Avicenna, wrote the famous book “The Canon of Medicine”, which was a standard textbook taught in various universities around the world until the 18th Century, in which he introduced: the contagious nature of infectious disease; the use of quarantine to curb the spread of infection; neuropsychiatric conditions such as epilepsy, stroke and dementia; the symptoms and complications of diabetes and the use of clinical trials in experimental medicine. The progress made in Medicine, was due to the Muslims following the commands of Allah as laid out in the Quran and Sunnah.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, in his famous hadith: “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari) The existence of a cure for every disease encouraged the Muslims to make progress in biomedical research. In Mathematics, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi developed Algebra and used the knowledge he gained to formulate the rules of inheritance as linear equations, which would allow calculation of inheritance shares. Muslim astronomers also developed Trigonometry to assist with determining the phases of the moon to calculate the start of Ramadhan and Eid. Al Hassar, a mathematician from Al-Maghreb, developed the modern symbolic mathematical notation for fractions, where the numerator and denominator are separated by a horizontal bar. Many others contributed to and developed other areas of Mathematics such as Calculus, Geometry and number theory. In the field of technology, engineers such as Al-Jazari, who invented the crankshaft – an essential component in the steam engine and internal combustion engine – and the Banu Musa brothers, who invented the valve and the gas mask, were well known names during the Medieval period. The mechanical alarm clock and the steam turbine were invented by Taqi al-Din, one of a growing number of Muslim polymaths (people whose knowledge covers many fields). A pioneer of practical chemistry was an 8th Century polymath called Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan; he invented most of the chemical processes , which are still used in laboratories today, for example: pure distillation, filtration, sublimation, liquefaction, crystallisation, purification, oxidisation and evaporation.
The knowledge and number of inventions that originated from the Muslim world during the Golden Age of Islam, was truly staggering and influenced so much of the present day technological advancements. There were a number of factors, which facilitated this period of growth and which, unfortunately, do not exist in the Muslim lands in the current day. The primary reason the Muslims were able to develop, was the existence of a Khilafah, a state which was ruled according to the Quran and Sunnah and under which, both Muslims and non-Muslims had their rights protected. The Khilafah took care of the necessities of its citizens and the Khalifah ensured that nobody was without food, shelter, healthcare and education. The Hudood or punishments were applied to cases where crimes had been committed and this allowed society to live in peace. The armies of the Khilafah protected the citizens of the Islamic state from invasion by foreign nations and were also involved in bringing new lands to be ruled by Islam, in accordance with the people’s wishes. The Baitul Mal or “House of Wealth” (the central treasury), collected the taxes from both Muslim and Non-Muslim citizens and ensured that this money was spent on the provision of public services and institutions, such as hospitals and universities, which is where much of the scientific research and developments occurred. The Jews, who lived in Spain during the Ummayad Khilafah, were also able to flourish, because, as their basic needs had been taken care of and they lived in security, an environment existed where they were able to focus on economic and cultural growth. Islam also drove the Muslims to excel in all of the fields that they participated in.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Verily, Allah has enjoined excellence (ihsan) with regard to everything. So, when you kill, kill in a good way; when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way; so everyone of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably.” (Sahih Muslim) Islam commands the Muslims to practise Ihsan (excellence) in everything they do. Allah mentions in the Quran: إِنَّ اللّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاء ذِي الْقُرْبَى “Verily, Allah enjoins Justice, and Ihsan and giving help to kith and kin” (Surah Al-Nahl: 90) Islam also encouraged Muslims to seek knowledge, both knowledge of the deen and of worldly disciplines. In fact, the distinction between the two was rarely made, in the sense that all knowledge was Islamic knowledge if sought to gain the pleasure of Allah. Hence, learning about the anatomy of the heart was considered Islamic knowledge, if the purpose behind it was as an act of Ibadah (worship) of Allah. Hence, Islam laid out clear guidelines enabling Muslims to be at the forefront of technological and scientific development, whilst remaining true to their faith. Conclusion It should now be clear that the developments made by the Capitalist nations, is solely due to the consistency of following a single ideology, rather than due to Capitalism being the correct ideology. The Muslim world, although possessing the correct creed, which is from the creator of universe, has been absent amongst the Ummah in terms of implementation, this is what made them great in the past. It was Islam, which drove the ummah in the past, and it will be Islam insha’Allah, which will make the ummah great once more.
For centuries, the Ummah’s achievement in science and technology outpaced European nations. However, this progress was only possible when Islam was comprehensively implemented. The current state of the Ummah is due to the fact that Muslims are governed by the Capitalist system. Once the Khilafah is re-established, the Ummah will once again, by Allah’s سبحانه وتعالى leave, lead the world in all matters – including technological advancement.
Islamic Aqeedah: The Role of the Mind
In Islam, the issue of science and technology has not been a controversial one. Belief in Islam is based on rational thinking – a Muslim comes to believe in Allah سبحانه وتعالى by examining the world and arriving at the firm conclusion that the world could not exist without the intervention of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Many ayat in the Quran challenges man to think and ponder about the world:
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ
“Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alteration of night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding.” [TMQ 3:190]
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
وَإِلَى السَّمَاء كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ
وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
وَإِلَى الْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
“Will they not look at the camels, how they are created! And the heaven, how it is raised! And the mountains, how they are set up! And the earth, how it is spread!” [TMQ 88:17-20]
Allah سبحانه وتعالى also sent His Messengers with miracles to give people clear signs that they were indeed from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Prophet Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم proof of Prophethood is the inimitability of the Quran. Allah سبحانه وتعالى has revealed:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُواْ شُهَدَاءكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“If you are in doubt as to whether the revelations which We have sent to Our servant (Muhammad) are from Us or not, then produce one Surah like this; and call your witnesses besides Allah to assist you, if you are right in your claim.” [TMQ 2:23]
Allah سبحانه وتعالى made our rational intellect the tool for embracing Iman. However, this does not mean that we must rationally understand why each law was revealed. Instead, we believe each law is correct because that law is from Allah سبحانه وتعالى; the All-Knowing and All-Wise.
Shariah’s Ruling on Science
In all matters we must refer to the Quran and Sunnah for guidance. Science and technology is no different. It was narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said about the matter of manual pollination of date trees: “You are more aware of the routine issues of your daily life (amr dunyakum).” [Ahmad] It is also narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم sent two of the Muslims to Jurash of Yemen to learn weapons manufacturing.
As a result, the Ummah has always understood that in matters of the Deen (ibadat, politics, economics, etc) we must extract solutions from the Quran and Sunnah only. However, when it comes to matters of science and technology – Allah سبحانه وتعالى has given us permission to use our knowledge to investigate the mechanics of the world that surrounds us. As a consequence, the Islamic Ummah has never found science and wahy (revelation) to disagree with one another. This is due to the fact that Islam is the Haqq (Truth), which does not contradict reality.
Furthermore, the scientists that lived during the time of Islamic rule found the ayat of Quran to be a source of inspiration that motivated them to investigate the universe. Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
“For sure, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and meditate on the creation of the heavens and the earth, then cry out: ‘Our Rabb! You have not created this in vain. Glory to You! Save us from the punishment of Fire.’” [TMQ 3:190-191]
Therefore, pondering and investigating the laws that govern the universe is a way to reflect upon the creation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and become closer to Him.
Islamic State: A Leader in Science
When Islam was implemented, a number of academies were established in many places in the Muslim world to translate the scientific works of the Persians, Greeks, Indians, and others. During the rule of the ‘Abbasi Khulafa’a (particularly al-Mansur and al-Ma’mun), an enormous amount of effort was invested in preparing and translating scientific works. The translators belonged to different ethnic and religious groups. For instance, Naubakht was of Persian origin. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari was an Arab. Hunain ibn Ishaq was a Nestorian Christian.
Muslim scientists recognized the physical/qualitative and the mathematical/quantitative aspects of science. For instance, Ibn Khurdadhbeh determined the latitudes and longitudes of various places in the Muslim world. Al-Biruni ascertained the specific gravity of a number of substances.
Islam also has had a lasting influence in the field of medicine. For example, Ibn Sina (known in the West as Avicenna) is renowned as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His most important medical works were the Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on Cardiac drugs. Under the leadership of Banu ‘Umayyah, the Muslims developed the institution of hospitals. During the time of the Khalifah Harun al-Rasheed, a hospital was built in Baghdad, which was the first in the history of the city. Many new hospitals were established shortly afterwards. Some of them had their own gardens in which medicinal plants were cultivated. The larger hospitals had medical schools attached to them.
Under Islamic rule, scientists did not leave their discoveries to exist in textbooks only, but also applied them to reality. They observed the stars, and prepared star maps for navigational purposes. Ibn Yunus made use of the pendulum for the measurement of time. Ibn Sina used air thermometers to measure air temperature. Paper, compass, gunpowder, inorganic acids and alkaline bases are some of the most important examples of scientific and technological developments of Muslim scientists, which brought about an unprecedented revolution in human technological progress.
Muslim scientists made algebra a permanent branch of mathematics. The word ‘algebra’ is derived from its original Arabic root “Jabr”. Muslim scientists also evolved plane and spherical trigonometry, and applied it to astronomy.
The numerous Arabic words and scientific terms currently being used in European languages are living monuments of the Islamic State’s contributions to modern science. Some examples of words derived from Arabic include:
• “cipher” (English) and “chiffre” (French), derived from the Arabic word “sifr” (meaning empty or nil), describing a number written at the right of another numeral to increase its value ten times,
• “alkali” in chemical terminology, used for particular substance which produces a salt when combined with an acid, is a modified form of the Arabic word “al-qali”
• “squadron” (English) and “escadre” (French) for a section of armed forces, were derived from the Arabic word “‘askariyyah” used in the same sense,
• “admiral” is derived from “amir al-rahl”.
Islamic Science: Celebrating our Islamic Heritage
When reviewing these achievements we should be careful to ensure that they are attributed to Islam and not a particular race. Often Orientalists attempt to paint such achievements as “Arab”. The reality is that they occurred under the implementation of Islam. Consequently, we as an Ummah should recognize these achievements as part of our Islamic heritage and not as the achievements of a race or a particular nation-state.
Khilafah: Key to Scientific Advancement
Another important issue to remember is the role that the implementation of Islam plays in attaining such achievements in the fields of technology and science. The West often attempts to gloss over the role that the Islamic Aqeedah played in the governance of society in an attempt to sell secularism to the Muslim Ummah. Europe resorted to secularism due to the harsh reaction of the Church to science. However, the revelation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى does not contradict reality and therefore it was able to motivate Muslims to excel in the fields of science and technology.
As a result, the Khulafaa’ were big supporters of science and technology. The development of naval technology was launched during the Khilafah of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra). The Khalifah Harun al-Rashid gave a clock as a gift to Charlemagne (Christian Emperor of Rome) to demonstrate the level of expertise that the Islamic State had in the field of science.
We should also recognize that science and technology are not ends in and of themselves, but that they are only tools to be used to accomplish the objectives of the Aqeedah of one’s civilization. For example, the West excelled in technology, but it has failed to eliminate global poverty. However, this is due to the fact that Capitalism has no vision for society. Its main objective is to allow man to pursue his desires as he sees fit. Therefore, we have mp3 music players, flat panel TVs, nuclear weapons – and over a billion people living on less than $1 a day. Islam, on the other hand, uses science and technology to serve Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the objectives that He has laid down for us in the Shariah. For example, hospitals in the Islamic State are built for all – regardless of whether the patient is rich or poor.
Present Malaise: Decline in the Ummah’s Thinking
The decline of science and technology in the Muslim world came about as a result of complacency in the understanding and implementation of Islam. Study and understanding of Arabic was allowed to decline, ijtihad was abandoned and the doors were opened for the missionary, cultural and political invasions of the West. These factors effectively sealed the fate of the Islamic State itself, and by the turn of the 20th century CE, the Islamic State was no longer in a position to protect itself against the European onslaught.
No nation can progress, scientifically or otherwise, if it does not adopt a comprehensive way of life that is based on a rational Aqeedah, and the Muslims are no exception to this rule. For the Ummah to progress, we must implement Islam to excel first and foremost in the spheres of civilization (ibadat, governance, economy, etc) and secondly in the spheres of science and technology.
Advances in science and technology are a by-product of believing in Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, and the Last Day. Furthermore, without the implementation of Islam there can be no structure to harness the creative energies of this Ummah.
May Allah سبحانه وتعالى guide the minds and hearts of this Ummah, and bless us with the Khilafah so that we may rule by what He سبحانه وتعالى has revealed and once again lead the world in deen and dunya.
وَأَنزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ
“And We sent down iron, in which is great might, as well as many benefits for mankind.” [TMQ 57:25]
