The Fundamental Principles of Tolerance (Al-Tasâmuh) in Worship
and Public Affairs under Islamic Perspective
Burhanuddin S, M. Hum and Abbas Arfan
Sharia Faculty State Islamic University Maulana Malik Ibrahim, Jl. Gajayana 50, Malang, Indonesia
Keywords: Principles, Religious, Tolerance, Tasâmuh, Islamic Perspective
Abstract: Tolerance can be developed by the thoughts that is formed from the understanding of concepts. Developing
the true concept of tolerance is a necessity so that it can be used as a guideline for Muslims in Indonesia in
order to there is no lie between us which can cause astray. Implementation of tolerance according our
beliefe is part of worship that is guaranteed by constitution. Violations the principles of tolerance besides
being sanctioned by the state law, also can be sanctioned by religion as a form of denial of God. The
measuring of the truth in this concept does not improve on a subjective human perspective but restoring to
God as a source of truth. This paper was writen to elaborate some principles of religious tolerance (al-
tasâmuh) under Islamic perspective which are derived from al-qur’an and al-sunnah. This theme is
important to be discussed academically, because in the reality there are practices of intolerant behavior
(‘adam al-tasâmuh) which distrupt the social harmony and national security of state. At the same time, we
know that in fact there are behaviors of excessive tolerant (al-tasâmuh al-mufrit) which leads to religious
mixing whose according the law is prohibited (haram). To elaborate this papers, writers have used a
normative approach for mapping some principles in field of worship and public affairs containing
permissions and restrictions to develope the concept of tolerance without mortgaging our beliefs.
1 INTRODUCTION
This concept of tolerance contributes to a more
positive approach to multiculturalism, by
accommodating differences and strengthening
common human values (Jackson, 2007). Where
tolerance, respect and recognition exist together, we
can expect harmonious relationships in societies,
characterized by active participation and mutual
contributions from each society member. However,
it is important to understand that tolerance can occur
only where there are unnegotiable differences
amongst the society members (Habermas, 2004). In
other words, there is no need for tolerance if the
difference is trivial.
It is realized that Indonesian people are
pluralistic society which cannot be avoided from
reality. This diversity is admitted in constitution
which guarantees all different religion adherents to
do their doctrines based on their faith. However, the
diversity of religion adherents and cultures can have
a potential conflict that leads to be a disaster. As in
social reality, this religion plurality sometimes
become a problem in which in one side, religion is
considered as an autonomous personal rights, on the
other hand, this right has a complex social
implication in society life. Each religion adherent
believes that their doctrines and values must be
proclaimed in society and national life (claim of
truth). In this context, religion often become a
potential conflict in the society. Based on these
empirical-historical facts, religion plurality is
impossible to be avoided. Nurcholis Madjid
attempted to remind that plural value system is
Gods rule (Sunnatullah) which cannot be changed,
fought, and denied. Those who try to deny culture
diversity law, it will cause continuous conflict
phenomenon (Ghazali, 2014).
In context of religious plurality life as mentioned
previously, in order to preserve diversity on religion
faith in harmony context, it is needed to have mutual
understanding and respect atmosphere among all
various religion adherents. One of the ways to have
all of them is by doctrine regarding different religion
and faith principles. Each religion, especially Islam,
has owned these basic principles. This religion
tolerance is not only refers to norms in each religion
but also it comes from personal experience of
1126
S., B., Hum, M. and Arfan, A.
The Fundamental Principles of Tolerance (Al-Tasâmuh) in Worship and Public Affairs under Islamic Perspective.
DOI: 10.5220/0009923711261132
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 1126-1132
ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9
Copyright
c
2020 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
religion adherents both directly and indirectly of
religious phenomenon (Ghazali, 2014).
Freedom of religion gets a constitutional
guarantee, namely Article 28E and Article 29
Indonesian Constitution (UUD 1945). Constitutional
guarantees indicate that tolerance for followers of
other religions is mandatory for all citizens,
therefore violations of the constitution can be subject
to legal sanctions. Implementing tolerance in
accordance with his religious beliefs is part of
worship, so they have to get protection from the
state. If there are some conflicts of each religion in
implementing tolerance base on their belief,
government through institutions established must
find a meeting point in order to realize harmony.
Religious tolerance is one of the most important
program in Indonesia because one of four pillars of
the nation is unity in diversity. It means that
Indonesia will be able to achieve the goals of the
country as long as the government is able to
maintain the harmonious relationship between all
different religious followers. That program can be
understood by Precidential Degree No. 1/PNPS/
1965 concerning Prevention of Similarities and/ or
Blasphemy of Religion. The blasphemy law covers
two types of blasphemous acts: deviation
(penyimpangan) from the six officially recognized
religions and defamation (penodaan) of these
religions. The violation of this regulation could be
punisthed by a maximum imprisonment of five years
shall be punished for whosoever in public
deliberately expresses their feelings or engages in
actions that: (a) In principle is hostile and considered
as abuse or defamation of a religion embraced in
Indonesia; (b) Has the intention that a person should
not practice any religion at all that is based on belief
in Almighty God (Article 4).
The blasphemy provisions in the that Presidential
Decree have also inspired the use of similar
provisions in more recently enacted laws. At least
two laws have been used to prosecute people
accused of defaming religion. Firstly, Law No.
11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction
(UU ITE) Article 28(2): “Any person who
deliberately and without right disseminates
information aimed to inflict hatred or hostility on
individuals and/or certain groups of community
based on ethnic groups, religions, races and inter-
groups.” Article 27(3): “Any person who
deliberately and without right distributes and/or
transmits and/or makes electronic information
and/or documents accessible that contains insulting
and/or defaming content.” A second law used to
prosecute people accused of blasphemy is Law No.
23/2002 on the Protection of Children, which
stipulates in Article 86 that: “Any person who
deliberately uses deception, a series of lies or
persuades a child to choose another religion not of
his/her own will, even though the perpetrator knows
or should know that the child is not sufficiently
intellectually developed and responsible enough to
make such a choice in accordance with their
religion shall be punished with imprisonment of 5
(five) years and/or a maximum fine of Rp
100,000,000 (one hundred million rupiah,
US$8,252).”
Amnesty international (2014) considers that the
the blasphemy laws in Indonesia are having a very
negative impact on the right to freedom of
expression and freedom of religion of individuals
belonging to religious minorities. Furthermore,
prosecuting individuals for their peaceful expression
of beliefs that are considered blasphemous is likely
contributing to an atmosphere of religious
intolerance in the country. According Rosyda, those
regulations have prohibited every one of abuse
interpretation to the religious doctrine from the
admitted religion by the nation, and influence other
people to support and follow him. This regulation
also prohibited everyone to do religious activities
similar to the religious traditions of a certain religion
admitted by the country. This regulation was enacted
to prevent disharmony relationship between
religious followers (Rosyada, 2017).
Tolerance is a deliberate choice of non-
interference in the conduct that one disproves. In
other words, it is an attitude of not opposing the
different beliefs and practices of others that evoke
the disapproval in oneself. Some political
philosophers such as John Rawls, Ross Harrison and
Jean Hampton view tolerance as a liberal concept or
as the basis for liberalism. In this view, tolerance can
be flourish in the state or government that
safeguards the rights of all religions and differences.
But in the Islamic word, it is not viewed as a liberal
political concept. Further, in the Western view
religious tolerance has distinct characters namely
individual freedom of thinking, worshiping freely,
propagation of one’s religion. Controlling one of
these is considered as violation of rights. In his book
entitle: The Difficulty of Tolerance T.M. Scanlon
(2003) describes that “tolerance requires us to accept
people and permit their practices even when we
strongly disapprove of them. Tolerance thus involes
an attitude that is intermediate between
wholehearted acceptance and unrestrained
opposition.”
In the article “The Scope of Tolerance and Its
Moral Reasoning,” Raphael (2004) argues that
tolerance consists of three components: (a) A strong
disapproving attitude toward a certain conduct,
action or speech; (b) Power or authority to curtail the
disturbing conduct, and (c) Moral overriding
principles, which sway the doer not to exert his or
The Fundamental Principles of Tolerance (Al-Tasâmuh) in Worship and Public Affairs under Islamic Perspective
1127
her power or authority to curtail the said conduct.
These components show that tolerance cannot be
equated with indifference but neutrality which is
considered as the prime requirement for justice in
the contemporary liberal politics.
Allah has created human beings with various
ethnic groups to know each other (QS. Al-
Hujuraat[49]: 10). From that verse can be
understood that diversity is natural and He has
revealed guidance for all mankind how to developed
a tolerance attitude for a harmonious life. From
acknowledging diversity, Islam outlines a firm
standard for Muslims to develop peaceful
coexistence with non-Muslims. Then, to implement
the tolerance correctly is needed a good
understanding formed by genuine principles which
is excavated from al-qur’ân and al-sunnah.
Islam is declared as a perfect religion (QS. Al-
Maidah[5]: 3). Allah has explained everything in the
qur'an both textually and implicitly (QS. An-
Nahl[16]:89). There is nothing forgotten from the it
(QS. Al-Anam[6]: 38). It mean that in qur'an have
been described various affairs including the
principle of tolerance. Those principles need to be
extracted from the source to serve as the concept of
tolerance. Implementation of tolerance according
our beliefe is part of worship, because it must be
done correctly according to the instructions of
revelation. Violation of the principles of tolerance
derived from shari'a not only having an impact on
the pattern of relations between fellow humans, but
also can damage obedience to God.
The principles of tolerance that were extracted
from the shari'a must be a guide, include for
muslims in Indonesia. Without understanding a true
guidance, it is feared that the practice of tolerance
occurs with many deviation. Failure to understand
those principles of tolerance will cause effect that
leads to two extreme actions as is often ocurred in
reality, namely: (1) Intolerance behavior of
interreligious differences; (2) Excessive tolerance
behavior without regard to the boundaries of
normative provisions. These two forms of behavior
not only endanger for personal life but also damage
the collective order in a sociey or a country.
The countries can be confused by intolerant
behavior in society. If there are some people of a
country have not respect for religious differences
and do coercion then has behaved intolerant. The
most dangerous threat is coming from radicalism
that that is permitting to use violence as the way to
struggle for implementing religious doctrines.
Certainly the impact of intolerant behavior will lead
to inter-religious conflict in a society which begins
with a truth claim, hate speech, until murder either
personally or collectively through war. The
existence of social conflict will cause the unity of
the states to be threatened so that they will take
action on behalf of national security. In this
condition there is actually a new conflict occur
between the state and the certain groups considered
as a security intruder. They who intolerant and
oppose the state will be stigmatized as a radical
group, terrorist, and etc so it is considered legitimate
to be captured and even killed. But it should be
understood that arrests and murders without strong
evidence is also a violate state law and contrary to
religious values.
The second extreme behavior of interfaith
relations is an attitude of excessive tolerance. Said
so because there is the tendency that they have out
of the normative boundaries assigned by the Islamic
teachings. We can recognize easily some
characteristics which is inherent to someone who do
excessive tolerance such as give congratulation and
even to attend other religious festivals to show the
real expression of togetherness and respect for
followers other religious. Even, there are among
them suspect inwardly and make statement that all
religions are true so there is no need truth claims for
each faith. This tolerance model is considered most
appropriate for realizing the harmonization of
interreligious relationships, so it can support the
stability of national security.
We have to know that outside the two extreme
there is an ideal concept expected to develope the
tolerance behaviour which in line both in the context
of Indonesia and the perspective of al-qur'ân and al-
sunnah. The majority Muslim in Indonesia is still
adhering to the principle of proper tolerance so they
are not trapped in extreme behavior. But we must
explore whether this tolerance model is created
because of the understanding the fiqh tolerance or
because of passive behavior to respond the religious
differences. The passive behavior related to
interreligious relations is very dangerous because it
tends to let anything happen, so the impact
resembles excessive tolerance behavior. To
understand tolerance correctly, it is necessary to read
the concept of tolerance which is excavated from
texts of al-qur'an and al-sunnah.
2 RESEARCH METHOD
The kind of this writing is result of normative
legal research which use norms in the texts of al-
qur’an and al-sunnah as an object. Through these
two sources, the principles of tolerance will be
explored that use a thematic approach. Because the
object is sharia norms as sources of data, so this
research have used conceptual approach for deriving
them before they are analysed with the methode of
ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation
1128
descriptive qualitatively for creating a new concept
of tolerance in Indonesia under Islamic perspective.
3 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
OF TOLERANCE
Term tolerance in Islamic literature called al-
tasâmuh (). Ulama used term tasâmuh to
describe meanling of premise (dalil) concerned. But
they did not understand what the goal so it is needed
understanding of others lafadz (Jurjani, t.t). Tasâmuh
is a masdar of the verb
- -
mean
respect the beliefs of others (ihtirâm ‘aqâid al-
âkharîn). Tasâmuh in language mean extend giving
and so forth (al-ittisâ fî al-i’thâi wa ghaîrihi) (al-
Din, 2009). If referring to its root word, term
tasâmuh is derived from the word ﺢﲰ that means
simplify. (https://www.almaany.com/). In term,
definition of tolerance (tasâmuh) is ability to respect
the differences as an effort to realize equality (al-
Din, 2009). It is mean that tolerant people are they
who are able to respect differences to realize a
harmonious life in a plural society.
Term tasâmuh literally was not containded in
qur’an. But sharia Islam has implemented its
meaning. There are terms which show meaning of
appeal to piety (al-taqwâ), dialog (al-tasyâwuru),
visiting each other (al-tâzaru), advise each other (al-
tawâshu), love each other (al-tarâhim), know each
other (al-ta’âruf) that all of which show character of
tasâmuh which is strengthen the right of difference
among human being. Actually writing the word and
explanation its meaning which is very helpful many
found from interpretation of qur’an contained word
al-tasâhal that is synonymous with al-tasâmuh
(Sya’bân, 1993). But in the hadith of the prophet,
there is a term that has the same root with tasâmuh,
namely:
:
:
.( )
,
:
.( )
:
:
:
.( )
Tolerance in Islam, rightly understood is
patience toward a practice or opinion one
disapproves of. This understanding may come as a
surprise to many people who interpret tolerance
simply as a synonym for the words acceptance or
agreement. Islamic tolerance entails disagreement
yet a firm moral commitment to the decent treatment
of the person with whom one disagrees. So tolerance
in Islam can be understood as a patient forbearance
against something which is disliked or disapproved
of (Siddiqi, 2018).
Religious tolerance to non-Muslims is very broad
in scope, but in general can be divided into two
categories, namely: (1) Tolerance in the field of
worship (al-tasâmuh fî al-syu’ūni al-‘ibâdah al-
mahdhah); and (2) Tolerance of public affairs
between muslim and non-muslim (al-tasâmuh fî al-
syu’ūni al-‘âmah baina muslim wa gharu muslim).
The following paragraph is an explanation of some
principles of tolerance field of worship and public
affairs:
3.1 Tolerance in the Field of Worship
(al-tasâmuh fî al-syu’ūni al-‘ibâdah
al-mahdhah)
The purpose of human creation is to worship
Allah SWT (QS. Adz Dzariyat[51]: 56). Allah has
decreed the shari'a to serve as a guidance of worship
for each religion (QS. Al-Maidah[5]: 48). For every
religion Allah have appointed shari’a which they
perform. So, let you not contend with it but invite
them to your Lord. Indeed you are upon straight
guidance (QS. Al-Hajj[22]: 67). From the various
shari'a that has been revealed, but only Islam is
declared as a perfect religion (QS. Al-Maidah[5]: 3)
and it is desired by Allah (QS. Ali Imran[3]: 19). So
whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, they will
not be accepted by Allah (QS. Ali Imran[3]: 85).
Although Islam is the religion has been desired, but
Allah forbids His people to impose religion on
others (QS. Al-Baqarah[2]: 256), even has ordered
to keep tolerance with other religion such as it is
described in the texts of sharia as follows:
,
,
,
,
,
.
Say: O disbelievers! I worship not that which you
worship. Nor worship you that which I worship. And
I shall not worship that which you worship. Nor will
you worship that which I worship. Unto you your
religion, and unto me my religion (QS. Al-
Kafirun[109]: 1-6).
According Asbâb al-Nuzūl, this verse is
revealed related to Quraisy declaring:
! :
, . ][
.
, ][ : . ,
: . )
The Fundamental Principles of Tolerance (Al-Tasâmuh) in Worship and Public Affairs under Islamic Perspective
1129
......(
,
. .
Ya Muhammad please follow our religion and
we follow your religion. You worship our god
one year and we worship your god one year. If
there is any good that we gain, then we
collaborate with you to take advantage of it.
And if there is a good from us, then you
collaborate in that affair to take advantage of
it. Then God forbide the collaboration through
His word (QS. Al-Kafirun [109]: 1-6). So the
next day the Prophet went to Mecca to meet the
leader of Quraish and read the revelation in
order not repeat that action (Wâhidî, 1991).
The verse and the cause of its revelation (Asbâb
al-Nuzūl) is concerned with the fundamental concept
of tolerance in the field of worship. Through this
concept, Islam strictly has ordered all Muslim to
respect the religious beliefs of others without
disturbing them, and it also has prohibited all
Muslim to participate in other religious worship to
avoid mixing up interreligious beliefs. Hence the
behavior of excessive tolerance for other religious
worship is prohibited (haram) according to al-
qur'an and al-sunnah Rasulullah SAW. The
following are examples of excessive tolerance
behavior that is forbidden: (1) Participation together
in building other religious places of worship; (2)
Attending the worship place of other religion; (3)
Proclaim the words for other religious festivals; (See
Keputusan Fatwa MUI Tahun 1981 tentang
Perayaan Natal Bersama; Fatwa MUI Nomor 56
Tahun 2016 tentang Hukum Menggunakan Atribut
Keagamaan Non-Muslim; In his fatwa, ’Utsaimîn
said that say christmas festivities or others religious
festivals is haram based on the agreement (bi al-
itifâq), as quoted from the opinion Ibnu Qayyim
rahimahullah in his book: Ahkâm Ahlu al-Dzimah
(’Utsaimîn, 1413H); (4) Including excessive
behavior is participation in securing other religious
worship, except the police as state officials to
maintain natonal security.
Participation of Muslim in
securing other religious worship is feared part of a
violation the principle wa lâ ta’âwanū alâ al-itsmi
wa al-‘udwân (QS. Al-Maidah[5]:2). We know that
there is temporary benefit of excessive tolerance in
the life of the world, but in the hereafter life there is
ultimate damage so that it should be avoided for all
Muslim as stated in the fiqh rules:
Preventing damage more prefered then taking
temporary benefit.
The wisdom (hikmah) of prohibiting excessive
tolerance in the field of worship is to avoid a
mixture of truth and falsehood (talbisū al-haq bi al-
bâthil) (QS. Al-Baqarah[2]:42) so the purity of our
faith (aqîdah) is preserved. Our faith should not be
mortgaged by human praise that does not base on the
premises of shari'a (al-adilah al-syar’îyah).
Expecting the reward / praise of the human in
expressing religious loyalty not only destroy the
faith but also can plunge the act on the deviation.
Therefore, through the theory of al-walâ’ wa al-
barâ’, Qahthânî (1413H) said that Islam has taught
its followers how to express their loyality of the
truth and go away form the falsehood.Weknow that
there are many forms of falsehood, and the most
damage is related to religious apostasy.
If we refer to (QS. Ali Imran[3]: 19) (QS. Ali
Imran[3]: 85), it is fact that Islam has taught muslim
people to claim the truth based on real evidence in
the shari'a, and then has ordered to convey the truth
wisely (QS. An-Nahl[16]: 125) to other religious
people in order to get hidayah. Even to support the
syiar Islam, the prophet and his companions had
conquered the territory of kâfir harbi to execute the
orders of war (jihad). But we have to understand,
although Islam has legitimized claims of the truth,
but relates to the other belief there is no coercion
(QS. Al-Baqarah[2]: 256).
Tolerance can be seen in the life of the beloved
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who is
referred to in the Quran as a model example for
humanity. Many policies of him reflect the Quranic
view of tolerance of others. An example of this in-
between ‘Constitution of
Madina’ (mîtsâq al-
madînah), which described Muslim, Jewish and
pagan groups as ‘one community’ sharing in the
obligation of protecting one another from outside
aggression, while each group enjoys their religious
freedom.
3.2 Tolerance in Field of Public Affairs
between Muslim and Non-muslim
(al-tasâmuh fî al-syu’ūni al-‘âmah
baina muslim wa ghairu muslim)
Relations between muslim and non muslim in
field of mu’âmalât is very broad begin from the
scope of the relationship in the society until the
state. Sharia has given a guidance for Muslim how
to tolerate with other religions in public affairs.
Tolerance to non-Muslims in the field of public
affairs is to give equal rights to live in harmony
without enmity. The harmony among interreligious
people needs to be realized to support national
ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation
1130
stability so that the goals of sustainable development
in Indonesia can be achieved. But it must be known
by non-Muslims that in the Islamic law (fiqh) there
are some public affairs to be undertaken by
Muslims, for examples:
(1) Tolerance in Public Affairs
a. Tolerance to family non muslim (QS.
Luqman[31]: 15).
b. Sharia has ordered to tolerate for non-
Muslims who persuade peace (QS. Al-Anfal[8]: 61)
and not embattle because of religion (QS. Al-
Mumtahanah[60]: 8). Contrarily, if they embattle
Muslim comunity so there is no tolerance, even
Allah has commanded to fight them (QS. Al
Hajj[22]: 39). According the fiqh, non-Muslims who
have to be tolerated in the context of state are: (a)
Kâfir dzimî: citizen of non-Muslims who are bound
by a peace treaty with the Islamic government by
paying jizyah; (b) Kâfir mu’âhad: foreigners of non-
Muslims who are bound by a peace treaty during
stay in Islamic state; (c) Kâfir musta’min: foreigners
of non-Muslims who get security guarantees from
Muslim. The form of tolerance given to non-
Muslims who are bound by the peace agreement is
to provide security guarantees. Rasulullah SAW
said:
Whoever kills a kâfir dzimî, then he will not
smell the paradise. In fact the smell of heaven
was smelled from the journey of forty years (HR.
An Nasa’i)
Whoever kills a kâfir mu’âhad, then he will not
smell the paradise. In fact the smell of heaven
was smelled from the journey of forty years (HR.
Bukhari).
And if any musyrikin asks you for protection
(musta’min), then protect him so that he may
hear the word of God, then send him to a safe
place for him. That is because they are people
who do not know (QS. At Taubah[9]: 6)
According Ab Khaîl (1993), public rights of ahalul
zimah namely: (1) Life protection (hidz al-nafs); (2)
Equality in qânūn jânaî; (3) Equality in qânūn
madanî; (4) Property protection (hidz al-a’râdhi);
(5) Legal recognition (tsubūt al-dzimah); (6)
Personally affairs (al-‘umūr al-syakhsiyah); (7)
Religious appeal (al-syaâir al-dîniyah); (8)
Tolerance in taking al-jiziyah and kharâj.
c. Equality before the law for non muslim to
get justice (QS. Al-Maidah[5]:8). In history, Caliph
Umar bin Khattab r.a had won the lawsuit a Yahudi
for the actions of the governor Amr bin ‘Ash. That
story shows that Islam has taught justice to anyone
including from non-Muslim community. In the
context of Indonesia, many sharia values which are
absorbted in form of regulations (peraturan
perundang-undangan) as a material law to establish
the justice.
d.
Muslims are allowed to cooperate with not
Muslim in terms of kindness (QS. Al-Maidah[5]:2)
e. Giving food to poor of non-Muslims
Muslims (QS. Al-Insan[76]: 8), (QS. Al-
Mumtahanah[60]: 8). Giving to non-Muslims
allowed is shadaqah sunnat, because in fact Nabi
had given food to blind beggar of Jews. Giving of
shadaqah wajib (zakat) should not be given to non
Muslim except for eight of asnaf (QS. At Taubah[9]:
60)
f. Non Muslims have to get a good word
(treatment) from Muslims (QS. Al Baqarah[2]: 83).
g. Women ahlul kitab could be married to
Muslim men (QS. Al Maidah[5]: 5).
(2) Limitation of Tolerance in Public
Affairs
a. Islam has prohibted non muslim as a
leadership among majority of muslim comunity (QS.
Al-Maidah[5]:51); (QS. Ali-Imran[3]: 28); (QS. An-
Nisa[4]: 144). Tolerance in public affairs of
Indonesia which have people majority of Muslims
does not mean surrendering the national government
leadership (al-imâmah al-hukūmiyah al-wathaniyah)
to non-Muslims. Therefore Muslims who reject non-
Muslim as their leader should not be regarded as
anti-diversity because it is part of the faith. In a
democratic system like Indonesia, non-Muslim
leadership may occur if the Muslim people does not
understand and practice those verses.
b. Allah has commanded enforcement the law
that He has revealed (QS. An-Nisa[4]: 65) (QS. Al-
Maidah[5]: 44, 45, 47,48, 49) not other religious of
law (QS. Al-Maidah[5]: 50).
In the context of
Indonesia, many sharia values which has been
absorbted in form of regulations (peraturan
perundang-undangan) as a material law to establish
the justice.
The Fundamental Principles of Tolerance (Al-Tasâmuh) in Worship and Public Affairs under Islamic Perspective
1131
c. A muslim is forbidden to follow the tradition
of non muslim (QS.Al-Hadid[57]:16).
d. Muslims are forbidden to say greetings (
) to non-Muslims first, so if they say it then the
answer is enough to say . Rasulullah SAW said:
Do not you go ahead of the Jews and the
Christians in the greeting (HR. Tirmidzi No. 1602
dan Ahmad (2/266). Syaikh Al Albani said that this
hadits is shahih.
e. Man of non muslim is forbidden to married
with Muslimah (QS. Al Mumtahanah[60]: 10).
f. An apostate of Muslim is not entitled to
inheritance. Rasulullah SAW had said:
It is not right for a Muslim to inherit an infidel,
and neither does an infidel inherit a Muslim
(Bukhari and Muslim)
4 CONCLUSIONS
Allah has created diversity as a nature
(sunatullah) as it has created a way of tolerance to
realize harmony. Implementation of tolerance
according our beliefe is part of worship. Worshiping
in accordance with their religion and beliefs is a
constitutional right of citizens which is guaranteed
by law in Indonesia. To tolerance with other
religions under Islamic perspective is needed the
correct understanding toward the fundamental
principes which are derived from al-qur’an and al-
sunnah. The scope of religious tolerance can be
devided into two categoris: (1) Tolerance with non
muslim in field of workship (al-tasâmuh fî al-
syu’ūni al-‘ibâdah al-mahdhah); and (2) Tolerance
with non muslim in public affairs (al-tasâmuh fî al-
syu’ūni al-‘âmah), where of both scopes have been
regulated in sharia that contain some permissions
and limitations. Failure to understand those
principles has been caused effect that leads to two
extreme action namely intolerance behavior of
interreligious differences or excessive tolerance
behavior without regard to the boundaries of
normative principles. Violations the principles of
tolerance besides being sanctioned by the state law,
also can be sanctioned by religion as a form of
denial of God.
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