Supporting and cooperating with Catholic nuns to serve poor and needy people is consistent with Islamic teaching, says an Islamic leader in East Java.

For Abu Muslich, a well-known Muslim figure in Kediri, 600 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, the work of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul nuns in his area is in line with what is taught the Qur'an and Hadith (collected sayings and deeds attributed to Prophet Muhammad), so Muslims who support and cooperate with the nuns are implementing Islamic teaching.

Muslich shared this view in a commentary he wrote for UCA News as Daughters of Charity (DC) nuns from eight Asian countries held their Fifth Asian Superiors Meeting here. During their July 10-21 meeting, Muslich helped them arrange a visit to Tebuireng Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jombang, about 40 kilometers northeast of Kediri.


Sister Anna Soepraptiwi, the Indonesian provincial of the DC nuns, asked for his help to contact Kiai Hajj Salahuddin Wahid, head of that Pesantren.

Muslich, who was born in Kediri in 1959, is vice-chairperson of Gerakan Pemuda Ansor (GP Ansor, Ansor youth movement) in East Java province. GP Ansor is the youth arm of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim scholars' organization, Indonesia's largest and most influential Muslim organization.

He is also East Java vice chairperson of the Democratic Party, and executive editor of Radar Kediri, a supplement of Surabaya-based daily Jawa Pos.

In his commentary, Muslich speaks of how he met Sister Soepraptiwi, and how the nuns and GP Ansor together promote interreligious understand and harmony, and serve a society that has seen religious intolerance and violence. He also describes how he has helped develop the sisters' friendship with other local Muslim leaders and institutions.

His commentary follows:

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At the end of the 1990s, a group of unknown people destroyed a church in a village in Mojo, a sub-district of Kediri in East Java. Such an anarchic event really disturbed our efforts to create interreligious harmony in Indonesia, especially here in Kediri district.

I found through an investigation that residents near the church did not know the perpetrators. The unidentified people came at midnight and systematically disconnected the power lines, destroyed the church and left within 60 minutes.

As head of GP Ansor of Kediri district at the time, I had to respond strongly to show that Muslims live in harmony and peace with other religious believers.

Thanks to God, Munasir Huda, an activist, visited my office while going to the DC provincial house on the same street where Radar Kediri daily is located and I work. I followed him to meet the nuns.

Alhamdulillah (praise God), I was lucky to meet and become acquainted with Sister Soepraptiwi. She welcomed us into her clean, simple, cool and charming guest room with old shiny floor tiles.

Sister Soepraptiwi, a kind, middle-aged woman, always smiles. When she asked what I wish to drink, I answered just plain water. "What a pasone gede (great fast) you are observing, Mr. Abu!" the nun replied. That made me proud.

During our dialogue, I learned that the headquarters of Indonesia's DC nuns are in Kediri and they offer free medical treatment to poor people in the villages of Kediri district every Sunday. I also noted that GP Ansor members are spread through all villages of Kediri district, so the DC nuns and GP Ansor agreed to collaborate to provide free medical treatment to the poor.

We have performed such service more than 10 times in various villages, including for santri (Muslim students) of the pesantren in Kandangan village, who suffered from skin diseases due to poor sanitation.

Another village was Kalipang in Grogol sub-district, where a group of outsiders came to destroy a church Catholics were building in that village.

When I immediately asked the head of GP Ansor Grogol for complete information, I was really surprised to learn that Kalipang villagers said they live in harmony, and help and love each other. When Muslims built mosques, Catholics came to help, and Muslims helped them when Catholics built a church.

I shared this with the DC nuns and we agreed together to provide free medical treatment for the village poor, to show that Kalipang Muslims do not object to the church building.

Then Sister Soepraptiwi expressed the DC nuns' wish to visit a pesantren in Kediri. As head of GP Ansor and alumnus of various pesantren in East Java, I know many Islamic educational institutions. I contacted Kiai Hajj Imam Yahya Mahrus, head of Lirboyo Pesantren in Kediri, one of Indonesia's biggest.

Sister Soepraptiwi and 25 other DC nuns visited the girls' unit of Lirboyo pesantren and they were warmly welcomed. In that dialogue, women santri asked many questions about the DC nuns. The nuns then visited the girls' hostels, study rooms and library. At the end of the visit, Sister Soepraptiwi planted a tree in the pesantren compound as a symbol of everlasting fellowship between the congregation and the pesantren.

The Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002, that killed 202 people and injured another 209 was traumatic. It worried many people, including the DC nuns. That is why Sister Soepraptiwi gathered all DC nuns in Indonesia -- 92 nuns in all, if I am not mistaken -- and asked me to help arrange a meeting with an Islamic ulama (scholar) with deep knowledge about Islam.

I recommended Kiai Hajj Mustain Syafii, caregiver of Tebuireng Pesantren in Jombang. I remember him saying in one lecture attended by DC nuns during Ramadan (the Islamic fasting month) that Islam is a religion that brings peace. He explained that Prophet Muhammad was sent out as God's mercy to the whole world (Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 107 of the Qur'an).

After the lecture, Kiai Syafii broke his fast together with the nuns. Later, he and his friends said maghrib (evening) prayers in a room with sajadah (prayer mats) prepared by the nuns. It was really an extraordinary and beautiful event, genuine fellowship not blocked by religious differences. People can establish genuine friendship by respecting each other's religion.

At the same time, the nuns also asked about my activities, and one asked what Ansor stands for. I told her Ansor is not an acronym but an Arabic word meaning "helper." Some stories in the Qur'an say people who identify themselves as Ansor, helpers of God, are the people of khawariyyin, disciples of Prophet Isa, whom Christians call "Jesus."

What impresses me much about the DC nuns is their belief of "leaving God for God," which stresses the importance of service to those in need. I also find such a noble teaching in Islam. A Hadith says:

"On the Day of Judgement, when God judges His servant, He will say: 'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me food when I was hungry?' The servant replies, 'How could I give You food, while You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that my servant Fulan ibn Fulan was hungry, but you did not give him food? Behold, had you given him food, you would have found all of that with Me.'

"'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me to drink when I was thirsty?' The servant replies, 'How should I give You to drink when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did not you know that My servant Fulan ibn Fulan was thirsty, but you did not give him to drink? Behold, had you given him to drink you would have surely found all of that with Me.'

"'O son of Adam, why did not you visit Me when I was sick?' The servant replies, 'How could I visit You, when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that My servant, Fulan ibn Fulan was sick, but you did not visit him. Behold, if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him.'"

[Note: Fulan ibn Fulan, literally "Fulan, son of Fulan," is a fictitious name in Arabic used to refer to an unspecified person.]

How could I not respect and support the DC nuns when they do humanitarian work and dedicate their lives to serve God in the persons of the poor, the disaster victims, the sick and those suffering misfortune.

When I interact with the DC nuns, I am never concerned they will hurt my belief. On the contrary, supporting the DC nuns' work is implementing Islamic teaching. Surah Al-Maidah, verse 2 of the Qur'an says: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor."

Wallahu a'lam bi shawab (God knows the truth).

Source: UCAN

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