UNS — Writing to enlighten is the goal bore by Christianto Dedy Setyawan, a student of Master Program in History Education Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) in sailing through the world of authorship. This value was poured into his essay ‘The Generous Islam: Views from Non-Muslims Life Experience’, which won the Essay Writing Competition Commemorating Gus Dur’s Birthday 2020 held by Jaringan Gusdurian, Islami.co, and Nu.or.id.
Through his essay, Chris shared his view and personal experience as Catholics regarding Islam. He selected the topic to breaking the stigma that Islam is full of anger and other negative traits. As a Catholic who has diverse life experiences in the Muslim community, Chris shared his experience with the Muslim community’s warm exchange in his essay. “Many Gus Dur philosophies are applied there,” Chris said to uns.ac.id, Friday (22/1/2020).
One of the experiences he shared is when he accompanied his father attending a kenduri (local banquet) with Islamic touching. In his opinion, kenduri in his village spoke a lot about the Islamic warmth and stole his attention. When the prayer session started, the community chant Islamic prayers, but he and his father did not hesitate to sign the cross and pray following their host’s gratitude. Instead of disturbed, the neighbors appreciated Chris and his father, who wanted to attend kenduri even though they prayed differently.
The warmth eased the concern and paranoia to be called as kafir experienced by other non-Muslims. What he read in the news did not take place in his neighborhood. He said that he could find this kind attitude in Gus Dur’s ideals. As community members with national ties, the neighborhood should not be smeared with labeling that will loosen the existing good relationship.
In his essay, Chris also discussed the decades in which he grew with the rampant coverage of suicide bombings from terrorists that portrayed Islam as a religion full of anger. This perception reminded him of Gus Dur’s book, ‘God does not need to be Defended’ that discusses V.S. Naipaul visit to Indonesia in 1979. Naipaul thinks of Islam as full of anger after Adi Sasono case and blood incidents involving the communist party following the 1965 tragedy.
Chris said that if Naipaul visited Indonesia longer, he would find a broader paradigm regarding Islam, similar to Chris’ view that he shared through his essay. “Hopefully, there will be more writing competition and training so that more young generation can write wisely, elegantly, and enlightening,” Chris hopes in concluding the interview. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
