Merayakan Kebebasan Beragama - Democracy Project

Democracy Projectthe core teachings of Islam.There are important aspects to Djohan’s writing and fault thatcannot be understood without appreciating his personal faithposition. The fact that he starts for the position of a committedMuslim is key to understanding the tension and spiritual energy thatruns through his work. This is illustrated by his commitment toediting and publishing personal diary of his late close friend AhmadWahib. Published as Pergolakan Pemikiran Islam in 1981, seven yearsafter Ahmad Wahib was tragically struck down on the road as he leftthe office of the news weekly Tempo, this book was a labour of loveby Djohan for both his friend Ahmad Wahib and for the ideas thatWahib captured in his diary. The published diary is a deeply movingbook in which one encounters a young man wrestling with deepdoubts and dark thoughts but never abandoning his faith. It isprecisely because Wahib had a deep Islamic faith, and believedstrongly in the historical teachings of Islam, that his honestlyexpressed thoughts as he seeks to reconcile his faith with thechallenges that swirl around him is such a moving and significantwork. It is impossible not to see this book as also reflecting Djohan’sown journey. For it was not just a respect for his late friend and thatled him to undertake the arduous task of turning scattered notes andjournal entries into a coherent published text, but it was also respectfor the ideas and the honest wrestling with doubt whilst not lettinggo of faith.This dynamic represents a second important element ofDjohan’s character and thought: that deep intellectual honesty anda passion for ideas. This is a central theme captured in the diary ofa Wahib. The same theme runs through Djohan’s own writing,though, understandably, seldom with the directness of Wahib’sjournal entries. Nevertheless, as with Wahib’s journaling, a centraltheme running through Djohan’s writing is of the importance ofdistinguishing the unchanging principles and core ideas of Islam fromhuman tradition and evolving practice which is inevitably shaped byplace and time and frequently misunderstood as being immutable.Just as Wahib concludes that the mistakes and errors made byindividual believers should not be seen as fatal flaws in the teachingsof Islam so to Djohan frequently criticizes the beliefs and practices,including the prejudices, of individual Muslims and their756 |MERAYAKAN KEBEBASAN BERAGAMA