Rejecting the Idea of a Caliphate

Kompas/Angger Putranto

Hundreds of supporters of Indonesian Hizbut Tahrir (HTI) are present in a HTI conference at the Bung Karno stadium, Jakarta, Sunday (2/6/2013). HTI encourages all Muslims to return to living under an Islamic Caliphate that enforces Islamic Sharia.

"Prove that the Islamic political and administration system does not exist. Islam is complete and perfect, everything is arranged in it, including the caliphate as a governmental system." In a rather angry tone this statement was thrown at me by an Islamic activist from Blitar during a halaqah (religious gathering) at a Muhammadiyah meeting in East Java that I attended when I was still the chief justice of the Constitutional Court.

At that time, a friend of mine, Prof. Zainuri who is also a lecturer of the University of Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo, invited me to be a speaker at the forum and I was asked to speak about "the Constitution for Indonesian Muslims".