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Masdar: It's important to build new perspectives on religious understandings

NU Online  ·  Rabu, 10 Maret 2010 | 07:30 WIB

Jakarta, NU Online
In keeping up with and facing continuing global issues, it's now  necessary to have new perspectives on religious understandings in  interpreting already-existing qur'anic verses and hadits (Prophet  traditions).

"It's important to build new perspectives on religious  understandings," chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama  (PBNU) KH Masdar F. Mas'udi said at a meeting taking up issues on   environment and climate change here Wednesday, adding that Gos  Himself has sent his messengers in accordance with their own  'geisteswissenchaften'.<>

Masdar was of view that in Islam there had been principle matters  which can no longer be changed like tauhid and no one can allow  what God has forbidden and no one can forbid what God has  allowed. While the remaining matters, he said, were the domain of  ijtihad among Muslims including taking into account of the context.

Masdar said, in addition to engaging in such subject matters as nahwu and shorof (Arabic grammatical) kiai (Muslim clerics) should also understand other disciplines like philosophy, economy, environment and so forth in dealing with any religious perspective change.

He further gave an example that in the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) 'water, in addition to being the medium of junub or ablution could also be used as the source of life which must be maintained. (mkf)