Liberation theology in Qur'anic interpretation :: Farid Esack's perspective on Inter-Religious Cooperation against Injustice

RAHMAWATI, Erik Sabti, Dr. Hamim Ilyas

2005 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Perbandingan Agama

Penelitian ini berusaha menjawab tiga persoalan berkaitan dengan ide-ide Farid Esack, (1) bagaimana Farid Esack mengaplikasikan prinsip-prinsip liberation theology dalam upaya menafsirkan al-Qur’an? (2) bagaimana pandangan Esack tentang pluralisme agama dan kerjasama antar umat beragama? (3) mengapa Esack mengumandangkan pendapatnya tentang pluralisme agama dan kerjasama antar umat beragama dalam al-Qur’an? Pendekatan dan metode yang digunakan adalah historis dan hermeneutika. Kajian historis digunakan untuk mengkaitkan pandangan Esack dengan sisi sejarah yang mengitari kehidupannya, sebagai causal explanation atau semangat zaman yang melatarbelakangi munculnya gagasan tersebut, sedang kajian hermeneutika dipakai untuk menangkap dan memahami gagasan-gagasan Esack yang tertuang dalam karya-karyanya. Berdasarkan penelitian ditemukan hasil sebagai berikut. Pertama, hermeneutika Esack yang dibangun berdasarkan konteks Afrika Selatan juga merujuk prinsip-prinsip dan hermeneutics circle yang diajukan oleh liberation theology. Karena itu, Esack mengajukan kunci-kunci penafsiran yang khas Afrika Selatan, meliputi, taqwa, tauhid, nâs, mustadl`afin, `adl dan qist, dan jihad. Kedua, bahwa konsep pluralisme agama dalam gagasan Esack bukan sekadar berdasarkan alasan sosiologis atau praksis, melainkan teologis. Bagi Esack, al-Qur’an tidak hanya menunjukkan kebenaran yang dibawanya tetapi juga menghargai dan mengakui kebenaran pada agama lain, jadi tidak ada halangan bagi orang Islam untuk melakukan hubungan dan kerjasama dengan fihak-fihak non-muslim, dan kerjasama tersebut bukan sekadar alasan kemanusiaan tetapi benar-benar berlandaskan teologi keagamaan dan kesetaraan. Ketiga, faktor penyebab (causal explanation) yang menuntut Esack untuk mengumandangkan gagasannya adalah semangat zaman yang berpengaruh dalam kehidupan Esack, pertama; zaman ‘konvergensi atau oikumenisme agama’ (pertemuan agama-agama), kedua, dipengaruhi dan dibangun atas dasar kepentingan pembebasan masyarakat di Afrika Selatan dari penindasan yang dilakukan rezim apartheid, karena tafsiran-tafsiran klasik yang lebih bersifat eksklusif dalam kasus Afrika Selatan, justru melanggengkan sistem penindasan yang dilakukan apartheid.

This research aim to answer the problems that is related to Farid Esack’s perspective: (1) How did Esack apply principles of Liberation Theology in his Qur’anic interpretation? (2) How is Farid Esack’s perspective on inter-religious cooperation against injustice? (3) Why did Farid Esack propose his perspective on inter-religious cooperation in Al-Qur'an? This research uses histories and the hermeneutic approach. The historical approach is used to map chronologically the side of history that has to do with Esack’s perspective, as Causal explanation of the idea and the hermeneutical approach used to sharpen the understanding of Esack’s perspective, as historical data. The result of this research: First, Esack’s Hermeneutics does not only rotate at discourse and comprehend a text, but praxis. In this case, Esack seems to follow path hermeneutics circle raised by liberation theologians: praxis (experience) to text (reflection) to praxis (experience). In consequence, he proposed keys of hermeneutics as follow: taqwa, tauhid, nas, mustadl`afin, adl and qist, and jihad, which is typically pursuant to context of South Africa in the struggle for justice. Second, pluralism of religion and inter-religious cooperation, according to Esack, is not only based on reason and intention of sociologies or praxis, but theologies. According to Esack, acknowledgement al-Qur'an to religious pluralism is not only from other clan acceptance side as valid socio-religious community but also from their spirituality life acceptance aspect and salvation through different way, it means that al-Qur'an, explicitly and also implicitly esteems and accepts truth of other religions, so that cooperation between Muslin and non-Muslim obtain and must be done on the basis of theologies awareness. Third, Esack’s perspective about pluralism and inter-religious cooperation, emerge because of the first, the spirit of age, that is the age of convergence or oikumenisme of religions (conference of religions), and the second empiric condition in South Africa. In the oppressed condition and the weakness, Islam people still do not want to struggle with “others" for the shake of upholding the truth that exactly represent important vision of Islam, because most classic interpretations which is exclusive do not allow them to do cooperation with other religions.

Kata Kunci : Teologi pembebasan, penafsiran al-Qur’an, Kerjasama antaragama, Liberation theology, qur’anic interpretation, interreligious cooperation