RELIGIOUS LEADERS DEFEND ESQ AGAINST MALAYSIAN MUFTI'S FATWA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 9 (ANTARA) - At least 900,000 Indonesian and Malaysian alumni of the 10-year old Emotional and Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) Leadership Training Program were surprised when a Malaysian Mufti declared last month that the methods used in the motivation course were un-Islamic.           However, Indonesian religious leaders, including those of the largest Islamic organizations Nahdhatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah,  the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the Directorate General of the Islamic Guidance as well legislators,  said that there was no deviation from Islamic tenets in the ESQ program.          "In my view, there is no aspect in the ESQ practices or training methods which deviates from Islamic tenets," Din Syamsuddin, Muhammadiya general chairman, said on Thursday.          Developed by Indonesian Ary Ginanjar Agustian in 2000, the ESQ Leadership Training program has been attended by more than 850,000 Indonesians and 65,000 Malaysians. The method has been recommended by two of the biggest Muslim organizations in the country, Muhammadiyah and  Nahdlatul Ulama, according to media reports.          It is a multimedia training program that encourages personal growth in leadership, well-being and Islamic spiritual values.          The Mufti, or professional interpreter of Islamic law, of the Federal Territories of Malaysia Wan Zahidi Bin Wan Teh, issued a fatwa last month banning the training, which he deemed to be a breach of Islamic teachings.          Zahidi was quoted by the Jakarta Post on Thursday as saying that the training "supports liberalism by making free interpretation of the Koran and [supports the concept of] pluralism in religions, which says that all religions are the same and true".          ESQ combines Islamic teachings with other religious teachings, including Judaism and Hinduism, he was quoted as saying.          Din Syamsuddin said he had attended the opening of several ESQ trainings and read a number of ESQ books but found so far no aspects that could be categorized as deviations from Ialamic teachings.          However, he admitted he did  not  know which aspects of the ESQ the Malaysian Mufti had labeled as deviating from  Islamic teachings. "Therefore, it would be better if we wait for the Malaysian Mufti's explanations," Din said.           Hasyim Muzadi, former NU executive board leader, said  no deviation was found in the training programs organized by the ESQ Leadership Center. "I  wrote a recommendation letter to the Malaysian authority (JAKIM) through ESQ leader Ary Ginanjar several days ago," Hasyim said.          He said that the ESQ taught participants about strong faith through scientific theories. "Does such a theory violate Islamic faith?" he asked.           The former NU chief  said that Malaysia had 14 Muftis for 13 Malaysian states and territories such as Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melacca and Negeri Sembilan. Of the 14, only one  had declared ESQ heretical, namely the Mufti for Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.          MUI chairman Amidhan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the fatwa issued by a Malaysian mufti to declare the widely-popular Emotional and Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) training program heretical was "exorbitant".          "The ESQ method is very advanced and extraordinary. Those who issued the fatwa are just not ready [for such methods]," he said.           In the meantime, Director General of Islamic Guidance of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Nasarudin Umar said there was no problem with ESQ and no one found its presence in Indonesia as heretical.          "ESQ programs have been going on for about ten years. If it is against Islam it would have spared uproar since long. There are a lot of leaders from the MUI, religious community, rectors and others who have attended the programs," Nasaruddin Umar said.           He said that was strange for the Kuala Lumpur Mufti to declare it heretical while the other 13 Muftis who had attended the trainings did not object to its teachings, he said.          Legislator Romahurmuziy of the United Development Party (PPP) faction in the House of Representative (DPR) said meanwhile that the ESQ leadership training was not against  Islamic teachings.          "Nothing of the materials given in the ESQ training deviates from Islam," Romaharmuziy told ANTARA on Thursday.           Romy, as he was called, explained that the materials delivered in the training only constituted the visualization through the multi-media means of the verses of the Koran and the Prophet's sayings.          "What was given by Ary Ginanjar in his ESQ training was a method while the substance of the materials is by no means running counter to the Islamic faith," Romy who has attended ESQ training said.          The ESQ Leadership Center said its press statement on Thursday that its team would continue to conduct training in Malaysia even if one of the Muftis in Malaysia had declared it as heretical.          Training in Malaysia will continue to go on, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.          It said that since its establishment on May 16, 2000, ESQ training alumni had exceeded 850,000 and the number still continue to increase. The alumni included government officials, state institutions leaders, state firms executives and members of the House of Representatives. (T.A014/A/HAJM/16:10/a014) 09-07-2010 16:29:3