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By Ust Ismail Yusanto Spokesman of HTI
“You do not want to be called a radical, neither as a fundamentalist. So, what should I call you? “, a Newsweek reporter asked me in an interview.

The terms ‘radical Islam’ and ‘Islamic fundamentalist, as well as hard-liner  and Islamic extremist must be rejected. The reason is that these are pejorative terms. According to Great Indonesian Language Dictionary, ‘pejorative’ is a language element that has derogatory and insulting meaning.

Languages convey stories. Thus, every term certainly has its own images and stories that have been previously been formed or shaped. Unfortunately, all of these terms have had negative images.  “Radical”, “fundamentalist”, “extremist”, and “hard Line” are the terms in the discourse developed by the West to refer to groups or individuals whom think they are exclusive Muslims, doctrinaire, anti-dialogue and have hostile attitude to the West and tend to commit violence. Once you commit to violence, whether you really do it or you are made as if you do it, then you will be labeled with the term “terrorist”. Once you are labeled a terrorist, then you will be a prisoner forever.

See what happened to Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) which is finally labeled as a terrorist group? As an organization, in fact JAT has never been proven to get involved in any violence. They even firmly condemned the Bali bombings. However, because Ustadz Abubakar Bashir was accused of being involved in the training of the terrorists in Janto, Aceh, then he was labelled as a terrorist , though later in court he was proven not guilty.

That is how awful the hegemony of discourse is. And it is through that hegemony, Noam Chomsky, a professor of linguistics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says that the U.S. media has manufactured consent (a pushing a certain image through the media to give an ally a right to do something which is legally wrong but he is deserved not to be prosecuted) in the public  mind. The image portrayed by the media is achieved by means of a continual series of terms driven towards the public mind. The portrayal is done through the media which has been dominated by the West. As a consequence, the public, including the Muslims, believe one should never be a radical, fundamentalist extremist or hard-liner because they are all bad.

It is through this hegemonic discourse that people are also forced to believe that al-Qaeda is a terrorist group because, according to the U.S. Government, they have committed violence. Whereas if they really commit violence, the U.S. and its allies also commit more violence everywhere with more intensity. However, why are the U.S. and their allies never called terrorists?

The report of mass media, similar to history, is the second-hand reality. What we read in the papers or what we hear and see on TV are not the actual reality, but the formulation of the reality which happened but processed by the reporters, editors, including the photographers and the cameramen in line with their policy or ideology they profess. The processed news by the media might show a very different image from the real facts. Therefore, if people just rely on the media, they might misjudge someone.

In the Conference of the Prominent Figures of Ummah (KTU) in Yogyakarta on June 10th, there was a participant who called HTI a street pressure group because they often stage rallies on the street. This guy must have been affected by the news because one of the many activities of HTI, newsworthy in the eyes of media, is perhaps a rally. As a result of the media coverage, many misjudge HTI. As a result, people think that HTI activities are only rallies, or they can only stage rallies. In fact, the activities of HTI are not only rallies.

An image can also be formed through photographs or pictures which accompany the news. There are a group of people who are afraid of HTI because they think HTI is terrifying. It seems that he has been influenced by the photographs or or pictures of HTI rallies taken by the photographers who put on the violent-looking protesters chanting the takbir with their fists in the air.

Prior to the Khilafah Conference in Sydney in 2007, in whichI was one of the speakers, the local mass media questioned why the Australian Government granted a visa for me. To accompany the coverage, and perhaps to give the terrifying impression, a hostile-looking close-up of my face was posted on the papers under a big title ‘Indonesian Radical Muslim Cleric’. I did not know myself how they could get such a photo. However, after reading the news, added with a hostile-looking face, surely people will receive a bad image of someone.

But, trust me, it is just a temporary image. All can be changed or altered after making direct contacts. Through meetings with HTI, people will find true facts about HTI, its ideas and people, which may be very different from the existing impression or image which has been in the mind of people. It is why direct contacts or direct meetings is necessary which is to prove that all bad images about HTI are not true.

So, what do you want to be called? To the Newsweek reporter, I told them, “Call us, the ‘truly muslims’ or the ‘real muslims’.”

This is a term that I create myself, by copying a jargon of tourism advertisement in Malaysia which calls Malaysia as ‘Truly Asia’ or ‘real Asia’. I do not know if the term is appropriate or not. Insha Allah, it is appropriate. I mean, the term describes that we, and of course other Muslims, are people who believe in Islam completely and understand and practice all the provisions of Islam as much as possible.

Why not just use the term Muslim Kaffah?

There should be no trouble to call who we are. But that is what happens. In the current era of globalization, when the West dominates almost all aspects of life, including dominating the public opinion, we are so troubled by the use of these terms that we find difficulties just to refer to ourselves.

So, is it true that HTI is a “street group”? Jokingly, I told the participant of KTU who asked the question that HTI is not a street group, but a “room group” because there are more activities held inside rooms than on the streets. One of the proof is the KTU.

After a long interview, I asked back the reporters from Newsweek, ABC and NBC TV who concurrently interviewed me, “Do you believe that someone like me is a terrorist?” They replied in unison, “Oh, no, no …”

Then, a reporter from Washington Post suddenly said, “You are too smart to be a Muslim.”

So it is true, meeting makes changes. Meetings will change all. Therefore, let us meet or contact people diligently. Certainly, it is not just a contact, but a purposeful contact (ittishalah maqsudah). With sincerity, clear and unequivocal explanation starting from the spirit of unity, such meetings, Insha Allah, will be able to change the attitude of people from antipathy to sympathy, from opposing to supporting. You can be sure of that. [] (RZ)