Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat speaking virtually at a national seminar by the Mamba’ul ‘Ulum Islamic Institute (IIM) Surakarta, Thursday (9/8/2022). Photo by MKRI.

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Thursday, September 8, 2022 | 11:03 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—Interaction between countries is now very open, so Indonesia needs foundation and guidelines in the form of Pancasila for the community in facing the uncertainty of change in the world, said Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat at a national seminar on “Improving Citizens’ Understanding of Constitutional Rights and the Quality of Legal Higher Education” by the Mamba’ul ‘Ulum Islamic Institute (IIM) Surakarta on Thursday, September 8, 2022 virtually.

He encouraged the students to understand the central role of the founding fathers, Soekarno and Moh. Hatta, and their philosophies that the young generation should learn. They gathered at a meeting of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Works for Independence (BPUPK) on August 18, 1945 before diverse members that represented Indonesia. The meeting reflected unity, solidarity, and tolerance toward united vision and mission.

He also talked about today’s Society 5.0, which is dependent on social media. He believes that the people have not been using social media responsibly, which negatively affects the nation. In social media, one can find shallow ideologies such as hedonism, consumerism, and radicalism, which are far removed from Indonesia’s ideology Pancasila.

“Therefore, June 1 is still a day to commemorate so that [we] are reminded by the importance of understanding and implementing Pancasila values, because Indonesia is a law-based state, a democracy, with the ideology based on Pancasila,” he said when delivering a presentation on “Building and Developing Law with Pancasila Character” from the constitutional justices’ offices in the Constitutional Court, Jakarta.

Law and State

At the Q&A session, student Vikibayu Mahendra mentioned recent news about a university student who expressed their gender neutrality and asked its correlation to the first precept of Pancasila values, belief in One Supreme God. Justice Arief explained that there are two principles to law: creating and enforcing it. The implementation differs in one country to another. He revealed that the ideology of Indonesia, Turkey, and Pakistan—all Muslim-majority countries—differ. Turkey chose to be secular, while Pakistan Islamic. Meanwhile, Indonesia did not place Islam as the state foundation, but religious belief is universally included in Pancasila as its first precept.

In practice, Indonesia’s law must be based on the belief in One Supreme God. For example, since 1974 with the enactment of the Marriage Law, marriage in Indonesia is between two citizens and must be based on this principle. Therefore, marriage is only legitimate when practiced based on the religions of the citizens.

“So, marriage in Indonesia is not secular. That is why religions in Indonesia do not allow marriage that is not in line with religious values, such as same-sex marriage, and so on,” he answered.

Next, M. Alfi Khoerudin asked about atheism. Would an atheist citizen be said to have gone against state ideology? Justice Arief answered that Indonesia is a religious country, thus citizens can embrace any of the religions in Indonesia.

“If someone tries to spread atheism, the state can take action. However, if that person embraces it alone, it would not be a matter of the state. In order to resolve this, persuasion is required from the family, society, and the state so that the individual will return to their [religion],” he said.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/10/2022 15:22 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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