With the re-election of Soekarwo as Governor of East Java some time ago, it is a matter of pride for the Muhammadiyah community. Soekarwo has a great concern for Muhammadiyah, and considers it as one of the great powers whose existence cannot be ignored.
Muhammadiyah is very grateful and has been right to give support to Soekarwo during the last gubernatorial election. The position of the Muhammadiyah organization is strongest in East Java, because its organization is centralized. This means that the organization from the regions to the center becomes one line/collegial collective. This is what distinguishes Muhammadiyah from other organizations, and will become a great power.
These are some of the things conveyed by the Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Regional Management (PWM) of East Java Province, Prof. Dr. Thohir Luth, MA, at the religious study and coordination meeting of the Muhammadiyah Regional Management (PDM) of Malang City with the theme "'Stimulating the spirit of Muhammadiyah in welcoming 2014', at the PDM office of Malang City, Jalan Gajayana 28 B, Sunday (08/12).
2014, Thohir continued, is a political year, where there will be legislative elections and presidential elections. In this context, he gives freedom to Muhammadiyah members/cadres. "We allow/will not direct them to give their votes or voting rights to any political party," he explained.
"We give freedom and it depends on each regional leader as the person in charge. As in the Malang City Mayoral Election yesterday, Muhammadiyah through the National Mandate Party (PAN) gave support to Heri Pudji Utami, even though I had predicted that he would not win. Our society is already smart, and understands that they must give their right to vote to which candidate for leader," explained Thohir.
Still according to Thohir, without Muhammadiyah, the government will not be smooth and Muhammadiyah without the government will be hampered. However, we should not be too close and keep too much distance with the government. "Our existence in Muhammadiyah must be in the context of worship to Allah SWT, although later other missions will emerge. If it is like that, then militant cadres will be born," he added.
In the struggle in Muhammadiyah, Thohir continued, we need sincerity and militant cadres, so that later when there are problems in the struggle itself, the best solution can be found immediately.
"We hope that in Muhammadiyah there will be created mujtahids with character. And we are mujtahids, even on a micro scale. In fighting we must be sincere because of Allah SWT, and do not always say, if not me it will not be better," he said.
"In order for us to be sincere, we must be able to sacrifice personal interests for the benefit of the people. In addition, do not forget to always ask for forgiveness so that worship is not just to fulfill obligations. What is no less important is to purify our intentions to seek the pleasure of Allah SWT. So, in addition to the emergence of sincerity, later militant Muhammadiyah cadres will emerge," explained Thohir.
The same thing was also conveyed by the Head of PDM Malang City, Rif'an Maskur, who said that his party will continue to strive to produce quality Muhammadiyah cadres. "We will maximize all sub-fields in PDM Malang City, such as routine religious studies, cadre training, and so on," he added. (say/dmb)
