RELIGIOUS MODERATION IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE USHUL FIQH

Building Dialectics and Finding Common Points

Abstract

In Islam a balanced attitude is called wasat, mizan, qist, or 'fair, the opposite of the word ghuluw or zhulm. Many verses or hadiths command to be fair and maintain balance. This command is very rational, because excessive behavior in any condition always brings harm, both to the perpetrator and especially to the people around who are affected by this attitude. Because excessive means exceeding the limits of tolerance or normal conditions that must be maintained. Although excessive size is relative, what is certain is that an act will be categorized as excessive if it sacrifices fundamental things, principal, primary, for something secondary, let alone tertiary. On the other hand, balance will bring benefits and goodness. In the fiqh proposal the act of "taking benefits and rejecting harm" is called maslahah (jalbu al-manfa'ah wa daf'i madarrah). This is in line with the general objective of the Shari'ah, namely realizing the benefit of human life (litahqiq masalih al-'ibad). However, a moderation that makes maslahah an ideal goal and concept requires dialectics and common ground so that it can be realized in the life of modern society, especially in the context of the nation-state.