Pemikiran Abdullah Saeed tentang Riddah dan Hak Asasi Manusia

<p>As an intellectual Muslim, Abdullah Saeed obviously concerns to contemporary issues of Islam. He attempts to contextualize Islamic values based on faith that Islamic doctrine is <em>shâlih li kulli zamân wa makân</em>. This attempt appears, for instance, on his views relating to the concept of <em>riddah</em> (apostasy) and human rights. Saeed offers what he names as progressive-<em>ijtihadits</em> methodology: a method to re-interpret religious texts based on necessities of contemporary people. Bids <em>progressive-ijtihadist</em> methodology is still facing many obstacles, but should be used as an alternative and a way out. The biggest challenge is the internal constraints, such as unpreparedness of Muslims themselves for the brave dissent, the pleasure of the culture of blaming each other (<em>takfîr</em>), and a cynical view of some groups of Muslims who consider this method as a deviation from the original Islamic teachings. Saeed uses historical analysis to observe and set the concept of <em>riddah</em> as a sin not as crime. By using historical analysis, he said, we can examine the concept due to scientific approach: centripetal and centrifugal. Therefore, the concept of <em>riddah</em> consists of both ontological and existential problems.