MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, PALU – Chairman of Muhammadiyah Central Board, Agung Danarto, reaffirmed the spiritual roots of Muhammadiyah’s progressive movement, that is drawn from the da’wah spirit of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), during a public sermon attended by Muhammadiyah community of Central Sulawesi on Tuesday (14/10) at the Muhammadiyah Provincial Board Office of Central Sulawesi.
According to him, the vision of progress that characterizes Muhammadiyah is, in essence, a continuation of Islam’s mission to liberate humankind from backwardness and lead them toward an advanced civilization.
He explained how, in the early days of Islam, the message was revealed to the Arabs of the jahiliyyah (ignorance) period, a society marked by moral and intellectual decline. Yet in a relatively short time, through the guidance of the Prophet and the teachings of the Qur’an, that society transformed into a community that valued knowledge, discipline, and a high level of civilization. Within decades after the Prophet’s passing, the Muslim community even became the world’s center of knowledge and civilization for centuries.
Agung said this historical awakening inspired the founding of Muhammadiyah in 1912. At that time, the Muslim world was in a period of colonialism and decline. K.H. Ahmad Dahlan established Muhammadiyah fueled by the spirit of restoring the Muslim community’s identity as the best of nations, as stated in Surah Ali Imran (3:110): a community that enjoins good, forbids evil, and believes in Allah.
This movement takes the principle of ruju’ ilal Qur’an was Sunnah (returning to the Qur’an and Sunnah) as its foundation. Muhammadiyah does not merely continue the intellectual legacy of classical Islam, but strives to rekindle the enlightening spirit of the Qur’an and Sunnah to reshape a progressive society.
In his view, Islamic spirit must be manifested through concrete action and rationality. He highlighted how certain strands of early Sufi traditions in the Indonesian archipelago overemphasized predestination, which in turn weakened people’s drive for ikhtiar (effort).
Such a perspective, he argued, led to a loss of motivation to learn, research, and innovate. Islam, on the other hand, places ikhtiar as an integral part of faith, aligned with the principle of causality that underpins scientific inquiry.
The importance of knowledge is emphasized in the command iqra’ (read) in Surah Al-’Alaq (96:1). Reading, in its broadest sense, means not only reading sacred texts, but also understanding the signs of nature, history, and human civilization. Knowledge pursued with divine consciousness leads to benefit and progress. For this reason, Muhammadiyah continually encourages its members to seek knowledge around the world, equipped with a strong faith foundation to islamize the knowledge they acquire.
Agung also stressed the value of social equality as part of Islam’s universal teachings. Referring to Surah Al-Hujurat (49:13), he emphasized that human dignity is not determined by ethnicity, race, or social status, but by piety. This principle has long been embedded within Muhammadiyah, where everyone, rich or poor, professors or laborers, holds equal standing in doing good deeds.
Within the organizational context, he reminded members of the importance of building friendships, strengthening ukhuwah Islamiah (Islamic solidarity), and cooperating with various groups for the benefit of the community. Muhammadiyah, he said, is an open da’wah movement that does not seek enmity. However, this openness must be accompanied by vigilance to ensure that the organization’s identity and institutions remain protected from external disruption.
He also called on Muhammadiyah members to maintain internal unity. Divisions, whether at the leadership level or within institutions such as universities, would only hinder progress. Every mandate, therefore, must be carried out in the spirit of togetherness and collective responsibility.
At the close of his sermon, Agung expressed his hope that Muhammadiyah Central Sulawesi would continue to cultivate a progressive character rooted in the spirit of iqra’. For him, the da’wah spirit of the Prophet that once ignited a great civilization should be the guiding inspiration for every Muhammadiyah step toward building a just, prosperous, and progressive Islamic society. (Bintang Adrian)
