TAKWA FUADI SAMAD
Belief in God based on Just and Civilized Humanity
Furthermore, this grand deliberation does not occur in an ideological vacuum; it takes place explicitly within the just and civilized sphere of humanity, or as historically articulated, in de damkring van de rechtvaardige en beschaafde mensheid. When organized through this holistic framework, the ultimate destination of the state’s political journey becomes clear. In a purely individual, religious context, the ultimate goal of practicing taqwa is to reach the pleasure of God (mardhatillah) or, communally, to realize a prosperous, forgiven land (baldatun thayyibatun wa Rabbun ghafuur).
In the constitutional architecture of Pancasila, the true earthly manifestation of that divine pleasure is none other than the Fifth Sila: Keadilan Sosial bagi Seluruh Rakyat Indonesia (Social Justice for All Indonesian People). Social justice is the secular, tangible equivalent of divine grace; it is a societal state where no citizen goes hungry, no community is oppressed, and justice is applied with absolute equity across the entire archipelago.
This integration reveals a profound law of political economy and spiritual reality: without the practical realization of social justice on Earth, human beings find it exceptionally difficult to perceive, let alone internalize, the very existence of a Just God. There is a profound theological axiom stating that structural poverty and systemic deprivation bring humanity dangerously close to disbelief (kufr). When people are crushed by the daily anxieties of survival, when they are exploited by unbridled greed and denied their fundamental human dignity by a corrupt system, the inner sense of safety and spiritual sanctuary (iman) is eroded, replaced by despair.
Therefore, the only way for the mass of humanity to truly witness and experience the presence of a Just Creator is to live within a society that actively manifests social justice. The realization of the Fifth Sila is what protects the populace from the spiritual decay of kufr. Consequently, establishing social justice is the ultimate moral responsibility of those who have been blessed with systemic knowledge and deep wisdom (al-’ilm wa al-hikmah).
The supremacy of the People’s Consultative Assembly
To ensure that this moral imperative is never compromised, political power within the Indonesian republic must be organized in a way that places it under the perpetual auspices and guidance of genuine leaders of the people (pemimpin rakyat)—individuals defined not by their campaign wealth or populistic demagoguery, but by their internal possession of hikmat kebijaksanaan. This original state design relies upon three fundamental, indivisible pillars of governance that completely surpass the suffocating, rigid Western binary categories of parliamentarism and presidentialism.
The first pillar is the absolute sovereignty of the people concentrated within a supreme representative body (die gesamte staatsgewalt liegt allein bei der Majlis als die vertretungsorgan des willens des staatsvolkes). The Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (MPR), in its original conception, stands as the living embodiment of the entire nation’s collective will, ensuring that state power is never captured by a single executive ruler. The second pillar is an uncompromising nomocracy—a strict rule of law that is explicitly tethered to a higher moral order (Ketuhanan), preventing the law from degenerating into a mere tool of raw state power. The third pillar is constitutionalism, an unyielding fidelity to the Preamble and the text of the 1945 Constitution as the sacred, immutable social contract of the nation.
Ultimately, this entire philosophical framework remains utterly free from specific religious biases. While the Indonesian language borrowed the technical terms iman, taqwa, hikmat, and musyawarah from Arabic for historical and practical convenience, the underlying substance of these concepts is universal. It belongs completely to the diverse native traditions across the entire Nusantara archipelago.
The exact same qualities of inner grounding and active ethical mindfulness are expressed through countless native frameworks, such as the Javanese concept of living in a state of perpetual awareness and alertness (eling lan waspada), as well as the profound ancestral, cosmos-aligning traditions of the Dayak, Papuan, Hindu Balinese, Christian, Buddhist, Confucian, and Marapu communities.
Anyone, regardless of their specific religious or cultural background, can embody the qualities of iman and taqwa by maintaining their moral integrity and walking carefully through the thorny paths of life. Therefore, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa has almost nothing to do with regulating private religious rituals or enforcing sectarian dogmas; it is a sophisticated constitutional principle designed to guide state governance.
Conclusion: We get what we are
In the final analysis, the First Sila stands as a powerful, perpetual mirror held up to the entire nation, reminding citizens and rulers alike of a law of spiritual and political cause and effect: a society will inevitably receive the exact leaders it deserves. If the populace becomes heedless, discarding active vigilance and moral caution in their daily lives, they poison the cultural soil of the nation, and they should not be surprised when they find themselves governed by wicked, corrupt, and ignorant rulers emerging from their own midst.
Conversely, if the people honor the time-tested ways of their ancestors, living with internal moral anchoring and active ethical vigilance, the nation will naturally be granted leaders who are blessed with deep knowledge and true wisdom. Enshrined permanently within the Preamble of the written 1945 Constitution, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa serves as an uncompromising manual for human flourishing. It declares that human beings require a higher moral anchor to thrive, and that by organizing political power around human dignity and collective wisdom, we can construct a state of absolute social justice—paving the way for a dignified life here on Earth and enduring peace in the hereafter.
Wallahu a’lam bishawab (And God knows best the truth).
