SPIRITUAL HOMO DEUS: MULYADHI KARTANEGARA INDIGENOUS ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENTALISM THOUGHT

Nuruddin Al Akbar

doi:10.31436/ijiok.v1i2.14

Authors

Nuruddin Al Akbar Universitas Gadjah Mada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/ijiok.v1i2.14

Keywords:

Man, Nature, Divine Love, Spiritual Evolution, Homo Deus

Abstract

This study seeks to explore Mulyadhi Kartanegara's idea of Indigenous Islamic Environmentalism. It is called indigenous because, in Mulyadhi's perspective, there is a problem with uprooting Muslims from their intellectual tradition (indigenous knowledge). For Mulyadhi, this disconnection provides an opportunity for the inclusion of a materialistic western conception of cosmology and influences the perspective of Muslims in general. Because of this trend, the behavior of Muslims towards nature is not much different from modern humans in general, who view nature as an object that can be exploited without limits. To fight the tendency of this dominating relationship, Mulyadhi attempted to formulate alternative ecological ideas based on inspiration from the indigenous Islamic intellectual tradition that developed in the medieval Islamic world: the views of the Ikhwan Al-Shafa/ brethren of purity (peripatetic tradition) and Rumi (gnosis tradition).

The ecological ideas developed by Mulyadhi centered on the theistic evolutionary concept of the universe. For Mulyadhi, this universe is a living entity and has a strong sense of love for God. The reason is, the love that nature has is divine, seeking perfection. At the same time, God is a perfect being itself. In this context, the universe with its love carries out a transformative motion to get closer to God. One of the fruits of this transformative movement is humans, who the Ikhwan position as a microcosm. The reason is that the nature of the universe is wholly contained in humans (minerals, vegetable souls, animal souls, and rational souls). However, Rumi states that man is a macrocosm because he is the vital goal of the transformation process, like fruit (man) produced from the tree of life (nature). So, for Mulyadhi, humans are the essential evolutionary stage of the universe, like the mouth to the body. At the peak of creation, humans are expected to be the liaison between God and the universe. With the help of a human, the universe can feel the blessings of this divine connection. As an inseparable part of nature, humans also become a kind of mirror that will reflect the natural reality outside of themselves. If the inner state of a human being experiences darkness, it will also impact the destruction of nature or vice versa. So, this ecological idea demands the transformation of the human soul as a prerequisite for overcoming environmental problems. The change in question is the continuity of human spiritual Evolution (trans cosmic voyage), which will give birth to a new person termed Insan Kamil (the perfect man), namely humans who can "manifest" the attributes of God in everyday life. Using Harari term, Insan Kamil (the perfect man) is a "Spiritual" Homo Deus.

ABSTRAK: Penelitian ini berupaya menggali gagasan Mulyadhi Kartanegara tentang Environmentalisme Islam yang bersifat indigeneous. Disebut indigeneous karena dalam pandangan Mulyadhi ada persoalan mencabut umat Islam dari tradisi intelektualnya (indigenous knowledge). Bagi Mulyadhi, keterputusan ini memberikan peluang masuknya konsepsi kosmologi barat yang materialistis dimana mempengaruhi cara pandang umat Islam secara umum. Karena kecenderungan tersebut, perilaku umat Islam terhadap alam tidak jauh berbeda dengan manusia modern pada umumnya yang memandang alam sebagai objek yang dapat dieksploitasi tanpa batas. Untuk melawan kecenderungan hubungan yang mendominasi tersebut, Mulyadhi berupaya merumuskan gagasan-gagasan ekologi alternatif berdasarkan inspirasi tradisi intelektual Islam indigeneous yang berkembang di dunia Islam pada abad pertengahan yakni pandangan Ikhwan Al-Shafa (tradisi peripatetik) dan Rumi (tradisi gnosis).

Ide ekologi yang dikembangkan Mulyadhi berpusat pada konsep evolusi teistik tentang alam semesta. Bagi Mulyadhi, alam semesta ini merupakan satu kesatuan yang hidup dan memiliki rasa cinta yang kuat terhadap Tuhan. Menurutnya, cinta yang dimiliki alam bersifat ilahi yakni mencari kesempurnaan. Pada saat yang sama, Tuhan diposisikan sebagai Dzat yang Maha Sempurna. Dalam konteks ini, alam semesta dengan kecintaannya melakukan gerak evolusi untuk mendekatkan diri kepada Tuhan. Salah satu buah dari gerakan transformatif ini adalah kemunculan manusia yang diposisikan Ikhwan sebagai mikrokosmos. Alasannya karena hakikat alam semesta seluruhnya terkandung dalam diri manusia (mineral, jiwa nabati, jiwa hewani, dan jiwa rasional). Berbeda dengan Ikhwan, Rumi menyatakan bahwa manusia adalah makrokosmos karena ia adalah tujuan akhir dari proses evolusi, kayaknya buah (manusia) yang dihasilkan melalui pohon kehidupan (alam). Jadi, bagi Mulyadhi, manusia adalah tahap evolusi paling esensial dari alam semesta, ibaratnya perjalanan dari mulut menuju tubuh. Sebagai puncak dari proses evolusi/penciptaan, manusia diharapkan menjadi penghubung antara Tuhan dan alam semesta. Dengan bantuan manusia-lah, alam semesta dapat merasakan berkah Ilahi. Sebagai bagian yang tidak terpisahkan dari alam, manusia menjadi semacam cermin yang mencerminkan realitas alam di luar dirinya. Maka, jika keadaan batin manusia mengalami kegelapan secara otomatis akan berdampak pula pada rusaknya alam, begitupun sebaliknya. Jadi, gagasan ekologi indigeneous ini menuntut transformasi jiwa manusia sebagai prasyarat untuk mengatasi permasalahan lingkungan. Perubahan yang dimaksud adalah urgensi melanjutkan Evolusi pada tataran spiritual manusia (transcosmic voyage) yang akan melahirkan manusia baru yang diistilahkan dengan julukan Insan Kamil (manusia sempurna), yaitu manusia yang dapat “mewujudkan” sifat-sifat Tuhan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Jika meminjam istilah Harari, Insan Kamil (manusia sempurna) dapat dikatakan adaalah manifestasi dari Homo Deus yang bercorak spiritual.

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