The War of Term

  NU (Nahdatul Ulama) as one of the biggest muslim organization had declared to banned the utilization of Kafir or infidel term and prompt to utilize of Non-Muslim term because the reluctance of some religious figures in Indonesia that think if the term of kafir pointed to the people of different faith roughly. This pronouncement evoked pro and contra in many realms. This essay will explain from both perspective.

The kafir term is adopted from one of the letters in the Qur'an named "Al-Kafiruun" which describes people with different beliefs. Recently, this term was intended for other religious groups with hatred. SETARA as a human rights watchdog organization in Indonesia argues that most disturbances and threats in places of worship are due to labeling of infidels or kafir.

Although NU did not approve it as a fatwa or guidelines of islam in Indonesia, there were several groups who did not agree with NU's statement because it doubted part of the term religion. FPI (Islamic Defenders Front) as one of the Muslim communities said that to maintaining national unity did not have to violate the theology.

In short, the term of kafir has turned into a crude term for some people because the term has been labeled with hatred. community tolerance is needed to avoid conflict and reduce differences.