Ramadan fasting has entered its third week. Apart from the spiritual aspect, various dimensions emerge from this religious ritual, such as social, economic and even state aspects.

These various dimensions are due to worship that involves the community in a colossal way taking place in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Of course, the socio-economic impact is inevitable, in line with the operation of economic law: supply and demand.

Apart from that, Ramadan fasting also has individual and social dimensions. The individual dimension is a manifestation of a servant's obedience to his Lord's commands to reach the highest level as a pious human being.

On the other hand, Ramadan fasting also has a social dimension which is represented through various actions that correlate with social aspects.

Indonesia makes religion one of the important issues in the constitution (constitutionalization of religion). This practice of religious constitutionalization provides a strong message about the state's commitment through recognition, protection, and guarantees of freedom for religious communities in embracing their religion and beliefs (Article 28E and Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution).

At this point, the existence of the state does not exist in a vacuum of religious (divine) values ​​in its activities in the public sphere. In fact, the interaction between state (actors) and religion goes hand in hand in a corridor that creates understanding and mutual understanding with one another.

This is inseparable from the construction of the Indonesian state which was designed not on the basis of religion, but at the same time Indonesia was not founded by separating religion from state life.

In this context, the implementation of the Ramadan fast is actually a showcase and manifestation of the existence of religious constitutionalization in Indonesia. Religious adherents can freely express their religious activities while remaining aware of the plurality of Indonesian society within the framework of applicable laws and regulations.

Godly State

Konstitusionalisasi agama dalam UUD 1945 memberi spektrum pada sikap dan kedudukan negara dengan menjadikan agama sebagai sektor penting dalam penyelenggaraan pemerintahan. Keberadaan Kementerian Agama (Kemenag), seperti disebutkan Dian Abdul Hamid Shah (2017), menjadi manifestasi yang paling tampak atas komitmen negara di bidang keagamaan yang menjadikannya bangsa yang berkarakter religius (religious character).

Pada titik ini, relasi negara dan agama memiliki dua aspek sekaligus, yakni aspek formil yang beririsan pada fasilitasi negara terhadap seluruh agama dan para pemeluknya dalam menjalankan agama dan kepercayaannya. Negara menjamin kebebasan dalam menjalankan keyakinan agama dan kepercayaan. Negara juga melindungi warga negara dalam mengekspresikan keberagamaannya.

Di sisi lain, terdapat aspek material di mana negara menempatkan nilai agama yang universal menjadi spirit material dalam penyelenggaraan negara. Spirit yang terpancarkan dari nilai agama yang universal sejatinya termanifestasikan melalui Pancasila dan UUD 1945. Aspek material inilah yang memiliki relevansi bagi negara dalam pengelolaan penyelenggaraan negara.

Dalam pembahasan rancangan undang-undang dasar (RUUD) dalam rapat Badan Usaha Penyelidik Usaha Kemerdekaan (BPUPK), 1 Juni 1945, pada pembahasan dasar negara, Bung Karno menyebut pentingnya ketuhanan yang berkebudayaan yang berarti tak adanya egoisme agama, ketuhanan yang berbudi pekerti luhur, dan ketuhanan yang hormat-menghormati satu sama lain.

Dalam praktiknya, kaidah agama berdampingan dengan kaidah-kaidah lain, seperti kaidah kesusilaan dan kaidah kesopanan yang berkedudukan menjadi bahan material dalam proses perencanaan, pembahasan, serta pelaksanaan norma hukum yang mengikat publik. Dengan kata lain, nilai agama dan nilai yang tumbuh di tengah masyarakat (living in law) berkedudukan sebagai elemen penting dalam pembentukan kaidah hukum positif.

Authentic Citizenship

The relationship between state and religion in the formal aspect places the state as a facilitator in administering the state, especially providing public services. He urged that the state be active in facilitating formal-ceremonial activities of religions and their adherents.

This was confirmed by the findings of a 2020 Pew Research Center study which stated that Indonesia was ranked the seventh most religious country in the world, with 98.7 percent of respondents considering religion important and 96 percent considering a person's morality to be determined by faith in God.

This finding does not change from previous research (2007-2019).

Interestingly, these findings reveal that economic factors, education and age influence perceptions about the existence of religion and belief in God. The lower a country's economic capacity (gross domestic product) and access to education, as well as the older one is (above 50 years), the more one believes in the existence of God and religion. The ten most religious countries are developing countries.

However, the religiosity of the Indonesian people is in fact not confirmed in the behavior of state administrators and the resulting policy products which are not oriented towards the good of society. At this point, the new state only positioned and operationalized religion as a purely formal aspect of the state.

Religion has not yet become a material aspect that becomes a guiding value in administering the state for the better. This is confirmed in several findings.

A number of visitors took photos and visited the mosque installation inside Senayan City Mall, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (20/3/2024). The world center made decorations in the form of mosque installations to welcome the holy month of Ramadan 1445 Hijriah.

Indonesia's corruption perception index in 2023 is ranked 115th out of 180 countries, with a score of 33 out of 100 or the same as the achievement in 2022. The rule of law index in 2023 also stagnated at 0.53 of value 1 (highest), the same as the previous year's achievement.

For three dollars, the democracy index in 2023 will be 6.53 points, down compared to 2022 of 6.71 points. This places Indonesia in the category of flawed democracy.

This is an important note for state administrators as a basis for evaluation and improvement in various public sectors.

These findings also confirm that the formal aspects of religion are not linear with the material aspects of religion. The new country merely fulfills the formal aspects of religion and neglects to use the material aspects as inspiration for values ​​in state management.

The noble values ​​of religion, such as honesty, fairness, trustworthiness and trustworthiness, have not been fully transformed through behavior, attitudes and actions, including in the process of forming public policies. As a result, anomalous and paradoxical events often become commonplace in public spaces.

The constitutionalization of religion as stated in the 1945 Constitution should give birth to authentic state practices, namely displaying the values ​​of honesty, justice and trustworthiness which originate from religious values. Not the opposite, a surplus in religious rituals, but a deficit in values ​​in state administration.

Ramadan should be a contemplative momentum to place religious values ​​as a material aspect in state administration. As Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) stated, The true meaning of religion is thus not simply morality, but morality touched by emotion (Susan Ratcliffe, 2006).

Ramadan should give rise to a deep awareness of transforming the noble values ​​of religion into the public sphere of the state.

Ferdian Andi, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy and Legal Studies (Puskapkum), Doctoral Program Student at the Postgraduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Artikel ini sudah dimuat di https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2024/03/24/ramadhan-konstitusionalisasi-agama-dan-bernegara-autentik, on March 25 2024 05:45 WIB.