That Sri Lanka is a pluralistic nation is an undeniable fact. It is the home of many communities which have contributed to its being for a long time. It is this variety, this unity in diversity, which gives it strength and beauty. In this multi-ethnic social environment, members of all communities live in peace and harmony with in social integration one with another. Accordingly, since settling down in the island more than1200 years ago, the Muslims established very cordial ties with the Buddhist people in Sri Lanka. The relationship between them may be cited as a unique example of ethnic harmony in multi-religious societies. Evidently, this is a longstanding relationship formed over a very long period of time and developed and preserved with trust and good understanding between these two communities. As such, it has stood the test of time and has been able to withstand the numerous attempts made by various colonial powers and chauvinistic racist elements to destroy it. Given the above background, therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify historical relationship between the Buddhists and the Muslims in Sri Lanka

Abstrak: Studi keislaman oleh para sarjana telah melahirkan corakcorak pemikiran. Salah satu dari corak itu adalah pemikiran liberal. Di Indonesia terdapat beberapa tokoh yang diidentifikasi telah melahirkan atau menyuguhkan pemikiran-pemikiran Islam yang liberal, di antaranya tersebut misalnya nama Harun Nasution, Nurchalish Madjid, Abdurrahman Wahid, dan lain-lain. Tulisan ini bermaksud fokus pada salah satu tokoh, yakni Abduurahman Wahid yang tenar dipanggil dengan Gus Dur. Apa saja pemikiranpemikiran Gus Dur yang dipandang liberal, tulisan ini bermaksud untuk membahas hal itu. Keyword: Gus Dur, pemikiran liberal, ideologi, demokrasi PendahuluanDinamika pemikiran Islam berubah dan berkembang sepanjang perjalanan sejarah agama itu sendiri sama ada bersifat Salafi (tradisional), fundamental, sederhana, moden dan liberal. Usaha-usaha memahami, mentafsir dan berpegang kepada dua sumber asas Islam; Al-Quran dan al-Hadith melahirkan pentafsiran dan pemaknaan yang berbeza.Kedua-dua sumber itu adalah bersifat transenden, dalam pengertian mengatasi ruang dan waktu. Namun dalam memahami sumber ajaran ini dan pentafsiran serta pelaksanaannya sentiasa mengalami proses aktualisasi ke dalam realiti sosial pemeluknya. Tulisan ini, meneroka beberapa aspek tertentu gagasan dan idea yang cuba dikemukakan oleh Gus Durbagi merungkai persoalan umat Islam kontemporari yang dinilai cenderung pada prinsipnya ke arah idea-idea dan pemikiran liberal Islam. Namun di permulaan tulisan dibentangkan secara ringkas latar belakang dan biografi Gus Dur bagi menjadi landasan pemahaman awal mengenali idea dan pemikiran tokoh ini.

Pembahasan dalam tulisan singkat ini terdiri dari tiga bagian utama. Bagian pertama akan membahas dengan singkat asal usul bahasa Arab dan datangnya agama Islam sebagai awal yang penting dalam membentuk dan mengkaji bahasa Arab. Bagian kedua akan membahas tentang perubahan dan pembaharuan sejarah dalam bahasa Arab selama periode awal Islam (sastra Arab) dan periode pertengahan, dalam arti yang luas, meliputi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan sikap para cendikiawan pada saat itu. Dan pada bagian akhir, untuk memperoleh secara utuh permasalahan modern dari perubahan dan pembaharuan bahasa Arab tersebut, dua sarjana kontemporer Timur Tengah dipilih untuk memberi komentar terhadap masalah ini.

Sri Lanka is a nation in which multi-religious, multi-ethnic multi-language people live. Buddhists are the majority, while Muslims form the second minority group next to Tamils. Since historical times, the community relationship between Buddhists and Muslims has been prevailing. However, recently, a disturbing trend has been widely spreading among the Buddhists and Muslims. This situation has emerged during the aftermath of the anti-Muslim campaigns set by a number of Buddhist Nationalist Groups (BNGs), with their main goal being to propagate incorrect opinions about the Muslims to promote negative views about their socio-culture, and to distort the idea of a peaceful relationship between Buddhists and Muslims in the country. Accordingly, in the past several years, they have campaigned against halal certification on consumer goods, hijab and niqab of Muslim women, cattle slaughtering, places of worship and prayer services, among others. Moreover, they spread out the illusion that the above aspects of Muslim socio-culture are notable threats to the Buddhist people. So, these aspects are assumed by the Buddhists to be obstacles for maintaining a community relationship with Muslims. On the above background, analyzing the extent to which the above aspects influence the majority-Buddhists and minority-Muslims relationship, and determining as to whether an unfastened relationship will prevail between them, are the main objectives of this study. Based on the results, it is certainly affirmed that the above Muslim socio-cultural aspects, except slaughtering of cattle, have not pushed their influences to damage the Buddhist-Muslim relationship in Sri Lanka. In this respect, it was found that the aspect of 'slaughtering of cattle' is the only obstacle to the Buddhist-Muslim relationship. Furthermore, the recent campaigns have not changed the Buddhists' mood in terms of maintaining a better relationship with Muslims. Moreover, the campaigns did not change their habits in keeping up the relationships with Muslims, without any break as how they behaved during the war and pre-war periods. However, it is worthy to note that the BNGs have succeeded through their campaigns to create a negative Muslim stereotype among a small population of Buddhists in Sri Lanka.

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