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82Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesiaexistence. Allah has a plan for the history of mankind, societyand the evolution of the universe. Human beings are theservants of Allah, living temporarily in this world and carryingout certain tasks which have to be fulfilled. Therefore, life is aresponsibility to be conducted based on self-devotion towardsAllah. Compulsory prayer and worship are intended tostrengthen human consciousness about the meaning and thedestination of life. Religion also provides a firm moral basisfor human attitudes. What distinguishes an attitude as Islamic or not is whether it is based on the intention of obtainingAllah%u2019s blessing and on the moral codes that determine thenormative boundaries of human attitudes. These requirements finally assume the compulsory status of decent deedsfor mankind.Natsir opines that, even though Islam is a universalreligion, its implementation %u201cshould consider local and periodsituations%u201d. Muslims should always be open-minded to newinsights that could bring betterment for themselves. Accordingto Natsir%u2019s view, religion cannot be discerned rigidly and literally,but should be comprehended elastically and. flexibly. Thefunction of religion, as is stated in the Qur%u2019an, is as the %u201cguideand distinguishes%u201d for mankind in facing the challenges thatemerge in every era. Although Muslims have to be openminded, this does not mean that they have toalways compromise with reality. There are limitations, towardswhich they are allowed to make compromises, and towardswhich they are not allowed to do so. According to Natsir, theselimitations have become Allah%u2019s unviolated decisions. Based onthis frame of thought, we would like to investigate Natsir%u2019s ideas,which have been put forward in response to actual social issues.