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Islam, Radicalism, Democracy, and Global Trends in Southeast Asia
No full textIn the last few years, we have witnessed tremendous events occurred on social, religious and political fields in Southeast Asia. This region is believed to be one the most hybrid regions in the world. On one hand, we see the proliferation of democracy and civil society in most of Southeast Asian countries. On the other hand, we also see religious extremism, terrorism, ethno-religious conflicts, and other religious-based violence which have disrupted the stability of this region. The Marawi conflict in the Philippines, the Rohingya case in Myanmar, as well as several cases of violence against minorities in Indonesia and several other Southeast Asian countries are clear evidence that this problem poses threats to the stability of this highly plural societies in the region. For the reason above, the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta held the 2nd Studia Islamika International Conference 2017 with the main theme "Southeast Asian Islam: Religious Radicalism, Democracy and Global Trends" on 8-10 August 2017 in Jakarta, Indonesia. This conference is a continuation of the first conference held in 2014.The 2nd Studia Islamika International Conference 2017 is organized to respond various aspects related to current social and religious issues in Southeast Asia. The conference explores Southeast Asian's political trends including religious radicalism, democratic development, and global trends. In addition, the conference is also dedicated to promote Studia Islamika, published by PPIM, as an important reference on studies of Islam in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v24i3.656
The Rise of the Khalwatiyah Sammān Sufi Order in South Sulawesi: Encountering the Local, Escaping the Global
No full textThe rise of the Khalwatīyah Sammān Sufi Order (tarekat) in South Sulawesi in the second half of the nineteen century should not be seen as just another local religious phenomenon. The rapid growth of its reputation among commoners occurred in conjunction with the influence of global Islam brought to the area in the form of Wahabism from the Haramayn (Mecca and Medina), the center of Islam, and the local political consequences of the Bongaya Treaty between the ruler of Gowa and the Dutch in 1667. The political and social grievances the Treaty caused on the one hand and the religious elitism of formal religious leaders (parewa sarak) on the other also contributed to the impact the order was to have. The commoners widely accepted the order because of its uncomplicated way of the performance of its ritual (dhikr), while the patronage of its leaders with the royal members offered local power holders added to the order’s popularity among the elites.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v24i2.418
The Text of Conservatism: The Role of Abbas’ Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah in Underpinning Acehnese Current Religious Violence
No full textConsiderable studies have been undertaken on Islamic sects and radicalisation. There is, however, little work on textual analysis of traditionalist book, which is regarded as traditionalist collective identity. This article is a critical analysis of the term Ahl al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama`ah, with special reference to Sirajuddin Abbas’ book. ; I`tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama`ah. His articulation of the concept Ahl al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama`ah plays great role in radicalising traditionalist ideology and providing traditionalist Islamic activists the justification to go against Wahhabism. His interpretation of the concept is, however, strongly rejected by Wahhabis, because of imposing hatred and intolerance against Wahhabism. By using Fairlough’s critical analysis, I studied critically the content of Abbas’s book. Some concepts related to the articulation of Ahl al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama`ah are chosen and analysed to find the role of the book in underlying traditionalist ideology. Then, Abbas’ interpretations of the selected concepts are verified through the method of interview to unearth ideological articulation of Abbas’.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i1.240
Al-Dawlah wa al-Da‘wah al-Islāmīyah fī ‘Ahd al-Niẓām al-Jadīd: Dirāsah fī Fikr Soeharto min Khilāl al-Khiṭābāt al-Ri’āsīyah fī al-Munāsabāt al-Islāmīyah bi Indonesia
No full textThis article examines the speeches by Soeharto, the second Indonesian President (1966-1998), in regard with Islamic da‘wah (preaching) in Indonesia. On various occasions of Islamic festivals such as in celebrating Mawlid al-Nabī, Isrā’ Mi‘rāj, and Nuzūl al-Qur’ān, Soeharto elucidates his main concern of the nature of da‘wah. Amid his strict opposition to political Islam, his attention to da‘wah is worth discussing. For Soeharto, religion serves as a true life-guidance that functions as the spiritual, ethical and moral basis of the statehood in Indonesia. Soeharto believes that a good da‘wah will bring a better Muslim community in Indonesia. He, therefore, warns that Muslim leaders and da‘is should not perform da‘wah by provoking conflict not only between Islam and the state, but also between Muslim community with other existing religious communities, and he often remind them that da‘wah in Indonesia should not contradict with the state ideology (Pancasila).DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i1.316
Ḥizb al-‘Adālah wa al-Rafāhīyah (PKS) wa Siyāsāt al-Huwīyah al-Islāmīyah: Istiratijīyāt Kawādir al-Ḥizb li Ta’ṭīr Qaḍāyā Nukhabihim al-Fasādīyah al-Mālīyah
No full textThis article explains the mechanism of cadre engagement and militancy of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), as the Islamist party in Indonesia. This study departs from the puzzle that despite their president, Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, was accused for corruption crime ahead of elections in 2014, but the PKS’s vote still stable from the previous election period (2009). Since PKS is a party cadre, this study argues that the success of the PKS in maintaining the vote in the 2014 election was because of militancy and loyalty of their cadre in doing work collectively for the party. By using the framing approach in the field of social movement, this study concludes that the engagement and militancy of the PKS’s cadre have been influenced by their vigorous framing resources both ideology and identity, as well as the ability of party leaders in mobilizing those resources to their cadre at the lower levels.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i2.331
Islamic School and Arab Association: Aḥmad Sūrkatī’s Reformist Thought and Its Influence on the Educational Activities of al-Irshād
No full textAl-Irshād is an organization formed by the Arabs in present-day Indonesia in 1914, which advocates Islamic reform. This article examines its educational activities in the Dutch colonial period, elucidating the thoughts of its founder and leader, Aḥmad Sūrkatī, and the process of the integration of Arabs into the host society. Sūrkatī’s thought is distinguished from other Arab reformists for its emphasis on “egalitarianism” and its lack of a tendency towards Arab nationalism. From early on, he attempted to adapt the al-Irshād schools to the colonial education system in order to attract indigenous (pribumi) students, as well. In the late 1920s, he began to be locally oriented, with a focus territorially limited to Indonesia. The educational activities of al-Irshād in the 1930s also indicated the weakning of Ḥaḍramī/Arab-orientation. By the late 1930s, the opinion of al-Irshād was decisively inclined toward integration within the host society.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i3.326
Al-Ṭarīqah wa al-ḥarakah al-iḥtijājīyah al-ijtimā‘īyah bi Jawa fī al-qarn al-tāsi‘ ‘ashar: Al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Rifā‘ī Kalisalak Namūdhajan
No full textThis article delves into a manuscript of Nazam Tarekat written by Kiai Ahmad ar-Rifai Kalisalak. So far, there has been no study related to Kiai Ahmad ar-Rifai Kalisalak which used Nazam Tarekat as the primary source. The research on this manuscript and its social context highlights the special nature of Kiai Ahmad ar-Rifai’s teachings on Sufism, such as his attitude toward Javanese traditional leaders who have abandoned morality. The other special feature of his teachings on Sufism is that they show the determination of alim adil based on fiqh as the qualification for Sufi teachers. The analysis of this alim adil concept as the qualification for Sufi teachers, put into the dynamics of socio-religious movements in 19th century Java, reveals that besides being a qualification for teachers of Sufism, alim adil also became the ideology for the social protest movement against Dutch colonialization in Java. The strength of the fiqh factor in the concept of alim adil indicates that Kiai Ahmad ar-Rifai Kalisalak’s movement was far from messianic-millenarianism.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i3.371
Tears and Cheers in Jombang: Some Notes on the 33rd Nahdlatul Ulama Congress
No full textIn the midst of the scorching heat and dry weather in Jombang, in the month of August 2015, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) finally chose K.H. Dr. Said Aqil Siradj as the Chairman of NU. The NU’s 33rd Congress (Muktamar), held in Jombang, East Java, re-elected him for his second term in office in this historical Congress, which was loaded with heat, competition, and compromise.This time the Congress theme was “Upholding Islam Nusantara for Indonesia and World Civilization.” Islam Nusantara, literally meaning “Islam of the archipelago,” may connote different things for different people. It may mean Islam that is rooted in local values, or the kind of Islam that has been promoted by scholars, traders and missionaries with peace, not war. Or, it could suggest a form of Islam that resulted from these various elements. But speaking to an audience weeks before the Congress, Said Aqil Siradj concluded that, as the largest Muslim mass organization in Indonesia, NU felt obliged to remind everyone about the importance of integrating the prinsip kebangsaan (national principles) in conducting worship (beribadah) and implementing religious beliefs (kepercayaan beragama). The theme was strengthened not only in the lively public discussions, book launches and book exhibitions across Jombang, but also in the way NU scholars framed their debates and arguments in the Bahsul Masail forums. The latter is a primary and prestigious forum among NU scholars to discuss important socio-religious issues and produce NU’s formal and strategic decisions.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i1.331
Exclusivism and Radicalism in Schools: State Policy and Educational Politics Revisited
No full textReligious Education is an important part of a nation’s political culture, and Indonesia is no exception. Since independence, Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president, insisted that the role of Islamic education was not only character-building but also nation-building. Islamic religious education is expected to have a stake in building the character of the nation and to participate in actualizing the promises of independence. The objective of Islamic education in Indonesia is not only to create a religious person, but also making a good citizen.The values of piety assume that a person will be a good citizen: tolerant, democratic and respectful of others. However, practically, piety does not guarantee that a person is able to uphold such values of citizenship. Today, religious radicalism which leads to violent behavior and labelling the other as unbeliever (takfīrīyah) is booming in the community. Ironically, the radical ideology infiltrates education sector. In Jombang, in March 2015, the Ansor Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Ansor) associated with Nahdlatul Ulama found radical ideology on senior high school worksheets which called for killing people deemed idolatrous; the worksheet reads: “only Allah can and should be worshipped, and those who worship anything besides Allah have become idolatrous and should be killed.” As it turned out, this was not only in Jombang; the same materials can be found in Jakarta, Depok and Bandung.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i3.442
Post-Islamism and the Remaking of Islamic Public Sphere in Post-reform Indonesia
No full textThe following essay examines post-Islamism in post-reform Indonesia by focusing on contestation in the remaking of the Islamic public sphere. I argue that the public sphere is not only an arena of contestation between Islamists and secularists, but also among the proponents of social movements that mobilize Islam as a source of legitimacy. In the first section, I present a brief review of the notion of post-Islamism and Islamic public sphere as categories of analysis to examine the dynamics of Islam in Indonesia. Next, I explain the topography of Islamic movements in contemporary Indonesia. Post-Islamist contestation in the remaking of the Indonesian Islamic public sphere is examined in the third section. It is limited to four topics, i.e. the dynamics of Muslim intellectual movements, post-Islamist women’s activism and piety movements, Islamic visibility in pop culture, and discourses of shari’a implementation in Aceh. Finally, the article concludes that the dynamics of Indonesian post-Islamists and their contestation are not only helping to strengthen the praxis of democracy in the post-reform era, but they are also diverting public attention from the temptation of radicalism and violence in the name of religion.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v23i3.241