Islam navigates 2 currents in RI
Islam navigates 2 currents in RI
By Muhammad A.S. Hikam
This article is based on a paper presented at a conference on Indonesia in New Orleans, United States on March 13, 1995.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, U.S.: The present and future development of Islam in Indonesia has been shaped by three interrelated elements. First is the global trends of Islamic movements. Second is the particularity of historical background of Islam in Indonesia. And third, the one which I think most crucial, is the approaches through which the Moslem community in general, and its leaders in particular, respond to the problems brought about by challenges in Indonesian society. The failure to take into account these elements in our analysis will result in, at the least, one-sided views of Islam in Indonesia and be incapable of coming to grips with its complexities.
The global trend of Islamic movements affects directly and indirectly the Indonesian ummah (the community of believers). In recent years, thanks primarily to modern communication technologies, in the forms of mass-media exposure, global information networking and modern transportation systems, the events of Islamic resurgence in other parts of the Islamic world can be followed almost instantaneously. Yet, while it is true that Indonesian Moslems share with their fellow Moslems' feelings around the world, it would be misleading to picture the development of Islam in Indonesia solely in light of the current global trend.
The distinct historical background of the Islamization processes and the characteristics of Indonesian society make any sweeping generalization untenable. The distinct patterns and various sources of Islamization in the archipelago, since the 14th century, have been responsible for the accommodative and receptive character of Islam in Indonesia. Also, the heterogeneous nature of Indonesian people necessitates various interpretations in the doctrines and practices.
Finally, Indonesians are also the recipients of many traditions and influences originating from different civilizations prior to, and during, the process of Islamization. Such cultural traditions as indigenous traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and later Christianity have coexisted with the Islamic tradition. As a consequence, even though Islam is the religion of a majority of the Indonesian population, it has sociological and historical characteristics which in many ways differ from those of Middle Eastern, African and other Asian countries.
It is no surprise that many strands of Islam emerge as a result of doctrinal reflections responding to the existing social, economic and political changes. Religious reform movements in the early 20th century, for example, have resulted in the emergence of the spirit of puritan Islam as a critique of the traditionalist practices. Anti-colonialism and the struggle for independence made Islam as one of the major forces in society, which shape ideological and political developments in Indonesia.
The current phenomenon of Islamic resurgence in Indonesia can be seen as a dynamic response to the challenge of modernization. As a process which rapidly transforms the existing order of things, it has resulted in mixed feelings and insecurity among the Islamic leaders. On the one hand, modernization has brought about unprecedented outcomes, which make it possible for the ummah to escape from backwardness and enables Moslems to better perform religious obligations. On the other hand, the threat of secularism, as one of the by-products of modernity, is seen by many leaders as a threat to religious values and traditions.
Different approaches have been taken by Islamic leaders to respond to such a challenge. Three major trends can be found in this respect: legalistic, cultural, and social transformative ones. The legalistic approach aims at revamping the existing order in society, under the blue-print of Islamic legal, ritual and formalistic precepts. Islamic doctrines and laws become the sole arbiter and the standard of references in all practices and affairs in society. Neo-orthodox Moslems have opted for such an approach with varying intensity, ranging from gradualist, persuasive to radical ones.
The cultural approach is aimed at distilling methods from Islamic teachings, which are capable of integrating the non- religious sphere (secularistic part) into a new totality, of Islamic framework, of development. This is similar to what Gilles Kepel (The Revenge of God, 1994) calls the idea of Islamization of modernity. The efforts to develop such parallel institutions under Islamic teachings (banking, scientific enterprises, etc.) are contemplated by the advocates of such an approach.
The transformative approach aims to seek solutions to the problems of modernity by avoiding exclusive attitudes both toward neo-orthodoxy and non-Islamic aspiration. It advocates accommodationist attitudes and introduces disturbing questions addressed to the central doctrines of orthodoxy. Therefore, the advocates of this strategy reject legal formalistic and interpretations of the doctrines, including literal adherence to Quranic prescriptions and Prophetic traditions, without reformulating the fundamentals of religious beliefs, so as to guarantee that those beliefs take into account the empirical dimensions of life.
It is the third approach which needs our attention. Such leading Moslem intellectuals as Abdurrahman Wahid, Djohan Effendi, Moeslim Abdurrahman, Masdar F. Mas'udi and others have pursued this strategy, advocating non-confrontational understanding of Islam and modernity, seeking for open dialogs with other groups, aimed at reaching mutual understanding of problems faced by society in general, and encouraging the ummah to work together with others in resolving such pressing questions as massive poverty, abuses of human rights, the stagnation of democratization and others.
Thus, amid the current trend of Islamic resurgence in the Islamic world, which commonly takes radical, legal formalistic forms, the development of Islam in Indonesia shows a different experiment. It attempts to navigate through the two streams, modernity and traditionalist and neo-orthodoxy, offering more adequate approaches that are more beneficial for Indonesian society in general. Some of the manifestations may be found in the attempts to establish forums for dialogs, such as Interfaith Dialogs, Religious Forum for Human Rights and activities from young intellectuals, to question the traditionally regarded sensitive issues such as whether or not secularization is a detriment for religious life.
Obviously the experiment is bound to face resistance, coming from both inside and outside the Moslem communities. The repercussions of such a transformative approach are tremendous at theoretical and practical levels. It questions the viability of the use of religion as a political ideology and the conventional claim that Islamic values can only be fully implemented through power and formal legislations. The idea of putting Islamic values as a complementary and not as the single source in the making of modern Indonesian nation will face a tremendous opposition from the neo-orthodox proponents.
At the political realm, the experiment will also run counter to ongoing efforts by some members of the Indonesian ruling elite to mobilize Islamic force to back-up their struggles for power. Both co-optation and repression can be expected to happen among those proponents of this transformative approach.
Yet there are some reasons to be optimistic that the experiment can be carried out in the long run. There is organizational and mass-based support for such an endeavor. The Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, for instance, are the two largest Islamic organizations, whose rural and urban bases can become a fertile ground for the implementation of the transformative strategy. In addition, there are figures such as Abdurrahman Wahid who represent the kind of religious leader and intellectual, whose ideas transcend the boundaries of particularism and therefore capture the imagination of all layers of society. And last but not least, the transformative approach has its social and historical foundations in Indonesian society, which rejects any radicalism and support accommodative attitudes and gradualism.
The writer is a research staff at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.