On Being Radical or Moderate: The Many Ways of Interpreting Radicalism and Promoting Moderate Islam in Contemporary Indonesia
Type
Double PanelPart 1
Session 7Thu 13:30–15:00 Room 1.101
Part 2
Session 8Thu 15:30–17:00 Room 1.101
Convener
- Muhammad Adlin Sila Religious Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Religious Affairs & State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta
Discussant
- Martin Slama Austrian Academy of Sciences
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Add to CalendarPapers (Part 1)
- Europe, Here We Come: The NU in Promoting Moderate Islam Overseas Yanwar Pribadi State Islamic University Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin, Banten
This paper discusses the Indonesian Muslim organization of the Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) efforts in promoting Islam Nusantara (the NU’s version of moderate Islam) in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands. As Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, the NU has expanded their scope and networks by establishing its special branches (Pengurus Cabang Istimewa NU – PCI NU) across the globe. In Germany, the special branch was established in 2011, while in the Netherlands it was established in 2013. Both special branches have been founded, organized, managed, led, and dominated by Indonesian students pursuing their M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, although recently many Indonesian migrants who have long resided in both countries also joined and influenced the organization. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Germany and the Netherlands, this paper explores the organizational projects and religious activities of the NU people in Europe. Observed cases are for example traditionalist religious practices, such as slametan (religious meal feasts), tahlilan (prayers performed to facilitate a deceased person entering paradise), and pengajian (Islamic congregations); the encounters with Western values, such as religious freedom and secularism; and the implementation of moderate-traditional Islamic expressions in everyday life. The analysis of in-depth interviews with and close observations of the PCI NU people shows that the NU through its special branches is extending their networks, seeking influence, and at the same fostering the organization’s version of moderate Islam overseas in order to counter radicalism and religious intolerance and promote Islam as a peaceful religion.
- Muhammadiyah and Its Movement Through Interfaith Education on Minority Muslim Society of Indonesia Ismail Wekke State Islamic College of Sorong
Muhammadiyah is known as Islamic organization pioneering modern educational and social movement. Recently, Muhammadiyah education has experienced rapid development, yet there are still many problems and challenges to overcome in order to continue competing and giving the best for the society. The aim of this research was to figure out the role of Muhammadiyah in conducting dakwah bil hal movement in education and social environment in Sorong City, Papua. By using qualitative method and in-depth interview and also field research, this study found out that bil hal Muhammadiyah Movement in Sorong City, Papua has given significant impact on the society, especially in education from Kindergarten to University level. Meanwhile, in the social field, Muhammadiyah in Sorong City had built orphanage for boys and girls. However, in terms of management of organizational governance, Muhammadiyah needs to strengthen the solidity between regional leaders, optimization of autonomous assemblies and organizations as a power base to support maximization of dakwah bil hal Muhammadiyah movement in the future, especially in education and society.
- The State and the Making of Religious Moderation in Contemporary Indonesia Muhammad Adlin Sila Religious Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Religious Affairs & State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta
Moderate Muslims are often labeled as not 'kaafah' (plenary), do not rely on the whole teachings of the Koran as a way of life. Moderate Muslims are also often considered synonymous with being insensitive, ignorant, or not being defense when, for example, Islamic symbols are demeaned. Another erroneous assumption that is common among the people is that siding with the values of moderation and tolerance in religion is the same as being liberal and ignoring the basic norms that are clearly written in religious texts. So that in religious life in Indonesia, those who are moderate in religion are often faced diametrically with people who are considered conservative and hold strictly to the teachings of their religion.
This misunderstanding related to moderate meaning in religion has implications for the emergence of antipathy attitude of the community which tends to be reluctant to be called a moderate, or even further blames moderate attitude. However, what it means being moderate in understanding Islam? What is the relation between being moderate and being Indonesian at the same time? And is it true that being moderate in religion means mortgaging the beliefs of our religious teachings in order to respect the beliefs of followers of other religions? This article tries to answer the above questions by updating the process of writing a book on religious moderation that is being compiled by the Ministry of Religion.
Papers (Part 2)
- Dancing to a Different Drum: Reimagining Social Harmony in Post-Democratic Transition Indonesia Karim University of Amsterdam
During the last two decades, a dramatic transition from authoritarianism to a rapid process of democratization has been experienced by many different societies across the world. This ‘democratic phenomenon’ has been marked with a changing character of interdependently hybrid governance arrangements and a massive transformation in many different dimensions, including in practices and discourses of state, non-state actors, and security provisions. As a result, it has not only complicated the state-centered analytic approach to social order, but also challenged the notion of what Benedict Anderson calls ‘imagined communities’, presenting nationalism as a way of imagining and as well as creating community. Drawing from a comparative ethnographic research in two different urban settings in Indonesia, this paper explores the distinct ways of how two different non-state actors, GP Ansor (Ansor Youth Movement, a youth wing of NU, campaigning Islam Nusantara) in the one hand, and Jamaah Maiyah (a new religious movement, led by a unique Indonesian Muslim scholar Emha Ainun Nadjib, promoting Negeri Maiyah and is using a term of ‘organism’ instead of organization), offering their visions of social order and social harmony within Indonesian post-democratization context and beyond that is impacted by violent extremism. As their socio-religious movements are also introducing and envisioning new kinds of perspectives of the state, creating new consciousness of nationalism, and dealing with security provision (both in the discourse and practice), this paper also grasps different approaches and strategies utilized by these religious groups that competing post-democratic imaginaries relate to each other and come to constitute a new "imagined community" within post-reform Indonesian society
- Jakarta: Halal City? Progressive Responses to the Conservative Turn in Urban Religion in Jakarta and Its Effect on National Politics in Indonesia Mark Philip Stadler University of Copenhagen
Indonesian society is going through a phase coined as “conservative turn” in recent debates in Southeast Asian Studies and social sciences. With it, scholars throughout the field connect the rise of conservative values, mostly through the strengthening of Islam in politics, but not limited to it. Open calls for officially banning same-sex relationships, co-habitation of unmarried couples and campaigns such as “Indonesia tanpa pacaran” (Indonesia without dating) dominate the public debate. The 2017 gubernatorial elections and the 2019 parliamentary and presidential elections have been heavily influenced by this conservative turn also. It can be predicted that Indonesia is entering a time of “illiberal democracy” in the next five to fifteen years at least. In urban areas, the Muslim mainstream organizations Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) seem to be incapable of handling the conservative turn. At the kampung (urban village/settlement) level, both organizations have little if no presence, physically as well as ideologically. Muhammadiyah has its stronghold in the urban middle class but the organization does not reach below. NU is traditionally considered to have a rural base and therefore too is not all too present in the many kampungs. Mostly organizations such as the Front of the Defenders of Islam (Front Pembela Islam; FPI) are in control of the lower-class discourse despite the fact that organizations like this are still the minority in Indonesia. Discourses such as “Islam Nusantara” and “Islam Berkemajuan” are not known to many kampung dwellers.In response to the conservative turn and even radical turn of many kampungs in Jakarta with calls for “halal kampung” and “halal city”, there is opposition from progressive groups of a variety of religious background, Muslim, Christian and other, which want to produce a counter narrative. These initiatives, one of the being Islam Bergerak, advocate for openness, open society and democracy, sexual orientation free from persecution and interfaith harmony. They conduct and support interfaith marriages, are in support of workers (unions), religious minorities such as the Ahmadiyya and political progressive grass-roots confederations and parties. These initiatives however are not heard on the national level (yet), neither do they have direct political influence. Yet, an obvious clash of values is happening in the city which might result in severe and bitter competition over who is going to design the value composition of the city as well as the nation state.
This presentation is a cross-field study between urban studies/urbanism and religious/Islamic studies. It is envisaged that there will be possible contributions to both fields as part of the wider field of Southeast Asian Studies.
- Pesantren As’adiyah and the Dissemination of Values of Moderate Islam in Eastern Indonesia Wahyuddin Halim State Islamic University Alauddin, Makassar
Following the publication of Dhofier’s seminal study about pesantren in 1982 (1999), a significant number of scholarly works have been written about this oldest Indonesian Islamic model of learning. Most of these works, however, have focused on pesantren in Java, and to some extent on those in Sumatra. My paper explores the various roles played by Pesantren As'adiyah, the oldest pesantren in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, in disseminating values of moderate Islam in the province in particular, and in the eastern parts of Indonesia more generally since the 1930s. Mainly through its traditional and modern Islamic learning programs and Islamic preaching activities, this pesantren introduces, disseminates and preaches to the Muslim people in the pertinent regions the type of moderate and pluralistic Islamic teaching and interpretation. With hundreds of madrasa (Islamic schools) in primary and secondary levels since 1950s that it has established both in South Sulawesi and other provinces in Indonesia, As'adiyah has contributed to the teaching, spread and maintenance of the moderate Islamic theology of Ahlussunnah wal Jama'ah (followers of the prophet tradition and the majority of Muslim community) in the most parts of eastern Indonesian, creating the same nuance of religious life and practice as those found in most parts of Indonesia thanks to the role of other traditionalist organisation, especially the Nahdlatul Ulama that was established in East Java in 1926. The paper argues that by playing such an important role, As'adiyah, both as education and socio-religious institution, has helped to strengthen the moderate way of understanding and practicing Islam among the majority Muslim in Indonesia against the project of newer Muslim groups currently that are actively engaged in promoting a more radical and exclusive Islamic ideology to the pluralistic Muslim communities in Indonesia.
- The Role of NU Universities in Mainstreaming Moderate Islam in Indonesia Fatimah Husein State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta
The paper discusses the programs and activities of universities that are closely related to Nahdhatul Ulama in mainstreaming moderate Islam. Universitas Islam Malang (Unisma) and Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang (UIN Maliki), both are located at an important site of the radical movement in East Java, will be two cases the paper will analyse. It focuses on best practices that demonstrate how the two universities develop their moderate Islam policies and strategies in light of the development of Islamism in Malang in general, and at Islamic universities in particular.
Show Paper Abstracts
Abstract
What does radical actually mean is highly diverse. Radical literally means “pertaining to roots”, from the Latin radix. The use of “radical” in Islamic and political studies marks a desire to reach down to the very roots of something in order to change it, or reform it entirely. In Indonesia, radical Islamic groups are associated with a group of people who proselytize the picture of Islam in stickler way. They often call for the need to install an Islamic State (Khilafah), replacing Pancasila, the Indonesia’s constitution, seen as a corrupted ideology. In the Indonesian context, particularly before the Reform era came to the fore, progressive Islamic mass organizations like NU and Muhammadiyah have come up with a common platform that Pancasila is the sole Ideology of Indonesia’s nation-state. No question about it anymore. But after the reform era, new Islamic organizations emerged as the more opened political atmosphere was introduced. These transnational organizations, such as HTI, tried to challenge Pancasila or interpret it in an Islamic way, repudiating the fact that Pancasila is the umbrella ideology for every group of people regardless of their religious background. Consequently, NU and Muhammadiyah with their jargon of Islam Nusantara (the archipelagic Islam) and Islam Berkemajuan (the developing Islam) respectively have been trying to promote their views about Islam which are moderate, tolerant and inclusive. Although their efforts did not run smoothly, Islam Nusantara and Islam Berkemajuan have been taken for granted by NU and Muhammadiyah activists in promoting moderate Islam in Indonesia nationwide. This panel invites papers that touch on the many experiences of the activists of NU and Muhamamdiyah in their effort of promoting moderate Islam in Indonesia and beyond. It also welcomes the varied interpretations of what Islam Nusantara and Islam Berkemajuan mean to different Muslims and context.
Keywords
During the last two decades, a dramatic transition from authoritarianism to a rapid process of democratization has been experienced by many different societies across the world. This ‘democratic phenomenon’ has been marked with a changing character of interdependently hybrid governance arrangements and a massive transformation in many different dimensions, including in practices and discourses of state, non-state actors, and security provisions. As a result, it has not only complicated the state-centered analytic approach to social order, but also challenged the notion of what Benedict Anderson calls ‘imagined communities’, presenting nationalism as a way of imagining and as well as creating community. Drawing from a comparative ethnographic research in two different urban settings in Indonesia, this paper explores the distinct ways of how two different non-state actors, GP Ansor (Ansor Youth Movement, a youth wing of NU, campaigning Islam Nusantara) in the one hand, and Jamaah Maiyah (a new religious movement, led by a unique Indonesian Muslim scholar Emha Ainun Nadjib, promoting Negeri Maiyah and is using a term of ‘organism’ instead of organization), offering their visions of social order and social harmony within Indonesian post-democratization context and beyond that is impacted by violent extremism. As their socio-religious movements are also introducing and envisioning new kinds of perspectives of the state, creating new consciousness of nationalism, and dealing with security provision (both in the discourse and practice), this paper also grasps different approaches and strategies utilized by these religious groups that competing post-democratic imaginaries relate to each other and come to constitute a new "imagined community" within post-reform Indonesian society
Indonesian society is going through a phase coined as “conservative turn” in recent debates in Southeast Asian Studies and social sciences. With it, scholars throughout the field connect the rise of conservative values, mostly through the strengthening of Islam in politics, but not limited to it. Open calls for officially banning same-sex relationships, co-habitation of unmarried couples and campaigns such as “Indonesia tanpa pacaran” (Indonesia without dating) dominate the public debate. The 2017 gubernatorial elections and the 2019 parliamentary and presidential elections have been heavily influenced by this conservative turn also. It can be predicted that Indonesia is entering a time of “illiberal democracy” in the next five to fifteen years at least. In urban areas, the Muslim mainstream organizations Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) seem to be incapable of handling the conservative turn. At the kampung (urban village/settlement) level, both organizations have little if no presence, physically as well as ideologically. Muhammadiyah has its stronghold in the urban middle class but the organization does not reach below. NU is traditionally considered to have a rural base and therefore too is not all too present in the many kampungs. Mostly organizations such as the Front of the Defenders of Islam (Front Pembela Islam; FPI) are in control of the lower-class discourse despite the fact that organizations like this are still the minority in Indonesia. Discourses such as “Islam Nusantara” and “Islam Berkemajuan” are not known to many kampung dwellers.In response to the conservative turn and even radical turn of many kampungs in Jakarta with calls for “halal kampung” and “halal city”, there is opposition from progressive groups of a variety of religious background, Muslim, Christian and other, which want to produce a counter narrative. These initiatives, one of the being Islam Bergerak, advocate for openness, open society and democracy, sexual orientation free from persecution and interfaith harmony. They conduct and support interfaith marriages, are in support of workers (unions), religious minorities such as the Ahmadiyya and political progressive grass-roots confederations and parties. These initiatives however are not heard on the national level (yet), neither do they have direct political influence. Yet, an obvious clash of values is happening in the city which might result in severe and bitter competition over who is going to design the value composition of the city as well as the nation state.
This presentation is a cross-field study between urban studies/urbanism and religious/Islamic studies. It is envisaged that there will be possible contributions to both fields as part of the wider field of Southeast Asian Studies.
Following the publication of Dhofier’s seminal study about pesantren in 1982 (1999), a significant number of scholarly works have been written about this oldest Indonesian Islamic model of learning. Most of these works, however, have focused on pesantren in Java, and to some extent on those in Sumatra. My paper explores the various roles played by Pesantren As'adiyah, the oldest pesantren in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, in disseminating values of moderate Islam in the province in particular, and in the eastern parts of Indonesia more generally since the 1930s. Mainly through its traditional and modern Islamic learning programs and Islamic preaching activities, this pesantren introduces, disseminates and preaches to the Muslim people in the pertinent regions the type of moderate and pluralistic Islamic teaching and interpretation. With hundreds of madrasa (Islamic schools) in primary and secondary levels since 1950s that it has established both in South Sulawesi and other provinces in Indonesia, As'adiyah has contributed to the teaching, spread and maintenance of the moderate Islamic theology of Ahlussunnah wal Jama'ah (followers of the prophet tradition and the majority of Muslim community) in the most parts of eastern Indonesian, creating the same nuance of religious life and practice as those found in most parts of Indonesia thanks to the role of other traditionalist organisation, especially the Nahdlatul Ulama that was established in East Java in 1926. The paper argues that by playing such an important role, As'adiyah, both as education and socio-religious institution, has helped to strengthen the moderate way of understanding and practicing Islam among the majority Muslim in Indonesia against the project of newer Muslim groups currently that are actively engaged in promoting a more radical and exclusive Islamic ideology to the pluralistic Muslim communities in Indonesia.
The paper discusses the programs and activities of universities that are closely related to Nahdhatul Ulama in mainstreaming moderate Islam. Universitas Islam Malang (Unisma) and Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang (UIN Maliki), both are located at an important site of the radical movement in East Java, will be two cases the paper will analyse. It focuses on best practices that demonstrate how the two universities develop their moderate Islam policies and strategies in light of the development of Islamism in Malang in general, and at Islamic universities in particular.
What does radical actually mean is highly diverse. Radical literally means “pertaining to roots”, from the Latin radix. The use of “radical” in Islamic and political studies marks a desire to reach down to the very roots of something in order to change it, or reform it entirely. In Indonesia, radical Islamic groups are associated with a group of people who proselytize the picture of Islam in stickler way. They often call for the need to install an Islamic State (Khilafah), replacing Pancasila, the Indonesia’s constitution, seen as a corrupted ideology. In the Indonesian context, particularly before the Reform era came to the fore, progressive Islamic mass organizations like NU and Muhammadiyah have come up with a common platform that Pancasila is the sole Ideology of Indonesia’s nation-state. No question about it anymore. But after the reform era, new Islamic organizations emerged as the more opened political atmosphere was introduced. These transnational organizations, such as HTI, tried to challenge Pancasila or interpret it in an Islamic way, repudiating the fact that Pancasila is the umbrella ideology for every group of people regardless of their religious background. Consequently, NU and Muhammadiyah with their jargon of Islam Nusantara (the archipelagic Islam) and Islam Berkemajuan (the developing Islam) respectively have been trying to promote their views about Islam which are moderate, tolerant and inclusive. Although their efforts did not run smoothly, Islam Nusantara and Islam Berkemajuan have been taken for granted by NU and Muhammadiyah activists in promoting moderate Islam in Indonesia nationwide. This panel invites papers that touch on the many experiences of the activists of NU and Muhamamdiyah in their effort of promoting moderate Islam in Indonesia and beyond. It also welcomes the varied interpretations of what Islam Nusantara and Islam Berkemajuan mean to different Muslims and context.