| Preface
Acknowledgments
Part 1
The Islamic Modernist Movement
in the Malay-Indonesian World: A Comparative Look at Egypt
Muhammad ‘Abduh’s Heritage
The Challenge of the Islamic Modernist Movement in the Malay-Indonesian
World
The Reformist Motivation
The Religious Dimension
The Educational Dimension
The Social and Political Dimensions
Challenging the Traditional World
A Comparative Look at Egypt
Historical Role and Impacts
Islamic Modernism in the Malay-Indonesian World: Suggested
Explanations
Part II
Radical Islamic Fundamentalism in Indonesia: Global and Local
Contexts
Radical Islamic Fundamentalism
Ideology and Perception
Transmission of Ideas and Ideological Interaction
The Historical Perspective
Dissemination of Islamic Ideas to Indonesia
The War Cry of Jihad in Indonesia
Summary and Reflections
Part III
Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: The Distinctiveness of the
Indonesian Context
Marginal or Significant?
The Indonesian Context through a Radical Fundamentalist Prism
The Indonesian Context: Bulwarks against Radical Fundamentalism
Summary and Reflections
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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“In this book, Giora Eliraz comparatively examines how the Middle Eastern Islamic modernist movements influenced Islamic movements in the Malay-Indonesian world throughout the twentieth century and contributed to the rise of contemporary Islamic radicalism in Indonesia. Eliraz studies the transmission of modernist and/or radical ideas from the Middle East to Indonesia, the multiple organizations and strategies within Islamic movements, as well as the impacts of local and national values on the distinct faces of Indonesian Islam. Despite the current emergence of Islamic radicalism, the majority of the people continue to reject politicized Islam. According to the author, the tradition of intellectual and organizational pluralism has become the predominant characteristic of Indonesian Islam.” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences
“Giora Eliraz of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
views Indonesia through the lens of an expert on the Middle
East. In Islam in Indonesia, he shows how the views
of the Islamic reformer Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) came
to acquire greater influence in Indonesia than in his native
Egypt. Abduh tried to harmonize ‘revelation and the
tradition of the Prophet on the one hand, and human reason
and science on the other hand’. Abduh’s followers
continue to believe that the answer to the crisis within Islam
lies in Islam itself – in a return to a pure form of
the faith. In Indonesia they are represented by Muhammadiyah.
It runs schools, colleges and hospitals and rejects as un-Islamic
typically Indonesian practices such as communal feasts and
visits to the graves of Muslim saints … Mr. Eliraz briefly
hints at a darker, more pessimistic line of argument. He says
the more Muslims become pious and devout believers, the easier
it is to mobilize among them ‘those who are ready to
carry zealously the banner of Islam’. He also questions
Muhammadiyah: ‘A search of the Indonesian context for
possible sources of inspiration for Islamic radical perceptions
might even lead, indirectly, to the massive and influential
Islamic modernist movement in Indonesia’. But in the
end Mr. Eliraz concludes that radical Islam is unlikely to
evolve as either a real political option or a significant
cultural and ideological force.” Far Eastern Economic
Review
“With the growth of armed Islamic movements in the Middle East, and with the overthrow of the authoritarian Soeharto regime in May 1998, observers of global Muslim affairs have been curious to see whether Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, might be about to experience its own process of religious radicalization. The growth of armed paramilitaries after Soeharto’s overthrow and the Bali bombings in October 2002 seemed to confirm that Muslim politics in this once tolerant country was indeed being radicalized. In this well-written book, however, Giora Eliraz provides a more thoughtful and, ultimately, hopeful prognosis. Already an accomplished scholar of Middle Eastern Islam before turning to Indonesian affairs, Eliraz demonstrates that a radical fringe has long existed in Indonesia, and occasionally made serious mischief. However, with a careful and comparative eye, Eliraz shows that the mainstream of the Muslim community remains unswervingly moderate. Equally intriguing, Eliraz’s knowledge of Islamic reform in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East allows him to bring original and often startling insights to his Indonesian materials, as when he demonstrates that the ideas of the great Egyptian reformer Muhammad Abduh took deeper root in the Indonesian landscape than they did in Abduh’s homeland. His comparative analyses of the growth of Islamic radicalism in contemporary Indonesia – and the vigorous response it provoked among Muslim moderates – are equally stimulating and original. Carefully researched and engagingly written, this fine book deserves to be read by everyone interested in Indonesian Islam, as well as by the general reader curious about the varieties and future of Muslim politics.” Robert W. Hefner, Professor of Anthropology, Associate Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Boston University
“Islam in Indonesia has long
been regarded by many observers and scholars of Islam as an impure
and syncretic Islam. In the last two decades, however, this misconception
has been corrected through a number of important studies which take
a comparative approach when looking at how different Muslim societies
function in today’s world. Giora Eliraz’s Islam
in Indonesia is an excellent contribution to understanding
the complex connection and links between Indonesian Islam with that
of the Middle East. This study is very timely indeed when the international
public is eager to obtain credible knowledge on the origins and
root causes of radicalism among limited groups of Muslims in Indonesia
in recent years.” Azyumardi Azra, Professor of History
and Rector of State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia, and Professorial
Fellow at University of Melbourne, Australia
“Giora Eliraz’s
book represents a valuable addition to the all too sparse
collection of scholarly writing on Islam in the world’s
largest Muslim nation. With very few exceptions, most such
studies are the work of area specialists with a deep understanding
of their country of study but comparatively little knowledge
of the Middle East. Eliraz’s book is very different;
it is the fruit of a sharp academic mind honed through decades
of study of the intellectual history of the Arab world. The
result is a very well informed study uniquely enriched by
the ability to read developments in Southeast Asia from a
Middle Eastern perspective. Consequently anyone seeking to
understand Indonesian Islam and its global context will benefit
from this work – regardless of whether they are seasoned
observers or are coming to this increasingly important subject
for the first time.” Greg Barton, Deakin
University, Australia |
