Blasphemy, Islam and the State by Fenwick Stewart;

Author:Fenwick, Stewart;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Piety as a social marker

There is value in assessing both the contemporary approach to classifying approaches to Islamic faith in Indonesia, and in attempting to characterise MUI itself using such a system. Categories expressed in the literature are a useful reference because they have traditionally reflected, or had at their heart, theoretical viewpoints on matters of religious doctrine in Islam. This exercise is not intended to be conclusive and is somewhat problematic. For example, policy statements of MUI at the national level have been referred to in this chapter, but the case study involves also sub-national levels of the organisation. Further, the review of fatawa above concentrates on one area of doctrine most closely related to the case study – innovation in matters of ibadah – and so does not amount to a comprehensive study of MUI’s approach to Islamic doctrine. There is ample evidence of doctrinal contestation in Indonesian Islam. In the twentieth century major organisations were established (Muhammadiyah and NU), and their existence (and doctrinal differences) were defined in important ways by their approach to innovation. Historically, this was evidenced – at least in Java – by Ricklefs’ ‘mystic synthesis’ and variation from orthodox religious practices in this part of Indonesia.

The decline of serious, doctrinally based conflict among the Modernists and Traditionalists in Indonesia took place in the second half of the twentieth century, and was accompanied by other important developments. These include the watershed of the 1965 coup and subsequent purge of Indonesian communists which – in Bush’s analysis – led to making a ‘desultory attitude’ to religion being no longer an option for Indonesian Muslims (piety has very much become the norm). Indonesian Islam was also marked in the 1960s and 1970s by the emergence of Neo-Modernist and so-called substantialist thought, which included critical liberalising elements in Islam. It should be noted that a demonstrable increase in public piety is important to an understanding of Islam in contemporary Indonesia. While the focus here is on institutional approaches to doctrine, there is well-documented evidence of strong endorsement for the notion that ‘the state should implement shari’a law for all Muslim citizens’ (Hefner 2011a: 304).73

Zamhari’s study of the critique of Sufipractices by salafi Muslims and MUI’s opposition to Roy’s teaching and practices show that innovation continues to play a role in religious disputation. The weight of scholarly focus has been on the emergence of ‘extremist’ Islam, and this can be seen in part in the replacement of the Modernist/Traditionalist classifications with a Moderate/Radical classification. There is some reluctance on the part of scholars to fully adopt this new classification, in part a result of the fact that radical Islam cuts across the existing institutional structures and traditional classification scheme, rendering the process of analysis more complex. This may also be a sign that classifying or categorising Islam in this way is becoming less meaningful.

MUI functions as an umbrella organization and embraces a wide range of Islamic organizations, including those considered extreme, an approach not previously taken by the mainstream organisations NU and Muhammadiyah (Azra 2005: 15).

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