Submitted to the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree. Based on an Indonesian trend, the growth of orthodox Islam as the SllIltri cultural expansion, which, at least since the last IWo decades of the century, has been characterized by the vertical (and horizontal) mobility of devout Muslims in political, cultural and economic enterprises. The study will also include a discussion of the theological thinking underlying that SIlDtricultural expansion.
The system of Arabic transliteration used in this thesis will follow that of the Institute of [stamic Studies, McGill University.
ACKNOWLEDGEMŒNTS
It is also a great pleasure to express my gratitude to the 10 employees of the Institute's library for their kindness in helping me find the material I need to supplement my wort. HaJimy Sjamsurî, former and current director of Sekolah Tingi Agama Islam Negeri (STAIN) al Ked~ for allowing me to leave my academic commitments to further my studies in Canada. It gives me great pleasure to thank Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat, the current Director of Higher Islamic Education Development of the Department of Religious Affairs, and members of his staff for their generous financial support of my field research in Indonesia.
Dedicating this study to them is but a small token of my gratitude and appreciation for their endless dedication, patience, sacrifice and patience.
INTRODUCTION A Background of the Inquiry
Aims and Scope
I will focus more specifically on the theological thought developed by reformist writers leaning towards Muhammadi and Persatuan Islam. Despite being an important work in its composition, the book does not take into account the earlier development of theological questions formulated by Indonesian Muslim scholars. However, Nakamura's research focuses more on the external manifestations of religious life, while paying much attention to the doctrinal aspects that are very important in any belief system.
The act is also limited to the particular Muslim community, i.e., that of Kotagede, and the meaning is valid only for that region.15.
Description of the Contents
Nor was this particular concern characteristic of the movements which were desolate in their initial phase; on the contrary, it continues to he emphasized by their modern representatives. In chapter four, 1 will discuss the current developments in Islamic theology in Indonesia by reconsidering the works of Harun Nasution and Nurcholish Madjid, two of the most intluential figures in shaping the modern Islamic discourse. A rapprochement between the two sides is ineffective and it has resulted in circumstances more conducive to the spread of satd culture, the very essence of Indonesian Islamic orthodoxy.
Finally, as a conclusion to this study of MusU's reformist attempts to maintain orthodoxy, I will discuss how Indonesian Muslims today have manifested their religious commitment as an expression of their growing orthodox faith.
Note on Approach
In addition to the above considerations regarding theology, the present study of the development of Islamic theological discourse in Indonesia has two main considerations. The historical approach is very instrumental in discussing the development of Indonesian Islam before the progress of the reform movement. It also enables me to present some of the issues that caused the establishment of the Islamic reform movement in Indonesia in the twentieth century.
Of course, it is by no means true that purity of belief and practice is the interest of the modernists, since the traditionalists also claim to always maintain pure belief and practice.
ISLAM IN INDONESIA PRIOR TO THE ADVANCE OF THE REFORM MOVEMENT
General Consideration
Therefore, it is not surprising that in the fourteenth century some members of the Javanese elite claimed to have mixed their Islamic faith with that of Hinduism and Buddhism, along the same lines. After the defeat of Pajang, the spread of Islam in the southern interior of Java was temporarily postponed. Besides being cut off from its sources of orthodoxy, resulting in a peculiar variant distinct from those in the rest of the Muslim world, Javanese Islam was devoid of any innovative movement.
34; Innovation and Tradition in Islam: A Study of Bid'at as an Interpretation of Religion in the Indonesian Experience" (Pb.D. Dissertation.
The Attitude toward "Pure" Islamic Religious Belief and Practice
At its peak, Islam spread through the slowly emerging institutionalized teaching of Islam among peasants. Until the very end of the colonial period, the Dutch education system was strongly anti-Islamic. But the Islam they adopted was adapted to the main configuration of the pre-existing Javanese religion.
The C,escent Arises over the/Janyan T,ee: A Study of the MlÛrtImmtldiyah MOllement in a Jallanese Town (Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada Univenity Press, 1983).
Retrospective
Mark Woodward, for example, after citing Geertz's view of the quality of Javanese ulama. This feature is very significant in the progress of Islam in the late nineteenth century. 64 A rather interesting account of /caUmtllland's position in Javanese culture is given by Ruth McVeyasfollows.
Moreover, much of the topic was about Islamic doctrines. It reflected the Javanese interpretation of Islam and the worldview based on that interpretation.
REDEFINING ISLAMIC ORTHODOXY IN THE INOONESIAN CONTEXT
Islamic Orthodoxy, an Overview
With them came a growing understanding of Near Eastern orthodoxy and the gap between it and the native Javanese versions of Islam. The Shari'ites objected to the SUDDiteness in using the.{üui'espcciaI1to deal with the problem of leadership of the Muslim community that succeeded the Prophet. Among the existing groups of Muslims today, the Sunnis claim to be the proponents of purity and.
34;1'The Great Community and the Sects." is a comprehensive summary of the early formation of the MusÜD1 community and the further development of the secretarial divisions. /JMlitIJ). This Ilpriorivision of history is supposed to be based on a saying of the Prophet, often quoted in Islamic literature, that: "The best of you are mine.
In Islam, tbis concept is very well worked out, as Islam itself is celebrated as a religion more attuned to the idea of the middle way. Both Muslim and Western scholars have described Islam as a religion in the "bare middle" (W8SII!) between Christianity and Judaism. God describes the Muslims as a people of the middle path because of their intermediate position in the religion.
Ash'aii himself declared that bis doctrines agreed with those of S1IIUÙS,. Makdisi argues that this is the most reasonable explanation for the growth of religious thought.
Sunnîsm as Orthodox Islam
In addition to the underlying explanation, the use of the term Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l- Jami'ah is also based on some traditions of the Prophet that say that Muslims after his. 61For the use of the terms Md ai-baN and MlM-iûq_ _1SCD'bedto Ablal-S~ sec Abü al-Efuaa. For NOW, the doctrines of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jami'ah are very central.
These IDd other departments have beca establisbedinorde10 translated the goals of the Muhammadiyah mtoreality.Abdurrahman Wahid. The Muhammadiyah never claimed any special attachment to the doctrine of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jami'ab, except in the Tarjih decision mentioned earlier. However, when the organization was accused by other Muslim groups in the country of being outside the boundaries of the Ah.
However, in his defense of the position of Muhammadism, Hadikusumah tries to identify those who could correctly claim themselves as the followers of Ah. Indonesian Muslims return to Ahl al-Sunnah wa'I-Jamiah.94 Surprisingly, the Hadikusum wants to expand tbis concept of Ah1 al-Sunnah aIso to include Mu'tazillism. Each individual member of Muhammadism is allowed to consider (albeit profoundly) classical questions of ka/am, such as the problem of God's attributes.
Like Hadikusuma, he rejects the NU's claim that the followers of the Ahl al-Sunnah are those who associate themselves with the madbbab. Qtill8t/from their perspective consists of rational interpretation of the Corinian texts and the l:Iadith by individuals.
NU and Muhammadiyah: Sorne Mutual Criticisms
The BarzanJi is often recited on the occasion of Hfe cycle events (such as birth and governance), but really comes into its own during the celebration of the Prophet's birthday. As Hamim states: "the celebration of the Prophet's birthday (ie/id a/-nabl) was the result of the cultural creativity that was in fact justified by Muslim jurists since the period of al-Suyüii [until 15051]. 115The I believe that the celebration of the Prophet's birthday is not only held by the modernist Muslims in Indonesia.
However, they are reluctant to declare these traditions valid, on the grounds that they are not definitively rooted in the teachings of the Prophet. These conflicts had disrupted the Islamic ummah since the death of the third Caliph, 'Uthmin b. The application of the idea of irji~ was most probably the decision of rcgardïDg 'UtbmiD ad •Ali.
Madjid points out the need to preserve the cultural heritage of the Muslim community in order to make even more progress in the future. 34;Ibe Conll'action and expansion of the 'Umaf and the Raie of Nahdalul utarna in Indonesia.'IndoneSÙJ. Therefore, it is the food, and not the prayer, that is the heart of the slametan.
However, since the establishment of the new order (1967)7, political activities in rural areas have been severely limited. However, the single distinction is based on Gecrtz's study in 1950, but not all of the distinctions are still valid for the current era.
RECONSTRUCTING A THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE
THE REFORMIST ATTEMPTS TO SUSTAIN ORTHODOX BELIEFS
The Pillars of Beliefin the Muhammadiyah
Therefore, Kitib al-Ïman emphasizes that God does not oblige Muslims to know the true nature of angels. This promise appears frequently in the Qur'an, for example: "Allah has bought from the believers their persons and their goods, for their (inretum) is. Prophet Nuh or NiiIJ.
Therefore, the belief that the spirits of the dead had sovereign power over the fate of the living was not only birch. Man's tendency to seek help from SUUPmatural power was not limited to the graves or the spirits of the deceased. In the preamble to its constitution, Associational Islam declared that the Muslim ummah would have Dever Callen out in misery and despair if it had been true to its most important doctrines.
For example, HisPCDgajlUllD SIJalll1 is a manual on how to perform prayers in strict accordance with the guidelines of the Quran and the Sunnah. Another issue related to the similarities between the attributes of God and those of man is also discussed in the Sual-Jawab. However, it remains debatable whether or not the M-FitiJldrec:itatioD will reach the addressee, that is, the spirits of the deceased.
It was reported that one of the companions of the Prophet 9 asked him to fulfill his request to God. Nevertheless, failure to fulfill all other four obligations does not necessarily mean that one is not a Muslim.