SPOTLIGHT
President Suharto began to openly sponsor the establishment of the Indonesian Muslim
Intellectuals’ or Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia [ICMI], which was a major
new Islamic organisation. Further, the emergence of Nahdlatul Ulama [NU] under the
leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid began voicing support for the democratisation in
Indonesia by arguing that Islam and democracy are mutually compatible.
began to emerge between the existing more tolerant Islam and
the new imported and conservative form of Islam.[4] Wahid
Hasyim, who was the head of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the
largest social and cultural Islamic organisation – in 1945
acknowledged the nationalists’ concerns about preserving the
unity of the State and agreed that for the sake of the Republic,
Islam would not be granted preferential treatment.[5] There,
however, seems to be a continuous challenge in keeping the
State separate from Islam in Indonesia. In 1953, Sukarno
voiced his fears of the negative implications for national
unity, if Muslim Indonesians pressed their demands for an
Islamic State, or for constitutional or other legal provisions
which would constitute formal recognition of Islam by the
State. During Sukarno’s era of Guided Democracy, it was
characterised by ongoing secessionist movements in various
parts of the country and Islamic-inspired armed struggle
against the central government called the Darul Islam. The
issue of Islamic political demands on the state was vividly
illustrated in the Darul Islam revolts against the Central
Government between 1948 and 1962. The series of Islamic-
inspired armed uprising in West Java, South Sulawesi, and
Aceh were eventually put down by the Indonesian army. The
single greatest consequence of the Darul Islam revolts is that
the Islamic threat posed a major challenge to the continued
integration of the Republic.[6]
During the Suharto regime, the relationship between
the government and Islam began to change dramatically.
After 1985, President Suharto began to openly sponsor the
establishment of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals’ or Ikatan
Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia [ICMI], which was a major
new Islamic organisation. Further, the emergence of Nahdlatul
Ulama [NU] under the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid
began voicing support for the democratisation in Indonesia by
arguing that Islam and democracy are mutually compatible.
These new organisations attracted the participation of Muslim
activists, scholars, and politicians who had been opposed to
Suharto in the past. In the political spheres, one of the most
striking developments was the apparent abandonment of any
expressions of Islamic discomfort with Pancasila. Where in
the past, Islamic politicians were worried about the use of
Pancasila as an anti-Islamic tool, they began praising the
government as having done more for Islam.[7]
Ever since the fall of Suharto, there is a growing tendency
in Indonesia towards returning to the roots, to the Arab
worldview on Islam, with an emphasis on outward observation.
For instance, the growth in the usage of head covers and scarf
among women in Java which is the epicentre of Indonesian
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 4 • April-May 2019, Noida • 49