Islam and Nationalism by Nina Mariani Noor

Talking about nationalism in Indonesia, particularly in colonialism era, we can not neglect the rule of religion in supporting the emerging of nationalism. Deliar Noer, in his book have succeeded describing some religion movements (Islam) which directly influenced the spirit of Indonesian to get their independence.
It is interesting that Noer points out that Indonesian nationalism meaning Muslim Nationalism (p.7). Before I read this book, although I know that most of struggles done during Dutch colonialism were under Islam banner, I never thought that idea.
The increasing number of Indonesian people who did pilgrimage (hajj) did amplified the force to oppose Dutch who colonized Indonesia for hundreds of year. It is shown by the noteworthy number of rebellions to Dutch or revolts which were led by haji. It seems that being Hajj at that time truly valuable in struggling for a better life for their community. Trying to bring these circumstances into today’s situation in which every year, the number of Muslims who go pilgrimage increases significantly. It can be assumed that many hajj will struggle with their people to improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, it seems for me that many hajis now do not do it at all since there are still many people, particularly Muslims who still live in poverty.
In my opinion, by depicting some Muslim movements which were established by Muslims from different areas and different background such as Djamiat Chair in Jakarta, Persyarikatan Ulama in Majalengka, Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta, Persis in Bandung, and some movements in Minangkabau, Noer has effectively convinced the readers about the fact that Muslims really took part essentially in growing nationalism among Indonesian Muslims at that time through social and educational movements regardless their diversities in understanding and practicing Islamic teachings.