Religion and nationalism: Deliar Noer, The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900-1942

Tri Harmaji
History of Religions in Indonesia Part II: from c. 1900 to the Present
Religion and nationalism: Deliar Noer, The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900-1942
I think the question of this lecture and also the question that is tried to answer in this reading, what and how the relation between religion and nationalism is, is very important thing in the context of Indonesia. Indonesia is a religious country as well as ‘a secular country’. As religious country Indonesia highly considers the importance of religion but as a secular country Indonesia base its philosophy and law on more secular value and not on one particular religious value. Here to know the relation between religions as one of the most important entities in the life of society and nationalism the most important ideology to unite the diverse community in the country finds its important ground.
Deliar Noer has explained well of how in the first decades before the independence of Indonesia religion, and especially Islam, has served the function of ‘nationalism’ to unite Indonesian people against the Dutch colonial. Noer explains that Islam has effectively become the only enemy and obstacle of the colonial government to rule and exploit Indonesian people. In other entities of Indonesia such as race and kingdom have no strong hatred other that economic interest, Islam has religious hatred toward the Dutch colonial that they consider as infidel or kafir, something that actually much strongest than any other hatred. This hatred was also strengthened by the fact of crusade that put East Islamic world and West Christian world as lasting enemy.
This special characteristic (Islam against the Dutch colonial) then created a kind of consciousness that Islam is the only identity that can clearly and definitely separate and differentiate Indonesian people from the colonial government. This consciousness emerged more when many Islamic leaders perceived the later Dutch’s intention to convert all Indonesian people, and especially the Muslim, into Christianity as one of its strategies to establish its good colonial rule over all Indonesian people. This consciousness made Islamic leaders to think of creating something that could be used to refuse and ‘fight’ against this Dutch intention. What then emerged from this problem is some Islamic organization that especially worked on the educational matters as a response of the government restriction for Islamic children to enter their schools. These organizations then found their own schools for Muslim children. These schools firstly focused more on religious teaching but later, as it was stated by Muhammadiah, also gave attention for more secular things. Muhammadiah also one organization that encouraged people to be proud of being Muslim and made Islam as their first identity in the face of the Dutch colonial government.
It this reading I do agree if the author has clearly explained of how the first days Islam has become the most important identity against the Dutch; Islam has actually become the first ‘nationalism’ of Indonesia. It is good writing, but my question here is how is about other religion? Like we know, other religious people were also involved in the independence struggle; then is their religion also use to served as ‘nationalism’ against the Dutch? Until now Hinduism and Buddhism never became the important indentity of Indonesia and even Christianity often put closed to the West, now Islam, like what appeared from many Islamic political parties, was stayed against the nationalist one. So, how can if in the first time Islam has served as nationalism but in the end she becomes the ‘enemy’ of nationalism?