Two Mainstreams of Contestation: Religion and Nationalism in Indonesia

History of Religions in Indonesia pt. 2. 1900 to the Present—
Prof. Bernard Adeney-Risakotta & Dr. Sri Margana
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Roma Ulinnuha-ICRS 2009
Reading:
1. Deliar Noer, The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900 -1942 (Singapore:Oxfopd University Press, 1973)
2. Surwandono, The Islamic Political Thoughts, (Yogyakarta: LPPI, 2001), p. 25-26.

Week #4: Religion and Nationalism

Two Mainstreams of Contestation: Religion and Nationalism in Indonesia

The religious movement played a significant role in promoting a nationalism sense in Indonesia. As I noted earlier in Religion and Colonialism weekly report, there have been transformations in carrying out nationalism aspects—from the struggle for Indonesian’ independence, the formation of the state to the consensus of the way of life Indonesia. Notwithstanding its difference, the spirit of nationalism is central.
Deliar Noer (1973) states that the Muslims in Indonesia have often been involved in theoretical and ideological controversies, either with the secular nationalists or amongst themselves (p. 4). Noer basically addresses the three transformations that I have already mentioned earlier. He depicted how Muslim institutions and intellectuals had been influenced much from education type of strategies. In order to present the issue, the history and the empowerment of the educated people in Indonesia were shown applying historical perspective.
I think the evidence of the massive tribute from religious entities toward Indonesian nationalism is manifest, however the issue goes deeply on the contestation between two mainstreams representing the modern Islamic thoughts—‘the substantive and formalist type of schools’.
In this respect, I believe that Muslim in Indonesia has successfully challenged the formalist stance in which the issue of religion and the state is a unity (din wa daulah). The stance of Indonesian political mode is that the state cannot be influenced by any belief or religion. The substantive type of thought is ideally appropriate since Indonesia consists of multicultural entities. Applying this mode, the nationalism awareness mingles within it.
History teaches us the crucial religious position in relation to the state at the center of nationalism element. Despite its limitation, the implementation of nationalism in a form of a secular type of the state in Indonesia is an outstanding achievement. The position is unique since the secular state of Indonesia is somewhat succinctly engineered by the solid religious framework and the sense of nationalism.