http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/02/news/edvatik.php
Michael Vatikiotis: Islamizing Indonesia
International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2005
SINGAPORE Amid global fears about the spread of Islamic militancy, the
last thing anyone wants to hear about is creeping fundamentalism in Indonesia,
the world's largest Muslim nation. But these fears have become more palpable in
recent weeks.
Indonesia's highest Muslim body has issued religious edicts banning mixed
marriages, religious pluralism and interfaith prayers. A series of attacks has
forced the closure of Christian churches. And in the province of Aceh, where
the government has reached an agreement with the pro-independence movement to
end a long-running insurgency, a woman was publicly flogged and more than a
dozen men have been caned in the past three months for breaching newly
introduced Shariah, or Islamic law.
Some Indonesians are worried about the trend this pattern of events
suggests. As many as seven districts in Indonesia, from West Java to South
Sulawesi and Madura, already have enforced some kind of Shariah, something they
can do under Indonesia's wide-ranging autonomy law.
The liberal Muslim scholar Syafi'i Anwar complains about what he calls
the "creeping Shariah-ization of Indonesia." He frets that the country's
political leadership is paying no attention to the spread of Islamic law, which
he believes is poorly understood and manipulated by local politicians to
bolster their popularity. "Indonesia has no credible religious leaders, and we
don't know where we are heading," he laments.
Indeed, the untimely death on Monday of one of Indonesia's most prominent
liberal Islamic scholars, Nurcholish Madjid, leaves a huge gap in a country
where crude religious rhetoric mixing dogma with mysticism finds a ready
audience among people who have given up expecting justice from secular
quarters.
Lately, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sought to allay concerns
that Indonesia was drifting toward fundamentalism. "You may read from time to
time the voice of small radical groups," Yudhoyono said. "But this voice will
not change the fact that mainstream Indonesia will continue to be moderate,
tolerant and democratic."
Democracy means that extremists can express themselves more freely. One
of the 11 fatwas issued by the influential Council of Ulama at the end of July
states that Islamic interpretations based on liberalism, secularism and
pluralism "contradict Islamic teachings." The fear in conservative Islamic
circles is that political openness will erode religious values and allow
proselytizing by Christians.
Indonesians have already rejected the idea of their country becoming an
Islamic state, however, and are not inclined to vote for hard-line Islamic
parties. Two years ago Indonesian legislators voted to reject the insertion of
Shariah provisions in the country's constitution.
Most Indonesians are not moved by rigid religious dogma. The middle
ground in Indonesian politics is secular and tolerant, and for any avowedly
Islamic party to win a majority it would need to cast off any notion of
altering the basis of a state that is home to millions of Christians and Hindus
as well. A popular grassroots party, the Prosperous Justice Party, was forced
to subordinate support for Shariah to a secular reform platform in its
manifesto - though many suspect that the party still promotes Shariah.
But in a country where democracy is new and political parties are still
underdeveloped, religion is a powerful mobilizing force and is subject to
exploitation for political ends. Witness how hard it has been for the
government to ban known terrorist organizations like Jemaah Islamiyah for fear
of alienating support. The Ministry of Religious Affairs refuses to bring
charges against Muslims who have forced the closure of almost two dozen
churches in recent weeks, blaming Christians instead for not seeking legal
permits to worship.
The use of Shariah for political ends is even more worrying, as this has
a lasting impact on society. In Aceh, Shariah was introduced as a government
ploy to draw off popular support for Aceh's independence movement. The idea was
that Shariah would help impart a sense of autonomy and Islamic identity and
persuade the long-suffering Acehnese that Jakarta was giving them what they
wanted.
Under Shariah, women in Aceh must wear head scarves and are less free to
mingle with men. Public floggings for convicted gamblers and drinkers have
already taken place. Yet in more liberal quarters of Acehnese society there has
been an outcry over the barbarity and abuse of human rights that public caning
involves.
The problem with mixing Islam and politics is that a dogmatic view tends
to prevail because of Muslims' fears of being branded apostates. Indonesia is
not becoming an Islamic state anytime soon, but its political leaders are prone
to exploiting Islam for short-term ends that could have lasting consequences.
(Michael Vatikiotis is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.)
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