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RESPONSE of SOUTHEAST ASIAN MUSLIMS to the INCREASINGLY GLOBALIZED WORLD: DISCOURSE and ACTION Iik Arifin Mansurnoor

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RESPONSE of SOUTHEAST ASIAN MUSLIMS to the INCREASINGLY GLOBALIZED WORLD: DISCOURSE and ACTION Iik Arifin Mansurnoor HAOL, Núm. 5 (Otoño, 2004), 103-111 ISSN 1696-2060 RESPONSE OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN MUSLIMS TO THE INCREASINGLY GLOBALIZED WORLD: DISCOURSE AND ACTION Iik Arifin Mansurnoor Universiti Brunei-Darussalam, Brunei-Darussalam. E-mail: [email protected] Recibido: 11 Julio 2004 / Revisado: 13 Agosto 2004 / Aceptado: 12 Septiembre 2004 / Publicado: 15 Octubre 2004 Resumen: Having itself grown out of a global aving itself grown out of a global orientation, Islam in Southeast Asia has gone orientation, Islam in Southeast Asia has global since its inception. Southeast Asian Hgone global since its inception. Muslims always welcome and participate in the Southeast Asian Muslims always welcome and globalized world, even though they are vigilant participate in the globalized world. What they, to the origin and aim of global action and based on the pristine teaching of Islam on social design. Historically Southeast Asian Muslims responsibility, are critical to is closely related faced globalization and colonialism with more to the origin and aim of global action and responsible criticism. Islam has found two major design. support-bases for its translation in Southeast Asia: the state and the autonomous religious Historically Southeast Asian Muslims faced leaders. With the increasing sophistication and globalization of colonialism with responsible penetration of Western colonialism, modern criticism. Muslims continue to work for, in Muslim organizations gradually have taken over particular, morally correct global relations and the social role of the defunct indigenous states exchange. As early as the 13th century, indeed, and other institutions. Southeast Asian Muslims Islam has found two major support-bases for its have shown their moral vision of the globalized translation in Southeast Asia: the state and the world and their design to achieve it. In this autonomous local leaders (ulama). This article, emphasis is given to major trends in polarization continues until today. After the 16th spirituality centered movement among Southeast century the scripturalist and tariqa-based Asian Muslims as represented by mass institutions stimulated active and strong organizations, the reformed traditional movements to implement a spirituality centered institutions, and the more pronounced social concept of community. With the increasing movements in the region. Despite the fact that sophistication and penetration of Western the state's hegemony and the ever presence of colonialism since the dawn of the 20th century, the shari'a at times interfere with and color the modern Muslim organizations gradually have activities of these movements, they have taken over the social role of the defunct undeniably demonstrated the viability and indigenous states and other institutions, potential of spirituality centered movement in primarily to respond to the rapid change and at reshaping the rapidly changing and more the same time pursue defense of the community. globalized world of today. Although some, if not most, of them assume, if Palabras Clave: action, globalized world, not take, the role of state, others insist on social increasingly, muslims, Southeast Asian. and religio-cultural struggles. ______________________ "It is a large world; its inhabitants form a large From the publication of Singapore's al-Imam in community; Islam is in every sense a great affair. The 1906 to the recent foundation of Islam Liberal in Muslim in Lahore, or in Samarqand or Kano, does not Jakarta, Southeast Asian Muslims have shown feel isolated, but is vividly conscious of belonging to a their moral vision of the globalized world and living community spread across the globe" their design to achieve it. In this paper, emphasis * (Wilfred C. Smith, On Understanding Islam) is given to major trends in spirituality centered movement among Southeast Asian Muslims as © Historia Actual Online 2004 103 Response of Southeast Asian muslims Iik Arifin Mansurnoor represented by mass organizations like the terrorists should be taken seriously. For them Nahdlatul Ulama and the Muhammadiyah, the recent terror attacks in the region do not belong reformed traditional institutions like pondok to the pristine teachings of the religion and the (Gontor) and tariqa (Naqshbandiya), and the ideological make up of their organizations. Such more pronounced social movements such as the an aberration indeed forms an attack on their Sisters in Islam (Kuala Lumpur), the Aliran very raison d'être, identity and future. (Pinang) and Islam Liberal. Unlike Roy1, Kepel2 and Lewis3, who, in their Despite the fact that the state hegemony and the own respective styles and emphasis, point out ever presence of the shari'a at times interfere politicized Islam and its attending crisis in the with and color the activities of these contemporary Muslim world, Graham Fuller4 movements, they have undeniably demonstrated maintains the diversity of Islamist movements. the viability and potential of spirituality centered The majority of these, he insists, continue to be movement in reshaping the rapidly changing and moderate and even resolute to cooperate in the more globalized world of today. struggle for democracy. INTRODUCTION In a powerful thesis of cultural encounters between Islam and the West, Hichem Djaït With the barrage of negative and discrediting maintains anxious fears among Muslims about Western press about recent Muslim terrorists, the collapse of their religion have been calmed. including those in Southeast Asia, it is ironic "The idea of cultural pluralism, of equal rights that my paper addresses the reverse –Islamic to self-development for all societies, ideas now spirituality and globalization–. More accepted by open- minded people everywhere, specifically, it is obviously easier to argue the allow Muslims to maintain a certain distance point from an apologetic standpoint; however, in from their identity"5. this esteemed academic and serious atmosphere of our workshop we need to move forward to Among modern historians W.C. Smith is the finding common grounds of interest in and most insistent on the importance of history to shared benefit of having a just, peaceful and Muslims. Islamic history, especially the early harmonious global world. part, belonged to them6. Optimism to life and to the world thus manifested in the global What is global about Islamic discourse? Is it not orientation of Muslim discourse and worldview. futile and self- contradictory to pose religion Not only did Muslims enjoy universal influence, like Islam as a means to create a more convivial they also positively looked to the wider world. global world? Were Southeast Asian Muslims Interaction and cooperation with the larger customers of ideas and practices offered by their entities were launched in the 8th to 10th teachers based in the Middle East and South centuries. On this issue Max Weber has an Asia? What were the environments conducive to interesting observation. He points out the major stimulate self-reliance and confidence in difference between early active worldly Southeast Asia in the last quarter of the 20th orientation of Islam and the latter contemplative century? To answer the first part of these Sufism, even though both share a strong questions, it is necessary to examine how history universal orientation7. shows that Muslims have been untiringly global actors. Fazlur Rahman maintains that the inherent and pervasive beauty and strength of Sufi Despite some historical deviation and partial spiritualism must be given a proper place in aberration, Muslims strongly believe that their Islamic domain, namely the shari'a8. The failure religion, Islam, fully commits to peace, harmony of formally accommodating Sufism had costed and brotherhood. Their brilliance in the classical Muslims dearly in intellectual and social life. period through political and military domination often sends wrong signals and messages Marshall Hodgson is consistent in maintaining concerning their own spiritual worth. the brilliant contribution of Islamic civilization to pluralism and universalism. Indeed, the Recent complaints by several Muslim leaders in cultural traditions which shouldered Islamic Southeast Asia concerning their being civilization comprised of diverse elements, "by victimized and attacked by their own radicals or no means restricted to Muslims"9. 104 © Historia Actual Online 2004 Iik Arifin Mansurnoor Response of Southeast Asian muslims Taufik Abdullah10 emphasizes the importance of 1. NON-STATE ISLAM IN TRADITIONAL political structure of various Muslim SEA communities in Southeast Asia to the autonomy of socio- religious movements. In New Order The close link between the early phase of Indonesia, political centralization and the Islamization and the formal endorsement of kratonic structure of state and religion led Islam by rulers in the Malay World do not toward autonomous growth of Islamic permit total separation between state and Islamic movements in non-political fields. In Malaysia institutions12. Only with the deeper penetration and Brunei the formal link between state and of Western powers and Western systems of Islam has determined the monopoly, or at least administration, leading to weakening local attempt to it, of all religious matters and powers, did autonomous religious institutions activities. and leaders gradually, but vigorously, emerge. From quite early period, for example, the It is clear to me that historically Muslims, like Muslim courts maintained the presence of the many other missionary religionists, have been ulama
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