Translated by Translated R É MY MADINIER Jeremy Desmond Jeremy he Masyumi Party, which was active in Indonesia from 1945 to 1960, constitutes the boldest attempt to date at reconciling Islam and democracy. TMasyumi proposed a vision of society and government which was not bound by a literalist application of Islamic doctrine but rather inspired by the values of Islam. It set out moderate policies which were both favourable to the West and tolerant towards other religious communities in Indonesia. Although the party made significant strides towards the elaboration of a Muslim democracy, in ISLAM nd OLITICS its achievements were nonetheless precarious: it was eventually outlawed in 1960 for having resisted Sukarno’s slide towards authoritarianism, and the I NDONESIA ISLAM and refusal of Suharto’s regime to reinstate the party left its leaders disenchanted and marginalised. Many of those leaders subsequently turned to a form of Islam known as integralism, a radical doctrine echoing certain characteristics of 19th-century Catholic integralism, which contributed to the advent of a POLITICS in Muslim neo-fundamentalism in Indonesia. This book examines the Masyumi Party from its roots in early 20th-century Muslim reformism to its contemporary legacy, and offers a perspective on P INDONESIA political Islam which provides an alternative to the more widely-studied model of Middle-Eastern Islam. The party’s experience teaches us much about the fine line separating a moderate form of Islam open to democracy and a certain degree of secularisation from the sort of religious intransigence which can threaten the country’s denominational coexistence. Rémy Madinier is a senior researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and co-director of the Centre Asie du Sud-Est (CASE-EHESS). Jeremy Desmond teaches English at the Jean Moulin University in Lyon. He has already translated a number of articles on Southeast Asian studies. THE MASYUMI PARTY BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND INTEGRALISM RÉMY MADINIER 9 789971 698430 www.nus.edu.sg/nuspress Translated by Jeremy Desmond Islam & Politics_Madinier Nusp opt 2.indd 1 28/7/15 10:42 am Islam and Politics in Indonesia FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd i 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:29:31:29 PPMM FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd iiii 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:29:31:29 PPMM Islam and Politics in Indonesia Th e Masyumi Party between Democracy and Integralism Rémy Madinier Translated by Jeremy Desmond FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd iiiiii 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM © 2015 Rémy Madinier This book is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Published by: NUS Press National University of Singapore AS3-01-02, 3 Arts Link Singapore 117569 Fax: (65) 6774-0652 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://nuspress.nus.edu.sg ISBN 978-9971-69-843-0 (Paper) All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data Madinier, Rémy. Islam and politics in Indonesia: the Masyumi Party between democracy and integralism / Rémy Madinier; translator, Jeremy Desmond. – Singapore: NUS Press, [2015] pages cm. ISBN: 978-9971-69-843-0 (paperback) 1. Masyumi (Organization) – History. 2. Political parties – Indonesia – History – 20th century. 3. Muslims – Political activity – Indonesia – 20th century. 4. Islam and politics – Indonesia – History – 20th century. 5. Indonesia – Politics and government – 1942–1949. 6. Indonesia – Politics and government – 1950–1966. I. Title. JQ779.A553 324.2598 — dc23 OCN900183544 First published by Karthala as L’Indonésie entre démocratie musulmane et Islam intégral: Histoire du parti Masjumi in 2011. Cover: Artwork based on the flag of Masyumi. The electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 978-981-4722-56-8. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. iv-Islam & Politics_e-print.indd 4 9/1/19 3:55 PM Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix Author’s Note xi Introduction xiii Chapter 1 Th e Party’s Infancy: Its Political Genesis and 1 Historical Lineage Chapter 2 Th e Early Signs of Political Schizophrenia: 61 Caught between Stability and Revolution Chapter 3 Confronting Reality: Masyumi and the Exercise 119 of Power Chapter 4 Th e Fall 202 Chapter 5 Governing in the Name of Islam 285 Chapter 6 Th e Ideal of an Islamic Society 348 Chapter 7 Conclusion 409 Epilogue Archetypal Contradictions within Muslim 426 Reformism in Indonesia: Masyumi as Inheritors and Perpetuators Glossary 453 Bibliography 464 Index 477 v FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd v 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd vvii 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM List of Illustrations Maps Map 0.1 Th e 10 provinces of the Unitary Republic of xii Indonesia, August 1950. Map 1.1 Th e spread of Islam across the Indonesian archipelago. 4 Map 2.1 Th e disintegration of the United States of Indonesia, 117 January 1950. Map 3.1 Movements linked to Darul Islam between 157 1949 and 1960. Map 4.1 Masyumi’s results in the 1955 elections. 212 Map 4.2 Th e combined results of Indonesia’s Muslim parties 213 in the 1955 elections. Map 4.3 Masyumi’s results compared with the other main 214 parties in the 1955 elections. Plates Plate 2.1 “Remember Madiun” (Hikmah, 17 September 1955). 106 Plate 3.1 Th e “oriental” transferring the contents of the 120 “problem container” into a “synthesising machine” turned to “Western speed”, which transforms them into laws, ordinances and motions. Plate 3.2 Th e Government Parties in Indonesia 1950–56 126 (by percentage of ministerial positions). vii FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd vviiii 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM viii List of Illustrations Plate 3.3 Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo torn between his 146 two wives, the PKI and Nahdlatul Ulama. Plate 3.4 Th e PKI separating the principle of a unique 149 God from the rest of Pancasila. Plate 3.5 Homage given to Malenkov and Mao. 151 Plate 4.1 “Masyumi is implanted throughout Indonesia. 215 Its infl uence demonstrates its victory”. Plate 4.2 President Sukarno unveils his plan to dismantle 233 the parties. Plate 4.3 “Th e cabinet” does not know whether to give its 241 “report” to “the Parliament” or “the National Council”. Plate 4.4 While Sukarno gesticulates before a few New Life 243 Movement troops, his objectives are already being accomplished in the regions thanks to the collaboration between the army, the people and the regional administrations. Plate 5.1 An example of the secularisation of campaign 303 themes: Th e 1955 electoral programme. Plate 6.1 An advertisement for Lifebuoy soap made by 398 Unilever which appeared regularly in Suara Partai Masjumi, Hikmah and Abadi in 1951 and 1952. FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd vviiiiii 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM Acknowledgements he author and translator are deeply indebted to Dr. Kevin Fogg Tfor his very valuable advice on specifi c terms and references in English. We would also like to extend our warm thanks to all those who helped with both the comprehension of the French text and the proofreading of the English version, namely Bénédicte Desmond, Jessica Lichy, Eoin Campbell, Neil Carmody, Alan Geary, David Lewis and Kieran Woods. Th eir help is greatly appreciated. Th e translation of this book was made possible thanks to the sup- port of the Centre National du Livre, the Institut d’Études de l’Islam et des Sociétés du Monde Musulman (EHESS) and the Centre Asie du Sud-Est (CNRS-EHESS). ix FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd iixx 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM FFM-IslamM-Islam & PPolitics.inddolitics.indd x 88/2/15/2/15 77:31:30:31:30 PPMM Author’s Note ince the 1970s, the term “Islamist” has taken on a pejorative con- Snotation, as it has come to encompass all radicals, including those who are ready to use violence to impose their vision of Islam’s role in society. Th is was not, however, the original acceptation of this term, which merely referred to Muslims who wished to see their religion play a role in public life, thus meaning that it could quite readily be applied in relation to Masyumi’s leaders. I have used, for convenience’ sake, the term “modernist” and “reformist” interchangeably with relation to Islam, except in cases where it might lead to confusion. Th e two movements are very similar, although reformism, unlike its modernist counterpart, includes the proponents of Wahhabi fundamentalism. I have often referred to the secular nationalists simply as “nation- alists”, in contrast to the representatives of political Islam. It should not be forgotten however that the latter were also nationalists insofar as they also supported the struggle for national independence. Since independence, Indonesian spelling has undergone two re- forms. Th e fi rst one, in 1947, replaced “oe” by “u”, while the second, in 1972, changed “dj” into “j”, “tj” into “c”, “sj” into “sy” and “ch” into “kh”.