ISLAM AND LIBERALISM IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA: THE POLITICAL IDEAS OF JARINGAN ISLAM LIBERAL (THE LIBERAL ISLAM NETWORK) A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Nicolaus Teguh Budi Harjanto August 2003 This thesis entitled ISLAM AND LIBERALISM IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA: THE POLITICAL IDEAS OF JARINGAN ISLAM LIBERAL (THE LIBERAL ISLAM NETWORK) BY NICOLAUS TEGUH BUDI HARJANTO has been approved for the Department of Political Science and the College of Arts and Sciences by Michael S. Malley Assistant Professor of Political Science Leslie A. Flemming Dean, College of Arts and Sciences HARJANTO, NICOLAUS TEGUH BUDI. M.A. August 2003. Political Science Islam and Liberalism in Contemporary Indonesia: The Political Ideas of Jaringan Islam Liberal (The Liberal Islam Network) (121pp.) Director of Thesis: Michael S. Malley Islam in Indonesia is acknowledged as moderate, although there are radical Islamic groups that are involved in violent religious conflicts and insist on the implementation of Islamic law in the post-authoritarian Soeharto era. The moderation of Islam in Indonesia is not merely because of historical factors, but is also the result of ongoing debates on how to reconcile Islam with modernity. Jaringan Islam Liberal/JIL (the Liberal Islam Network), a network of young Muslim intellectuals, emerges as a forum to disseminate liberal interpretations of Islam. This study is to determine whether JIL’s liberal Islam is meant to develop an Islamic conception of liberalism or an Islamic liberal theology. This study shows that JIL’s liberal Islam is the continuation of Islamic renewal projects by Islamic neomodernists. The ideas proposed by JIL activists mostly deal with the compatibility of Islam and democracy, especially on the issues of toleration, pluralism, secularization, and individual and women’s rights. This network is very significant to the development of liberal Islamic ideas and the future of moderation of Islam in predominantly Muslim countries like Indonesia. Approved: Michael S. Malley Assistant Professor of Political Science Acknowledgments The completion of this study depends on the support of many people. Foremost, I owe special debt to Professors Michael S. Malley, Justin McDaniel, Kathleen Sullivan, Elizabeth F. Collins, and Julie A. White for their encouragement, advice, comments, and critiques. I am grateful to Professor Ronald J. Hunt for his kind assistance and encouragement. I am also indebted to a number of friends (Irynka, Ihsan, Sukidi, Jackie Varrone, Steve Kim, Elzi, Natasha, Adrian, etc.,) for helpful assistance and contributions at various stage of my study. I am deeply indebted to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, that provides generous support for my study. Special thanks to Harry Tjan Silalahi, Hadi Soesastro, Clara Joewono, J. Kristiadi, Tommi Legowo, and Nancy K. Suhut. I dedicate this study to my mom, sisters and brothers, and colleagues at CSIS, Jakarta. 5 Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................4 Chapter 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................6 Liberal Islam: A Brief Introduction .............................................................................10 Liberal Islam on Democracy: A Brief Survey .............................................................18 Liberalism and Liberal Theology: A Brief Introduction .............................................25 Negative and Positive Freedom .............................................................................29 Toleration...............................................................................................................31 Liberal Theology and Political Liberalism ............................................................34 The Plan of the Thesis..................................................................................................40 Chapter 2. Jaringan Islam Liberal: Its Intellectual Roots and Historical Background .................................................................................................42 Introduction..................................................................................................................42 Leading Figures of Islamic Renewal Thinking in Contemporary Indonesia...............46 Nurcholish Madjid .................................................................................................47 Abdurrahman Wahid..............................................................................................51 Embryo of Jaringan Islam Liberal: A Brief Survey....................................................56 Jaringan Islam Liberal: Background, Activities, and Meaning ..................................61 Chapter 3. Jaringan Islam Liberal on Liberal Islam and Its Criticism..............................67 Introduction..................................................................................................................67 Jaringan Islam Liberal on Liberal Islam.....................................................................69 Definition and Meaning .........................................................................................71 Perspectives on Liberal Islam ................................................................................76 Responses and Criticism to JIL....................................................................................81 Chapter 4. Jaringan Islam Liberal on Democracy and Its Controversies .........................88 Introduction..................................................................................................................88 Perspectives on Democracy .........................................................................................91 Controversies and Cases of Freedom of Speech..........................................................99 Chapter 5. Conclusion......................................................................................................105 References........................................................................................................................115 Appendix 1. Comparison of the History of the Liberal Idea and the Islamic Faith.........119 6 Chapter 1 Introduction Indonesia is home to more Muslims than any other country in the world, but Islam in Indonesia is acknowledged as having more moderate nuances than in other Muslim countries. Islam is practiced by more than 85 percent of Indonesia’s 220 million people and coexists with other religions and faiths in a relatively peaceful situation, although tensions between Muslims and Christians have risen since the downfall of Soeharto’s authoritarian regime in 1998. These tensions have taken different forms. In parts of Maluku and Sulawesi, violent conflicts between Muslim and Christian communities have resulted in several thousand deaths and the displacement of more than a half million people from their homes. In addition, fundamentalist Muslim groups have begun to advocate the implementation of Islamic law (shari’a). Although they have not gained broad political support from the majority of moderate Indonesian Muslims, they have compelled other groups to reconsider the decision of the country’s founding fathers to reject the adoption of an Islamic state. It is commonly argued that the moderate Islam in Indonesia is the result of the process of Islamization known as peaceful penetration mostly by traders-cum- missionaries, not by military conquest to supplant the existing religions.1 However, the historical background does not adequately explain the moderate Islam in modern 1 See, Nurcholish Madjid, “In Search of Islamic Roots for Modern Pluralism: The Indonesian Experience,” in Mark R. Woodward, ed., Toward A New Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic Thought (Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, 1996), 92. 7 Indonesia. Today in Indonesia there is an ongoing debate about how Islam should be reconciled with other values as well as how to adapt and bring normative Islam into dialogue with modernity. A critical issue in this debate is Islam and pluralism. Pluralism is a reality for Indonesia, as the country consists of more than 200 ethnic and language groupings. In order to maintain the moderation of Islam in Indonesia, many Islamic scholars have tried to re-interpret normative Islamic values by reconciling them with modern, Western liberal philosophical discourses. Therefore, there is an ongoing debate about the compatibility of Islamic values with liberalism (and democracy in general) in Indonesia. Arguments proposed by Indonesian Islamic scholars can be categorized into two main contradicting points of view. The first position based on the textual interpretations of the Qur’an is that Islamic values are not compatible with liberalism. The main argument supporting this view is that Islamic values were God-created values and theological doctrines of divinity, while liberalism was invented and developed by human beings, and, therefore, it was based on the primacy of reason. The second position based on the contextual interpretations of the Qur’an is that both values can be reconciled. Islamic values and