Islam and the Secular State in Indonesia

7. CONCLUSION

222 7 CONCLUSION The฀history฀of฀thought฀is฀an฀elusive฀area฀to฀write฀about.฀It฀has฀many฀holes฀ where฀ writers฀ are฀ trapped฀ into฀ making฀ generalizations฀ or฀ simplifications.฀ However,฀ generalizations฀ and฀ simplifications฀ are฀ sometimes฀ necessary฀ in฀ giving฀ an฀ intelligible฀ picture฀ of฀ the฀ complex฀ phenomenon฀ of฀ human฀ thought.฀There฀is,฀however,฀a฀danger฀that฀it฀tends฀to฀give฀a฀distorted฀version฀ of฀ human฀ history.฀ Various฀ books฀ on฀ Islamic฀ thought฀ fall฀ into฀ this฀ trap฀ through฀generalizing฀or฀simplifying฀its฀complexity฀into฀various฀ideological฀ categories฀such฀as฀“modernist”,฀“traditionalist”,฀“revivalist”,฀“neo-modernist”,฀ and฀so฀on.฀There฀is฀a฀certain฀element฀of฀truth฀in฀these฀categories,฀but฀the฀ history฀ of฀ thought฀ is฀ not฀ a฀ mere฀ history฀ of฀ ideology.฀ As฀ Karl฀ Mannheim฀ argues,฀ political฀ thought฀ will฀ not฀ adequately฀ be฀ understood฀ without฀ an฀ appreciation฀of฀the฀role฀of฀utopia.1 ฀It฀is฀disappointing฀that฀many฀studies฀on฀ Islamic฀thought฀in฀Indonesia฀heavily฀emphasize฀political฀ideologies฀without฀ due฀consideration฀of฀Muslim฀utopia. This฀study฀is฀an฀attempt฀to฀fill฀this฀gap฀by฀addressing฀Islamic฀political฀ thought฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀role฀of฀utopia.฀Utopia฀has฀played฀a฀great฀role฀in฀ determining฀ political฀ discourse฀ in฀ the฀ country.฀ Since฀ the฀ very฀ beginning฀ of฀ the฀ era฀ of฀ national฀ resurgence฀ (era฀ kebangkitan฀ nasional฀ or฀ nahdah฀ in฀ the฀ Arab฀ context),฀ Indonesian฀ Muslims฀ have฀ been฀ daunted฀ by฀ the฀ ideal฀ model฀ of฀ polity.฀The฀ model฀ of฀ polity,฀ as฀ Macpherson฀ argues,฀ is฀ the฀ most฀ practical฀idea฀of฀utopia.2 ฀This฀study฀has฀examined฀Muslim฀models฀of฀polity฀ in฀ Indonesia฀ since฀ independence.฀ It฀ has฀ found฀ three฀ dominant฀ models฀ 222 07 I&SSI.indd 222 4/2/09 1:21:30 PM Conclusion฀ 223 that฀reflect฀Muslims’฀political฀understanding฀and฀attitudes฀towards฀various฀ religious-political฀ issues.฀These฀ three฀ models฀ have฀ played฀ a฀ crucial฀ role฀ in฀ developing฀ Islamic฀ political฀ thinking฀ in฀ contemporary฀ Indonesia.฀ Various฀ arguments฀and฀explanations฀about฀major฀ideas฀such฀as฀democracy,฀pluralism,฀ liberalism,฀ freedom,฀ and฀ gender฀ equality,฀ cannot฀ be฀ properly฀ understood฀ without฀an฀exploration฀of฀Muslim฀conceptualization฀of฀a฀model฀of฀polity;฀ a฀utopia. The฀ idea฀ for฀ this฀ study฀ was฀ inspired฀ by฀ the฀ current฀ condition฀ of฀ Indonesian฀ Muslims,฀ who฀ are฀ increasingly฀ more฀ pragmatic฀ and฀ less฀ dogmatic฀ in฀ their฀ political฀ stance.฀ The฀ study฀ particularly฀ refers฀ to฀ the฀ defeat฀of฀Islamic฀political฀parties฀in฀the฀last฀two฀general฀elections฀and฀the฀ events฀that฀surrounded฀them.฀In฀1999,฀seventeen฀Islamic฀parties฀joined฀the฀ ฀ general฀ election฀ and฀ only฀ one฀ party฀ obtained฀ a฀ considerable฀ percentage฀ of฀ votes฀ —฀ which฀ was฀ PPP,฀ which฀ obtained฀ 10.7฀ per฀ cent;฀ another฀ two฀ parties฀obtained฀1.9฀per฀cent฀(PBB)฀and฀1.7฀per฀cent฀(PK)฀respectively.฀In฀ 2002,฀several฀Islamic฀groups฀demanded฀the฀return฀of฀the฀Jakarta฀Charter,฀ a฀ controversial฀ political฀ document,฀ to฀ the฀ Constitution.฀ This฀ proposal฀ ฀ was฀ later฀ submitted฀ to฀ the฀ MPR฀ Annual฀ Meeting฀ by฀ two฀ Islamic฀ parties,฀ PPP฀ and฀ PBB,฀ who฀ were฀ to฀ find฀ it฀ being฀ rejected฀ by฀ most฀ of฀ the฀ MPR฀ members.฀ Interestingly,฀ the฀ objection฀ came฀ not฀ only฀ from฀ the฀ political฀ ฀ parties฀in฀Parliament,฀but฀also฀from฀the฀majority฀of฀Islamic฀organizations.฀ ฀ In฀2004,฀five฀Islamic฀political฀parties฀joined฀the฀democratic฀contest.฀Again,฀ none฀of฀them฀gained฀even฀10฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀votes.฀PPP฀obtained฀merely฀ 8.1฀per฀cent,฀while฀PKS฀and฀PBB฀received฀7.3฀per฀cent฀and฀2.6฀per฀cent฀ respectively. The฀failure฀of฀Islamic฀political฀parties฀is฀a฀good฀example฀of฀how฀a฀model฀ of฀ polity,฀ a฀ utopia,฀ is฀ forsaken฀ when฀ its฀ philosophical฀ foundation฀ can฀ no฀ longer฀be฀maintained.฀What฀I฀mean฀by฀“philosophical฀foundation”฀is฀a฀set฀ of฀arguments฀where฀theories,฀agendas,฀aims,฀and฀behaviour฀of฀a฀party฀are฀ grounded.฀The฀Islamic฀state฀was฀a฀utopia฀for฀most฀santri฀Muslims฀during฀ the฀1950s.฀Its฀philosophical฀foundation฀was฀a฀conviction฀that฀Islam,฀unique฀ among฀religions,฀had฀a฀comprehensive฀system฀of฀life,฀which฀could฀manage฀ the฀complex฀problems฀of฀modernity.฀Practically,฀however,฀this฀model฀failed฀ to฀work,฀not฀only฀because฀the฀political฀stage฀did฀not฀provide฀sufficient฀room฀ for฀it฀to฀grow,฀but฀also฀because฀its฀precepts฀had฀been฀seriously฀challenged.฀ The฀rise฀of฀the฀contesting฀models฀(that฀is,฀Model฀2฀and฀Model฀3)฀advocated฀ by฀the฀new฀santri฀generation฀bears฀witness฀that฀the฀Muslim฀utopia฀is฀not฀ sui฀ generis,฀ deriving฀ from฀ one฀ source.฀ Like฀ the฀ character฀ of฀ thought฀ and฀ ideology฀ themselves,฀ utopia฀ is฀ changing฀ and฀ depends฀ very฀ much฀ on฀ how฀ strongly฀its฀philosophical฀ground฀can฀sustain฀it. 07 I&SSI.indd 223 4/2/09 1:21:31 PM 224฀ Islam฀and฀the฀Secular฀State฀in฀Indonesia THE฀NATURE฀AND฀CHARACTER฀OF฀฀ ISLAMIC฀THOUGHT฀IN...