Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals of the Twentieth Century

4. The Islamic Context in the Age of Sukarno

45 Chapter฀4 The฀Islamic฀Context฀in฀ the฀Age฀of฀Sukarno THE฀JAKARTA฀CHARTER During฀ the฀ Japanese฀ occupation฀ of฀ Indonesia฀ (1942฀ to฀ 1945)฀ little฀ occurred฀ in฀ the฀ way฀ of฀ Indonesian฀ Muslim฀ intellectual฀ development;฀the฀effort฀to฀survive฀in฀a฀food-short฀and฀severely฀ authoritarian฀ society฀ apparently฀ dampened฀ abstract฀ thought.฀ Indonesian฀political฀leaders,฀however,฀did฀continue฀their฀efforts฀ at฀achieving฀independence,฀and฀in฀1945฀the฀Japanese฀authorities฀ allowed฀ them฀ to฀ plan฀ for฀ that฀ eventuality.฀ At฀ the฀ ensuing฀ preparatory฀conference,฀delegates฀met฀to฀draft฀a฀constitution฀and฀ other฀documents฀necessary฀for฀such฀ action,฀ with฀the฀blessing฀ of฀the฀Japanese฀administration.฀The฀delegates฀were฀drawn฀from฀ wide฀ ethnic,฀ regional,฀ religious,฀ and฀ social฀ groupings.฀ The฀ dominant฀group฀consisted฀of฀the฀Dutch-educated฀elite฀that฀had฀ been฀in฀exile฀or฀prison฀during฀the฀Dutch฀era,฀but฀had฀been฀used฀ by฀the฀Japanese฀to฀mobilize฀the฀Javanese฀population฀through฀a฀ series฀of฀organizations฀with฀quasi-governmental฀authority.฀They฀ overwhelmingly฀ favoured฀ a฀ state฀ which฀ would฀ be฀ based฀ on฀ secularism฀and฀nationalism,฀but฀specifically฀not฀Islamic. The฀ Muslim฀ grouping฀ represented฀ associations฀ in฀ good฀ standing฀ with฀ the฀ Japanese฀ or฀ individuals฀ with฀ considerable฀ personal฀standing฀of฀their฀own.฀These฀Muslim฀leaders฀had฀been฀ 03฀IndoMuslim฀p45-60.indd฀฀฀45 2/20/06฀฀฀9:55:08฀AM 46฀ Indonesian฀Muslim฀Intellectuals฀of฀the฀Twentieth฀Century to฀ Islamic฀ schools฀ in฀ their฀ formative฀ years฀ and฀ had฀ been฀ in฀ Muslim฀nationalist฀organizations฀throughout฀most฀of฀their฀lives.฀ They฀favoured฀Islam฀as฀the฀guiding฀principle฀for฀the฀state฀and฀its฀ operation.฀Consequently฀nationalist฀and฀Muslim฀outlooks฀were฀ strikingly฀different,฀as฀they฀had฀been฀before฀the฀Japanese฀arrived.฀ As฀ well,฀ both฀ nationalist฀ and฀ Muslims฀ leaders฀ had฀ their฀ own฀ group฀networks฀that฀allowed฀communication฀among฀members,฀ and฀ they฀ were฀ largely฀ separate฀ from฀ one฀ another฀ and฀ from฀ the฀networks฀of฀still฀other฀groups,฀such฀as฀the฀Christians฀and฀ Balinese.฀In฀the฀limited฀time฀available฀to฀the฀delegates,฀however,฀ they฀had฀little฀communication฀with฀the฀larger฀population฀or฀with฀ the฀organizations฀that฀the฀leadership฀groups฀represented.฀ A฀ subcommittee฀ charged฀ with฀ drafting฀ a฀ preamble฀ to฀ the฀ constitution฀discussed฀and฀accepted฀a฀proposal฀from฀the฀Muslim฀ group฀ that฀ came฀ to฀ be฀ known฀ as฀ the฀ “Jakarta฀ Charter”.฀ That฀ document฀ declared฀ Indonesia฀ independent฀ with฀ a฀ new฀ state฀ in฀which฀five฀key฀principles฀were฀fundamental.฀They฀included฀ a฀belief฀in฀God฀and฀called฀for฀Islamic฀law฀to฀be฀applied฀to฀all฀ Muslims฀living฀in฀the฀new฀state.฀The฀full฀committee฀favoured฀the฀ declaration฀of฀independence฀and฀the฀five฀principles,฀but฀removed฀ the฀section฀calling฀for฀the฀application฀of฀Muslim฀law,฀largely฀as฀ a฀result฀of฀negotiations฀with฀non-Muslim฀delegates,฀who฀did฀not฀ want฀references฀to฀any฀specific฀religion.฀However,฀the฀list฀of฀five฀ principles฀formulated฀by฀Sukarno,฀which฀included฀a฀“Belief฀in฀ God฀the฀Only฀One”,฀was฀regarded฀as฀acceptable฀because฀it฀was฀ a฀reference฀to฀an฀Almighty฀that฀most฀people฀in฀Indonesia฀could฀ accept.฀ The฀ “five฀ principles”฀ were฀ given฀ the฀ Sanskrit฀ term฀ of฀ Pancasila฀and฀was฀regarded฀as฀a฀national฀slogan.฀ Activist฀Muslim฀leaders฀at฀the฀meetings฀were฀disappointed฀by฀ the฀failure฀to฀accept฀the฀recommendation฀of฀the฀subcommittee,฀ regarding฀it฀as฀reneging฀on฀an฀agreement.฀Still,฀they฀accepted฀the฀ statements฀of฀prominent฀nationalist฀leaders฀that฀all฀the฀decisions฀ 03 IndoMuslim p45-60.indd 46 2/14/06 7:26:51 PM The฀Islamic฀Context฀in฀the฀Age฀of฀Sukarno฀ 47 of฀ the฀ preparatory฀ committee฀ were฀ temporary฀ and฀ that฀ after฀ independence฀an฀elected฀constituent฀assembly฀would฀reconsider฀ all฀such฀issues.฀It฀took฀over฀a฀decade฀before฀that฀body฀met,฀while฀ the฀issue฀itself฀remained฀a฀point฀of฀contention฀among฀political฀ groups฀throughout฀the฀remainder฀of฀the฀century. THE฀RISE฀AND฀FALL฀OF฀THE฀DARUL฀ISLAM On฀ the฀ whole,฀ committed฀ Muslims฀ accepted฀ the฀ declaration฀ of฀ independence฀ in฀ 1945฀ and฀ identified฀ with฀ the฀ Republic฀ of฀ Indonesia฀that฀finally฀consolidated฀its฀hold฀over฀the฀Indonesian฀ area฀by฀1950.฀Hence฀the฀new฀Republic฀of฀Indonesia฀was฀accepted฀ as฀a฀symbol฀of฀liberation฀from฀foreign฀occupation,฀but฀regional฀ personalities฀and฀ethnic฀groupings฀sought฀local฀political฀standing฀ of฀their฀own.฀The฀Dutch,฀for฀example,฀tried฀to฀create฀a฀number฀ of฀ regional฀ states,฀ many฀ of฀ which฀ they฀ dominated฀ politically฀ and฀ economically฀ to฀ decrease฀ the฀ importance฀ and฀ territorial฀ holdings฀of฀the฀Republic฀of฀Indonesia.฀The฀republic฀proved฀a฀ successful฀enterprise,฀but฀it฀took฀nearly฀five฀years฀and฀enormous฀ effort฀before฀it฀gained฀control฀over฀all฀the฀territory฀that฀was฀to฀ become฀Indonesia. During฀this฀era฀several฀of฀the฀regions฀used฀religion฀as฀one฀ of฀the...