Encountering Islam: The Politics of Religious Identities in Southeast Asia

1. Introduction - Encountering Islam

1 INTRODUCTION — ENCOUNTERING ISLAM Hui Yew-Foong This volume evolved out of a conference with the theme “Religion in Southeast Asian Politics: Resistance, Negotiation and Transcendence”, held on 11–12 December 2008. Part of the proceedings of the conference has been published in a Special Focus Issue of Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia (April 2010), with the theme “Religion and Politics in Southeast Asia”, edited by Terence Chong. The articles that are related to the politics of Islam or the politics of religion in countries where Islam is the dominant religion are collected in this volume. Along the way, other chapters that fill the gap in terms of pertinent issues related to the theme of the volume were also commissioned. The premise for the conference was the observation that, religion, whether institutionalized or otherwise, has an uncanny tendency to intervene in the political life of nation-states from time to time. The conference sought to address the following questions: How is it that religion, which ostensibly espouses transcendental worldviews, cannot seem to avoid intervening in the profane world of politics? Can the boundary between religious and political space be clearly  Hui Yew-Foong marked, or is it bound to be constantly negotiated and transgressed? How do we account for and characterize the potential of religion to transcend both the authority and boundaries of the state? In raising these questions, there are two implicit assumptions. First is the assumption that what religion is is apparent. This is not the case. In fact, the more we reflect on the question, “What is religion?”, the more the concept becomes intractable (see de Vries 2008). Is it to be defined as a set of beliefs, a worldview, cosmological orientation, and/or ontological disposition articulated through rituals and institutions? Clifford Geertz, in defining religion as a “system of symbols” (1973, pp. 90, 125), was limited to introducing an anthropological approach to the study and understanding of religion rather than defining the concept. It does not say how this “system of symbols” is different relative to other systems of symbols. It also does not account for motivations that are yet to be signified within such a system. As such, questions such as how religion can play primary roles in some societies and secondary roles in others, or how it can be both transcendental and effect this-worldly consequences, are inadequately addressed. Inasmuch as religion, as a phenomenon, haunts our everyday lives, it remains elusive as a concept. Secondly, in speaking of religion today, we cannot ignore the flip side of the coin, that is, secularism, which is often taken as apparent. The tendency is to frame issues in such a way as to assume an ideal boundary between the religious and secular, relegating the former to the private sphere and associating the latter with modern public life. But religion and the secular have always implied each other, entwined in a politico-historical process without necessarily being dichotomized (Asad 2003). It is more reasonable to recognize that religion and religious identities do play powerful roles in public life, albeit under the arbitration of secular states (Butler et al. 2011; Willford and George 2005). In the diverse national contexts of Southeast Asia, the line between religion and politics is not always clear. In encompassing all aspects of life for major populations of Southeast Asia, the moral and institutional foundations of religion were often bases from which these subjects were mobilized to articulate their political aspirations and form their sense of political consciousness.1 It is no wonder then that religion, in whatever form, often has an important role to play in the life of the nation-state. Moreover, religion, in assuming an authenticity and authority that transcends the this-worldly orientation of the state, often serves as the Introduction — Encountering Islam  source of substantive critique against the state. In turn, the state finds it useful to co-opt religious elites, institutions and ideas to shore up its legitimacy and authority. Although every major world religion is represented in Southeast Asia, one cannot avoid encountering the prominence of Islam in this part of the world. One major reason is none other than the demographic composition. That is, Islam is the religion of the majority in three countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, and of substantial minorities in the rest of Southeast Asia. In 2010, the Muslim population stands at 257,715,000, or 12...