Title: TRANSMISSION OF ISLAMIC REFORM FROM THE UNITED STATES TO INDONESIA
Abstract: Abstract The role of American Muslim scholars, particularly Fazlur Rahman, in Islamic reformism in Indonesia in the latter part of the 20th century though significant was often neglected by scholars. This article intends to study the process of transmission and the implementation of Rahman's Islamic reformism by Ahmad Syafii Maarif. It attempts to answer the following questions: How did Maarif contextualise Islamic reform introduced by Rahman in the socio-cultural context of Indonesia? How did he implement Rahman's ideas and his overriding concern for the ethics of the Qur'an for the solving social problems of Indonesia? Rahman also engaged at discursive and academic levels, while Maarif, when talking about the Qur'an, is more an activist than a scholar. How then does Maarif bridge the difference between hermeneutical theories of the ethics of the Qur'an and social realities? This article analyses the activities and the works of Maarif in three different areas: national and state issues, interfaith relations, and intra-religious relations. The emphasis here is on how Maarif, inspired by Rahman's methodology and perspective, reveals the meaning and significance of the ethics of the Qur'an in dealing with injustice, corruption and exploitation, religious discrimination, and religious radicalism in Indonesia. Keywords: Qur'anic ethicsIslamic reformismFazlur RahmanAhmad Syafii MaarifMuslim religious praxis Notes 1Fazlur Rahman is of Pakistani origin, Ismail al-Faruqi is a Palestinian, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian. All moved to the United States as mature scholars. 2According to Carool Kersten, neo-modernism is a misleading term. The attribution of the term to Nurcholish Madjid has been a subject of discussion among scholars such as Greg Barton (Citation1995a, Citation1995b, 1997), Ann Kull Citation(2005) and Carool Kersten Citation(2011). Kersten (Citation2011: 96) particularly makes an extensive critique on the attribution of the term to Madjid since, among other things, 'Nurcholish Madjid did not use the term in his own publications'. This is also a misleading term because Madjid introduced his pembaruan (renewal of Islamic thinking) before he became a student of Fazlur Rahman. 3Muhammad Amien Rais resigned from his position as the president of the Muhammadiyah in 1998 and has since devoted himself to a political party, PAN (National Mandate Party). 4The term 'liberal' used in this article follows the criteria from Charles Kurzman Citation(1998): against theocracy, supporting democracy, rights of women, rights of non-Muslims, freedom of thought, and the idea of progress. 5Fazlur Rahman's influence on Syafii Maarif can be compared with the effect on his other students like Nurcholish Madjid where Rahman has been a 'source of inspiration' (Kull Citation2005: 64), sharing his perspective in how to face the world and introducing the notion of contextuality (Kersten Citation2011: 96–7). 6 Juz' (pl. ajzā') literally means part or section. This is a system of division of the Qur'an that divides this holy book into 30 sections with equal length. The main purpose of this division is to allow readers to pace their reading. This is an additional division of the Qur'an besides its primary division into chapter (sūrah) and verse (āyah). 7Note that Maarif follows Fazlur Rahman more in the methods of reading social reality and in interpreting the Qur'an than in picking the same thematic verses for his discussion. However, Maarif also uses a number of key terms from the Qur'an on the issue of morality and humanity which are used by Rahman. 8The term 'limbo' in Maarif's books is an adoption of the same term used by Fazlur Rahman (Citation1979: 327). 9Discussion on the concept of al-Mā'ūn can be found in a number of Fazlur Rahman's works such as his article on 'Islam and social justice' (1970: 5). 10The idea that polytheism is the basis of social injustice and inequality can be traced to Fazlur Rahman (Citation1983: 181). The difference between Maarif and Rahman is that Maarif has a concrete example in his country, while Rahman's was on a discursive level. 11These issues refer to three different periods and cases: (a) the 'Islamic state' refers to the rebellion of DI/TII (Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia – Islamic State/Indonesian Islamic Troops) in the 1950s; (b) the implementation of sharia refers to perda-perda syariah (sharia by-laws) implemented by a number of local governments in Indonesia in the Era Reformasi that began in 1998; (c) the 'seven words' refer to the time when Indonesia proclaimed its independence and created its constitution in 1945. 12Unlike Maarif, on the issue of interfaith, the Qur'anic concept used by Fazlur Rahman (Citation1983: 174) is hanīf (true believers). With the above three Qur'anic concepts, Maarif has tried to maintain good relations not only with people from the existing religions in Indonesia, but also with atheists. The concept of hanīf was exclusively used by Rahman in dealing with Abrahamic religions. 13Mohammad Hatta (1902–1980), together with Sukarno, was the 'Proclamator' of Indonesian independence in 1945. He was also the country's first vice-president. In a number of his books, Syafii Maarif (Citation2006; Citation2009a) views him as a cultural hero. 14Literally, it means 'red' and refers to Javanese who accept Islam as their formal religion, but whose ideas and practices are still syncretistic as they include other local traditions. 15In a number of districts, local governments do not call it perda syariah, although the content is connected with shari'a such as regulating dress in schools in accordance with Islamic shari'a. 16Fazlur Rahman left his country when he was opposed by conservative fellow Muslims. He preferred living in a non-Muslim country, the United States, where he could develop his humanist ideas. 17'Sharia police', often called h.isba (keeping everything in order) or mutaween (in Saudi Arabia), mostly deal with issues of morality and sharia, while 'police of akidah' deals with theological issues such as heresy and blasphemy. Akidah comes from an Arabic word 'aqīda (faith or dogma).
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 8
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