This book explains the relationship between Islam and the state and politics in contemporary Indonesia. President Soeharto's departure from office in May 1998 brought tremendous and far-reaching impacts to Indonesia's political landscape. At least 181 new political parties came into being, a sizeable portion of which use Islam as their symbol and ideological basis.

"This is an excellent book which will have a major impact on the current debate about the relationship between Islam and politics in Indonesia. Its greatest strength is its innovative characterization of three Indonesian Muslim models of polity, as opposed to the normal two, Islamic state and secular state. Assyaukanie brilliantly delineates a third model, which he calls the Religious Democratic State, in the process greatly clarifying our understanding of the previous models, which he now proposes to label the Islamic Democratic State and the Liberal Democratic State. Another strength of the book is methodological. Each of its arguments is solidly grounded in the thoughts and actions of particular players, Indonesian Muslim thinkers and activists." - Professor William R. Liddle, The Ohio State University, USA

Based on a decade of research in Indonesia, this book provides an in-depth account of the military's struggle to adapt to the new democratic system after the downfall of Suharto's authoritarian regime in 1998. Unlike other studies of the Indonesian armed forces, which focus exclusively on internal military developments, Mietzner's study emphasizes the importance of conflicts among civilians in determining the extent of military involvement in political affairs. Analysing disputes between Indonesia's main Muslim groups, Mietzner argues that their intense rivalry between 1998 and 2004 allowed the military to extend its engagement in politics and protect its institutional interests. The stabilization of the civilian polity after 2004, in contrast, has led to an increasing marginalization of the armed forces from the power centre. Drawing broader conclusions from these events for Indonesia's ongoing process of democratic consolidation, the book shows that the future role of the armed forces in politics will largely depend on the ability of civilian leaders to maintain functioning democratic institutions and procedures.

Although Indonesia is generally considered to be a Muslim state, and is indeed the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, it has a sizeable Christian minority as a legacy of Dutch colonialism, with Christians often occupying relatively high social positions. This book examines the management of religion in Indonesia. It discusses how Christianity has developed in Indonesia, how the state, though Muslim in outlook and culture, is nevertheless formally secular, and how the principal Christian church, the Java Christian Church, has adapted its practices to fit local circumstances. It examines religious violence and charts the evolution of the state’s religious policies, analysing in particular the impact of the 1974 Marriage Law showing how it enabled extensive state regulation, but how in practice, rather than reinforcing religious divisions, inter-religious marriage, involving the conversion of one party, is widespread. Overall, the book shows how Indonesia is developing its own brand of secularism, neither a full-blooded Islamic state like Saudi Arabia, nor an outright secular state like Turkey.

Islamic powers in secular countries have presented a challenge for states around the world, including Indonesia, home to the largest Muslim population as well as the third largest democracy in the world. This book explores the history of the relationships between Islam, state, and society in Indonesia with a focus on local politics in Madura. It identifies and explains factors that have shaped and characterized the development of contemporary Islam and politics in Madura and recognizes and elucidates forms and aspects of the relationships between Islam and politics; between state and society; between conflicts and accommodations; between piety, tradition and violence in that area, and the forms and characters of democratization and decentralization processes in local politics. This book shows how the area’s experience in dealing with Islam and politics may illuminate the socio-political trajectory of other developing Muslim countries at present living through comparable democratic transformations. Madura was chosen because it has one of the most complex relationships between Islam and politics during the last years of the New Order and the first years of the post-New Order in Indonesia, and because it is a strong Muslim area with a history of a very strong religious as well as cultural tradition than is commonly understood and is largely ignored in literature on Islam and politics. Based on extensive sets of anthropological fieldwork and historical research, this book makes an important contribution to the analysis of Islam and politics in Indonesia and future socio-political trajectory of other developing Muslim countries experiencing comparable democratic transformations. It will be of interest to academics in the field of Religion and Politics and Southeast Asian Studies, in particular Southeast Asian politics, anthropology and history.

Claim to be the first to probe the depths of ‘Civic Democratic Islam’ with political and academic protagonists, individuals, foundations and parties involved in what has become known as political Islam, and the first to try to establish an international coalition which bears that very name. This comes as a bid to respond – practically – to the questions which have worried both theologians and politicians, in the areas of inter-cultural, inter-civilizational and inter-religious dialogue. Descriptor(s): IMPERIAL PROVISIONS | STATE | GOVERNMENT | DEMOCRACY | NATIONALITY | HUMAN RIGHTS

«Public Religion» and the Pancasila-Based State of Indonesia: An Ethical and Sociological Analysis analyzes the public role of religion in Indonesian society from the pre-independence period to the end of Suharto's New Order government. It offers constructive suggestions regarding how Indonesian religion can play a significant role within the framework of Pancasila, Indonesia's national ideology. Based on a Christian-Muslim dialogue, it is only within the realm of civil society that Indonesian religion will be able to promote the ideas of democracy, tolerance, and human rights in Indonesian public affairs. In short, far from being anti-pluralist, Indonesian religion evolves as a liberating force in the life of society, nation, and state.

Contesting Indonesia explains Islamist, separatist and communal violence across Indonesian history since 1945. In a sweeping argument that connects endemic violence to a national narrative, Kirsten E. Schulze finds that the outbreak of violence is related to competing local notions of the national imaginary as well as contentious belonging. Through detailed examination of six case studies: the Darul Islam rebellions, Jemaah Islamiyah's jihad, and the conflicts in East Timor, Aceh, Poso, and Ambon, Schulze argues that violence was more likely to occur in places that are on the geographic, ideological, ethnic, and religious periphery of the Indonesian state; that violence by non-state actors was most protracted in locations where there was a well-established alternative national imaginary supported by an alternative historical narrative; and that violence by the state was most likely in places where the state had a significant territorial interest. Drawing on a vast collection of interviews and archival and published sources, Contesting Indonesia provides a new understanding of the history of violence across the Indonesian archipelago.

The Islamic Welfare State explains the relationship between government legitimacy, everyday security, and lived Islam in Pakistan—a major Muslim-majority country. Its humanitarian spirit makes Islam a compelling, community-strengthening faith that motivates people to provide essential services to the needy, to foster moral sentiments that build social solidarity, and to thereby challenge the legitimacy of government with its focus on 'protecting Islam' and 'national security' rather than enhancing the lives of ordinary people. The book surveys four kinds of Islamic charities—traditional, professional, partisan, and state. The focus is on ground realities, on the activities of welfare workers and beneficiaries, mostly patients and students from low-income families. The attention to the different political sentiments that different kinds of charity foster allows us to better understand politics and political change in Pakistan and across the Muslim world.