Sunday, November 04, 2001
'Hardliners have no support in Indonesia' By Amit Baruah SINGAPORE, NOV. 3. Hardline Muslim groups in Indonesia, who had become ``idle'' after the election of Ms. Megawati Sukarnoputri as President in July, have been given an ``issue'' to take to the streets in the form of opposition to the American military strikes on Afghanistan. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, a leading Indonesian scholar, Prof. Azyumardi Azra, President, State University for Islamic Studies, argued that hardline Muslim groups had limited support among ordinary Indonesians. These groups, he said, had opposed Ms. Megawati becoming President because she was a ``woman'' and had little to do after her election (which was backed by all but one of moderate political factions in the country). ``They (hardline) Muslim groups have a very limited influence,'' Prof. Azra said, arguing that the influence was mostly among ``disoriented young Muslims''. The Professor pointed out that the bulk of Indonesian Muslims were moderate and were followers of the Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhmadiyah - both organisations who have a tolerant, pluralistic approach towards Islam - and are opposed to the creation of an Islamic State in Indonesia. This ``indigenous'' version of Indonesian Islam, he said, was opposed to the ``Arab brand'' of Islam - which was supported by hardliners in Indonesia. All moderate Islamic groups in Indonesia, he pointed out, had condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and opposed the ``sweeping'' operations against foreigners launched by some Muslim hardline groups. Prof. Azra argued that Indonesia was neither a ``secular'' State nor an ``Islamic'' State. However, Pancasila or the Indonesian State ideology, reaffirmed faith in ``one supreme God'' - a reformulation of the Islamic belief. He argued that the rise of groups like the Laskar Jihad, Islamic Defence Front (FPI) and Hizb al-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) was more to do with the failure of the Indonesian State to enforce the law. Therefore, as long as the Government was weak, these groups would continue to hold sway, Prof. Azra maintained. However, in his view, hardline ``political Islam'' had little future in Indonesia. ``One should not exaggerate the influence of these hardliners. ...the nature of Indonesian Islam is basically tolerant....''. Prof. Azra also stated that any discussion of ``Muslim'' politics should avoid sweeping generalisations. He argued that there was ``no single Muslim politics'' - Islam as a political reality and Muslims were not a monolithic phenomenon.
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