[Kabar-indonesia] 3 of 3: The Rise of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) in Contemporary Indonesia

[Joyo at aol.com]

- 3 of 3-

The Rise of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) in
Contemporary Indonesia... continues...

Endnotes 

1. Many books and articles have been published on
Islamic fundamentalism.

See, for example, Youssef Choueirie, Islamic
Fundamentalism, rev. ed. (London and Washington:
Pinter, 1997); John L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat:
Myth or Reality?, 3d ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999); S. Yunanto et al., Militant
Islamic Movements in Indonesia and South-East Asia
(Jakarta: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Ridep
Institute, 2003) 

2. Doug McAdam, Political Process and
the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1982),
11-19.

3. Ruth McVey, "The Case of the Disappearing Decade"
(paper presented at the Conference on Indonesian
Democracy: 1950s and 1990s, Monash University, 17-20
December 1992), 5; Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting:
Indonesia in the 1990s (Boulder and San Francisco:
Westview Press, 1994), 29.

4. See Nurcholish Madjid, Islam Kemodernan dan
Keindonesiaan (Bandung: Mizan, 1992) and his other
books. See also Fauzan Saleh, Modern Trends in Islamic
Theological Discourse in 20th Century Indonesia: A
Critical Essay (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 240-94.

5. Abdurrahman Wahid, "Pribumisasi Islam," in Islam
Indonesia Menatap Masa Depan, ed. Muntaha Azhari and
Abdul Mun'im Saleh (Jakarta: P3M, 1989) and his other
books and articles.

6. Azyumardi Azra, "Globalization of Indonesian Muslim
Discourse: Contemporary Religio-Intellectual
Connections between Indonesia and the Middle East," in
Islam in the Era of Globalization: Muslim Attitudes
towards Modernity and Identity, ed. Johan Meuleman
(London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002), 31-50; Noorhaidi
Hasan, "Faith and Politics: The Rise of The Laskar
Jihad in the Era of Transition in Indonesia,"
Indonesia 73 (April 2002): 145-69; Sukidi Mulyadi,
"Violence under the Banner of Religion: The Case of
Laskar Jihad and Laskar Kristus," Studia Islamika 10,
no.2 (2003): 75-109.

7. Youssef M.Choueiri treats revivalism, reformism,
and radicalism differently in terms of historical
context, socioeconomic environment, and conceptual
frame of reference, but regards them as
fundamentalism, which means an ideology for a return
to the supposed classical form of Islam, to the golden
age of Islam, to the past, and to the text. See
Youssef M. Choueiri, Islamic Fundamentalism, rev. ed.
(London and Washington: Pinter, 1997).

8. For general discussion on Islamic fundamentalism
and the Middle Eastern question, see, for example,
Raphael Israeli, Fundamentalist Islam and Israel
(Lanham, New York, and London: University Press of
America, 1993); Peter Riddell and Peter Cotterell,
Islam in Context: Past, Present, and Future (Michigan:
Baker Academic, 2003); International Crisis Group,
Indonesia: Violence and Radical Muslims (Jakarta and
Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2001), 12.

9. Ulil was born into a family of "traditionalist
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)" Muslims in the Central Java town
of Pati in 1967. He was educated until the age of 19
at an Islamic boarding school (pesantren) run by his
father and grandfather. He remains an NU member and
continues to head its human resource development
research division. He studied at the Institute of
Islamic and Arabian Sciences and the Driyarkara
Institute of Philosophy in Jakarta.

10. Linda Christanty, "Is There a Rainbow in Islam?,"
www.islamlib. com.

11. "Ulil Goes against Fundamentalism," The Jakarta
Post, 14 February 2003.

12. Goenawan received the "International Editor of the
Year" from the Award Press Review and, in 1998, the
"International Press Freedom Award" from the Committee
to Protect Journalists. He has published several
volumes of essays and poetry, and has written
librettos for the stage. "Liberal Islam in Indonesia:
A Beginning?," www.islamlib.com, November 19, 2001.

13. While "a social movement is a set of opinions and
beliefs in a population representing preferences for
changing some elements of the social structure or
reward distribution, or both, of a society," a
countermovement is "a set of opinions and beliefs in a
population opposed to a social movement." Movement and
countermovement take place in "identity fields": a
protagonist field, an antagonist field, and an
audience field. See John D. McCarthy and Mayer N.
Zald, "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A
Partial Theory," American Journal of Sociology 82,
no.6 (May 1977): 1212-41, reprinted in Mayer N. Zald
and John D. McCarthy, eds., Social Movements in an
Organizational Society: Collected Essays (New
Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, Inc., 1987), 19.

14. Azyumardi Azra, The Origins of Islamic Reformism
in Southeast Asia: Networks of Malay-Indonesian and
Middle Eastern Ulama in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries (Honolulu: Allen & Unwin and University of
Hawaii Press, 2004).

15. For modernist, liberal movements in the Middle
East, see Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the
Liberal Age: 1798-1939 (London and New York: Oxford
University Press, 1962).

16. Deliar Noer, The Modernist Muslim Movement in
Indonesia, 1900-1942 (London: Oxford University Press,
1973).

17. These lists of names and organizations were
provided by Charles Kurzman, a professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kurzman
used liberal to refer to such basic themes in the
history of liberalism as democracy, freedom of
thought, social equality, and human progress. He also
observed that liberal has different meanings, and that
its reputation in much of the Islamic world has been
tainted by its "hypocritical introduction under
colonialism." These links, Kurzman went on to say,
include some thinkers who do not consider themselves
liberal, although they deal seriously with liberal
themes. See www.unc.edu/~kurzman/LiberalIslamLinks.htm
and www.

id.islamlib.com/id/situs.php.

18. The major financial support has come from The Asia
Foundation and The Freedom Institute, a non-profit
organization.

24 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences
22:1 19. Mass media has played a great role in
transforming Muslim society. See Dale F. Eickelman and
Jon W. Anderson, eds., New Media in the Muslim World:
The Emerging Public Sphere (Bloomington and
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1999).

20. The office address is Jalan Utan Kayu, no. 68H,
East Jakarta 1320. JIL is on the Web at
www.islamlib.com in both Indonesian and English. Its
e-mail address is redaksi at islamlib.com. Its offices
can also be reached at (61-21) 857-3388 (phone) and
(62-21) 856-7811 (fax).

21. For a good introduction on the Enlightenment in
France, see Dorinda Outram, The Enlightenment
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).

22. The aggregation of such resources as labor and
money are crucial, for acquiring them requires some
minimal form of organization. In addition, there
should be an explicit recognition of the importance of
individual and organizational involvement. See
McCarthy and Zald, "Resource Mobilization and Social
Movements." 23. Dalton (1996), in David S. Meyer and
Sidney Tarrow (eds.), The Social Movement Society:
Contentious Politics for a New Century (Boulder:
Rauman & Littlefield Publisher, Inc., 1998).

24. Further research, however, is needed to examine
the extent to which the pesantren life itself
contributed to the rise of Islamic liberalism.
Goenawan would have argued that mastering traditional
Islamic sciences enabled Ulil and other JIL activists
to speak more confidently about the nature of Islamic
traditionalism, which they criticize, and that they
use their traditional Islamic education as one of the
bases for Islamic liberalism. I share the suggestion
that their solid foundation in Islamic education lends
them credibility when they discuss Islam. For
Goenawan's opinion, see "Liberal Islam in Indonesia: A
Beginning?" November 19, 2001, www.islamlib.com.

25. Daniel S. Lev, for example, recognized the impact
of computerization and email, newspapers, and radios
on JIL's rise. However, he added that these modern
technologies would not be significant without the
internal intellectual and mental resources that JIL
members have, such as their extraordinary courage,
strong self-confidence, self-responsibility, creative
imagination, and adequate religious knowledge. Daniel
S. Lev, "Islam Liberal: Menciptakan Kembali
Indonesia," January 24, 2002, www.islamlib.com.

26. This stage can be called frame amplification,
which is defined as clarifying and invigorating an
interpretative frame that bears on a particular issue,
problem, or set of issues. This involves the use of
value amplification in the sense of constructing
values, modes of conduct, or states of existence that
are thought to be worthy of protection and promotion.
See Rokeach (1973) and Turner and Killian (1972), in
David A. Snow, E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven K.
Worden, and Robert D. Benford, "Frame Alignment
Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement
Participation," in Doug McAdam and David A. Snow
(eds.), Social Movements: Readings on Their Emergence,
Mobilization and Dynamics (California: Roxbury
Publishing Company, 1997).

27. A social movement organization may have to extend
the boundaries of its primary framework in order to
encompass those interests or points of view that are
incidental to its primary objectives but,
nevertheless, have a considerable salience to
potential adherents. See Snow, Rochford, Worden,
Benford, "Frame Alignment Processes," 1997.

28. Charles Kurzman, ed., Liberal Islam: A Source Book
(New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).

29. Leonard Binder, Islamic Liberalism: A Critique of
Development Ideologies (Chicago and London: The
University of Chicago Press, 1988).

30. "Islam Liberal: Agenda dan Seputar Istilah," May
1, 2001, www.islamlib.com.

31. For civil rights movements, see, for example,
McAdam, Political Process.

32. Ashgar Ali Engineer, "Islam and Secularism," as
circulated on the JIL mailing list.

33. Muhamad Ali, "Building Interfaith Trust';
"Religious Philanthropy as A Social Capital," "Toward
Global Multiculturalis." Online at: www.islamlib.com.

34. Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, "Menghindari 'Bibliolatri':
Tentang Pentingnya Menyegarkan Kembali Pemahaman
Islam" (speech presented at Paramadina Foundation,
Jakarta, 8 February 2003).

35. Ibid.

36. JIL's website, posted on 29 March 2004.

37. www.islamlib.com, posted on 19 May 2002.

38. The participants included Munir, SH (Kontras),
Johan Effendy (the International Conference for
Religion and Peace), Musda Mulia (Litbang Depag),
Suzanne Siskel (The Ford Foundation), Gretta Morris
(the American Embassy), Gadis Arivia and Nur Iman
Subono (Woman's Journal), Syafiq Hasyim (external
director, Rahima), Farid Wajdi (LKiS Yogjakarta),
Lies- Marcoes (feminist), Rizal Mallarangeng dan Ahmad
Sahal (The Freedom Institute), and Martin Sinaga
(STT).

39. The interview with Robert Hefner was held on 19
February 2004 in Jakarta.

The report was posted on the website under the title
"Indonesians are Hungry of Democracy." 40. Ulil
Abshar-Abdalla, "Avoiding Bibliolatry: The Importance
of Revitalizing the Understanding of Islam" (speech
given at The Paramadian Foundation, Jakarta). See also
ibid., "Syariat Islam," posted on 23 March 2004. For
more discussion on the Shari`ah according to liberal
Muslims, see Burhanuddin, ed., Syariat Islam:
Pandangan Muslim Liberal (Jakarta: Jaringan Islam
Liberal dan The Asia Foundation, 2003).

41. "Fatima Mernissi: Rebel for the Sake of Women,"
JIL's website, posted on 10 December 2003.

42. Rumadi, "The Relation between Religion and
Terrorism," posted on 20 October 2003.

26 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences
22:1 43. The articles by these writers were posted
during March and April 2003.

44. Christanty, "Is There a Rainbow in Islam?" 45.
"Ulil Goes against Fundamentalism," The Jakarta Post,
14 February 2003.

46. Tempo, no.13/IV, November 25-December 1 2003.

47. Muhamad Ali, "Fatwas on Interfaith Marriage in
Indonesia," Studia Islamika 9, no. 3 (2002): 1-27.

48. Ibid.

49. Christanty, "Is There a Rainbow in Islam?," 3.

50. "Penayangan Maya Islam Liberal," Pantau 2, no. 021
(January 2002).

51. Azyumardi Azra, "Death Fatwa: Death of Religious
Tolerance?" The Jakarta Post, 3 January 2003.

52. I wrote an article questioning the validity of
such religious edicts and argued that freedom of
thought is recognized by Islam and therefore must be
defended, rather than be threatened by such a death
sentence. See Muhamad Ali, "Menyoal Fatwa Hukuman
Mati," Kompas, 12 December 2002.

53. "Islam Liberal dan Etika Transendental," Kompas,
14 October 2003.

54. "Penayangan Maya Islam Liberal," Pantau 2, no. 021
(January 2002).

55. See Muhamad Ali, Teologi Pluralis Multikultural (A
Pluralistic and Multiculturalistic Theology) (Jakarta:
Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2003).

56. Hartono Ahmad Jaiz, Bahaya Islam Liberal (Jakarta:
Pustaka Al-Kautsar, 2001); also see his "Islam
Liberal, Pemurtadan Berlabel Islam." Online at:
www.aldakwah.com or www.islamlib.com (a copy).

57. There are now 14 IAINs in Indonesia, established
by the Indonesian government through the Department of
Religion.

58. "Melacak Jejak Liberal di IAIN" and "Selamatkan
IAIN dari Liberalisme dan Amoral," Sabili, 25 May
2002. Online at: www.islamlib.com.

59. Gik Mugeno, "Kelompok Tandingan Islam Liberal
Didirikan." Online at: www.mediakrasi.com.

60. Christanty, "Is there a rainbow in Islam?" 61.
Ibid.

62. Berni K. Mustafa, "Islamic Moderates, Hard-Liners
wage Battle in Media," The Jakarta Post, 24 December
2002.

-END/3 of 3-

------------------------------------------ 
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------