INDONESIA: Islam, Globalisation And "Religious" Conflict Anak Agung Banyu Perwita
INDONESIA: Islam, Globalisation And "Religious" Conflict
By Anak Agung Banyu Perwita
Introduction
“The rise of Islam as a political force cannot be studied in isolation as a regional or localised phenomenon; rather, it has a positive correlation with the political events and changes taking place globally”
The above quotation clearly shows that the revival of political Islam cannot be separated from its internal dynamics as well as its cultural and political interaction with the non-Muslim world. The phenomenon of the (re) emergence of radical Islam in certain countries e.g. Middle East, was the product of both internal and external power struggles. Furthermore, it was also a product of an ‘unequal’ relationship between Islam and the Western world.
Another example of this power struggle was the Iranian revolution which, to some extent, could be viewed both as a power struggle within the Muslim community and, between the Muslim and WesternWorlds (mainly the US), particularly as “a struggle which seeks to rearrange the nature of material economic life on a structural political life”.
The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the changing nature of the international system in which Islam emerges as a new global political force. It also discusses its linkages with the ‘religious’ conflict in Indonesia.
The (re) emergence of the Radical Islamist Movements in the Globalized era.
The most prominent feature of international politics in the late 1980s was the collapse of the Soviet Union resulting in the end of the Cold war era. In the post Cold War era, the global political structure and dynamics of international relations changed dramatically. The bipolar system was swept away and the ideological conflict between the US and USSR (now Russia) disappeared. A post Cold War era has emerged and globalisation with all of its variants has become the major theme. This new era has diminished the power of state-centric political and military rivalries to dominate international relations5. More specifically, this era has enabled the emergence of societal factors e.g. cultural and religious, as a new mainstream in global interactions. Religion, in particular, is seen to pose serious threat to international relations6. To borrow the words of Juergensmeyer, the global interactions are now marked by “the resurgence of parochial identities based on ethnic and religious allegiances”7.
In this context, the revival of radical Islam has become a significant ideological force in the Third world, particularly in the Muslim world. The rise of many Islamist movements, such as: the Muslim brotherhood Ikhwan al-Muslimin), Al-Qaeda, emerged in the wake of specific social and political crises in many Muslim world. In Indonesia, the emergence of adical Islamist movements were marked by the establishment of Komite Solidaritas Islam untuk Dunia Islam (KISDI or Indonesian Committee for Solidarity with the Islamic World), Front Pembela Islam (FPI or Front to Defend Islam), Majelis Mujahidin and Laskar Jihad (Jihad Troops). They are not only the other side of the globalisation phenomenon but they are also a result of it. The most fascinating aspect of the revival of radical Islam was that the movement borrowed categories and rhetorical strategies from Western movements which were propelled by the development of information technology. Islamic revivalists e.g. Mir Zohair Husain can be categorised into four broad frameworks:
- Fundamentalists
- Traditionalists
- Modernists
- Pragmatists
However, Fundamentalists are often perceived by the West as the only type of revivalist. In the words of Holton (1998), the revival of political Islam could be interpreted either as “deglobalising trends towards localism and regionalism, or as a reglobalising movement challenging the credentials of Western approaches to globalization”
The Islamic revolu-tion in Iran, to a very large extent, has been viewed as a significant example of the Islamic revival. The implications extend far beyond Iran’s border where it has also invigorated the Islamic political struggle in many parts of the Muslim world such as Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Thus, the political Islam in this respect is simultaneously global, regional, national, and locally specified.
Although the Islamic revival is manifested differently in each Islamic country, certain common themes and characteristics are discernible. As Andrew Tan pointed out, a fundamental tenet is that society should be organized on the basis of Al Quran and the Sunnah (the way of the Prophet). He further argued that: “Islamic revivalism is a result of the Muslim world’s disillusionment with Western civilization and its search for an alternative model that would allow for the development of Islamic society organized according to the teachings of Al-Quran. The revivalism is also a reaction against modern Western-style capitalist development”.
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INDONESIA: Islam, Globalisation And "Religious" Conflict Anak Agung Banyu Perwita
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