EVENTS

Date:	Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Time:	9:00 AM -- 10:30 AM
Location:	Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

September 2007

Indonesia: A Model for Tolerant Islam?

The world's largest Muslim country, Indonesia, has long stood out for its unique embrace of tolerance, pluralism, and inclusiveness. In recent years, however, a wave of high-profile terrorist attacks and the rise of more militant forms of Islam have strained the country's social fabric and raised questions about this vibrant but fledging democracy. Meanwhile, NGOs such as LibForAll work to amplify the message of Indonesia's traditional approach to Islam, which emphasize spirituality rather than a stringent adherence to religious texts.

Does the conflict between radicalism and moderation in Indonesia mirror the global ideological struggle within Islam? Can Indonesian Islam serve as a model for an alternative to Wahhabism? How can NGOs promote tolerant Islam in Indonesia and elsewhere?

Using LibForAll's efforts as a backdrop, Sadanand Dhume, a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society; Michael A. Ledeen of AEI; and C. Holland Taylor, chairman of LibForAll, discussed these and other questions.

Sadanand Dhume
Asia Society

What is the future of Indonesia? Should the international community be hopeful or worried about the direction that the country is taking? There is good reason to be optimistic about the current situation. The past ten years of democratic rule, which followed thirty-two years of military oppression, have seen increased freedoms for the Indonesian people. As a result, many consider the country to be by far the most tolerant and pluralistic Muslim state in the world. It has a free and lively press, it has had two successful elections, and many immigrant ethnic groups (such as the Chinese) have prospered. Yet reasons for concern exist. About ten percent of the country is under sharia law. Islamic fundamentalism eclipses parts of Java. Polls indicate that 58 percent of Muslim Javanese favor stoning as a punishment for adulterers, while 51 percent want sharia implemented worldwide. It seems that the reasons for worrying are starting to become more prominent than those for optimism. In the recent past, Indonesia has developed a pattern of making small concessions to fundamentalism in the name of tolerance. Will these concessions add up to something far more serious in the near future?

It is one thing to reform Islam from within, but outside pressure—especially from groups and states that place importance on human rights—is needed to successfully challenge radical Islam.

C. Holland Taylor
LibForAll

Islam came to Indonesia peacefully, when it was brought over by merchants from Islamic lands during the 1500s. However, as the Muslim merchants and traders became more powerful, they gradually started taking over certain parts of Indonesia through the use of jihad ideology. Hence, Muslims dominate Java.

LibForAll tries to temper fundamentalism in Muslim-dominated states and promote democracy. It is nonpartisan, has no interest in proselytizing, and supports moderates because it believes that prominent Muslim leaders can influence people more effectively than western governments. Building networks of support on six different, yet interconnected, levels, is the main method that LibForAll uses to achieve its mission. These levels include religious leaders, top educators, pop culture stars, government, business, and the media. By connecting these networks domestically and internationally, LibForAll hopes to establish a global network of Muslim leaders able to fight radical Islam.

To fight Islamic fascists, one must find people who have strong pride in their local culture as well as in their Islamic faith. These people usually place an emphasis more on the mystical tradition and interpretations of Islam rather than a formalistic view of the religion. These people can be found all over the Muslim world, not just in Indonesia, and they are just as critical to the fight against radicalism as human rights workers are.

Michael A. Ledeen
AEI

There is an ongoing debate, whose scope and importance can be condensed into one simple question: can we live with Muslims? Is there something inherently antithetical to western democracy, pluralism, and tolerance in Islamic societies or is it possible for Islamic states to peacefully adopt the values of the western world? This debate, though usually focused on the Middle East, has special importance in the country of Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic state.

A problem with the people who place an emphasis on the mystical interpretations of Islam is that they tend to acquiesce to the radicals. It is still necessary to “fight the good fight,” so to speak. For example, the ideology of fascism lost favor after the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini. Communism is weak and tottering towards disappearance since it lost the Cold War. Defeat on the battlefield will ultimately bring defeat in the battle of ideas, especially for all of the various radical Muslim groups who believe that God is on their side. By losing the war, they will believe that they have lost favor with God.

There is also a growing problem with radicalism in America that needs to be discussed. There are various Muslim organizations here that are directly funded from Wahhabi sources. In our own love of freedom and tolerance, we accept groups that would love nothing more than to destroy our freedom. This is a problem to which there is currently no answer, but the problem should be addressed nonetheless.

AEI intern Anthony Lizan prepared this summary.