[Academic] Discussion: Secularism and Political Islam in Turkey and Indonesia

Kamis, 30 Mei 2013 kemarin kampusku kedatangan tamu spesial dari Belanda. Beliau bernama Prof. Martin van Bruinessen. Beliau hadir ke Taiwan dalam rangka undangan dari Institute of International Relations dan NCCU (alias kampusku) untuk memberikan kuliah tamu dengan topik “Secularism and Political Islam in Turkey and Indonesia; A Comparison of State-Islam relations and Social Dynamics in Two Major Muslim Countries”. Saat membaca pengumuman ini, daku seketika langsung bersemangat karena topiknya cukup membuat penasaran.

Oya, sebagai informasi, Prof Martin ini adalah Anthropolog yang ahli dalam bidang studi Islam dan Muslim di Turki dan Indonesia. Beliau pernah tinggal lama, baik di Turki maupun di Indonesia (hampir 10 tahun). Maka gak heran kalau bliau sangat fasih berbicara dalam dua bahasa ini. Sekarang, beliau sedang jadi visiting professor di National University of Singapore (NUS). Fyi lagi, istri beliau ternyata orang Indonesia lho ! Dan beliau sendiri adalah seorang Muslim.

Sebenernya ada banyak poin penting dan menarik dalam diskusi ini, terutama karena aye mengajukan cukup banyak pertanyaan ke beliau. wkwkwk…. But, ntar aye buat tulisan khusus (catatan pribadi dan hasil perenungan diskusinya) di lain kesempatan ya. Need longer time to write it. Sementara ini, di postingan sini yang aye share slide presentasi beliau dulu nggih. Kalau ada pertanyaan atau hal yang kurang jelas, bisa ditanyakan ke aye. Jaa, selamat membaca

Secularism and Political Islam in Turkey and Indonesia; A Comparison of State-Islam relations and Social Dynamics in Two Major Muslim Countries

By: Prof. Martin van Bruinessen (Utrecht University)

NCCU - Thursday, May 30, 2013

Some similarities of Turkey and Indonesia:

1. Both are multi party democracies in which elections can and do overthrow the established government
2. In both the military have often intervened in politics, claiming a unique position as founders and defenders of the secular republic
3. Tense relations between the army and organized Islam
4. Both turkey and Indonesia are secular states, though of different types
5. Both in Turkey and in Indonesia there have been movements for the establishment of an Islamic state
6. Both turkey and Indonesia have Islamist parties that became successful by broadening their base and renouncing on the Islamic state (AKP and PKS)

Less similar:

1. Responses to ideological influences from the Arab Middle East (Di Indonesia, Hizbut Tahrir, Ikhwanul Muslimin, Salafy movement dapat dukungan yang cukup besar. Indonesia dapat pengaruh influence dari pemikiran Islam di LN. Sedangkan di Turki, organisasi muslim tapi basisnya di Turki, bukan pengaruh dari Timur Tengah)
2. Role of Muslim political parties
3. Intellectual aspects: development of modern Muslim theological thought vs piety  movements

Types of secular regimes:

• Separation state and religion rarely complete, see Germany and great Britain
• Protecting religion from the state/ guarantee religious freedom (USA)
• Protecting the state from interference by religion (most extreme form: protecting all politics from religion, as in France)
• Neutrality of the state towards religions(India, Netherlands)
• Control of religion by the state (Turkey) à imam merupakan PNS
• Recognition of (certain) religions (Indonesia)

Secularism and secularization:

• A secular regime does  not mean that the citizens are secular in the sense of giving little importance to religion
• A secular regime does not necessarily mean that society is secularized
• Even in a secular state, religion may play a major public role (Casanova)

Indonesian and Turkish secularism

1. Turkey: Kemalism replaced religious institutions by secular ones and made great efforts to protect the state from religion (or from society?)
2. Indonesia: Pancasila proclaims neutrality in religion (but not entirely, for non-religion in not tolerated). In legal system, religion put into the part of the law

Turkey’s Secularism

• No place for shariah in legislation or public life, no religious courts, only western civil law courts
• Organization based on Islam not allowed
• Diyanet (Religious Affairs Directorate): huge bureaucracy, controlling mosques and Imams
• Imam-khatib schools to train religious person

Indonesia’s Secularism

• Islamic courts for family law only; recently syariah based local regulations
• Islamic state rejected, but Islamic parties major part of the landscape
• Ministry of religious affairs in charge of religious education, hajj, etc. state and private religious education give access to public higher education
• Majelis Ulama Indonesia: from government legitimizer to independent agenda setting actor

Desecularization

• The elites that founded and governed Turkey and Indonesia in their early decades were secular. The pious segments of the population remained economically and culturally backward
• Social mobility through institutions of religious education
• C. 1980’s: emergence of Muslim middle class and counter-elite, Muslim lifestyles

Impact of the Islamic Resurgence

• Indonesia: ex Masyumi party links up with Muslim Brothers and Rabita
• Arabic Islamist thought has increasing impact on disaffected Muslims
• Numerous Indonesians study in Egypt or Saudi
• Turkey: limited influence Muslim Brothers in 1960s-1970s; contacts with Miili Gorus
• Iranian revolution impacts on both in stimulating religious social thought (1978-1979)
• Various transnational movements (Muslim Brothers, Hizbut Tahrir, Salafi) gain influence in Indonesia (and much less in Turkey)
• After fall of Suharto these Islamist trends highly visible
• Indonesian Muslim political parties fail to mobilize large numbers, and gradually decline, with the exception of PKS
• Turkey’s AKP renounces on Islamic agenda and becomes hegemonic representative of conservative Turkey – effectively an alternative to Arab style Islamic movements

Muslim middle class cultures

• Indonesia:

1. regime policies benefit a growing middle class under Suharto apolitical but intellectually challenging Muslim discourses flourish
2. Later increasingly individualizing ‘self-improvement’ types of religious training and Islamic consumerism. “Market Islam” à in banking (syariah banking), halal products and certifying halal
3. Prosperity religion

• Turkey:

1. 1980s neoliberal restructuring and the Anatolian Tigers
2. Refah and AKP capture new constituencies and expand beyond their original Islamist base
3. Flourishing of ‘cemaat’ (congregations)

Greater visibility of Islam in both:

• Muslim parties lose credibility in Indonesia; the main Turkish Muslim party has no Muslim program anymore, but has become near-hegemonic
• Political Islam is marginalized

Self-assertion

• Indonesian Islam mostly at the receiving end of global flows (both fundamentalist and liberal cosmopolitan)
• Turkish Islam increasingly self-confident and presents itself as alternative to Brotherhood or Salafi type Arabian versions of Islam
• AKP as model for Islamist parties elsewhere
• Gulen movement and other cemaat engage in foreign missions