Introduction: an overview

Present-day Indonesia can be seen as a highly complicated spectrum of Islamic reactions to dealing with the place of religion in relation to the nation-state and society at large. If the attitude and behaviour of the people can be used as the prism through which this phenomenon is viewed, then a certain continuum in the mode of behaviour of the ummah, the Islamic community, emerges. This continuum ranges from extreme impatience with and intolerance to the slightest differences, to an extremely broad-minded stance towards all sorts of religious pluralities in society. While the former, albeit tiny, minority readily expresses itself in diverse hostile operations, the latter, the majority of the nation, can be divided into two broad categories. The first never hesitates to condemn whatever atrocities are conducted in the name of religion; the second gives the impression that it has little understanding of the meaning and the purpose of such hostile acts.

The nature of the Islam-based social and political ideology is to some extent related to the mode of behaviour of its respective supporters. The greater the devotion of the people to the notion of what is now usually labelled ‘militant Islamism’ – what used to be called ‘radical fundamentalism’ – the more likely it is that its adherents will be intolerant to the plurality of opinions; and, vice versa, the more liberal its ideological stand, the greater the possibility that there is acceptance of the right of others to exist. Here, the older and larger Islamic organisations such as Muhammadiyah, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Persis and Al-Irsyad are frequently caught in the middle. Since they are more concerned with the development of their schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages and other social and religious activities, they are sometimes left out of the dynamics of heated religious controversies. In this situation, who would be surprised to learn that some Muslim leaders felt the urge to establish the Center for Moderate Islam?

The increasing plurality of religious ideas and the intrusion of processes of globalisation into the national community have often left older and larger (and, at the same time, more tolerant and open-minded) religious organisations on the defensive.