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Islamic particularity and academic freedom: Public institutions and doctrinal difference in contemporary Indonesia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2022
Abstract
The Indonesian Muslim community includes segments dedicated to contrasting pious projects and doctrinal positions, yet the nation's Ministry of Religion (MORA) manages aspects of Islamic life while purporting to more or less transcend such contrasts. This tension recently emerged in Indonesian public life when a state Islamic university defended the autonomy of its research practices against a challenge by scholars from outside the university who claimed that the doctoral project of Jalaluddin Rakhmat (1949–2021) offended doctrinal positions of the Sunni majority and gave priority to Shiite historiography and doctrine. This dispute shows how questions concerning academic method become disputes about public interest, and further, its resolution attests to the emergence of free inquiry as an Islamic value in the environment of MORA's universities. Academics cited the example of earlier generations of scholars as supporting precedent for an Islamic principle of free inquiry.
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- Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2022
Footnotes
The authors gratefully recognise the kindness of participants in this polemic who agreed to be interviewed by Usep Abdul Matin, and especially to Jalaluddin Rakhmat himself, who passed away in 2021, but also to Kamaruddin Amin, Ahmad Sewang, Amir Mahmud, Zulfahmi Alwi, Firdaus, Muhammad Said Abd. Shamad, Ilham Kadir, Istiqamah, Miftah Fauzi Rakhmat, Dimitri Mahayana, Nike (Emilia Renita Az), Syamsuddin Baharuddin, and Tjetjep Pasdaran. The authors wish to acknowledge the LP2M of UIN Jakarta for its sponsorship of Matin's fellowship visit to Monash in 2016.
References
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23 The contrast between Madjid and Husaini with respect to the creation of new Islamic knowledge and its moral meanings replicates Asad's distinction between religion shaped by national policy, in which principles of national modernity are institutionalised and personal piety is privatised, and the notion of religion as a shared, divinely mandated way of life which requires believers to remind and encourage each other towards proper attention to pious practices. See Talal Asad, Genealogies of religion.
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25 Key sources on the intellectual programme implemented by MORA universities include: Deliar Noer, Administrasi Islam di Indonesia [The administration of Islam in Indonesia] (Jakarta: Rajawali, 1983); Harun Nasution, Islam rasional: Gagasan dan pemikiran [Rational Islam: Concepts and thinking] (Bandung: Mizan 1995); Fuad Jabali and Jamhari, eds, IAIN dan modernisasi Islam di Indonesia [IAIN and the modernisation of Islam in Indonesia] (Ciputat: Logos Wacana Ilmu, 2002).
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27 Jalaluddin Rakhmat, ‘Asal-usul sunnah sahabat: Studi historiografis atas tarikh tasyri‘’ [The origins of the traditions of the companions: A historiographical study of the history of the implementation of the shariah] (PhD diss., UIN Alauddin Makassar, 2015), pp. iv–vi.
28 There are two versions of the dissertation text. The unpublished dissertation is Jalaluddin Rakhmat, ‘Asal-usul sunnah sahabat’. The subsequently produced trade publication is Jalaluddin Rakhmat, Misteri wasiat nabi: Asal usul sunnah sahabat; Studi historiografis tarikh tasyri‘ [The mystery of the Prophet's testament: The origins of the traditions of the companions; A historiographical study of the history of the implementation of the shariah] (Bandung: Penerbit Misykat, 2015).
29 Jalaluddin Rakhmat, ‘Asal-Usul sunnah sahabat’, pp. 26–39.
30 Ibid., pp. 33–57; Misteri Wasiat nabi, pp. 30–39.
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32 Our knowledge of Abd. Shamad's critique is based on Usep Abdul Matin's discussions with him and other participants in the matter, on publications appearing in the media, and on a number of video recordings of the debates and discussions on the issue that were held at MORA institutions in Makassar and other cities. DVDs of these recordings have circulated informally. Some were posted on Youtube, such as the recording of Rakhmat's doctoral examination, which we cite below in footnote 38.
33 ‘Proses doktoral Kang Jalal diprotes’, Fajar, 27 Apr. 2011, p. 9. The disapproval referred to here is the 1984 fatwa of the Indonesian Scholars’ Council urging Sunni Muslims in Indonesia to be more wary (meningkatkan kewaspadaan) about teachings based on Shiism. See Majelis Ulama Indonesia, Himpunan Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia sejak 1975 [Collected fatwa of the Indonesian Muslim Scholars’ Council since 1975] (Jakarta: Sekretariat Majelis Ulama Indonesia, 2011), pp. 46–7.
34 M. Qasim Mathar, ‘Kang Jalal mahasiswa program by research’, Fajar, 28 Apr. 2011.
35 We are grateful to Professor Sewang for sharing with us his unpublished slides presented at the meeting held on 11 Aug. 2011 in Makassar UIN's Training Centre.
36 The defence was recorded in video, and uploaded onto Youtube in a sequence of four excerpts entitled Ujian promosi Dr Jalaluddin Rakhmat di UIN Alauddin Makassar [Doctoral examination of Dr Jalaluddin Rakhmat at UIN Alauddin, Makassar].
37 Jalaluddin Rakhmat, Misteri wasiat, p. 30.
38 The relevant part is in the fourth of the videos: Ujian Promosi Doktor Jalaluddin Rakhmat UIN Alauddin Makassar #4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gNNZUA5pcc (last accessed 9 Aug. 2022).
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40 Asad, Genealogies of religion.