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June 16, 2000 VOL. 29 NO. 23 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK
How Malaysia and Indonesia differ over political Islam By GREG BARTON When Islamic scholar Abdurrahman Wahid came from behind to become Indonesia's first democratically elected president in 44 years last October, the world was caught by surprise. The results from Malaysia's general elections the following month attracted less international attention but they shook up Malaysian politics all the same. Wahid's presidency and the almost four-fold increase in seats to Pas signal that Islam is, more than ever, a force to be reckoned with in both Indonesia and Malaysia. Wahid came to power with the help of Islamist parties. He was also for 15 years head of the world's largest Islamic organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). But he is a democrat and is well-known for his pluralism and liberal views. Also, while his backers in NU and elsewhere are mostly "traditionalist" Muslims from Java's rural heartland, they are imbued with a tolerant Sufi sensibility that takes a live-and-let-live attitude to religious difference. The same cannot be said for Malaysia's Parti Islam SeMalaysia. Pas is an Islamist party that would like to reshape Malaysia into its own likeness. This is not the reason, however, that almost half of all Malays voted for Pas. Disaffection with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and UMNO are the main reasons behind last November's voter backlash. The swing to Pas had little to do with Islam even though the long struggle between UMNO and Pas had years ago spawned an ever-escalating, arms-race-style contest to prove which party was more Islamic. Ironically, most Malays are probably more comfortable with UMNO's moderate approach to Islam than with Pas's stricter position. Despite occasional manifestations of extremism, liberal Islam has done well in Indonesia. A key reason is education. Liberal Islam is a product of a synthesis of intellectual cultures. NU coordinates a loose network of approximately 7,000 pesantren, or religious boarding schools, in which students study both classic Islamic texts and subjects from the secular state curriculum. The pesantren graduates have shown a natural affinity with civil society; many in recent years have started NGOs. Moreover, many pesantren graduates undertake tertiary studies in the State Islamic Institutes, which have evolved into modern centers of learning. These schools encourage critical reflection, and some of their best students go on to social-science-based postgraduate studies in universities in the West. The result is that many of Indonesia's ulama, or religious scholars, turn out to become modern intellectuals. Malaysia does have some liberal Islamic intellectuals, such as the reformist Keadilan party's Chandra Muzaffar, but their influence is limited. Malaysia's problem is that it lacks the necessary educational foundations to develop modern Islamic thought. Its efforts at modern education for Muslim students have given too great an emphasis to the applied sciences. At the same time, in an effort to control extremism, religious education and the state-sponsored religious bureaucracy have been tightly controlled. The unintended consequence has been the growth of Islamism, which thrives in these conditions, and the replenishment of Pas's leadership ranks with a new generation of professional, but narrowly educated, university graduates. Will Islam play an important role in the future of Malaysia and Indonesia? Almost certainly. Is this a cause for worry? No, provided that social concerns are addressed before they can be channeled into extremism, and provided that an open and balanced approach is taken to education. Provided, too, that UMNO is neither so panicked nor cynically short-sighted that it resorts to trying to "out-Islam" Pas. Islam is an important and valuable source of moral authority and can be a powerful drive for social engagement and reform if it is neither misused nor marginalized. Previously in UMNO, Mahathir and his erstwhile deputy Anwar Ibrahim promoted a moderate and modern understanding of Islam, one that many young Malays are drawn to. Now is not the time for UMNO to turn its back on this approach. Greg Barton, a senior lecturer at Australia's Deakin University, is an expert on Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia, and is writing the authorized biography of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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