Piety and Politics : Nurcholish Madjid and His Interpretation of Islam in Modern Indonesia
(2005) In Lund Studies in History of Religions 21.- Abstract
- This dissertation in the field of Islamic studies offers a critical analysis of Nurcholish Madjid's attempt to interpret Islam within the framework of modern Indonesia. Nurcholish, who recently passed away at the age of sixty-six, had been active in the reform of Islamic thought for over thirty years, and while remaining deeply coloured by the local Indonesian context, was also part of a global and century-old tradition of reform. Nurcholish developed a contextual approach both to the Qur'an and to a variety of other sources from Muslim history. In this regard the "Constitution of Madinah" and the works of Ibn Taymiyya had been of particular importance. Nurcholish's understanding of Ibn Taymiyya, for example, was instrumental in the... (More)
- This dissertation in the field of Islamic studies offers a critical analysis of Nurcholish Madjid's attempt to interpret Islam within the framework of modern Indonesia. Nurcholish, who recently passed away at the age of sixty-six, had been active in the reform of Islamic thought for over thirty years, and while remaining deeply coloured by the local Indonesian context, was also part of a global and century-old tradition of reform. Nurcholish developed a contextual approach both to the Qur'an and to a variety of other sources from Muslim history. In this regard the "Constitution of Madinah" and the works of Ibn Taymiyya had been of particular importance. Nurcholish's understanding of Ibn Taymiyya, for example, was instrumental in the formation of his own inclusive view of religion; however, such an understanding of Ibn Taymiyya is not common. Throughout his career Nurcholish attempted to negotiate Islam and modernity by way of a contextual and collective ijtihad. His intent had been to formulate common values that favour social justice, religious pluralism and tolerance, as well as democracy. He failed, however, to address the issue of gender equality in a systematic manner. Spirituality and the Islamic concept of takwa, or ?god-consciousness?, played a continuous and increasingly important role in Nurcholish's interpretation of Islam. These ideas also provided the foundation for the realisation of his societal and political aims. He was therefore active in the spheres of both piety and politics.
The aim of this dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it is a study in the tradition of the history of ideas, and thus attempts an analysis of Nurcholish's ideational production and methodological approach. Secondly, it aims to locate Nurcholish's ideas and activities within the Indonesian context. To this end it provides a presentation of his life, intellectual influences and an overview of relevant historical facts. In addition it presents a variety of material collected during several periods of fieldwork in Jakarta. This material discusses the diffusion of Nurcholish's ideas through higher Islamic education, the socio-religious organisation Paramadina, and his role as an independent public intellectual. His target groups had been the Indonesian middle class and elite, many of whom have been drawn to his ideas over the years. Then again Nurcholish's ideas and activities have been subject to criticism from both conservative and secular elements in Indonesia. This study includes an examination of these critiques as well. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna islamologiska avhandling diskuterar och analyserar den islamtolkning som gjorts av den muslimske tänkaren Nurcholish Madjid i Indonesien. Nurcholish ¬ som nyligen dog vid sextisex års ålder - har bidragit till reformeringen av islamiskt tänkande i Indonesien i över trettio år. Hans idéer är starkt påverkade av den lokala indonesiska kontexten, men utgör också en del av en sekelgammal tradition av islamisk reform. Nurcholish utvecklade ett kontextuellt förhållningssätt både gentemot Koranen och en mängd andra källor från muslimsk historiografi. Den så kallade Madinah-konstitutionen och Ibn Taymiyyas verk har varit av särskild betydelse för honom. Nurcholishs i många avseende ovanliga... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna islamologiska avhandling diskuterar och analyserar den islamtolkning som gjorts av den muslimske tänkaren Nurcholish Madjid i Indonesien. Nurcholish ¬ som nyligen dog vid sextisex års ålder - har bidragit till reformeringen av islamiskt tänkande i Indonesien i över trettio år. Hans idéer är starkt påverkade av den lokala indonesiska kontexten, men utgör också en del av en sekelgammal tradition av islamisk reform. Nurcholish utvecklade ett kontextuellt förhållningssätt både gentemot Koranen och en mängd andra källor från muslimsk historiografi. Den så kallade Madinah-konstitutionen och Ibn Taymiyyas verk har varit av särskild betydelse för honom. Nurcholishs i många avseende ovanliga förståelse av Ibn Taymiyya ligger till grund för hans inklusiva syn på religion. Genom att förespråka ett ijtihad som är både kontextuellt och kollektivt eftersträvar han en islamtolkning som fungerar i ett modernt sammanhang. Under hela sin karriär har Nurcholish sökt formulera gemensamma värderingar till grund för social rättvisa, religiös pluralism och tolerans samt demokrati. Han har däremot inte behandlat genusfrågor på samma utförliga sätt. Andlighet, mystik och inte minst det islamiska konceptet takwa "gudsmedvetenhet" har spelat en alltmer central roll i Nurcholishs tolkning av islam. Dessa idéer har också utgjort grunden för ett förverkligande av hans samhällspolitiska mål. Hans verksamhetsområde täckte därför in såväl en individuellt koncentrerad fromhet som en politisk tolkning av islam.
Denna avhandling har två primära mål. För det första är det en idéhistorisk studie som analyserar Nurcholishs idémässiga produktion och hans metodologiska förhållningssätt. För det andra diskuteras Nurcholishs idéer och verksamheter utifrån skeenden i en indonesisk kontext. För detta syfte ges en beskrivning av Nurcholishs liv, hans intellektuella influenser och en koncentrerad översikt av relevant indonesisk historia. Dessutom presenteras en mängd olika material som insamlats under upprepade perioder av fältarbete i Jakarta. Detta material behandlar spridningen av Nurcholishs idéer genom högre nationell islamutbildning och hans socioreligiösa organisation Paramadina, samt hans roll som oberoende intellektuell i den nationella debatten. Hans målgrupper har varit den indonesiska medelklassen och eliten och många har varit mottagliga för hans idéer. Denna studie presenterar emellertid också den kritik som framförts mot hans idéer och verksamheter från både konservativa och sekulära muslimer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/25172
- author
- Kull, Ann LU
- supervisor
-
- Jan Hjärpe LU
- Leif Stenberg LU
- opponent
-
- FD, universitetslektor Hellman, Jörgen, Göteborgs universitet
- organization
- publishing date
- 2005
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Nurcholish Madjid, Indonesia, takwa, Islam, context, ijtihad, Paramadina, tolerance, pluralism, gender, Sufism, spirituality, democracy, human rights, Pancasila, Ibn Taymiyya, education, Non-Christian religions, Världsreligioner (ej kristendom)
- in
- Lund Studies in History of Religions
- volume
- 21
- pages
- 314 pages
- publisher
- Almqvist & Wiksell International
- defense location
- Hörsal 128,(S:t Mikael) Stora Algatan 4, Lund
- defense date
- 2005-11-25 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 1103-4882
- ISBN
- 91-22-02139-6
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5554df40-0ed4-47ff-b2b3-f429c884bdae (old id 25172)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 17:09:10
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 19:41:20
@phdthesis{5554df40-0ed4-47ff-b2b3-f429c884bdae,
abstract = {{This dissertation in the field of Islamic studies offers a critical analysis of Nurcholish Madjid's attempt to interpret Islam within the framework of modern Indonesia. Nurcholish, who recently passed away at the age of sixty-six, had been active in the reform of Islamic thought for over thirty years, and while remaining deeply coloured by the local Indonesian context, was also part of a global and century-old tradition of reform. Nurcholish developed a contextual approach both to the Qur'an and to a variety of other sources from Muslim history. In this regard the "Constitution of Madinah" and the works of Ibn Taymiyya had been of particular importance. Nurcholish's understanding of Ibn Taymiyya, for example, was instrumental in the formation of his own inclusive view of religion; however, such an understanding of Ibn Taymiyya is not common. Throughout his career Nurcholish attempted to negotiate Islam and modernity by way of a contextual and collective ijtihad. His intent had been to formulate common values that favour social justice, religious pluralism and tolerance, as well as democracy. He failed, however, to address the issue of gender equality in a systematic manner. Spirituality and the Islamic concept of takwa, or ?god-consciousness?, played a continuous and increasingly important role in Nurcholish's interpretation of Islam. These ideas also provided the foundation for the realisation of his societal and political aims. He was therefore active in the spheres of both piety and politics.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of this dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it is a study in the tradition of the history of ideas, and thus attempts an analysis of Nurcholish's ideational production and methodological approach. Secondly, it aims to locate Nurcholish's ideas and activities within the Indonesian context. To this end it provides a presentation of his life, intellectual influences and an overview of relevant historical facts. In addition it presents a variety of material collected during several periods of fieldwork in Jakarta. This material discusses the diffusion of Nurcholish's ideas through higher Islamic education, the socio-religious organisation Paramadina, and his role as an independent public intellectual. His target groups had been the Indonesian middle class and elite, many of whom have been drawn to his ideas over the years. Then again Nurcholish's ideas and activities have been subject to criticism from both conservative and secular elements in Indonesia. This study includes an examination of these critiques as well.}},
author = {{Kull, Ann}},
isbn = {{91-22-02139-6}},
issn = {{1103-4882}},
keywords = {{Nurcholish Madjid; Indonesia; takwa; Islam; context; ijtihad; Paramadina; tolerance; pluralism; gender; Sufism; spirituality; democracy; human rights; Pancasila; Ibn Taymiyya; education; Non-Christian religions; Världsreligioner (ej kristendom)}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Almqvist & Wiksell International}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in History of Religions}},
title = {{Piety and Politics : Nurcholish Madjid and His Interpretation of Islam in Modern Indonesia}},
volume = {{21}},
year = {{2005}},
}