Islam and the State in the Indonesian Experience

Abstract

This article analyses the source and nature of Islam-state relations, and the efforts made to find a viable synthesis between them. Like many other Muslim countries, Indonesia encountered difficulties in the attempt to establish a synthesis between Islamic political thought and the notion of a secular state. The author makes an important yet often neglected observation, that not all Indonesian Muslims support the politicisation of Islam and that the level and magnitude of support for ideological and symbolical Islam is relatively low in Indonesia. In order to find a middle way for the Indonesian setting in the post-Soeharto period, he argues in favour of a ‘partial accommodation’ of moderate Muslim concerns as a viable option for a more enduring relationship between Islam and the state.