Preaching over borders: Constructing publics for islamic oratory in Indonesia

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of oratory in Indonesian Islam through an examination of two books: the 1964 book of Muhammad Isa Anshary entitled The Da'wah Struggler (Mudjahid Da'wah), and the 1967 work of Toha Jahja Omar, The Science of Da'wah (Ilmu Da'wah). These two accounts concern preaching by Muslims for Muslims, and were created by Indonesian intellectuals working from contrasting positions in Indonesia's variegated Islamic and political landscape, and project differing conceptions of diversity and tolerance in that landscape. Normative writing about oratory provides insight into contestations over pluralism and difference within Indonesia's Islamic community, and offers insight into the border conflicts in contemporary Indonesia in which the single public and counter-public positions are instrumental.