Moch Nur Ichwan

The collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998 led to the opening up of previously unimaginable political opportunities and transformations in Indonesian society. The Reformasi (reformation) movement demanded democratization, good governance, and the empowerment of civil society. Most existing Muslim organizations redefined their orientation and political platforms, as did most other associations; and many new Muslim organizations, movements, and political parties emerged, armed with new nationalist, liberal or Islamist paradigms. They have endeavoured to present their own concepts of Reformasi, and to avoid the stigma of being anti- Reformasi. The Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesian Council of Ulama, or MUI),1 a semi-official institution of Indonesian ulama established by Soeharto in 1975, is no exception.2 At the beginning of the Reformasi era, the MUI seemed disoriented and struggled to come to terms with the changes. During the Habibie era, it focused not on issuing fatwas, but on ...

Korean culture was caused by the Korean wave or Hallyu wave that entered and spread among young people in Indonesia. The halal industry is considered an industry that can answer their needs and desires in this era of the booming Korean wave. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the Korean cultural phenomenon caused by the Korean wave on the economic, social, and consumptive cultural aspects of the younger generation, and to analyze the opportunities and challenges for the halal industry in dealing with this phenomenon. The method in this study is the netnographic method carrying out data collection techniques carried out by observing online and observing the facts in the field. Other supporting data sources are obtained from literature studies, be it journals, books or articles, and other writings. The results of this study indicate that Korean culture spreads to all aspects of the life of the younger generation who behave consumptively due to the bandwagon effect...

ABSTRACT This article aims at examining the recent (re)construction of citizenship in Aceh, which is based on sharia as well as on ethno-religious nationalism, and the impact of this (re)construction on minority rights in the province. Because sharia has become a cultural, social, political and legal fact in Aceh, the province has gradually created its own notion of civic belonging, which departs from national citizenship, defined by religion and protected by religious ethno-nationalism. It is argued that such religious ethno-nationalism has created what we call dormant citizenship, in which citizens of Aceh are divided on the basis of religious affiliation into ‘ummatic citizens’, who are considered as the ‘hosts’ of the sharia land with their full rights, and non-ummatic citizens, who are considered as ‘guests’ with only partial rights provided by the ‘hosts’. We shall also argue that dormant citizenship is a synthesis between four political traditions: Islamic, ethnic, Indonesian, and Western. At the end of this article, we shall outline some conditions that might enable non-Muslims to enjoy much broader rights.

Ada perasaan sedih saat menangkap kesan ketidakpercayaan atau keheranan beberapa peserta workshop agamawan non-Muslim di Kaliurang pada paruh akhir dekade 2000-an terhadap presentasi saya yang mendiskusikan amar ma‘ruf dan nahy munkar dengan gambaran yang positif.1 Dalam bayangan mereka konsep ini terkait dengan penggunaan kekerasan atas nama agama, sebagaimana yang mereka lihat di televisi di mana sekelompok orang berbaju putih-putih dengan garang membawa pentungan, batu atau bahkan parang merusak kafe, restoran, atau hotel atau menyerang kelompok-kelompok keagamaan yang mereka pandang “sesat”. Dengan meneriakkan “Allahu akbar” mereka melakukan kekerasan. Saya tidak menyalahkan mereka itu, dan banyak orang lainnya, karena fakta itu memang ada, dan bahkan setelah Reformasi, fenomena ini menjamur di mana-mana. Saya sedih karena betapa ajaran profetik yang luhur ini telah dipahami oleh sebagian saudara seiman saya sebagai ajaran yang menghalalkan cara-cara kekerasan yang menurut standard etika publik tidak dapat diterima sebagai perilaku orang beriman. Bukan hanya non-Muslim, banyak orang tua Muslim pun khawatir terhadap gejala semacam ini, karena anak-anak mereka dapat saja beranggapan bahwa begitulah seharusnya Muslim yang baik, suka melakukan kekerasan. Ajaranajaran kebaikan dan akhlak luhur yang mereka ajarkan di rumah, atau diajarkan di sekolah, TPA dan masjid, rontok hanya karena melihat tayangan kekerasan di televisi-televisi, di koran dan di internet. Hal ini ditambah dengan “pembiaran” negara terhadap kasus-kasus kekerasan semacam itu. Intelejen dan polisi sudah mengetahui aksi-aksi kekerasan akan terjadi, namun mereka sebagai aparat berwenang tidak mencegah agar kekerasan ini tidak terjadi. Dan bahkan dalam sejumlah kasus terdapat indikasi adanya keterlibatan oknum aparat penegak hukum mendukung aksi-aksi semacam itu dari balik layar. Selain itu, tak sedikit tokoh agama yang ikut-ikutan melegitimasi penggunaan kekerasan sebagai tindakan yang “Islami”, dengan alasan adanya kemaksiatan di sana. Dengan retorika hiperbolik, mereka menggambarkan kondisi kemaksiatan sudah mengancam martabat manusia.2 Berbagai dalil atau dalih keagamaan mereka keluarkan untuk melegalkan tindak kekerasan itu. Seringkali kita mendengar khutbah, ceramah, atau wawancara di media di mana mereka memojokkan para Muslimin lain yang tidak bersikap seperti mereka sebagai orang-orang yang beriman lemah, dan sebagai para pendosa yang dapat menurunkan azab Tuhan dalam bentuk berbagai bencana. Ummat awam menjadi bingung sikap siapa yang sebenarnya ma‘ruf. Muncul kesan tidak sehat bahwa, dalam Islam, semakin religius seseorang semakin ringan pula dia melakukan kekerasan. Tentu ini tidak benar. Ada masalah pemahaman etika politik (al-akhlaq al-siyasiyah) di sini, dan oleh karena itu adalah penting untuk melihat konsep amar ma‘ruf dan nahy munkar (al-amr bi l-ma‘ruf wa n-nahy ‘ani lmunkar) dalam konteks etika politik. Etika politik bertujuan, sebagaimana dikatakan Ricoeur, untuk mengarahkan ke kehidupan yang baik, bersama dan untuk orang lain, dan dalam rangka memperluas lingkup kebebasan dan membangun institusi-institusi yang adil.3 Dalam konteks ini, saya berargumen bahwa sesungguhnya amar ma‘ruf dan nahy munkar itu adalah bagian dari “etika publik”, yang dipahami sebagai “etos, cara berada dan cara menilai yang khas pada suatu masyarakat yang tidak bisa disamakan dengan suatu doktrin atau agama tertentu, melainkan mengelompokkan atau menciptakan konvergensi di antara visi-visi yang berbeda tentang dunia. Etos ini yang memungkinkan pengambilan keputusan kolektif dan perundang-undangan. Ia mencakup tujuan, nilai dan norma tentang keadilan yang menjadi inspirasi baik praktik-praktik politik maupun institusi-institusi politik.”4 Oleh karena itu, ma‘ruf dan munkar bukanlah didefinisikan oleh agama, melainkan oleh “konvergensi di antara visi-visi yang berbeda tentang dunia”... “yang memungkinkan pengambilan keputusan kolektif dan perundang-undangan...” yang mencakup “tujuan, nilai dan norma tentang keadilan yang menjadi inspirasi baik praktik-praktik politik.” Ketika menyebut ma‘ruf dan munkar, saya merujuk kepada pengertian ini.5 Selain itu, saya akan membawa konsep ini dari paradigma Islamisme ke “post-Islamisme”, sebagaimana disarankan oleh Asef Bayat.

The collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998 led to the opening up of previously unimaginable political opportunities and transformations in Indonesian society. The Reformasi (reformation) movement demanded democratization, good governance, and the empowerment of civil society. Most existing Muslim organizations redefined their orientation and political platforms, as did most other associations; and many new Muslim organizations, movements, and political parties emerged, armed with new nationalist, liberal or Islamist paradigms. They have endeavoured to present their own concepts of Reformasi, and to avoid the stigma of being anti- Reformasi. The Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesian Council of Ulama, or MUI),1 a semi-official institution of Indonesian ulama established by Soeharto in 1975, is no exception.2 At the beginning of the Reformasi era, the MUI seemed disoriented and struggled to come to terms with the changes. During the Habibie era, it focused not on issuing fatwas, but on ...

“Yorum, metnin diger yuzudur. Bu ifade Ebu Zeyd'in baska bir yerde soyledigi gibi, epistemolo­ji duzeninde islemektedir. "Metin, tefsir ve yorumdan bagimsiz bir varliga sahiptir. Bu ifade metnin kendi dunyasini kesfetmek icin yorum fiiline yol actigi seklinde anlasilmalidir. Metin ve yorum bir madalyonun iki ayri yuzudur. Bu gorus, Ebu Zeyd, onlara atifta bulunmasa da, ol­dukca benzer sekilde J. L. Kogel ve R. A. Greer'de vardir. Onlar soyle demektedirler: Normal 0 21 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal Tablo"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

This article focuses on the position and role of the Majelis Permusyawaratan Ulama (MPU; Consultative Assembly of Ulema) in the process of re-Islamization, in the sense of Sharīʿatization, of Aceh in post-New Order Indonesia. Sharīʿatization in Aceh is a complex issue, related not only ...

Moch Nur Ichwan‟in A New Horizon in Qur’anic Hermeneutics adli eserinin ss. 40-55. bolumunden alinmistir (Leiden University, Netherlands: 1999). Nasir Ebu Zeyd, “The Case of Abu Zaid,” Index on Censorship 4 (1996), s. 34. Bkz. Richard Palmer, “Allegorical, Philological, and Philosophical Hermeneutics: Three Modes in a Complex Heritage,” Stephanus Kresic, Contemporary Literary Hermeneutics and Interpretation of Classical Texts, icinde. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1981, s. 15

This article highlights that the hajj (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) involves not only religious devotion, but also religious tourism and its associated business, necessary to deal with massive parties of pilgrims, embracing trans-national relations, central and local governments, flight and other travel agencies, pilgrimage guidance units, catering agencies and hotels to the pilgrims themselves in its scope. The aim of this article is to analyse the politics of hajj services, which was carried out mainly through the placing of this pilgrimage under government control, leading to the assumption of its monopoly by the government during the New Order period. Although it will focus on Soeharto period, there will be some discussions on this subject during the colonial and early post-colonial periods to trace the genealogy of government control of hajj pilgrimage (and ‘umrah, known also as ‘small hajj’), especially during the New Order.  The author argues that the complexities of hajj (an...

This article aims to analyze various legal traditions working within the implementation of Islamic law after special autonomy in Aceh. Although Aceh's legal system follows the national legal system derived from civil law, diverse legal traditions still exist. The scope of this study is limited to the interaction of Aceh's legal traditions by taking the construction of juvenile and immoral criminal law and describing the social authorities who also operate the legal tradition to the parties in the case. This study presents the results using a case study model. Data obtained from interviews and documentation, analyzed using an interlegality approach. Based on the results of data analysis, it was found that the dialectic of legal traditions is determined by the role of actors acting as companions for victims to ensure that the rights of victims are not neglected. The traditions of Islamic law, customary law, and laws for protecting women and children are used interchangeably. T...

Selama ini perhatian akademisi dan intelektual Islam Indonesia biasanya terfokus pada intelektual Muslim Timur Tengah. Akhir-akhir ini muncul trend untuk melihat ke Afrika. Ada sejumlah intelektual Muslim Afrika Selatan yang terkenal di Indonesia, seperti Farid Essack, Ebrahim Moosa dan Abdulkader Tayoub, dan dari Sudan, seperti Mahmoud Mohammad Thaha dan Abdullahi Ahmad An-Naim. Afrika Timur belum terlalu dikenal. Padahal di sana muncul Ali Mazrui, yang mempunyai reputasi akademik internasional jauh sebelum generasi intelektual muda di atas muncul. Mungkin karena memang disiplin Mazrui tidak terkait langsung dengan pemikiran Islam, namun lebih sebagai political scientist. Padahal Ali Mazrui adalah intelektual Muslim asal Kenya yang mampu menciptakan pengaruh luas di kalangan intelektual dan akademisi Afrika, sehingga terciptalah sebuah school of thought "Mazruiana".1 Bahkan dia dijuluki sebagai "Ibn Khaldun post-modern".2 Mazrui juga terpilih sebagai the World&#...

The collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998 led to the opening up of previously unimaginable political opportunities and transformations in Indonesian society. The Reformasi (reformation) movement demanded democratization, good governance, and the empowerment of civil society. Most existing Muslim organizations redefined their orientation and political platforms, as did most other associations; and many new Muslim organizations, movements, and political parties emerged, armed with new nationalist, liberal or Islamist paradigms. They have endeavoured to present their own concepts of Reformasi, and to avoid the stigma of being anti- Reformasi. The Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesian Council of Ulama, or MUI),1 a semi-official institution of Indonesian ulama established by Soeharto in 1975, is no exception.2 At the beginning of the Reformasi era, the MUI seemed disoriented and struggled to come to terms with the changes. During the Habibie era, it focused not on issuing fatwas, but on producing tausiyahs to legitimize a number of Habibie’s policies, and, in the period in which Habibie was confronted with political moves to discredit him, by visiting the president at the palace.3 It was only at the 2000 National Congress, during the Abdurrahman Wahid era, that the MUI proclaimed its ambition to change its role from being the “khadim al-hukumah” (servant of the government) to serving as the “khadim al-ummah” (servant of the ummah). This resonated with the central Reformasi concept of empowering society vis-a-vis the state, besides expressing the MUI’s vision of its own agenda-setting role in the Reformasi process. Since that time, the MUI has endeavoured to reposition itself in Indonesia’s transitional politics by defending more conservative Muslim interests and aspirations. This can be seen from various fatwas, tausiyahs, and other statements produced by the MUI, and in the way in which it has dealt with social, political, economic and cultural issues. In the present study, I shall focus on the MUI’s endeavours to redefine its role in the post-Soeharto era, analyse its transformation from a governmentoriented to an ummah-oriented body, and explore the implications of this transformation.4 Particular emphasis will be given to the way in which the MUI has exercised its power as the “semi-official religious authority” in the country and the way it has defined “moderate Islam”, which is in fact “puritanical moderate Islam” based on Sunni orthodoxy, in the context of ideologically and organizationally pluralistic Indonesian Islam. Below we will examine a number of issues that best reflect the MUI’s changing role in post-New Order Indonesia, as well as its newly developed position in national politics. These issues range from the certification of halal foods and Islamic banking services to the “purification” of public morality (action against pornography and “porno-action”), education (the polemic on the Draft Law on the National Education System), the image of Islam ( jihad and terrorism), Islamic thought (religious pluralism, liberalism and secularism), and Islamic faith (deviant belief and the Ahmadiyah movement).

Within the framework of Dutch-Indonesian scholarly cooperation, Islam is a theme of major interest. Firstly, Islam receives increasing attention worldwide, both in general or popular discourse and in the more limited discussions of the academic and political elite. Because of phenomena of large-scale Muslim immigration to Western countries, numerous military and political conflicts involving Muslim communities, and, last but not least, the dramatic events of 11 September 2001, most of these discussions have recently tended to become less balanced and less based on in-depth knowledge. Research in conformity with the highest academic standards may help in-vert this regrettable trend. Another, obvious reason for which the study of Islam earns a primary position within this bilateral cooperation programme is the fact that Indonesia has the largest Muslim community in the world. The third reason is that Indonesia and the Netherlands have a long-standing and unique experience in this fiel...

Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta Writing in the early 1970s, B.J. Boland said: “As a ‘Pancasila State with a Ministry of Religion’, Indonesia chose a middle way between ‘the way of Turkey’ and the founding of an ‘Islamic State’. A ‘secular State’ would perhaps not suit the Indonesian situation; an ‘Islamic State,’ as attempted elsewhere, would indeed tend ‘to create rather that to solve problems.’ For this reason, the Indonesian experiment deserves positive evaluation.” (Boland 1982 [1971]: 112) Studying Islam in modern Indonesia, Boland concluded that both the secular state and the “way of Turkey” and Islamic states are not suitable for Indonesia. He viewed the Indonesian concept of a “Pancasila State with a Ministry of Religion” proposed by the founding fathers of Indonesia as a solution to this problem. He also suggested that Indonesian experience is a model that deserves consideration and positive evaluation. As a Western scholar, I suppose, he idealized secul...

One consequence of the greater political openness that followed the resignation of Indonesia’s long-time dictator Suharto in 1998 was the demand in several localities for implementation of Shari'a.2 The region that has experienced the greatest change is Aceh where the provincial government has been granted broad authority to establish Shari'a Courts (Mahkamah Syariah), to implement Shari'a legislation, and to have its own Shari'a police and enforcement mechanisms (wilayatul hisbah).3 The Department of Religion officially inaugurated the new system on March 4, 2003, a date chosen to coincide with the Islamic New Year (Muharram 1, 1423 AH). On that date the existing Religious Courts (Pengadilan Agama) in Aceh were transformed into Shari'a Courts and vested with new powers in the fields of Islamic belief ('aqida), religious practice ('ibadat), and symbolism (Ind. syiar < Ar. shi'ar). This chapter examines the significance of the discourse on implement...

Study of the Javanese diaspora is not yet as well-known as that of, for instance, the Black and Indian diaspora. Most the scholars of Java concentrate their study on the Javanese 'inside Java' and only few of them deal with the Javanese in diaspora. The Javanese, most of whom were Muslims, for one or other reason migrated to South and East Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia, Peninsular Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Thailand, Burma, South Vietnam, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Curacao, New Caledonia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Surinam, and The Netherlands.3 This very large area of study still has attracted little attention from the scholars of Java, in fact less than they deserve. To contribute to this study, this present article is devoted to studying the Javanese who migrated to the Netherlands by the way of Surinam.4 In this respect, I shall focus on the discourse on keblat. Discourse on keblat (Arabic: qibla)5 as a societal dispute and living discussion, which symbolizes power relation ...

This article aims at examining the recent (re)construction of citizenship in Aceh, which is based on sharia as well as on ethno-religious nationalism, and the impact of this (re)construction on minority rights in the province. Because sharia has become a cultural, social, political and legal fact in Aceh, the province has gradually created its own notion of civic belonging, which departs from national citizenship, defined by religion and protected by religious ethno-nationalism. It is argued that such religious ethno-nationalism has created what we call dormant citizenship, in which citizens of Aceh are divided on the basis of religious affiliation into ‘ummatic citizens’, who are considered as the ‘hosts’ of the sharia land with their full rights, and non-ummatic citizens, who are considered as ‘guests’ with only partial rights provided by the ‘hosts’. We shall also argue that dormant citizenship is a synthesis between four political traditions: Islamic, ethnic, Indonesian, and Wes...

Upaya menulis bersama yang menghasilkan buku ini dimulai dari keputusan cepat setelah berakhirnya penelitian kami tentang literatur keislaman generasi milenial, yang merupakan bagian dari Program CONVEY Indonesia yang digagas Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Masyarakat (PPIM) UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta bekerjasama dengan United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Penelitian menarik dan mengangkat tema penting ini sangat disayangkan jika hanya berakhir dengan laporan penelitian dan policy brief saja, terutama bagi akademisi yang mempunyai perhatian besar dalam pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan. Oleh karena itu, pihak-pihak yang terkait dengan proyek penelitian ini, yaitu Pascasarjana UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Pusat Pengkajian Islam, Demokrasi dan Perdamaian (PusPIDeP) Yogyakarta, Project Management Unit (PMU) CONVEY dan PPIM Jakarta, bersepakat untuk mengolah hasil penelitian ini menjadi sebuah buku. Tim kontributor pun segera dibentuk untuk bekerja cepat membaca dan menganalisis laporan peneli...

This article aims to explain why organized queer activism emerged in Aceh, but could endure only in about six years (from 2008 to 2014). It is argued that this has mainly caused by massive expansion of ‘shari‘a spheres’ since 2001 supported by national and local government and parliament legal-political back up and societal religio-cultural forces on the one hand, and weak nature of the queer movements as counterpublics, characterized with the inadequate resources mobilization, especially in leadership and in getting support from its social movement communities during the crises on the other hand. Shari‘a, which is heteronormative, have been used as discursive and embodied disciplinary power of sexuality for normalizing and excluding the queer (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/LGBT). Their organized visibility triggered the issuance of the Qanun Jinayah in 2014, which includes punishment for same-sex activities. It caused them to dissolve their own queer organizations.

This paper discusses conflict of Sunni-Shi`a which occurs in East Java. The relationship among them is dominated by contravention, competition/contestation and conflict. The contravention occurs during the emergence of Shi`ite community in Madura. when the majority of Madurese community who are mostly Sunni rejected their first existence. For instance, Ali Karrar Shinhaji (The local Ulama) was against the decision of Kyai Makmun to deliver his son, Tajul Muluk, to study at YAPI Bangil that affiliated with Shi`i. The conflict further escalates because of Tajul Muluk’s and Roisul Hukama’s personal problem. Eventually, the conflict thus increases on the higher level in Sampang and in Province level.  This paper examines how the conflict of Sunn-Shi`i emerges, whether it is a pure of family conflict or involves the conflict among the religious authorities in Sampang society.  This paper utilizes Myers’ theory combined with critical discourse analysis on the causal factor of conflict. Th...

This study examines the notions of identity among the minority groups of Chinese in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It focuses on what has changed, what has been challenged and what is [still] continued, locating the discussion within a context of their social dialectics with the local majority of Muslims due to its time, spatiality and social processes. Admittedly, the history of diasporic Chinese and their social interrelation with the ethnic majority of Acehnese does not occur in static, but in a dynamic way, instead. It was continuously constructed, reconstructed and changed in a specific durability and spatiality within a negotiated space of socio-spatial dialectics between the minority and the local majority groups. Through several observations, and in-depth interviews with people from diasporic Chinese community in Banda Aceh, and with few Acehnese informants, this study discovers that some socio-political situations at macro-national level of the related policies (on minorities), as ...

This article elaborates Mountainous Islam in the Dieng Mountains. Today Dieng is a Muslim society. However the historical accounts about the way Islam entered Dieng are still debatable. It becomes more difficult since there is no any support data that is quite reliable. Based on oral history and Islamic phenomenon, there are three important finding showed. First, the history of Islam in the Dieng Mountains is provided clear information that Islam entered to the Dieng not merely by the acculturation process as commonly understood, but also colonialization.  Second, the Islamic tradition in the Dieng Mountains is the result of the negotiation of Islamic traditions and Hindu-Buddhist that first grew in Dieng, and present traditions that come to the Dieng Mountains. Islam Dieng creatively adopts and adapts new traditions in line with the improvement of society’s economic condition. Third, Islamic expression displayed by the Dieng community is a portrait of a mountainous Islam that is ad...

As a 'Pancasila State with a Ministry of Religion', Indonesia chose a middle way between 'the way of Turkey' and the founding of an 'Islamic State.. A 'secular state' would perhaps not suit the Indonesian situation; an 'Islamic State,' as attempted elsewhere, would indeed tend 'to ...

Although Indonesia is not an Islamic state, it uniquely granted the province of Aceh permission to officially implement sharia law in 2001. This was an effort to win over the Aceh people, who are known to be deeply religious Muslims, against the Aceh Liberation Movement (which had no sharia agenda). Since then sharia has become the “master signifier” which defines all other aspects of life in the region. All other legal sources—customary laws, national laws, and international conventions—are interpreted according to, and should not contradict, sharia. The Quran and prophetic traditions are the major sources of legal authority and take precedence over the state constitution and national laws in all local qanuns (bylaws). The thing is, although Muslims are a majority (98.19% according to the 2010 census), non-Muslims live in Aceh too, albeit a small minority. They are citizens, just like their Muslim counterparts, and should technically have equal rights. How, then, do local Islamic establishment politics and illiberal citizenship affect interreligious relations, sources of authority, and how individuals define their identity, especially in Aceh’s ethnically and religiously mixed border areas?

Terma hermeneutika baru dikenal dalam tradisi keilmuan Islam setidaknya sejak dekade 1960-an. Melalui tiga karyanya pada tahun 1965-1966, Hassan Hanafi membuat terobosan baru di bidang tafsir al-Qur'an melalui pendekatan hermeneutika secara sistematik. Projek hermeneutikanya  meliputi, (1) penggunaan metode hermeneutika sebagai upaya rekonstruksi usul al-figh, (2) hermeneutika fenomenologis di dalam menafsirkan fenomena keagamaan dan keberagamaan, dan (3) kajian kritis terhadap hermeneutika eksistensial dalam konteks penafsiran Perjanjian Baru. Bagaimanakah  hermeneutika sosial Our'an yang ditawarkan Hassan Hanafi? Lalu, bagaimana akar dan problem metodologis yang mengiringi penerapannya?

This article focuses on the position of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) in the Defending Islam Action (Aksi Bela Islam/ABI) 2016, and argues that the post-2015 is a period of "honeymoon" between the MUI and Islamist movements, and the ABI movements is main evidence of their intimate relationship which is mutually reinforcing and empowering. However, in the context of the ABI movement, the author notices that the Islamist movements, and not the MUI, are the main actors, although they have based their movement on MUI's opinion and religious position or "fatwa". Without the support of the Islamist movements the vast influence of the MUI's fatwa can not be imagined. Equally, without legitimacy of MUI's fatwa, the movement cannot be imagined to get wide sympathy and support of Muslims, especially of "floating and floated umma". In the conclusion, the author sees how would be the prospect of the MUI in the post-ABI movement.

Artikel ini memfokuskan diri pada posisi MUI dalam gerakan Aksi Bela Islam (ABI), dan berargumen bahwa periode pasca-2015 adalah masa “bulan madu” MUI dengan gerakan-gerakan Islamis, dan gerakan ABI adalah bukti permulaan kemesraan hubungan mereka yang saling menguatkan (mutual empowering). Namun dalam konteks gerakan ABI, penulis melihat bahwa gerakan-gerakan Islamis lebih merupakan aktor utama, walaupun mereka mendasarkan gerakannya pada “fatwa” MUI itu. “Pendapat dan posisi keagamaan MUI” tidak dapat dibayangkan pengaruhnya yang luas tanpa adanya peran GNPF MUI dan segala unsur pendukungnya yang meningkatkannya menjadi “fatwa MUI” dan mengadvokasinya melalu berbagai media, forum dan jaringan. Tanpa
legitimasi “fatwa MUI”, gerakan ABI tidak dapat dibayangkan juga akan
mendapatkan simpati dan dukungan dari umat Islam secara luas, terutama “umat mengambang” (floating ummah) dan “umat terambang” (floated ummah). Dalam penutup tulisan ini penulis melihat bagaimana prospek MUI pasca-ABI.

This essay examines the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) and the legal decisions that it issued after the fall of President Suharto, whose regime played a role in its establishment. In light of MUI's changing relationship with the state under Suharto's successors B. J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid, I call for a more nuanced reading of MUI's decisions.

I also discuss the relative weight accorded to MUI decisions—variously called "opinions," pieces of "advice," and "fatwās"—arguing that these "discursive products" reflect a conscious attempt by MUI to break free from the circumstances of its birth and to guide the reformation process in postSuharto Indonesia.

The Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) has played an important role in guarding the Sunni orthodoxy in contemporary Indonesia. As it has chapters in almost parts of Indonesia in the provincial, district and municipality level, this role has been also translated into the local context. The strength of the MUI stems from “semi-officiality” and “semi-representative” nature of the organisation. This article is aimed to analyse this role in the post-New Order period, after the establishment of the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) of Banten province in 2001, especially in dealing with deviant beliefs or sects and shirk (polytheist) and bid‘ah (religious innovation) practices. It is to show that orthodoxy and heterodoxy is not purely religious, but also political, as this is related to the problem of authority and power.

This article focuses on the position and role of the Majelis Permusyawaratan Ulama (MPU; Consultative Assembly of Ulema) in the process of re-Islamization, in the sense of Sharīʿatization, of Aceh in post-New Order Indonesia. Sharīʿatization in Aceh is a complex issue, related not only to religious but also political contestation amongst various elements of Acehnese society. Although a political project of the central government to draw popular support away from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which did not have Islamic agenda, it was formulated mainly by official ulema, Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI; Indonesian Council of Ulema), especially from 1998 to 2001, and after 2001 by the MPU. ) Despite the MPU's significant role in the initial phase of Sharīʿatization, and despite the privileged status given to it by the Law on Aceh Governance and local bylaws, the MPU was unable to sustain its prominent role. The MPU was frustrated, this article argues, by the actions of other agents—‘Sharīʿa state apparatuses’ (especially the Sharīʿa Office); ‘secular state apparatuses’ (especially governor and regional parliament); and Islamic and ‘secular’ political parties—during the negotiation and renegotiation of what kind of official Sharīʿa should be implemented. Thus, over the last decade Sharīʿa implementation at the official level has been defined mainly by both Sharīʿa state apparatuses (including the MPU) and secular state apparatuses, rather than by independent dayah-based ulema and Islamist groups. This situation is owed in part to the marginalization of independent ulema and the absence of a radical Islamist movement in Aceh at the beginning of the Sharīʿatization process.

Ini book chapter dalam buku Agama, Kemanusiaan dan Keadaban:
65 Tahun Prof. Dr. KH. Muhammad Machasin, MA, diedit oleh Moch. Nur Ichwan dan Ahmad Rafiq tentang sejarah hidup Prof. Machasin dari masa kanak kanak sampai saat ini, yang tumbuh menjadi intelektual Muslim yang juga sebagai kiai, akademisi dan pejabat Kementerian Agama yang selain berintegritas juga mempunyai keberpihakan kepada kelompok keagamaan minoritas.

This study aims to examine ulama in the urban communities of Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province, and their perceptions of the concept of nation-states and their derivative issues. The derivative issues are: 1) anti-violence; 2) pro-system; 3) tolerance; and 4) pro-citizenship (citizenship). These issues are used as dimensions to assess ulama’s perceptions of the concept of nation-states. In this research, what is meant by ulama is Islamic religious leaders who are considered as scholars by their community, although by other communities it is not necessarily considered as ulama, especially those affiliated to one or several organizations, majelis taklim, certain religious organizations or movements, who is domiciled in Banda Aceh, or whose center is in Banda Aceh. Therefore, ulama who are outside this category are not included in the scope of this study.
The author argues that the perception of the ulama of
Banda Aceh, and even Aceh in general, about the nation-state, is strongly influenced by government sharia politics in the concept of “nanggroe syari’ah in the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)” which is a long crystallization of negotiations and canalization for the spirit of religious ethnonationalism
of Acehnese ulama . In this context, the author also argues that ulama rejectionism towards the concept of the nation-state, at least until now, is more a phenomenon of decline from high to low, rather than vice versa. However, the concept of “nanggroe syari‘ah in the framework of NKRI” will also treat ideal visions about the application of the Islamic political system, but in the context of the Republic of Indonesia, not in the context of an independent Aceh. This vision has also been, is being,
and will continue to lead to the “kaffah” of the application of Shari’a in Aceh in the future.

This chapter discusses the development of MUI, both nationally and locally in the past decades. It argues about the significant shift in the MUI both theologically and politically, seen from the perception of MUI and MUI ulama about the nation-state with all their derivatives, such as state ideology, the system of government, citizenship, tolerance, and the use of violence. Theologically, the MUI developed a moderate religious
understanding of puritans, and politically voiced the aspirations of Muslims and developed religious activism. This article will specifically look at the new direction of the MUI, the emergence of new wings within the MUI, internal contestation, and the influence of this new wing on the discourse and political attitudes of the MUI.

This chapter discusses about how Islamic literatures in Indonesia (especially 13 cities under study) were distributed to its readers, especially young students, and the circulation and transmission processes involved in it. The term circulation refers to the physical circulation of literatures in a certain location, or from one location to another under some certain network. Meanwhile, transmission refers to how those literatures were consumed by their readers, whether mediated or
non-mediated, and how their contents were delivered to from one person to another. In other words, circulation is related to the availability of literatures while transmission is related to how the literatures were accessed, consumed
and disseminated by and to the readers. While transmission always entails circulation, not every circulation involves transmission. In this context,
literatures are circulated due to their being accessed and consumed, not simply by being available. Based on these definitions, the discussion on circulation herein
will be attributed to the locus of availability of the literatures, such as bookstores, book fairs, online stores, libraries, et cetera. Meanwhile, the discussion on transmission will be attributed to the acts of accessing and consuming Islamic literatures, such as book discussions, student activities, and communal reading of the Qur'an.

This article deals with the politics of the governance of religious diversity in Indonesia and proposes the humanistic, just and civilized governance.

Tulisan ini merupakan refleksi atas politik tadbir keagamaan di Indonesia sejak masa kolonial sampai saat ini, secara garis besar, dan tidak akan masuk dalam detil-detil masalah. Meskipun menyinggung Kementerian Agama, artikel ini lebih mendiskusikan tentang tadbir keberagaman agama (governance of religious diversity) oleh negara secara luas yang mempunyai kementerian khusus yang menangani masalah agama. Dengan refleksi ini diharapkan kita dapat mengetahui arti penting tadbir keragaman agama di Indonesia, mengevaluasinya dan berupaya menawarkan konsep yang relevan dengan konteks Indonesia masa kini. Apa yang saya maksud dengan tadbir humanistik atas keragaman agama dengan mendasarkan diri pada nilai humanisme Indonesiawi, yakni tadbir keragaman agama di Indonesia berdasarkan atas prinsip kemanusiaan, keadilan dan keberadaban. Sebelum sampai pada tawaran itu, penulis akan melihat perkembangan tadbir keragaman agama di Indonesia selama ini secara kritis.

Bab ini mengkaji bagaimana literatur-literatur keislaman itu sampai kepada para pembacanya, terutama kaum muda, khususnya siswa dan mahasiswa, dan bagaimana literatur itu bersirkulasi dan ditransmisikan di kalangan mereka.
Pembahasan sirkulasi di sini dikaitkan dengan lokus atau tempat ketersediaan literatur, seperti toko buku, pameran buku, toko online, perpustakaan, dan lain-lain. Sedangkan pembahasan tentang transmisi dikaitkan dengan tindakan atau aktivitas diakses atau dikonsumsinya literatur keislaman, seperti bedah buku, Rohis, LDK, pengajian, organisasi siswa, dan mahasiswa Muslim. Berkembangnya pemikiran dan gerakan Islam telah memunculkan bukan hanya medan pengaruh dan kontestasi antarkelompok Islam, tetapi juga pasar yang lebih luas bagi buku-buku, majalah-majalah, dan media online keislaman. Ini juga bermakna ketersebaran literatur-literatur itu, bukan hanya dalam makna spasial, tapi juga dalam makna intelektual. Ini menuntut ketersediaan literatur keislaman di toko-toko buku, baik offline maupun online, di perpustakaan-perpustakaan, dan pameran-pameran buku. Ini menggairahkan dan memicu penulisan dan produksi terus-menerus. Terjadi dinamisasi sirkulasi dan transmisi bukan hanya literatur keislaman, namun juga gagasan-gagasan dan pemikiran keislaman. Ada hubungan timbal-balik antara sirkulasi dan transmisi dengan produksi dan pasar pada satu sisi, dan perkembangan pemikiran Islam pada sisi lain. Yang penting untuk digarisbawahi adalah bahwa dalam proses sirkulasi dan transmisi literatur keislaman itu bukan hanya tersedia, tetapi juga diakses, dibaca, didiskusikan, dikaji, diperdebatkan, disebarkan, dan diapropriasi sesuai dengan konteks lokal dan masanya.

Artikel ini membahas tentang perkembangan Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) baik nasional maupun lokal dalam sekitar satu dekade terakhir. Tulisan ini berargumen bahwa terjadi pergeseran signifikan MUI baik secara teologis maupun politis, yang dilihat dari persepsi MUI dan ulama MUI tentang negara-bangsa dengan segala turunannya, seperti ideologi negara, sistem pemerintahan, kewargaan, toleransi dan penggunaan kekerasan. Secara teologis, MUI mengembangkan pemahaman keagamaan yang moderat puritan, dan secara politis lebih menyuarakan aspirasi umat Islam dan mengembangkan aktivisme keulamaan. Tulisan ini secara khusus melihat arah baru MUI, munculnya sayap baru di dalam MUI, kontestasi internal, dan pengaruh sayap baru ini kepada wacana dan sikap politik MUI.

Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji ulama dalam masyarakat urban Banda Aceh, Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, dan persepsi mereka tentang konsep negarabangsa dan isu-isu turunannya. Isu-isu turunan itu adalah: 1) anti-kekerasan; 2) prosistem; 3) toleransi; dan 4) pro-kewargaan (citizenship). Isu-isu ini dipergunakan sebagai dimensi-dimensi untuk menilai persepsi ulama terhadap konsep negara bangsa. Penulis beragumen bahwa persepsi ulama Banda Aceh, dan bahkan Aceh secara umum, tentang negarabangsa sangat dipengaruhi oleh politik syariah pemerintah dalam konsep “nanggroe syari‘ah dalam bingkai NKRI” yang merupakan kristalisasi negosiasi yang panjang dan menjadi kanalisasi bagi semangat etnonasionalisme religius ulama Aceh. Dalam konteks ini pula penulis berargumen bahwa rejeksionisme ulama terhadap konsep negara-bangsa, setidaknya sampai saat ini, lebih merupakan fenomena menurun dari tinggi ke rendah, daripada sebaliknya. Namun, konsep “nanggroe syari‘ah dalam bingkai NKRI” juga akan merawat angan-angan ideal tentang penerapan sistem politik Islam, namun dalam konteks NKRI, bukan dalam konteks Aceh merdeka. Angan-angan ini pula yang telah, sedang, dan akan terus mengarahkan “ke-kaffah-an” penerapan syariat di Aceh di masa mendatang.

This chapter discusses how Islamic literature has been distributed to its readers, especially young students, and the circulation and transmission processes involved in it in Indonesia. The discussion on circulation herein will be attributed to the locus of availability of the literature, such as bookstores, book fairs, online stores, libraries, etc. Meanwhile, the discussion on transmission will be attributed to the acts of accessing and consuming Islamic literature, such as book discussions, student activities, and communal Al-Quran reading. This chapter has shown a shift in Islamic literature in Indonesia from the translated version of Islamist thinkers such as Sayyid Qutb, Hasan Al-Banna, Al-Maududi, Ali Shariati, Taqiyyudin An-Nabhani, to works that appropriate those Islamist ideas into new contexts relatable to the Indonesian society. If in the 80s and 90s Islamic literatures that attracted Muslim youth were ideologically-toned and filled to the brim with jargons like ”Islam is the solution” and others, then Islamic literatures that currently attract millennials are books of motivation, self-help and ’storytelling’ genres presented in the forms of novel, popular writing, and comic. Moreover, the packaging and aesthetic of the books are more attractive and filled with illustrations, making them popular among millennial Muslims. In addition, new Islamist literature also gives different and contesting ideas of the ideal Muslim youth today.

This chapter analyses the neo-Sufi challenge by Abuya Shaykh
Amran Waly and the Majelis Pengkajian Tauhid Tasawuf (MPTT), which I call
the Tauhid Tasawuf movement, to official shariatisation by the state and
shariatism in general. Amran Waly and the MPTT try to synthesise the
wujudiyya Sufi doctrine with orthodoxy, a concern which has led to
them being charged with heterodoxy. However, the fact that the MPTT
survives to this day and is even spread widely not only in Aceh but also
elsewhere in Indonesia and Southeast Asia deserves further analysis.
Amran Waly’s views on Sharia, ‘tauhid tasawuf ’ and wahdat al-wujud,
and the way Sharia ulama have reacted will get special attention here.
I will argue that the long struggle between Sharia and Sufi ulama should
be understood in the context of the local politics of Aceh and that the
dissemination of Sufi views and ways of life reflects their resistance
against the overwhelming official Sharia implementation and shariatism
in Aceh today.

This thesis (1999) delves into Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's hermeneutics of the Qur'an, which was, at that time, not yet systematically formulated. It tries to reconstruct his theories of text and interpretation based on his works, and gives some examples in which he implemented his hermeneutics, such as the issues of  evil forces (jinn, shayâtîn, sihr and hasad), ribâ and interest, slavery,  polygamy, and women's Inheritance. Abu Zayd's contribution to Qur'anic hermeneutics is important in developing critical Qur'anic scholarship.