Indonesia: Islamists won't take no for an answer

Indonesia provides a very good case study for the persistence and determination of Islamist ideology.

When the nation gained its independence in the 1940s, a struggle took place to determine the shape and identity of independent Indonesia. Some were determined to follow the Western model of parliamentary democracy, considering it most appropriate to the multicultural and multifaith reality of the nation's population. However some among the almost 90% Muslim majority wanted an Islamic State, based on sharia law and its detailed enactments.

In the event, the multicultural pluralists won the day and Indonesia was formed around a system of multiple parties, with regular elections and a presidential system. In response, Islamist groups launched a twelve-year rebellion which cost thousands of lives and imposed great strains on the political and economic fabric of the new nation.

One particular bone of contention was what became known as the Jakarta Charter. This was a simple seven word statement which prescribed that Muslims in Indonesia should follow the dictates of sharia law. Although there was initial agreement to include the Jakarta Charter in the Constitution, at the last moment it was excluded. Islamists in Indonesia have long dreamed of resurrecting the Charter as an essential step on the ongoing struggle to turn Indonesia into an Islamic State.

During the half century up until 1998, successive Indonesian regimes largely suppressed Islam as a political force, relegating it to social, cultural and religious contexts. However, 1998 brought about momentous changes in Indonesia with the fall of the authoritarian military ruler, President Suharto. The end of his New Order regime signalled an unheralded era of democratic reform, triggering the emergence of dozens of political parties and refreshing openness to public debate.

However, it is not only democrats who flourish in contexts where freedom of speech is valued. Anti-democrats can also take advantage of such an environment and indeed, this new era of reform in Indonesia provided just the opportunity for Islamists that they had long been waiting for. Within two years Islamist parties in the Indonesian parliament attempted to bring back the Jakarta Charter, seeking a Constitutional amendment in the process. This would have been a significant step along the road to an Islamic state. In the event, it was voted down in the parliament, to the dismay of Islamist activists.

More broadly, Islamist political parties experienced continuing setbacks in their attempts to push their agenda through parliamentary processes. In four elections since the fall of Suharto – elections that were largely free and fair – Islamist parties struggled to win more than 10% of the popular vote, with most Indonesian electors choosing to give their support to parties pursuing a nationalist secular agenda or more moderate Islamic programs. By the time of the 2014 Parliamentary elections, Islamist groups had come to realise that they were not going to achieve their agenda through Parliamentary means alone.

So Islamist activism in Indonesia has taken multiple forms alongside the parliamentary campaigns of parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). There are a number of militant social movements such as the Islamic Defenders Front, whose tactics are more inclined to intimidation and harassment and, in certain cases, outright violence against their perceived opponents. A case in point is the campaign being waged against Basuki “Ahok” Purnama, the incumbent Governor of Jakarta.

When Ahok assumed the Governorship of Jakarta in 2014, his appointment immediately attracted vociferous opposition from Islamist activist groups. For a start, he is an ethnic Chinese, in a country where anti-Chinese sentiment can be as nasty as historic anti-Semitism in Europe. So from the outset, the idea of Indonesia's most populous city and capital being led by a Chinese governor attracted powerful position, especially from Islamist forces.

The second fact weighing against Ahok’s tenure as Governor is the fact that he is a Protestant Christian. Again the idea of Jakarta being led by a non-Muslim was anathema to Islamist groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front. It took little time for their spokespeople to quote verse 5:51 from the Qur’an which instructs Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as allies – easily reinterpreted as not to take Jews and Christians as leaders.

So when Ahok began his re-election campaign in mid-2016, his simple statement in one gathering criticising Muslim opponents for using Q5: 51 against him caused an uproar. Islamists saw this as a historic opportunity both to bring him down and to shake the very pluralist foundations of the modern Indonesian state. Islamist individuals working together moved quickly to level charges of blasphemy against Ahok, accusing him of insulting the Qur’an. Under intense pressure the Indonesian police felt obliged to take these charges seriously. This has led on to a drawn-out court case where the Jakarta Governor is fighting for political survival.

Blasphemy charges against Ahok have attracted huge international attention, with the clash between a Chinese Christian politician and radical Muslim opponents being the stuff that feeds a sensation-addicted media. However it really represents just a small scene in a multi-act play.

The key sub-text relates to the ongoing campaign by Islamists in Indonesia to win the nation for Islam in the most conservative sense: a nation with a Muslim believer President, with Islamic institutions shaping the structure of state, based on Islamic law and all that it means for privileging Muslims over non-Muslims.

Islamist warriors for this cause lost the early debates in the 1940s. They were pushed off the political stage from the 1960s to 1990s. They failed to assert their agenda in the parliament during Indonesia’s era of reform in the 21st century. They now have an opportunity to score a point by bringing down a non-Muslim ethnic minority leader in Indonesia's largest city, aiming to replace him with a conservative Muslim.

If one does not admire their agenda, one can certainly admire the tenacity and perseverance of Islamist groups in Indonesia to pursue their goals. They simply will not take no for an answer.

An edited version of this article appeared on the Kairos Journal website