The Diverse Voices of Political Islam in Post-Suharto Indonesia

Since the resignation of Suharto as president of Indonesia in May 1998, the country has suffered from chronic instability on various fronts. Economic disruption resulting from the Asian economic crisis of 1997 continues. Food shortages have been widespread throughout the archipelago. Social instability has been rife, especially in densely populated areas where communities have had to compete for scarce resources. Inter-religious conflict has exploded, especially between Muslim and Christian communities, reflecting a common outcome of economic and social instability. This paper will focus upon Indonesia in the period May 1998-July 2001 and will draw upon wide-ranging print and electronic media reports as well as secondary scholarship. Particular attention will be devoted to the political stage and to the changing role of Islam in that context. We will consider the different voices being heard among the Muslim community, the key issues of debate that have preoccupied Muslim political leaders and the ingredients which have contributed to a surge in Muslim-Christian conflict in Indonesia during the period being examined.     

Differentiating Islamophobia: Introducing a New Scale to Measure Islamoprejudice and Secular Islam Critique

Since 2001 there has been a steadily increasing awareness of discrimination against Muslims based on their religion. Despite the widespread use of the neologism Islamophobia to refer to this phenomenon, this term has been harshly criticized for confounding prejudiced views of Muslims with a legitimate critique of Muslim practices based on secular grounds. In the current research a scale was developed to differentiate Islamoprejudice (based on the influential Islamophobia definition of the British Runnymede Trust) and Secular Critique of Islam. Across two studies, Islamoprejudice was related to explicit and implicit prejudice, right‐wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation whereas Secular Critique was unrelated to any forms of prejudice but negatively related to religiosity and authoritarianism. The two scales were mostly independent or only moderately related. Importantly, the new Islamoprejudice scale outperformed all other scales in predicting actual opposition versus support for a heatedly debated, newly built mosque. These results demonstrate the necessity to differentiate between Islamoprejudice and Secular Critique in future research on attitudes towards Islam.     

二十一世纪政治伊斯兰的走向

20世纪70年代以来,出现在伊斯兰世界的政治伊斯兰是一种具有多元性而非完全一致的运动。21世纪政治伊斯兰将往何处去,这取决于不同的政治伊斯兰组织本身,也取决于它们所处的国家和社会环境。决定政治伊斯兰未来走向的因素是政治,而非宗教本身。而且,一旦政治与社会格局发生变迁,宗教的形态、趋向和功能也会随之发生变化,政治伊斯兰不是伊斯兰教的常态。     

Feminists, Islamists, and Political Change in Turkey

This paper examines how some feminist and Islamist women in Turkey helped bring about change in political values during the past decade. The traditional political culture upheld statist, corporatist (as opposed to liberal, individualist) norms. The state controlled religion in the name of secularism and limited democracy within the confines of formal equality. Both feminists and Islamists contested traditional political values by insisting on their own definition of their interests, as opposed to those that were state-enforced. The feminists questioned the justice of formal equality as they sought substantive equality; Islamist women challenged the secular concept of equality as they insisted on the justice of male-female complementarity. Both groups engaged in active politics and expanded the parameters of democratic participation as they sought substantive equality beyond formal equality. Yet the patriarchal heritage of Islam defined the limits of Islamist women's search for liberation within the confines of religion.     

宗教--政治领域的珍贵认识资源--《伊斯兰与国际热点》评介

2001年8月东方出版社出版了我国研究伊斯兰与国际政治的知名学者金宜久、吴云贵撰写的题为《伊斯兰与国际热点》的大书。该书集中了作者往昔研究成果中的精华,又扩大了以往研究的领域,以更开阔的视野观察新近发生的种种事件,提出许多新的见解,这是我国学术界在伊斯兰——国际政治研究领域所取得的具有代表性的新成果。本书信息量之大,现实性之强,立论之深邃,逻辑之严密,为同类著作所仅见。     

Abortion in Islamic Ethics,and How it is Perceived in Turkey: A Secular,Muslim Country

Abortion is among the most widely discussed concepts of medical ethics. Since the well-known ethical theories have emerged from Western world, the position of Islamic ethics regarding main issues of medical ethics has been overlooked. Muslims constitute a considerable amount of world population. Turkish Republic is the only Muslim country ruled with secular democracy and one of the three Muslim countries where abortion is legalized. The first aim of this paper is to present discussions on abortion in Islamic ethics in the context of major ethical concepts; the legal status of the fetus, respect for life and the right not to be born. The second aim is to put forth Turkey’s present legislation about abortion in the context of Islamic ethical and religious aspects.     

Revelation in Islam

Among the world's religions, Islam has one of the most fully developed understandings of the notion of revelation. It views the whole of the created order as a revelation and, accordingly, considers religious revelation in the form of Scripture as an integral feature of the human condition. It is within this context that Muhammad's own revelatory experiences must be considered. These are well‐attested in the Hadith literature. Islam recognises three distinct grades of revelation. Muhammad's was the highest of these which, as the ahadith make clear, is a “passing into the deep sleep state in full consciousness ...”. The explicit nature of these traditional accounts of prophecy in action, as well as Islam's universalism, sheds light upon revelation in all religious traditions.     

Apolitical Interpretation of Islam: Said Nursi's Faith-Based Activism in Comparison with Political Islamism and Sufism

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Islam has generally been represented in the media as a political ideology and some academics have over-emphasized this political image of Islam. These are not baseless speculations; there are several political Islamic groups worldwide. However, there are also many apolitical Islamic groups. This article analyzes one of the most influential apolitical Islamic movements in the world, the Nurcus, and its founder, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi. Nursi, the author of the Risale-i Nur collection, emphasized the ascetic aspect of Islam: ‘Ninety-nine percent of Islam is about ethics, worship, the hereafter, and virtue. Only one percent is about politics; leave that to the rulers.’ He also added, ‘I seek refuge in God from Satan and [party] politics.’ Through the analysis of Nursi's thought and activism, the article will try to answer the following questions: Was Nursi a Sufi? What are the theological and structural bases of Nursi's apolitical interpretation of Islam? What is the impact of the secular state in Turkey on the development of Nursi's apolitical outlook and activism? What does his apolitical understanding of Islam say to non-Turkish Muslims who do not live in a secular state?     

Understanding Islam in Ireland

The article describes the growth of the Muslim presence in Ireland, covering its origins and the rapid development of Islamic institutions and communities, both Sunni and Shi^ci, over the past fifteen years. It traces the stages in the development of schools and mosques, the involvement of the Muslim community in Irish public life and recent initiatives in interfaith dialogue, and proceeds to an assessment of the present situation in what has become the world's most globalized country. The history of Muslim communities in Northern Ireland is also briefly described.