Page 311 - INDONESIA ISLAMIC CULTURE

Lintas Agama). 81 clearly shows Khairul Bayan reaction to
Still another publisher that belonging to
category is Khairul Bayan. It is a small
scale publisher that started operations
in 2002. It is considered close to Partai
Bulan Bintang (PBB), a small Islamic-
based party that inherited the ideology
of the Masyumi, a former Islamic party
that represented the “modernist” group
of Muslims and that was disbanded in
1960s. Oriented to its motto “Sumber
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Pemikiran Islam” (the source of Islamic
thought), the books produced by this
publisher support the implementation
of the sharia. Among the books it
has published are Garis-Garis Besar
Syariat Islam by Mawardi Noor,
83
Manajemen Strategis Perspektif Syariah
by Muhammad Ismail Yusanto and
Muhammad Karebet Widjajakusumo,
84
and Hukuman Bagi Konsumen Miras &
Narkoba by Fauzan Al-Anshari. Khairul
85
Bayan also published Islamic novels and
short stories.
In 2005, soon after the death of
Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur), one of the
main supporters of moderate Islamic
thinking, Khairul Bayan published a
controversial book written by Adian
Husaini, in which he correlated Cak Nur
death with his supposedly deviant and
misguided ways of thinking. The book
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302 Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives
The Islamic Left and Dr Hassan Hanafi’s
the ideas of Islamic reformism and its
supporters.
Khairul Bayan also published Islamic
magazines and journals, such as
the weekly bulletin Al-Insan, and the
magazines Fikri, Keluarga Insani, and
Alia, a magazine for middle class Muslim
87
women. Khairul Bayan released a
quarterly journal Islamia, which was first
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published in March 2004. Looking at
the first issue it appears that Islamia
attacks the modernist-liberalist approach
to Quranic commentary, like that
introduced in their works by Nasr Hamid
Abu Zayd and Muhammad Abid al-Jabiri
which were mostly published by LkiS, as
will be seen below.
Lkis was founded in Yogyakarta in 1993
by university students who mostly had
a traditional pesantren educational
background. LkiS began as a discussion
group of students mostly at the State
Islamic Institute or IAIN (now State
Islamic University, UIN) Sunan Kalijaga
Yogyakarta that talked about pluralism
89
and inter-religious tolerance.
LkiS publishes books about leftist and
liberal-oriented Islam. The first book
it published in 1993 was Kiri Islam,
a translation of the English edition of
Between Modernity and Postmodernity:
PT Raja Grafindo Persada, through The boarding school
Thought, A Critical Reading written by its publishing division Sri Gunting Madrasah Tarbiyah
Islamiyah in Batang
Kazuo Shimogaki that was originally started to actively publish books on Kabung, Koto Tangah,
published in 1988. Kiri Islam was rapidly Islam since the early 1990s. In fact, Padang.
sold out as the early 1990s was an era of some titles have been reprinted several
times to cater for the market’s interest,
radical student groups that revived their such as Fundamentalisme Islam dan Source: Directorate of
demands for liberation from the New Modernitas, and Tugas Cendekiaan History and Cultural
91
Order government that had restricted Muslim. 92 Values, Ministry of
their reading. As a result, all books with a Education and Culture
leftist title sold out in no time. Similarly, since the 1990s up to now, the of the Republic of
Books on Islam by General Kompas-Gramedia group has also been Indonesia.
Publishers publishing books on Islam starting with
books in encyclopedic form covering
The rapid development of Islamic books discussions on Islamic biography, Islamic
in Indonesia is not only the result of history, leaderships of Islamic dynasties,
Islamic publishing houses but also of that Islamic contemporary conditions, and
of general publishers like Erlangga, Bumi other Islamic themes. Several Islamic
Aksara, Raja Grafindo Persada, and books Gramedia published are The
the Kompas-Gramedia Group. These Oxford Modern Islamic World (4 Vols.,
publishers initially did not produce books published in 1995), Concise History
on Islam and only started to do so in the of Muslim World (3 Vols., published in
1990s when they had become aware of 2001), Encyclopedia of Muslim Biography
the rising commercial importance of the (5 Vols., published in 2001), International
publication of Islamic books. encyclopedia of Islam Dynasty (30 Vols.,
published in 2002), Encyclopedia of
In the 1980s, LP3ES, a general publisher The World Muslims (4 Vols., published
established in 1971, marked its first in 2002), Dictionary of Islam (2 Vols,
success in catering for the Muslim published in 2004), Encyclopedia of
community in 1981 with the publication Islam & Muslim World (2 Vols., published
of Pergolakan Pemikiran Islam: Catatan 2004), Encyclopedia of Islam & Scientist
Harian Ahmad Wahib. In the 1990s, (4 Vols., published in 2005), Biographical
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many publishers followed and they Encyclopedia of Islam (4 Vols., published
also started to release Islamic works. in 2006).
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