Page 278 - INDONESIAN ISLAMIC CULTURE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

to emerge. Within the Sarekat
268 Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives
The most significant challenge to
Islam, where people from all Islamic
orientations gathered, communism was
also present and could grow along with
the other members. It was not surprising
that there even were communist
pilgrims, like Haji Misbah in Solo. In
Semarang, a communist-oriented group
founded the Sarekat Rakyat, which later
became the Communist Party. This may
have come about under the influence of
Sneevliet who had brought communism
from the Netherlands and established
the Indische Sociaal Democratische
Vereeniging (ISDV).
Entering the first quarter of the
20 century, nationalism began to
th
emerge and it led to Muslims to
become divided into two groups:
nationalists and Islamists. In 1924,
1930, and 1939-40, there were at least
three debates between nationalists
and Islamists. The nationalists were
represented by Soekarno, where as
the Islamists were represented by
three Muslim reformist leaders, namely
Agus Salim, A. Hasan and Mohammad
Natsir. This shows that while in the
Islamic world of the MiddleEastthe
idea of Pan-Islamism spread, Islam
in Indonesia was just the opposite. It
was not attracted to the idea of Pan-
Islamism, but rather to nationalism.
Publication was a very important tool
reform is modernism itself. The basic
considerations of modernism had to be
accepted, where as modern institutions
in Islamic circles had to be created.
The pesantren educational system
that was devoid of any systematic
method of learning, had no curriculum,
no class, and no criticism was clearly
incompatible with the modern mind-set.
A European style school system needed
to be adopted and adapted as it suited
the modern mind-set much better. So a
European school was founded, but the
Islamic faith was an integral part of it
because renewed faith was the soul of
reform. The Adabiyah school in Padang
was actually a HIS met de Kor’an. The
School taught general subjects like any
regularly HIS school, but added teaching
of Islam. Later, the Muhammadiyah
built HIS met de Kor’an in various
other places and it also established
Islamic based schools for teachers, the
Kweekschool. As a reform organization,
the Muhammadiyah not only worked
to broadcast religious propaganda to
spread the teachings of modernist Islam,
but also established modern institutions,
such as public schools, hospitals,
scouting organizations and home care.
The organization also published of
journals and magazines.
Abduh also publisheda magazine,al-
for disseminating the ideology of the Manar,with Muhammad Rashid Rida
reform movement. In the Middle East served as its edition. The colonial rulers
the spread of reformist ideas relied of the Dutch East Indies banned these
heavily on publications. The invention two magazines from entering Indonesia
of the printing press greatly facilitated but they were smuggled in, sent by
the spreadof Christianization to various secret mail, and brought home by those
parts of the colonized world. Printing and who returned from the hajj or who had
the press were very beneficial for the studied in the Middle East. In this way the
dissemination of ideas. The challenge of magazines could be enjoyed and studied
reformism was how to spread reformist by the limited groups in Indonesia.
ideas and it took advantage of the media. In Jakarta, the Jam’iyyat al-Khair, an
The reform ideas of Muhammad Abduh organization of the Arab residents in Java
and other reformers in Egypt came to established good relations with the Arab
Indonesia in two ways. The first was world and the Islamic power center in
through Indonesian students in Cairo Istanbul it also played an important role
and the Haramain and the second by in spreading the magazine. Therefore,
others who performed the pilgrimage. it is not surprising that at the end of the
th
Muslim scholars, also from Indonesia, 19 century, in addition to al-’Urwat al-
studied the reformer’s thoughts in the Wutsqa, in Indonesia also several other
Haramain. Secondly it was through the magazines were circulated: Al-Jawaib
press and other publications. In 1884, (Istanbul); Al-Insan (Istanbul); Al-Janna
two reformers, Jamaluddin al-Afgani and (Beirut); Lisan al-Hal (Beirut); Al-Watan
Muhammad Abduh settled in Paris and (Cairo); Al-Ahram (Alexandria); and
they founded the Islamic association al- Al-Raudat al-Iskandariya (Alexandria)
’Urwat al-Wutsqa and they published a (Noer, 1982: 67). Thus, scholars and
magazine with the same name. Although the Indonesian community could absorb
the publication of the magazine lasted the idea of Islamic renewal in at both
only for eight months its influence was individual and group levels, and in mass
very strong throughout the Islamic world. organizations like the Muhammadiyah,
In Egypt, the British colonial government Al-Irsyad, Persis and others.
banned the magazine but it was still read Besides, the role of the mass media in
in limited circles. In Egypt, Mohammad Indonesia in particular and in Southeast
Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives 269