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in Saudi Arabia. If in Saudi Arabia the
280 Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives
In Indonesia, the modernist movement
purification process was accompanied by caused the development of political
the rejection of rational Western culture anti-theocracy and anti-monarchy
and the old innovative Islamic intellectual thoughts and it tended to support
heritage, in Egypt, Muhammad Abduh a governmental system based on
accepted various views of modern consensus (Q.S. As-Shura/42: 38).
Western civilization and he rejuvenated Indonesian reformers contended not only
the old intellectual heritage of Islamic to develop modern thoughts, but at the
civilization. In Saudi Arabia,the Wahhabi same time also sought their country’s
movement was known as fundamentalist liberation from colonialism. They formed
while in Egypt and Indonesia, supporters modern organizations, utilized modern
of pro-Western reform movements were technology to distribute their ideas and
called modernists. In Indonesia, reform ideology, the country’s format, and the
took the form of religious purification basic foundation of the independent state
while Western civilization was selectively of Indonesia. In the process, inevitable
accepted. In the field of Indonesia dialogues and debates took place with
education, modernization was conducted those who wanted a different ideology
by imitating the European schools and another basic foundation for an
system, such as HIS met de Kor’an, Independent Indonesia. They were often
and by modernizing pesantrens by called religiously neutral nationalists.
changing their system from only religious The result was a compromise for
teachings, with no tier, no curriculum, an independent Indonesia that was
and no general subjectsinto schools a democratic country, modern, but
and madrasahs that imitate the Western still relied on Islamic values. What is
classical system, with tiers, evaluation interesting in the ideological a political
systems, and secular subjects such as competition modernists and traditionalists
English, mathematics, chemistry, physics unified to face rthe challenge of the
and the like. eligiously neutral nationalists.
The old intellectual heritagehad been
enriched by new ideas about Islam
in the fields of social, political, legal,
and educational matters that had
developed by the so-called modernists.
Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives 281