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people in general did not cause disunity   had severely restricted Muslims political          groups. Apparently, the Muslims’       conditions of political consolidation and
                                          but rather constituted a major force in   activities.                                         political representation shortly before   accelerating economic development,
                                          establishing democracy in Indonesia.                                                          Independence was verysmall compared    Soeharto implemented his policy by
                                                                                  During the Japanese occupation there                  to that of the dominating nationalist   way of restricting political parties. A
                                          Conclusion                              was a shift in Indonesian Muslims’                    groups. Fierce tussles and debates     simplification of political parties was
                                                                                  political movements. Japan tried to
                                          The political role of the Muslims in    approach the leaders of Islam in order                about the kind of foundation and the   enforced so that the existing parties
                                          Indonesia from pre-Independence         to rekindle their anti-Dutch spirit and               format of the new state of Indonesia had   had to be united in three political
                                          period until the contemporary period has   it tried to strengthen its position in             sprung up especially about the option to   streams only, the functionalist group
                                          experienced ups and downs as well as    Indonesia by opening political channels               make Indonesia an Islamic state based   (Golkar), Indonesian Democratic Party
                                          a varietyof dynamics. During the Dutch   to Muslims. Various political institutions           on Islamic ideology. In the end, the   (PDI), and United Development Party
                                          colonial period, the political movements   and organizations for Muslims were                 Islamic leaders showed that they wanted   (PPP). Soeharto then applied the
                                          of Muslims were divided into two groups:   formed and they received a positive                to compromise and they adopted an      single principle policy that forced all
                                          those willing to cooperate with the Dutch   response from the leaders of Islam at             accommodating stance in order not to   organizations and political parties to
                                          government and had joined the People’s   that time. Muslims were accommodated                 stand in the way of the formation of the   adhere to the principle of the Pancasila.
                                          Council, and groups that refused to     in institutions formed by the Japanese                independent state of Indonesia.        Although Islamic circles had opposed it,
                                          join because they thought the People’s   government, viz. the Office of Religious             In both the Old and New Order periods,   in the end this policy was successfully
                                          Council was ineffective in the struggle   Affairs, Masjumi, and Hizbullah. In                 the Muslims’ political struggle also   implemented and came to be accepted
                                          for the fate of the Indonesian nation.   this era, there was a shift in the elites’           experienced different dynamics.        by the social and political organizations
                                          The SI’s initial high hopes because of its   political role in Indonesia from the             Debates between the Islamic and        in Indonesia.
                                          presence in the People’s Council turned   aristocratic gentry (priyayi) to santri.            nationalist groups continued under     In the Soeharto’s era when the regime’s
                                          to disappointment when the motions it   Consequently, nationalist groups                      Soekarno. However, the debates during   policies tended to restrict Muslim politics,
                                          addressed to the Dutch government were   experienced a marginalization of their               Soekarno’s era could be ended by       Muslim’s young leaders managed to
                                          rejected. This disappointment deepened   political role.                                      forcing the Islamists groups to accept   circumvented them by formulating a new
                                          when the Dutch detained Tjokroaminoto,                                                        the government’s decision to restore   political strategy.
                                          which indirectly prevented him to remain   The politics of Muslims in Indonesia               the 1945 Constitution through the 1959
                                          in the People’s Council. Since the SI   continued to experience ups and                                                              A political transformation took place in
                                          expressed its dissatisfaction with the   downs. In the preparation era before                 presidential decree. Under Soekarno,   order to temper the hostile relationships
                                                                                                                                        Guided Democracy was in force and the
                                          Dutch government’s policies and had     Indonesian Independence, Muslim’s                     Masjumi was disbanded, hence the only   between Islam and the state. By not
                                          taken more radical political measures by   political roles suffered. Both the BPUPKI                                                 turning Islamic parties into the sole
                                          adopting a non-cooperative stance. In   and PPKI, institutions established to                 Islamic party to survive was the NU party.  objective of the Muslims’ struggle,
                                          the course of SI’s political adventures,   prepare Indonesian Independence,                   The New Order regime pursued           they began to pay attention to other,
                                          it started to decline because of internal   accommodated the political currents               an almost similar policy towards       neglected social and intellectual fields.
                                          conflicts. In general, the Dutch policies   of Islamic, nationalist, and socialist            Muslim political movements. Under      From then on, Muslim activists began to



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