Page 48 - AEI Insights 2019 - Vol. 5, Issue 1

AEI Insights, Vol 5, Issue 1, 2019

The culmination of the accommodative policy towards Islam is remarked by the establishment
of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI- Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim
Indonesia), which is composed of diverse social and cultural forces (Fauzi, 1995; Uchrowi &
Usman, 200). ICMI is different from other Islamic organizations and movements as it has been
backed up by various Muslim groups such as government bureaucrats and technocrats,
moderate Muslims groups and non-government Muslim leaders (Schwarz, 2000). However,
this association has been severely criticised by many officers in the military as well as
conservative Muslim scholars, such as those in the NU led by Abdurrahman Wahid (Ramage,
1995; Schwarz, 2000).
With the establishment of ICMI, Modern Muslims have been given further opportunity to
express Islamic voices. The Muslim newspaper Harian Republika, for instance, was given a
license in 1992 due, undoubtedly, to the support of Suharto. On the other hand, the Monitor, a
weekly tabloid owned by Catholic-Gramedia publishing group, which also publishes the well-
read newspaper, Kompas, was closed down after it published the results of a readers’ poll of
the most admired public figure. In the findings, Suharto was placed as the most popular public
figure, while Prophet Muhammad SAW was voted as being in the eleventh place. This severely
annoyed the Muslim community, which led to the government to cancel its license (Ramage,
1995).

As a Muslim organisation that was looked upon as enjoying the president’s favour, many
nominal Muslim bureaucrats and Golkar cadres joined ICMI, thus, the Islamisation that took
place in the state and society. This was evident in the increased number of Muslim members
of Cabinet and high-ranking military officers after Suharto was re-elected in 1993. In his
cabinet, 99 percent of the 38 ministers were Muslims, as opposed to the earlier Cabinet which
was composed of only 60 percent Muslims (Suryadinata, 1998). Since 1993, furthermore,
Suharto had deployed other think tank groups. Previously the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) was known as the centre where input on the government decision-
making, especially in the area of government political, control was studied (Anwar, 1999).
After the establishment of ICMI, Suharto deployed another think tank made up of Muslim
experts, the Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES) (Anwar, 1999).
Nevertheless, Habibie’s ICMI has successfully contributed to the building of Islamic awareness
among the New Order government officers and the establishment of positive perception of
Islam. Islam during the early New Order had been labelled as an extremist and radical when it
was associated with Darul Islam (DI). As such, many Muslims, especially among the
bureaucrats, were afraid of implementing Islam publicly. To some extent, they did not even
want to be seen as practising Muslims (McVey, 1983, p. 200).
But in the 1990s, Islam was finally given the opportunity to enjoy the good relationship and
strong patronage of Suharto’s government. This patronage was perceived by non-Muslims and
some nominal Muslims, especially from the NU, as the result of ‘sectarian Islam’- which is
seen as seeking the establishment of an Islamic state (Schwarz, 2000). This revivalism has, to
some extent, contributed to the fall of Suharto. As Islamisation penetrated the government
body, many groups of the senior non-Muslim and nominal Muslim army officers who
supported Suharto during the early period of political consolidation were neglected, especially
after the establishment of the ICMI. This analysis may partly explain why Suharto failed to
maintain his power (Singh, 2001). At the demise of the Suharto government, some Muslim
groups who defended Suharto expressed the belief that Suharto’s fall was due to a political
conspiracy of Chinese-Catholic-Zionists aimed at the destruction of Islam in Indonesia
(Hefner, 2000).

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