Page 53 - AEI Insights 2019 - Vol. 5, Issue 1

Arnakim, 2019

was even clearly evident that in the 2009 election, Islamic political parties secured more or less
the same votes as the previous elections. Despite the fact that the 1999, 2004, and 2009
elections did not reside with Islamic parties, it gave the Muslim middle-class control over the
parliament.

This series of elections to some extent depicted the scenario of Indonesian Muslims. Though
there was an Islamic awareness among people, this awareness is limited to the substance, not
formal-legalistic, of Islam. Secondly, the failure of Islamic parties in the previous elections
shows that Muslims in Indonesia are substantive groups. They want Islamic values to be
applied in their politics, but they do not support the formalistic Muslim groups. This is evident
in the decision-making processes in the DPR. Nurcholish Madjid shared the same view with
Azyumardi Azra, a well-known Muslim scholar and the former rector of Islamic State’s
University Syarif Hidayatullah, on the lack of relevancy of formality and symbols of political
Islam in present Indonesia. Azra (2003) argues that most Indonesian Muslims are leaning
towards what he calls “substantive Islam” rather “formalistic Islam”.

Conclusion

With the increasing number of the Muslim middle class, Suharto began to accommodate the
Muslims’ aspirations and interests through his domestic policies. Among remarkable
accommodative policies was his blessings to the establishment of ICMI in December 1990.
With the rise of ICMI in Indonesian politics, Islamisation penetrated the New Order
government, including the military and Golkar. On the other hand, with the decline in support
from the secular nationalist army, which was heavily influenced by nominal and Christian
generals, Suharto reshuffled the high-ranking army officers and appointed Muslim generals.
As a result, Suharto offered the special patronage to Muslim groups. During the post-Suharto
era, Islamic political force was more discernable with the proliferation of Muslim
fundamentalist groups and Islamic political parties.

However, the so-called cultural Islam proponents who pursue the substance of Islamic values
have dominated Indonesian Muslims as evident in the previous elections in which Islamic
political parties got very little support from the Muslim constituents. The substantive Muslim
groups played crucial roles in the decision-making process in the DPR. Indeed, the Islamic
revivalism obviously influenced the Indonesian politics in the 1990s and post-Suharto era. As
an extension to this context, the contestation between formalist and substantive Muslims could
also occur in other Muslim countries in Southeast Asia and beyond.

References

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Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Abdurrahim, I. (1979). Kuliah Tauhid. Bandung: Pustaka Salman.
Akhtar, K. B., & Sakr, A. H. (1982). Islamic fundamentalism. Iowa: Igram Press.
Ali, F., & Effendy, B. (1986). Merambah jalan baru Islam: Rekonstrukdi pemikiran Islam.
Bandung: Mizan.
Ali-Fauzi, N. (1995). ICMI: Antara status quo dan demokratisasi. Bandung: Mizan.
Samson, A. (1973). Religious belief and political action in Indonesian Islamic modernism. In
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