Islam, Christianity, and the Formation of Secularism in Indonesia 1945-1960

In this article, I will apply the varieties of secularism theory developed by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd and Ahmet Kuru in the case of Indonesia. Following Kuru’s typology, I argue that Indonesian secularism resembles that of passive secularism. This form of secularism came about from an alliance be...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alexander Arifianto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani 2022-06-01
Series:Journal of Global Strategic Studies
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Online Access:https://ejournal.fisip.unjani.ac.id/index.php/JGSS/article/view/1053
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Summary:In this article, I will apply the varieties of secularism theory developed by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd and Ahmet Kuru in the case of Indonesia. Following Kuru’s typology, I argue that Indonesian secularism resembles that of passive secularism. This form of secularism came about from an alliance between secular nationalists and a religious minority (Christianity). The alliance between the two groups had successfully prevented Islam from becoming a dominant religion when an independent Indonesian state was formed in 1945. It was also successful from preventing reformist Muslims from instituting a state based on the sharia law during the crucial period of state-building in Indonesia between 1945 and 1960. However, this alliance also results in the formation of two authoritarian regimes that ruled Indonesia for four decades (1959-1998), and in the often tenuous relationship between two religious groups that sat on the opposite end of this conflict, namely Indonesian Muslims and Christians.
ISSN:2798-4427