Addressing Challenges of Radical Islam: Some Indonesian Lessons to Learn

Written by Azyumardi Azra, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University

Tuesday, 01 July 2008

The rise of radical Islam, no doubt, has created a number of challenges for the Muslim and international world. Therefore, all concerned Muslims should find ways in which these challenges can be rightly and sufficiently addressed. Taking into consideration the complexities that contributed to the rise of radical Islam, responses provided should be at the levels of conceptual and practical.   Indonesian Islam—or to a great degree, Southeast Asian Islam in general—has a number of distinctive characters vis-à-vis Middle Eastern Islam. Indonesian Islam, by and large, is a moderate, accommodative Islam, and the least Arabicized Islam. Therefore, Indonesian Islam is much less rigid compared to Middle Eastern Islam that could be a model of moderate Islam.But, development within Indonesian Islam in the last ten years, following the introduction of democracy in the country, has seemingly contested the long-held image of peaceful and tolerant Islam in the country. Various bombings that rocked Indonesia since 2002 combined with the increased radicalism among certain groups of Muslims have led many questioned the direction of Indonesian Islam.My paper attempts to suggest a number of ways in which initiatives and programs can be taken to respond to challenges posed by radical Islam by taking some experiences of Indonesian Islam to learn. The paper also argues that there should be no exaggeration of radicalism among limited number of Muslims in the country; despite of all seemingly unfavorable development, Indonesian Islam by and large remains a moderate and peaceful Islam.[]