Islamism and Dakwah in Late Modern Indonesia: Official Discourses and Lived Experiences of ...

320 Pages·2017·2.83 MB·English

Islamism and Dakwah in Late Modern Indonesia: Official
Discourses and Lived Experiences of Leaders and Members of the
Tarbiyah Movement

Ai Fatimah Nur Fuad

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

University of Leeds
School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

September 2017
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The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate
credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others.

This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and
that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper
acknowledgement.

The right of Ai Fatimah Nur Fuad to be identified as Author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

© 2017 The University of Leeds and Ai Fatimah Nur Fuad
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the great individuals and
institutions that have been very helpful and valuable to me in my studies. My first
thanks and respects I pay to my supervisor Prof. Sean McLoughlin, who, with his
expertise in the academic disciplines of the Sociology and Anthropology of Islam,
served as a continual inspiration during my PhD research. His critical and detailed
reading of multiple drafts of my thesis has helped me to widen and sharpen my
analysis. As his student, I have learned and benefited from his knowledge,
commitment, guidance, and patience, not only in my PhD research, but also for my
whole academic life in the future. I owe many thanks to the staff of the Leeds
Humanities Research Institute (LHRI) and the Cavendish office, where I spent most
of my working hours, and also to all the staff of the School of Philosophy, Religion
and History of Science (PRHS). I had many close friends and colleagues during my
study in Leeds between 2010 and 2015. I am very grateful for their hospitality and
generosity.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the Ministry of National Education in
the Republic of Indonesia, which provided me with a scholarship through the
overseas postgraduate studies programme BLN-DIKTI (Beasiswa Luar Negeri-
Pendidikan Tinggi). Without such financial support, it would not have been possible
for me to pursue my PhD in one of the UK’s excellent universities. My thanks also
go to my home campus – the University of Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. HAMKA
(UHAMKA) in Jakarta – particularly to the Rector, Prof. Dr. H. Suyatno, M. Pd. I
would also to thank many people in Indonesia, especially my research participants in
Jakarta for their kindness and helpful contributions and comments.

I must express my gratitude to all the members of my large family and relations in
Indonesia. Thanks go to my husband, M. Hilali Basya, for his consistent
encouragement and to my sons, Rafyal Fikri and Kafyal Rusydi, who bring bundles
of joy into my life. My deepest gratitude and love goes to my late father, Nana
Sutisna, who passed away at the end of my first year of my PhD studies, and to my
late mother Hj. Titin Kuraesin, who passed away at the end of my PhD studies. For
their endless love, prayers and motivation, I dedicate this work to my parents.
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Abstract
This thesis contributes to the analysis of the dakwah (Islamic preaching and mission)
of contemporary Islamist movements with a case study of the Indonesian Tarbiyah
movement. My analysis borrows from aspects of social movement theory and
conceptions of lived religion to illuminate both the official discourses and everyday
experiences of the movement in a novel way. I begin by providing an historical
framework for understanding dakwah and Islamist movements in modernity
(Chapter 1) and by locating Islam(ism) and dakwah in terms of the changing social,
political and religious dynamics of colonial and postcolonial Indonesia (Chapter 2).
To investigate the Tarbiyah movement, I collected qualitative interviews and
fieldwork data in Jakarta during 2012–13 (Chapter 3). In the key chapters of this
thesis, I focus on three main arguments: i) that the gradual transition of the Tarbiyah
movement from a politically repressed network of religious purists in the 1970-80s
into a fully-fledged dakwah political party (the Prosperous Justice Party/Partai
Keadilan Sejahtera, PKS) was the outcome of new ‘political opportunities’ which
emerged during a period of democratisation 1990-97 (Chapter 4); ii) that the
movement’s weekly Liqo (circle of religious teaching) illuminates both the synergies
and tensions between official, top-down framing by increasingly formal, outward-
looking and pragmatic PKS leaders and the more informal and more conservative
networks, the latter remaining a key resource for mobilisation (Chapter 5); and,
finally, that the lived experiences of female trainees in the Liqo suggest that this is a
space where Tarbiyah movement/PKS norms, lifestyles and dispositions are more or
less successfully taught, learned and reproduced principally through the disciplined
and repeated performances of embodied piety (Chapter 6).
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... iii
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. v
List of figures and tables ........................................................................................... viii
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 1 Dakwah, Modernity, and Contemporary Islamist Movements . 37
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 37
1.2.1 The early period of Islam ..................................................................................... 38
1.2.2 The classical period of Islam .............................................................................. 42
1.3 Muslims' responses to modernity and dakwah in the modern period....... 46
1.3.1 Modernity and its impact on the Muslim world ......................................... 46
1.3.2 Muslims’ responses to modernity .................................................................... 49
1.4 The Islamist notion of ‘active’ dakwah in the modern period ....................... 55
1.5 The contemporary Islamist dakwah movement: the Muslim Brotherhood
in Egypt ...................................................................................................................................... 62
1.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 69
Chapter 2 Islam, the State, and Dakwah in Indonesia ...................................... 72
2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 72
2.2 Muslim campaigns for Indonesian state independence ................................... 74
2.2.1 Muslims’ nationalist campaigns ........................................................................ 77
2.2.2 The establishment of Islamic organisations................................................. 79
2.3 The consolidation of Islamism during Indonesian independence ............... 82
2.4 The Islamists in the New Order period (1966-1997) ....................................... 88
2.5 New opportunities for Islamist movements ......................................................... 98
2.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 103
Chapter 3 Research Methodology ........................................................................ 106
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 106
3.2 Research processes and methods .......................................................................... 107
3.3 The application of research methods ................................................................... 112
3.3.1 Review of written sources ................................................................................ 113
3.3.2 Semi-structured interviews ............................................................................. 115
3.3.3 Participant observation ..................................................................................... 124
3.3.4 Focus group discussions (FGDs) .................................................................... 127
3.4 Ethical issues ................................................................................................................. 132
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3.5 Subjectivity and positionality .................................................................................. 134
3.6 Analysing and interpreting data ............................................................................ 139
3.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 142
Chapter 4 The Dakwah of the Tarbiyah Movement: Official Discourses,
Leaders, and Transformation ................................................................................. 144
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 144
4.2 Dakwah and the Islamist ideology of the Tarbiyah movement: the concept
of Ghazwul Fikri (ideological conquest) ..................................................................... 147
4.3 The dakwah of the Tarbiyah movement in the repressive political period
(1970s-1980s) ...................................................................................................................... 158
4.4 The dakwah of the Tarbiyah movement in the ‘more accommodative’
political period (1990-1997) .......................................................................................... 166
4.5 The Tarbiyah movement as a political party during the democratic period
(1998-present day) ............................................................................................................ 171
4.6 The dakwah of the Tarbiyah movement and the domination of the
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) (2004–present day) ............................................ 179
4.7 The Liqo in the periods of the Tarbiyah movement and the PKS:
leadership and authority .................................................................................................. 185
4.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 193
Chapter 5 Locating the Liqo within the Tarbiyah Movement’s Approach to
Dakwah ........................................................................................................................... 196
5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 196
5.2 The Liqo (Islamic circle) of the Tarbiyah movement ..................................... 199
5.3 Manhaj Tarbiyah: The official curricula of the Liqo ........................................ 202
5.4 The role of social networks in recruitment and 'conversion' to Liqo
membership .......................................................................................................................... 208
5.5 Expanding the social networks.............................................................................. 210
5.5.1 Controlling campuses, student organisations, and mosques ............. 212
5.5.2 ‘Lay’ people as potential targets ................................................................... 215
5.5.3 Liqo members with Islamic educational backgrounds ........................ 218
5.6 The Mutarabbi-Murabbi (trainee-mentor) relationship ............................... 220
5.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 227
Chapter 6 The Lived Experience of Female Liqo Members ......................... 230
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 230
6.2 A women’s Liqo group in Jakarta ........................................................................... 233
6.3 Social networks among female Liqo activists ................................................... 237
6.5 The Liqo women’s reception of Akidah (Faith) ................................................ 244
6.6 Liqo women’s perceptions of Ibadah (Worship) ............................................. 252
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6.7 Liqo women’s reception of Adab (Islamic ethics) and Fiqh (Islamic
jurisprudence) ...................................................................................................................... 256
6.7.1 Muslim women’s dress ...................................................................................... 256
6.7.2. Women’s roles in the private and public spheres .................................. 262
6.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 266
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 269
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 275
List of abbreviations .................................................................................................. 294
Notes on Transliterations ........................................................................................ 298
Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 299
Appendix A: Participant Information Sheet ...................................................... 311
Appendix B: Participant Consent Form ............................................................... 314
Appendix C: Interviewees Information ............................................................... 316
Appendix D: Permission Letter submitted to DPP-PKS ................................. 319
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List of figures and tables
FIGURE 1 THE DAKWAH CENTRE OR MARKAZ DAKWAH (MD) OF DPP-PKS, JAKARTA ... 119
FIGURE 2 POSTERS AT THE PKS OFFICE IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE (DPR), JAKARTA ............ 126
FIGURE 3 THE BOOK COVER OF THE TRAINING MANUAL MANHAJ TARBIYAH (2005) ........ 207

TABLE 1: DIFFERENT POSITIONS/RANKS OF RESPONDENTS ................................................. 117
TABLE 2 THE LIQO-TARBIYAH MOVEMENT WITHIN THE WIDER STRUCTURE OF THE PKS . 187
TABLE 3: ‘MULTILEVEL ORGANISM’ OF THE LIQO .............................................................. 224
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Introduction
In this thesis I examine the dakwah (Islamic preaching and mission) of an
Indonesian Islamist group named the Tarbiyah movement. In particular, I study the
synergies and discrepancies between official discourses and lived experiences in the
movement and the extent to which this reflects relations and tensions between
leaders and other members. By way of Introduction here, I firstly establish the
connections between Islamism, Islamisation, and dakwah strategies in the
contemporary Muslim world. This section introduces Islamism as a general political
discourse in a modern global context and highlights the ways in which various
dakwah strategies are related to Islamisation projects. The second part of this
Introduction outlines Islamism in the Indonesian context, highlighting in particular
certain gaps in the existing literature with regard to the Tarbiyah movement. The
third part of this Introduction explains the theoretical driving force of this thesis,
while finally I present an overview of the structure of this thesis and underline its
overall argument. In short, I maintain that although perceptions of the Tarbiyah
movement are often associated with the increasingly formal and very public dakwah
managed by the Prosperous and Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, PKS),
members in middle and lower levels of the movement which have their roots in
informal networks mainly emphasise the personal impact of a more private dakwah
and embodied religious training in strengthening their individual piety and sense of
belonging.

Islamism, Islamisation and Dakwah Strategies in the Modern Muslim World
The processes of globalised modernity that have been taking place in Muslim
countries since the nineteenth century and earlier have changed the relationship
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between Islam and the state. The reformulation of laws as a consequence of
modernisation, and the adoption of a largely Westernised legal system, has had a
profound impact on Islamic courts and the position of the ulama. Although they
have not been eliminated from postcolonial nation-states like Egypt and Indonesia,
the courts are now often restricted to dealing with family law, and have been
reformed in order to be more accommodating to social change (Asad, 2003).
Modern, Western-influenced, ‘secular’ law has occupied a more dominant position
in these states, often replacing the role of Islamic law with respect to matters of
regulation and punishment. The limiting of the role of such shari’ah related
institutions in the colonial and now the postcolonial public sphere, and the
restriction of Islamic authority in modern nation-states that typically followed at
independence, is perhaps the main way in which so-called ‘Islamists’ – who struggle
through various political means to re-Islamise the public sphere - have encountered
‘the downfall of the hegemony of the symbolic Muslim system’ (Burgat, 2003:44).
While many Islamists accommodated themselves to the idea of the nation-state, at
least in the sense that it became the focus of their projects of Islamisation, secular
Western ideologies, from atheism to consumer capitalism, have been seen as the key
factor in undermining the normative Muslim systems of authority in the modern
world. As Burgat again points out:
It was secularism that spawned the idea that the inherited normative capital
of nearly 14 centuries of civilisation was suddenly no longer the right way to
run the whole society. It was secularism that strongly believed in regulating
the sphere of personal status (marriages, inheritances etc) and more than this,
the relationship of society to its external environment or to its non-Muslim
components (2003:44).

Despite its potency as a vehicle of political resistance to the colonial powers, it was
in reaction to ‘the secularism of the postcolonial Muslim state’ that the Islamists