MUSLIMS' APPROACHES TO DEMOCRACY: Islam and Democracy in Contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

This article seeks to provide a theoretical ac­count of how Indonesian Muslims have approached Islam and democracy. Historical analysis, combined with literary overview, is deployed to trace the empirical passage of Indonesian Muslims in developing discourses on demo­cracy. This article argues that a widely-religion-based demo­cra­cy is on the way of making. Following this process, discourses and counter-discourses on democracy are simply inevitable. The point of departure on which Muslims frequently disagree with each other is whether or not the type of Indonesian democracy should follow the path of Western secular democracy. Ac­cor­dingly, three approaches following these lively discourses on democracy came into existence: First, the Huwaydian ap­proach that claims the compatibility of Islam and demo­cracy. Second, the Mawdudian approach that stands in an ambiguous position between rejecting and ac­cep­ting democracy. Third, the Qutbian approach which argues that democracy is inimical to Islam by definition. Despite the risk of oversimpli­fica­tion and conceptual discrepancy, the three terms are utilized merely for the purpose of sociological catego­rization.