Islamic identity online: the discourse of ummat and jihad in online news services in Indonesia

This paper contains some methodological remarks on research into Is‐ lamic peace ethics. It can be interpreted also as a meta-ethics or analytical ap‐ proach that tries to analyze and clarify the concepts and presuppositions of the topic. It discusses critical features of both mainstream research and the secondary literature in Islamic peace ethics: I. First it reflects on ‘peace’ and ‘ethics’ in the phrase ‘Islamic peace ethics’ us‐ ing it as the title for this book examining the problems that arise, because the literature in this area tends to concentrate more on the law of conduct in war (fiqh al-jihad) rather than peace ethics (akhlaq al-salam). 2. The second point reflects on fiqh as the almost exclusive normative discipline that the current literature on Islamic peace ethics uses, and asks whether fiqh is the only discipline in this re‐ gard or whether there are other normative fields in the Islamic knowledge tradition that discuss violence, peace and war issues. 3. The third point concerns the adjec‐ tive ‘Islamic’ in the title and asks what does ‘Islamic’ mean in ‘Islamic peace ethics’? Examining the Islamic, (the religious), and Islamicate, (the culture and civilization), it warns against confusing the two, risking reducing the Muslim world to a religious-theological dimension alone. This confusion can lead to neg‐ lecting non-religious normative resources in Islamic societies and the over-Is‐ lamization of Muslims. 4. The fourth point reflects on epistemological violence that results from locating Islam in a position of suspicion and relating violence to theology and religion when dealing with socio-economic-political phenomena (an over-theologization of violence). 5. The final remark warns about the danger of dealing with visible manifestations of violence and ignoring the ontological, an‐ thropological and epidemiological aspects of the subject.

Islamic Peace Ethics: Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought

Jihad in the history of Islam has developed into a contested doctrine over a period of time. The term jihad as related to any exertion of power has been used in the name of Muslims to justify wars in many parts of the world. On the other hand, the non-violent interpretation of jihad has been promoted by so-called moderate Muslim groups to support a moderating attitude towards colonial powers, un-Islamic authorities and non-Muslims in general. This article investigates the discourse of jihad presented by Republika Online as the biggest Islamic commercial online news service in Indonesia. The article argues that the description of jihad in Republika Online represents an attempt to contextualize the interpretation of jihad by the mainstream moderate Muslim groups in Indonesia. This contextualization suggests the possibility of the interpretation of the doctrine of jihad as an armed struggle as well as other generalized struggles depending on specific local conditions. This specific interpretation als...

Contextualizing jihad and mainstream Muslim identity in Indonesia: the case of Republika Online

In its early periods, pesantren as a type of Islamic educational institution focused merely on religious teachings. Socio-political pressures and the need to carry out Islamic outreach have pushed kiai as pesantren leaders to negotiate their idealism according to the circumstances in different historical periods. Historical accounts from the Dutch colonial period to Indonesian independence show that kiai leadership becomes the decisive factor as well as the legitimation for pesantren to take certain actions during precarious situations. To examine the institutional development of pesantren in the post-reformation era, a recent ethnographic fieldwork has been carried out in three pesantren in Madura, Java, and Lombok. This paper discusses the development and transformation of pesantren as an institution from the Dutch Ethical Policy Period until today. It demonstrates pesantren’s involvement in anti-Western campaigns and trials of affiliation with oppositions in the colonial period. This paper shows how Islamic virtues remain the heart of pesantren education and examines how innovation in contemporary pesantren regarding pedagogies and values translated in seemingly non-religious areas is substantially based on religious values.

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The dynamics of pesantren leadership from the dutch ethical policy to the reformation periods

This study aims to rationalize the Aswaja-based Islamic education strategy to counter radicalism. This research method uses literature by analyzing published, unpublished books, journals and research that are in line with the theme of moderate Islamic education through NU-an Aswaja. The results of this study are that NU implements an educational education commanded by LP Maarif NU and principled on al muhafadhotu ala al qodimi as sholih wal akhdu bil jadidi al aslah to aim at forming humans who are rahmatan lin naturalin. In learning the values that are strengthened and internalized are tawazun (balanced), tawassuh (moderate), i`tidal (fair and heartless) and tasammuh (tolerance).

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Azyumardi Azra

Papers

Distinguishing Indonesian Islam: Some Lessons to Learn