Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies

1-27

Authors: Pramono U. Tanthowi

The political development in Indonesian during the first decade of reform era witnesses a resurgence of Muslim politics, which had been facing a political impass during the 1970s and 1980s. In contrast to current political development in the Arab World, the resurgence of Muslim politics in Indonesia has been marching hand in hand with democratization. The blossoming of tens of Islamic political parties by no means that they speak with a single voice. Rather, political Islam is now represented by parties with more diverse platforms. Those parties are not only varied in their commitment to an Islamist agenda but also strongly divided on this agenda. Yet, they all welcome and uphold “Muslim” aspirations. As far as their performance in the 1999 and the 2004 elections is concerned, there was a significant decline for Muslim politics compared to the first democratic election of 1955. The results reflected the minority appeal of Islamism, regardless of both the fact that the majority of the Indonesians are Muslims and the fact that there has been increasing Islamic revivalism within Indonesian society.

53-77

Authors: Mohammad Rokib

Natural disasters, which occur regularly in Indonesia, have inspired many volunteer groups to emerge from different groups of society, including religious group. This paper focuses on the experiences of the religious volunteer group called Santana (Islamic student’s response to disaster) in East Java region. The group is part of Islamic education institution (pesantren) that emphasizes religious aspects and attempts to realize religious values in everyday life. The group gives religious meaning to the experience of disaster and the efforts to help disaster victims. The aim of this study is to describe Santana’s response to natural disaster as not only a natural but also a cultural phenomenon. This study reveals a large number of religious symbols referring to disaster as natural and theological phenomena. Referring to the religious text, disaster victims are categorized by Santana as weak people (mustad’afin). It has inspired this group to engage in their social activism. Their commitment to the religious tenets involves not only giving material aid but also promoting spiritual empowerment. This gives insight into the dynamic of how religious groups manifest their religious values by providing both material and spiritual aid.

109-131

Authors: Abbas Mansur Tamam

In the contemporary Islamic discourse, the position of approach and method lies is very important in the context of producing the orientation of Islamic thoughts.