Suchergebnisse

This article delineates the development of pesantren and madrasa as a very significant part of Islamic education in Indonesia. In doing so, I explore three points related to the development. Firstly, there is an ancient tradition of accommodation in Indonesian Islamic education world. This is seen in the foundation myths that traditional pesantren use to understand their role in society. Secondly, there is a desire to modernize and to meet the modern needs of both students and society while maintaining firm roots in traditional Islamic education. It must be an on-going 'evolutionary' process. Thirdly, pesantren people have rejected the sharia state, the khilafa, the use of violence, and narrow understandings of what the nation should be. They have worked hard to distance themselves from others that seek to cloak themselves in their legitimacy. Therefore, I would argue that the pesantren and other forms of Islamic education will contribute to the future of Indonesia as a plural, peaceful and democratic society.

The Indonesian State Islamic Higher Education (PTAIN) system was created to encourage a progressive form of Islam to oppose political Islam and to be apolitical. Because PTAIN are the official government form of Islamic higher education, PTAIN faculty members can be important opinion makers in the Indonesian Islamic community. PTAIN are critical to understanding the Indonesian Islamic community because they engage in innovative scholarship on Islamic theology, ethics, law, and practice and in the education of young Muslim leaders in many fields. This article explores some of the ways PTAIN have been politicized to play a role in the debates about the future of Indonesian Islam which is developing (or at least showing) more complex variations. It offers a theoretical model for understanding the variation found in Islam.