Bustān al-Salāṭīn by Nūr al-Dīn al-Ranīrī (d. 1659) is a leading Malay text on Islamic history. Written in the 17th century in Aceh, one chapter of the Bustān was dedicated to the history of Aceh. This paper discusses how the Bustān described the formation of the sultanate, the rulers who were in power, their political behaviour, and the methods of statecraft they tried to establish. The text shared the emerging intellectual discourse in 17th Century Aceh, in which al-Ranīrī's reform of Muslims' religious practices to uphold sharī'ah-based principles gained its prominence. With the support of his patron, Iskandar Thani (1636-1641), al-Ranīrī's Islamizing efforts for Aceh are reflected in the Bustān. This paper argues that the Islamic ideals and terms found in the Bustān signify the history of Aceh and profile the patron, which sets Bustān apart from previous Malay texts of historical writing.
Alongside the advance of Islamic reformism in the early twentieth century, one central element to pay attention is the rise of printed media, Islamic book, which enhanced the shaping of the reformist Muslims. Written in Malay with Rumi script, the books with Islamic substance first appeared as part of Islamic reform movement. Nearly all the authors were the leading activists of reformist organizations. This trend continued to develop, leading the books to emerge as an important pillar in the formation of Islamic intellectual discourses. This study focuses on the historical study of the Islamic books development and progression, with strong emphasis given to the ideas behind their rising in the courses of Indonesian history. Based on the classical theory of discourse of Michel Foucault, as well as the one of post-linguistic turn historiography, this article demonstrates, in reference to the three time periods which each presented a specific mode of intellectual thinking, the growing importance of Islamic books in the making of print-based religious life, which paved the way for the strengthening of socio-religious plurality in modern Indonesia. Firstly, Islamic Book as the voice of Islamic reform, secondly, Islamic Books in 1950s-1960s, and lastly, Islamic Books in contemporary Indonesia.
Taking pre-colonial period as the subject of study, this article argues that Islam is part of Malay culture and politics. Islam strongly engaged in the formation of Malay kingdoms, mingled with maritime commerce, and contributed to the formulation of Malay ideas of power and political management. Yet, it should be noted that the important role of Islam is to be explained by the fact that the religion gave emphasis to the idea of omnipotent ruler (raja), as was expressed in the Islamized language of politics, such as khalifa (vicegerent) and zill Allah fi al-alam (the shadow of Allah on earth). It was the ruler, with Islamic honorific titles and attributes, which appeared as the most determinant actor in the statecraft of kingdoms. Being as such, Islam could not be conceived of as an evaluation for rulers' political conduct. Instead, Islam served as a religious justification for the rise of the absolutist kingdom of the archipelago, which culminated in the kingdom of Aceh in the seventeenth century.The ruler had paramount position over the subjects (rakyat) and the economic elites (orang kaya). [Artikel ini menjelaskan bahwa pada periode pra-kolonial, Islam merupakan bagian dari kebudayaan dan politik Melayu. Islam sangat berpengaruh dalam struktur kerajaan Melayu, campur tangan perdagangan laut, dan berperan dalam pembentukan konsep kekuasaan kerajaan Melayu dan manajemen politiknya. Tetapi perlu digarisbawahi bahwa peran penting Islam secara faktual adalah agama memberikan penekanan pada konsep raja yang dalam bahasa Islam politik disebut dengan khalifa dan zill Allah fi al-alam (wakil Tuhan di bumi). Sang raja, sebagaimana gelar dalam Islam, merupakan tokoh yang paling berkuasa dalam pemerintahan sebuah kerajaan. Sebagaimana yang terjadi, Islam tidak dapat diterima begitu saja sebagai koreksi terhadap perilaku politik sang raja. Alih – alih Islam justru menjadi justifikasi agama untuk kekuasaan mutlak raja, dimana puncaknya terjadi pada Kerajaan Aceh abad 17. Raja mempunyai kedudukan paling atas melampaui rakyat dan kaum borjuis.]
The Malay language is of great importance in understanding Indonesian society and history. As the root of Indonesia's national language, Bahasa Indonesia, the language has become part and parcel of the social-political and cultural formation of the diverse communities throughout Indonesia. Also, the role of the Malay language in Indonesian nation building proceeded alongside the historical course of Islamic development there. In line with the development of Islam in parts of Indonesia and the Southeast Asia region at large, Malay emerged as a lingua franca that was widely used as a media of social interaction, political diplomacy, commerce and, more importantly, Islamic expression. This article discusses the history of the Malay language in relation to its role as the language of Indonesian Muslims. The article also examines the contribution that the language has made, through the course of history, in uniting the people into a single nation-state—Indonesia.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v21i3.1219
The development of Hadrami society, or overseas Arab communities in general, in the Indian Ocean countries have attracted some scholars to study in more detail,especially some aspects concerning the way the Hadramis live and cope with various problems they have in their overseas countries. In the Malay-Indonesia state, the Hadrami society have developed as a vital community group having important position for beyond their traditional role as "the carriers of Islam" (da'wah). In terms of economics, for instances, some Hadrami even succeed in making big-scale business, and some of them appears, in terms of politics, as the ruling political elite.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v6i1.750
This work discusses the process of inventing politics by Malay society, with special attention to the debate and contest of three ideological orientations which have emerged within the society since British colonialization. Tese three ideological orientations arae Kerajaan, Kebangsaan, and Islam. They have been involved in the struggle and the debate concerning the attempt to formulate the community and identity of Malay society, the principles of social organization, and the way individuals are perceived.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v3i4.797
With regard to the word "Islamic" in the title of this study, "The Making of the Islamic Political Tradition", it might be significant to take the above quotation into consideration. In the Malay tradition, what the people say about themselves seems to support the argument which is revealed in the sentences quoted. One of the most well-known Malay proverbs runs as follows: "to convert to Islam is to become a Malay". This proverb obviously expresses the feelings of the Malay people who identify themselves with Islam. Islam is acknowledged as having constituted a significant part of Malay society; Islam is regarded as the source of its cultural identity. Thus, if what is conceived of as being Islamic as such is accepted, perhaps there is no reason to wonder how "Islamic" Malay society is; and there is a solid validation for taking the sentence quoted as the argument for this study.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v8i2.687
These two texts, al-Mawahib and Taj us-Salatin, further had similarities in terms of both language and their substances. In this paper, al-Mawahib will be discussed in its relation to Taj us-Salatin. But before we come to the discussion, the author will pay attention to several texts which preceded al-Mawahib in creating the initial discourse on Islamic politics. As the author will show below, both al-Mawahib and Taj us-Salatin contributed to shaping Islamic political ideas in the land below the wind, that is, what are now referred to as Indonesia and Malaysia.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v13i1.575
PPIM UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, assisted by PUSKADIA-BUMA UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta has conducted a three year project (2004-2007) of mainstreaming pesantrens and madrasahs in Indonesia. The project initiative and execution were the result of cooperation between UIN Jakarta and the Royal Danish Embassy The project was intended to introduce contemporary, democratic civic values (democracy, civil society, religious pluralism, human rights, and gender equality) into pesantrens and madrasahs and to their leaders, and to initiate participatory and accountable management within these schools. The program was designed to eventually create an atmosphere in which the worldviews of Islamic educational institutions could change and adapt to the diversity and complexity of the modern world.DOI:10.15408/sdi.v14i3.553
