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The chapters are presented in pairs which offer Middle Eastern (and in one case South Asian) points of view which are matched by Southeast Asian perspectives on each of the six topics. While the media is quick to report on the more violent expressions of Islam, including terrorism, the vigorous debates, which now characterize the intellectual discourse in Muslim communities, are rarely if ever reported. This book not only describes and analyses those debates but also reflects the views of many Muslims across the world, emphasizing the connections and contrasts between the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
"This is an excellent book which will have a major impact on the current debate about the relationship between Islam and politics in Indonesia. Its greatest strength is its innovative characterization of three Indonesian Muslim models of polity, as opposed to the normal two, Islamic state and secular state. Assyaukanie brilliantly delineates a third model, which he calls the Religious Democratic State, in the process greatly clarifying our understanding of the previous models, which he now proposes to label the Islamic Democratic State and the Liberal Democratic State. Another strength of the book is methodological. Each of its arguments is solidly grounded in the thoughts and actions of particular players, Indonesian Muslim thinkers and activists." - Professor William R. Liddle, The Ohio State University, USA
"e;This book fills a gap in authoritative analyses of the causes of inter-religious conflict and the practice of religious toleration. The rise of more overt expressions of Islamic piety and greater bureaucratization of Islam in both Indonesia and Malaysia over several decades have tested the "e;live and let live"e; philosophy that used to characterize religious expression in these nations. The analyses in each chapter break new ground with contextualized studies of particular and recent incidents of conflict or harassment in a variety of areas -- from urban centres to more remote and, even complex, locations. As these studies show, legislation stands or falls on the ability and determination of local authorities to enforce it.This volume is essential reading for understanding the dynamics of state-religious interaction in Muslim majority nations and the crucial role civil society organizations play in negotiating interfaith toleration."e; --Emeritus Professor Virginia Hooker FAHA, Department of Political & Social Change,College of Asia & the Pacific, The Australian National University
This book offers a wide range of critical perspectives on how secularism unfolds and has been made sense of across Europe and Asia. The book evaluates secularism as it exists today – its formations and discontents within contemporary discourses of power, terror, religion and cosmopolitanism – and the focus on these two continents gives critical attention to recent political and cultural developments where secularism and multiculturalism have impinged in deeply problematical ways, raising bristling ideological debates within the functioning of modern state bureaucracies. Examining issues as controversial as the state of Islam in Europe and China’s encounters with religion, secularism, a...
Long cited as a model of harmonious cohabitation between different religions, the most populous Muslim country in the world until recently occupied a special place in the Western imagination.Indonesia, home to a peaceful version of Islam, offered a reassuring counter-model to a rowdy and accusatory Arab Islam. Since 1999, however, confrontations between Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas, excesses of vigilantism in Sulawesi, and especially the Bali and Jakarta bombings have shattered these simplistic stereotypes. For many terrorism experts - often self-proclaimed - Indonesia's mutation confirmed the hackneyed thesis that equated obscurantism with Islam, and saw violent outbreaks as an inevitable consequence.
Shah uncovers the complex interaction between constitutional law, religion and politics in three key plural societies in Asia.
The essays of Post-Islamism bring together young and established scholars and activists from different parts of the Muslim World and the West to discuss their research on the changing discourses and practices of Islamist movements and Islamic states largely in the Muslim majority countries.
What are trending Islamic ideas in Southeast Asia; how are they transmitted and who transmits them? These are questions that linger among the minds of policymakers, diplomats and scholars interested in Islam in Southeast Asia. Trending Islam maps and discusses key personalities, groups or institutions that influence Muslims in the region. This book dedicates more space to discuss the role of the Internet in disseminating religious discourses. Internet’s role, in particular the use of social media either to advance interpretations of Islamic ideas or to gain influence in the public sphere, is becoming more significant as it allows information to spread faster and wider. While not discountin...
Merryl Wyn Davies unravels the paradox that is Malaysia and Indonesia, Ziauddin Sardar reads the history of Kuala Lumpur from the window of his apartment, Carool Kersten engages with a string of Indonesian intellectuals, Nazry Bahrawi reads some classic Southeast Asian texts, Ahmad Fuad Rahmat dissects a Malaysian demigod, Andre Vltchek thinks Indonesian Islam is anything but "tolerant" and "moderate", Shanon Shah dabbles with Malay magic, Rossie Indira laments the loss of classical Indonesian music, Jo Kukathas weeps at the emergence of religious intolerance in Malaysia, Linda Christanty ponders the genealogy of her (Muslim) name, and Vinay Lal questions Malaysia's claims to be a genuinely pluralistic society. Also in this issue: Iftikhar Salahuddin visits the Dome of the Rock, Hassan Mahamadallie is bowled over by a new biography of Malcolm X, Mohammad Moussa laughs at Christopher Hitchens, Samia Rahman watches "Argo", a short story by Nabeela M. Rehman, three poems by Marilyn Hacker and the top ten Malaysian obsessions.
This title focuses on the theme of non-traditional security, especially issues impacting Asia. The issues revolve around human security and range from climate change and natural disasters; energy security; health, food and water security; to questions of internal challenges such as governance, politics and identity.