Der islamische Diskurs im heutigen Indonesien und seine politische Relevanz

Abstract Due to the growing threat of Islamic terrorism in Indonesia and Southeast Asia the interest of Western scholars in Islam in that area has significantly increased. Most articles thus focus on the development of terrorism and radicalism. On the other hand, the development within Indonesian mainstream Islam is by no means less important for culture and politics, as well as the internal and external security of Southeast Asia. In the past, the big Islamic organizations, including traditionalist Nahdlatul Ularna and modernist Muhammadiyah, were concerned with determining their own position within the context of national culture and politics. This led to the development of cultural Islam and Islamic neomodernism.
Especially after the breakdown of Soeharto's New Order regime a slow re-orientation towards rising political ambitions and eonservatism took place. The rapidly growing radical organizations tried to take advantage of this situation in order to promote their own aims, i.e. enforcing the sharia and imposing an Islamic state. On the other hand, this as well as the growing terrorist threat have forced the mainstream organizations to redefine their position within Indonesian society and politics. This process is still under way and its outcome uncertain.