Southeast Asian Muslims in the Era of Globalization

K. Miichi, O. Farouk, K. Miichi, O. Farouk

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781137436801
• eBook ISBN: 9781137436818
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Asian Politics

This volume investigates the appropriate position of Islam and opposing perceptions of Muslims in Southeast Asia. The contributors examine how Southeast Asian Muslims respond to globalization in their particular regional, national and local settings, and suggest global solutions for key local issues.

1

Introduction

Ken Miichi and Omar Farouk

Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia have often been described using two sets of very contradictory terms. On the one hand, Islam in the region is imagined as being Sufistic, syncretistic and localized, and Southeast Asian Muslims are thought to be very different from their counterparts in the Middle East, who are considered to be orthodox and ‘fanatical’. On the other hand, after the 9/11 attacks and especially after the October 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia, the danger of radical Islam was emphasized and Southeast Asia suddenly became the ‘second front’ in the global ‘war on terrorism’ (Conboy 2006).¹ Some Muslims in Southeast Asia themselves shared this concern and even warned of the influences of ‘transnational’ Islamic movements.

This volume has been conceptualized and undertaken in order to correct this gap in perception and demonstrate the appropriate position of Islam. It represents a collection of ten articles written by scholars, both Muslims and non-Muslims, who are regional specialists possessing exceptional knowledge and understanding of the complexities of the situation on the ground in Southeast Asia, and especially in the respective countries of their specialization. Some of these scholars have been doing research on the theme of Islam in the different countries of Southeast Asia for decades and are internationally recognized for their expertise in the subject, while others who have just ventured into the field have been equally passionate about it. The line-up of the contributors to this volume is also multinational as well as representing different generations. In addition to this unique contributor profile, this volume also incorporates original findings and analyses of an opinion poll professionally conducted in four Southeast Asian nations, two of which have a Muslim majority population, namely Indonesia and Malaysia, and the other two of which have a Muslim minority, namely Thailand and the Philippines. The survey, focusing on Islam and globalization, was conducted in early 2010. Subsequently, two international conferences addressing the theme were also organized and hosted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute (JICA-RI) in Tokyo and Singapore in November 2009 and July 2010 respectively, to explore preliminary ideas related to the broad theme of this book. Through these meetings it was unanimously agreed that understanding the Muslim responses to globalization and their processes of ‘negotiation’ were crucial in order to locate and contextualize contemporary Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia. The local negotiations that take place suggest that foreign ideas, goods and texts have been creatively adopted, adapted and recontextualized in local situations and differently interpreted to give them a local cultural meaning (Iwabuchi 2002, p. 40). On the other hand, globalization adapts to local conditions and penetrates deep inside territories.

At the outset, there is a need to clarify what globalization is and how it is related to Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia. The term ‘globalization’ became a buzzword in the 1990s, indicating both change and dynamism brought by global flows and influences of capital and goods, information and ideas, people and power as well as environmentally and biologically relevant substances (such as acid rain or pathogens). Globalization refers to the increase in a state of the world involving networks (multiple relations, not simply single linkages) of interdependence at multi-continental distances, linked through global flows and influences (Osterhammel and Petersson 2005, pp. vi–vii; Keohane and Nye 2011, p. 225). What we have called globalization in recent years received its first real attention in the social sciences after the 1980s following the disintegration of the USSR, the crisis of the welfare state, the liberalization of international exchanges, advances in communication and data processing technology, the emergence of electronic media and the intensification of institutional integration around the world (Osterhammel and Petersson 2005, pp. 141–145).

Earlier discussions on globalization left a simplistic impression that it was an inevitable process of homogenization and the universalizing of Western civilization battling the parochial forces of nationalism, localism and tribalism (Steger 2003, p. 1). Muslim society in particular has been often treated as an obstruction to Western or American-led globalization, as described in Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and Benjamin Barber’s Jihad Versus McWorld (Huntington 1993; Barber 1995). The 9/11 attacks and the American-led war on terrorism seemed to strengthen this influential assumption. However, there has been a widespread ‘search for fundamentals’ which is not limited to Muslims and cannot be explained from the religious framework alone. The ‘search’ has proceeded in various parts of the world and within various societies in terms of globally diffused ideas concerning tradition, identity, home, indigenity, locality, community and so on (Robertson 1992, p. 166). While globalization has the potential to homogenize cultures, it also has an even greater potential to nourish diversity to a degree that the world has never seen (Friedman 2006, p. 478).

The world did not turn global overnight; ‘globality’ has a history reaching far back before modern times. Islam itself has been global for a long time. Founded in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century, Islam expanded and penetrated multi-continental distances all across Asia and Africa for more than 14 centuries. Islamic and Muslim networks of connections are not simply characterized by bilateral relationships such as those between the Arabian Peninsula and other regions but rather through multiple interactions.

What makes the recent globalization different from that of the past is that it goes ‘farther, faster, cheaper and deeper’ (Friedman 1999, pp. 7–8). Trends in Islamic thought and political ideologies easily move beyond continents. Muslims travel across national and regional boundaries and ideas and information are translated and transferred much faster and on a greater scale than in the past. European countries, for instance, cannot ignore their Muslim citizens any longer with regard to the problems of their integration into their societies and nations. People’s demonstrations and protests against the dictatorship in Tunisia in early 2011, which were broadcast live by Al-Jazeera, attracted more people through social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. Enthusiasm not only spread to neighbouring countries but went beyond religious groups and geographical territories. The Chinese government, too, became worried about the spread of Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine Revolution and was busy blocking related keywords on the Internet.

A few years before the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in Tunisia, the journalist Robin Wright had observed that a ‘quiet and profound revolution’ was taking place in the Muslim world, led by bloggers, rappers, fashion designers, televangelists, human rights activists and self-styled Islamic gurus and thinkers of all stripes (Nasr 2009, p. 176; Wright 2009). It marked the rise of Islamic capitalism, characterized by an emerging middle class with ‘modern but also Islamic’ consumption preferences (Nasr 2009, p. 197). The recent globalization has created a new global Islamic market. The emerging Islamic financial market has accommodated itself well with the existing ‘Western-made’ international financial system. The centres of Islamic financial markets are now located in London, Bahrain and Kuala Lumpur. The halal food industry particularly flourishes in Southeast Asia where different religions and cultures coexist. Some of the Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines where the Muslim populations are minorities have their own halal certification authorities aiming at the global food market. Malaysian halal certification in particular is applied by many European and non-Muslim Asian countries.

This volume examines how Southeast Asian Muslims respond to globalization in their particular regional, national and local settings. At the same time, global solutions for local issues are pursued. What Keohane and Nye call social and cultural globalization, which involves movements of ideas, information and images, and of people, including the movements of religions or diffusion of scientific knowledge, is particularly examined. Social and cultural globalization often follows military and economic globalization. Ideas, information and people follow armies and economic flows, and in so doing, transform societies and markets. At its most profound level, social globalization affects the consciousness of individuals and their attitudes towards culture, politics and personal identity.² This volume focuses on social, cultural and religious globalization rather than the economic and military flows which set the conditions.

There are several distinct settings which differentiate Southeast Asia from other regions that need to be appreciated. First, religious pluralism is a significant and vital characteristic of the region. Politically and economically, harmony and coexistence in Muslim majority and Muslim minority countries are important. Even in Indonesia, which contains the largest Muslim population in the world, religious minorities have been acknowledged as an integral part of the nation from the very beginning of the republic. Regional integration through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been consolidated but at the same time the role of individual states and the differences among them have also expanded. ASEAN itself is indifferent to religious divisions. An agreement was reached in 2010 to form a free trade area where initially six member countries would abolish tariffs for regional trade to further intensify regional integration. As a political entity ASEAN negotiates with the United States, China, Japan and other global players. On the other hand, solidarity among Muslim communities (the ummah) has both diplomatic and domestic importance within ASEAN. For example, the mediation of the Mindanao peace talks by Indonesia and Malaysia is important not only for their Philippines counterpart, but also for the political legitimacy of the two governments at home.

Closer and faster communications with the outside world have intensified religious and cultural conversions. A second characteristic of Southeast Asia is that as it is a ‘periphery’ of Islam, transnational relationships and networks are important. It is important to note that these relationships are not just one-way, with only the Middle East having influence over Southeast Asia. There have also been local academic and religious centres within the region which mediate and localize influences from the Middle East. Moreover, especially in recent years, Islamic scholarship in general has never been isolated from the West. Some contemporary Southeast Asian Muslim intellectuals prefer to study in Canberra, Montreal or Leiden rather than in Cairo, Mecca or Damascus. Furthermore, there are now a large number of students from the Middle East, in the thousands, studying in Malaysian universities and colleges. The process of negotiation between the global and the regional and local traditions is the key to understanding Muslims and Islam in Southeast Asia.

The processes of globalization take place deep inside territories and institutional domains that have largely been constructed in national terms (Sassen 2006, p. 3). The relationships between the ‘global’ and the ‘regional’, ‘national’ or ‘local’ may be asymmetric but are invariably mutually and intricately structured. Local culture cannot be separated from the global context. On the other hand, globalization on its own cannot easily influence and unify others but would always have to negotiate in particular regional, national or local settings (Iwabuchi 2002). The processes and consequences of globalization cannot be generalized. We need to scrutinize the regional, national or local setting as the stage of negotiations where capital and goods, information and ideas, and people and power freely flow.

Chapters 2–3 of this volume focus on Islamic education in the historical context and in terms of the state–society relationship in Southeast Asia. Chapters 4–5 examine trans-regional changes and dynamics within Islam and the responses to them by Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia. Chapters 6–7 focus on the institutional changes that have come about as a consequence of economic and political globalization and the Muslim responses to them in three countries. Chapters 8–9 examine the role of global norms and the involvement of the international community in the ongoing conflicts and peace talks in the southern Philippines and Thailand. Chapter 11 concentrates on the analysis of the four-country opinion survey.

In Chapter 2, Ahmad Fauzi describes how Islamic education in Southeast Asia has adapted itself to modern conditions. He traces the history of Islamic education and how it has been institutionalized in colonial and post-colonial Southeast Asia. Fauzi is highly critical of both the recent global war on terrorism led by the United States and the Islamist movements that pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic state by political means. This chapter gives a good overview of the relationship between the nation-state and Islam in Southeast Asia.

In Chapter 3, Yoriko Tatsumi explores the significance of overseas Islamic education, concentrating on a particular society in Southeast Asia. Tatsumi analyses those among the Maranaos in the Philippines who study Islam in Cairo. Using ethnographic data on the Maranaos’ journey to Cairo, she argues that Islamic and Arabic language studies not only function to improve religious education at home but also serve as cultural and economic safeguards for the people at the periphery of mainstream society in the post-colonial Philippines.

Globalization occurs within Islamic learning and religious practices. It cannot simply be understood in terms of bilateral relations between the Middle East and Southeast Asia; the role of networks including those in the West and other regions and the dynamics within regions should also be considered. In Chapter 4, Martin van Bruinessen analyses the concept of ghazwul fikri (invasion of ideas), which originally referred to Western cultural invasion in the Middle East. In Indonesia, this concept was transformed into criticism directed towards the Arabic cultural and religious invasion. Van Bruinessen’s historical review reflects and reorganizes what Ahmad Fauzi has described about Islamic education. He points out that Indonesian political elites with a modern education learned Islam through Western literature during the colonial period. In the later part of the chapter, the impact of conflicts in the Middle East and the influences of contemporary transnational Islamic movements are examined in both the national and local settings. At the same time, he denies simplified dichotomies such as Arab versus the West and carefully observes the complex and rich variation of cultural flows.

In Chapter 5, Yuki Shiozaki stresses both the intra- and trans-regional importance of the ulama network. His discussion on the ulama network in Malaysia and its impact on the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) demonstrates that it started from historical roots which extended far beyond national borders. As van Bruinessen points out in his discussion of Indonesia, influences from contemporary transnational Islamic movements and particularly the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood have been definitive in the case of Malaysia. Shiozaki rightly points out the vital importance of the national context and how transnational influences have been infused in the Malaysian political arena.

Chapters 6–7 focus on institutional changes that have taken place because of economic and political globalization and how Muslims in the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia have responded to them. In Chapter 6,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Foreword
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Globalization of Islamic Education in Southeast Asia
• 3. Muslim Travellers in a Time of Globalization: Studying Islam in Cairo Among the Maranaos in the Philippines
• 4. Ghazwul Fikri or Arabization? Indonesian Muslim Responses to Globalization
• 5. The Ulama Network as Conveyor of Islamic World Trends: Connecting Malaysian Politics to the Muslim Ummah Through the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS)
• 6. Globalization: Issues, Challenges and Responses Among the Moros of the Southern Philippines
• 7. Democratization and ‘Failure’ of Islamic Parties in Indonesia
• 8. Globalization and Its Impact on the Muslim Minority in Cambodia
• 9. The Peace Process in Mindanao and Its Global Dimension
• 10. ‘Red Mosques’: Mitigating Violence Against Sacred Spaces in Thailand and Beyond
• 11. Exploring Gaps Across Religions in Southeast Asia
• 12. Conclusion
• Index