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Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

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Chapter SevenMuslim Thought and Practice <strong>in</strong>Contemporary IndonesiaAN N A G A D E A N D R. MI C H A E L F E E N E RThe vast majority of the world’s Muslims today live <strong>in</strong> Asia, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the Indiansubcont<strong>in</strong>ent, Central Asia, and Ch<strong>in</strong>a. The Muslim population of SoutheastAsia alone is roughly equal to that of all the Arabic-speak<strong>in</strong>g countriescomb<strong>in</strong>ed. There are sizable Muslim m<strong>in</strong>ority populations <strong>in</strong> many SoutheastAsian nations, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Thailand, S<strong>in</strong>gapore, and the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es, andBrunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia have majority-Muslim populations. Thesecountries have long been at the center of Asian maritime trade networks; forcenturies, anyone travel<strong>in</strong>g by boat from India or Africa to Ch<strong>in</strong>a passedthrough Southeast Asia. The global connection of systems of religion and cultureto Indonesia <strong>in</strong> particular existed long before the present era of globalization.S<strong>in</strong>ce the com<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>Islam</strong> to Southeast Asia, <strong>Islam</strong>ic worldwide modelsfor religious life have comb<strong>in</strong>ed with dist<strong>in</strong>ctive local Indonesian patterns, support<strong>in</strong>gthe development of vibrant regional Muslim cultures. To d a y, these culturescont<strong>in</strong>ually shape and are shaped by the chang<strong>in</strong>g conditions of life <strong>in</strong>c o n t e m p o r a ry Indonesia.Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia’s population, approximately 200 millionpeople, identify themselves as Muslim, giv<strong>in</strong>g Indonesia the largest Muslimpopulation of any country. Indonesia is made up of a vast archipelago that <strong>in</strong>cludespeople of many languages and cultures. In part because of its positionat the crossroads of extensive global networks, Indonesian religious systems,and especially <strong>Islam</strong>, are vitally cosmopolitan. To d a y, although patterns of conte m p o r a ry Muslim revitalization <strong>in</strong> Indonesia are unique to Southeast Asia,they share key components of the renewal of <strong>Islam</strong>ic thought and practice <strong>in</strong>other Muslim societies. These components <strong>in</strong>clude the textual foundations ofthe Qur’an and h a d i t h , o b l i g a t o ry Muslim practices such as the h a j j , and the1 8 3

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