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

1 8 8Islam i n World Cult u r e st u ry, first the Portuguese and then the Dutch had a profound impact on economics,politics, and social and religious developments in Indonesia. For example,the Portuguese actively promoted Roman Catholicism among the peoplesthey encountered, especially in the eastern parts of the archipelago. TheDutch tended to invest a different kind of effort into Protestant missionary acti v i t y, and as foreign colonizers, they were ultimately able to exert an enormousimpact on the religious culture of the region. The Netherlands eventuallybecame the imperialist ruler of the entire Indonesian archipelago, fromSumatra to western New Guinea, a regime that endured until World War II.Dutch rule in the region did not stand unchallenged, however. From theseventeenth century until Indonesian independence in 1945, many Muslimleaders took up the struggle for autonomy from foreign rule. Although resistancemovements during these 300 years arose out of local concerns and conditions,many shared important characteristics with Muslim anti-imperialist andanticolonial movements across the globe. These commonalities included appealsto many modes of authoritative Islamic traditions as powerful symbolsand ideals of justice that could motivate political action.Political and military struggles against the Dutch both inspired and were inspiredby the continuing Islamization of social attitudes and practices inSoutheast Asia. Muslim leaders of anticolonial movements drew on longdistancerelationships with Muslims from other islands and even further awayfor support. For example, such transnational connections are very clear in theanti-Dutch activities in seventeenth-century Banten, West Java, led by an influentialleader called Shaykh Yusuf. Yusuf was born in South Sulawesi and studiedunder some of the most prominent local Muslim scholars before travelingto continue his education in Banten; from there he moved on to Gujarat in India,Yemen, Mecca, and Syria. After returning to Southeast Asia from the MiddleEast, he taught in Banten until 1682, when the local prince rose against theauthority of the sultan (his own father) with the backing of the Dutch East IndiaCompany.At this time, Shaykh Yusuf took up a campaign of opposition against Dutchinterests that he pursued for over a year, ending in his capture by the Dutch.He was imprisoned at Batavia ( Jakarta) and then exiled to Sri Lanka, where hecontinued to advocate resistance against the Dutch through his correspondencewith Muslim communities of the Indonesian archipelago. In 1693,Dutch authorities intercepted some of these communications, and as a resulthe was exiled to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Upon his arrival there, hebecame a founding figure of the vibrant Muslim community in South Africa.Shaykh Yusuf is an example of a Muslim scholar and activist whose ideas andimpact were global even though he was primarily engaged in local politicaland religious action. In many such historical cases, the ideas and concepts deployedin anticolonial movements resonated widely because they were com-