Re-assessment of ash’arism in modern Indonesia : comparing Harun Nasution and Nurcholish Madjid’s perception

Abstract

Since Islam was first transmitted to Indonesia, the Islamic teachings received by the Indonesian people were based on Sufism theories. This necessarily indicates that the Islamic belief system adopted by the Indonesian Muslim community at that time was sunnī-Ash'arī. However, over the years, this doctrine became the object of criticism by a number of modernist thinkers because of its tendency towards fatalism, which was considered to be the cause of the Muslims' backwardness. With regard to the Indonesian context, Harun Nasution and Nurcholish Madjid are two modernist figures who paid attention to such a situation. Although both figures live in the modern era, the fact that they have different arguments on the matter of Ash'arism—Nasution strongly criticizing it while Nurcholish tends to defend this theology—makes their ideas interesting to be explored further. The importance of this study lies in observing the transition of Ash'arism belief through two figures who have several backgrounds in common yet draw conflicting conclusions. Through a comparison of both figures, it can be understood how theological issues are not the only factors contributing to the backwardness of Muslims. As a result, the assumptions surrounding the doctrines of fatalism and irrationality ascribed to Indonesian society remain academically debatable. Ultimately, this research will contribute to the academic debate regarding the perception of Ash'arism and its challenges in the modern and (post)modern period where the religious, social and faith crisis faced by Muslims in Indonesia is no longer the same as in previous periods. This study attempts to identify several factors causing them to have different arguments in repositioning the Ash'arism beliefs within the modern context. By utilizing content analysis method with relational type, this research will analyze the conception of Harun Nasution and Nurcholish Madjid's thoughts that lead them to different opinions on Ash'arism. This method works by presupposing their thoughts as 'windows' that can be viewed to produce an assessment of the emergence of their conceptions of theological thought in the same time and space (modern). The aim is to find a relation known as a concept matrix or a collective ideas interconnected and bound either in a positive or negative way. This research argues that the difference in their assessment of Ash'arism is not solely through the condition of Indonesian society as a representation of the Muslim backwardness, but also due to the influence of two enormous other factors: Islamic reform in the Middle East and the development of Islamic studies within Western academia. This argument will implicate one's understanding of a particular theology, especially Ash'arism. Following this argument the research, one will be more aware of their perception of other possibilities affecting their assessment of certain theologies.