Political Islam in Asia: A Case Study

Abstract

The phenomenon of Islamic resurgence, the so-called fundamentalism, has had important political effects, but it is often viewed as a Middle Eastern issue, just as Islam is essentially perceived as a Middle Eastern religion. In point of fact, the major Muslim nations are found in Asia, where most of the world's Muslims live. Islamic resurgence is also found, in various degrees, in all the countries of Asia where there are Muslims. The intensity and character of this phenomenon, however, depends on several factors, such as geography, historical background, and the relative size of the Muslim communities. While it is both a religious and a political phenomenon, as Islam itself, this Islamic resurgence should also be considered a response to the global issue of modernization and development, in all its complex and unsettling dimensions.

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References

1. Some of the information and observations in this article are the result of research and interviews conducted between 1988 and 1991 in Southeast Asia—Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia—and India on the subject of Muslim attitudes toward modernization.

2. Marshall G. S. Hodgson , The Venture of Islam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 2:557.

3. Ibid., p. 542.

4. Ibid., p. 548.

5. D. G. E. Hall , A History of Southeast Asia, 4th ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981), p. 221.

6. Ibid., p. 231.

7. Ibid.

8. Ira M. Lapidus , A History of Islamic Societies (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 758.

Figures are population projections for 1992, based on statistics in ibid., p. 254.

10.

See also Barbara D. Metcalf , “Islamic Arguments in Contemporary Pakistan,” in Islam and the Political Economy of Meaning, ed. William R. Roff (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987).

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11. Metcalf , “Islamic Arguments in Contemporary Pakistan,” p. 74.

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12. John L. Esposito , “Pakistan: Quest for Islamic Identity,” in Islam and Development, ed. John L. Esposito (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1980), pp. 150-151.

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13. Lapidus , History of Islamic Societies, p. 747.

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14. Peter J. Bertocci , “Bangladesh: Composite Cultural Identity and Modernization in a Muslim-Majority State,” in Change and the Muslim World, ed. Philip H. Stoddard et al. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1981), pp. 77, 78.

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15. Syed Shahabuddin and Theodore P. Wright, Jr. , “India: Muslim Minority Politics and Society,” in Islam in Asia, ed. Esposito , p. 155.

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16. Ibid., p. 164.

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17. Lapidus , History of Islamic Societies, p. 748.

18.

18. Nasir Tamara , “Islam under the New Order,” Prisma (Jakarta), June 1990, no. 49. pp. 6-31.

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19. Anthony H. Johns , “Indonesia: Islam and Cultural Pluralism,” in Islam in Asia, ed. Esposito , pp. 211-212.

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20. Ibid., p. 204.

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21. Margaret Scott , “Where the Quota is King,” New York Times, 17 Nov. 1991.

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22. Fred von der Mehden , “Malaysia: Islam and Multiethnic Politics,” in Islam in Asia, ed. Esposito , p. 192.

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23. Fred von der Mehden , Religion and Modernization in Southeast Asia (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1986), p. 108.

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See also Muhammad Kamal Hassan , “The Response of Muslim Youth Organizations to Political Change: HMI in Indonesia and ABIM in Malaysia,” in Islam and the Political Economy of Meaning, ed. Roff .