Asghar Ali Engineer is a rights activist and heads the two organisations, Institute of Islamic Studies and Centre for Study of Society and Secularism. He has authored or edited 44 books on such  issues  as  Islam and communal and ethnic problems in India and South Asia in general.  For links to his other articles, please go to the top page of this site.

It so happened that I went to Indonesia thrice during the year for lectures and seminars and I   happened to meet many people including the former president Abdur Rahman Wahid who is my long standing friend. I also observed various events taking place there. There are many interesting parallels between India and Indonesia. It would be interesting to mention some of them here.

            Both India and Indonesia have composite culture and both have been influenced by Islam and Hinduism. In the case of Indonesia, Islam is the religion of majority community and Hindus are now a small minority. In the case of India Hindus are a vast majority and Muslims are a significant minority. Both the countries, despite problems of religious fundamentalism are by and large liberal societies with secular polity and state structure. In the fifties both the countries had pledged their support for non-alignment in the days of cold war and when the world was divided between two warring camps.  Jawaherlal Nehru and President Sukarno came together along with Jamal Abdul Nasir and Marshal Tito to form the no-aligned camp. There is one more interesting parallel. Both Jawaherlal’s daughter Indira Gandhi and Sukarno’s daughter Meghawati Sukarnoputri became heads of state though Sukarnoputri has come to assume responsibility as head of the state after decades of death of her father. And she is not as strong a personality as of Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

            Both Indonesia and India have been deeply influenced  by Islam and Hinduism. It is obvious to any visitor to Indonesia. Indonesia (Jawa and Sumatra) was ruled by Hindu rulers upto 12th Century when Islam entered Indonesia. The Indonesians are quite proud of their past Hindu culture despite their deep faith in Islam. When I visited Yogyakarta in 1993 two girls from Gajama University (named after the Hindu prime minister of Yogyakarta) came to receive me at the airport one of whom was wearing Islamic scarf on head. I was invited to speak on rights of women in Islam by a women organisation who had translated my book on the same subject in Bhasa Indonesia. 

            When I enquired about their names one said Sinta and other said Lakshmi. In surprise I asked them whether they were Hindus. They said why we are good believing and practising Muslims. Why should you think we are Hindus. I told them their names. They told me these were common names in Indonesia. In the seminar Abdur Rehman Wahid was also present. I asked him whether it is true that any Muslim women are named after Sita and Lakshmi. He not only confirmed but further surprised me by saying that the greatest preacher of Islam in Indonesia was Maulana Vishnu! Later I also discovered that Abdur Rehman Wahid’s own wife’s name is Sinta. 

            In India too impact of Islam is much wider than known generally. Not only many Hindu names (Iqbal Narayan, Manik, Roshanlal etc) are influenced by Islam but also its music, architecture, dresses and food betray these influences. Like Bhasa of Indonesia having large number of Sanskrit words Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada and other Indian languages have several Persian and Arabic words, which are in everyday use. 

            In Indonesia I observed that all those participating in the Ramayana Dance – a great tourist attraction in a temple complex – were Muslims. There are no Hindus around in Yogyakarta to take part in this dance. This twelfth century Temple complex  (consisting of several massive stone temples) is well maintained and attracts large number of tourists every day. The Ramayana dance is staged in its compound. 

            It is also interesting to note that many tribal customs are also followed including tribal dances. When I visited a madrasa (known as Pesantran) run by Muhammadia sect near Yogyakarta I found some students wearing tribal dresses and dancing. When I enquired I was told that they are singing praises to the Holy Prophet and it is also their way of preaching Islam. They visit rural areas around and preach doctrines of Islam in this way. 

            Indonesia is undergoing these days through great political turmoil and is also in the grip of sectarian and religious violence. It is hardly surprising. It was under military dictatorship for a long period and all expressions of dissent were ruthlessly suppressed. People could hardly express their differences. But now that military rule has been overthrown and people are free to demonstrate and agitate all sorts of movements are surfacing. The people of Ache, which is rich in natural resources, particularly natural gas, are demanding establishment of Islamic State. Though the movement has been temporarily subsided simmering discontent remains. 

            There is also Christian-Muslim conflict often assuming violent form. Churches and mosques are attacked, particularly in the state of Molucca where Christians are in large numbers. There is also dispute about exact percentage of Christian population. The Christians claim their population to be about 12% while government sources put it at around 7%. Whatever it is Christian-Muslim conflict is on the surface and often riots break out between the two, especially in the state of Molucca. Hindus are very few (less than 2 per cent) and are concentrated in the Island of Bali. There is also a Gandhi Ashram in Bali run by a Hindu lady who is quite respectable. It is interesting to note that the Hindus in Bali still follow the classical Verna system instead of caste system as in India. There are four Vernas. 

            As Hindus are very few in number they are not a political force and hardly any conflict with Muslims who constitute the majority community. In democracy conflict always takes place between those communities who are significant in numbers. As there is conflict between Hindus and Muslims, Muslims being in significantly large number in India there is conflict between muslims in Christians. But like in India conflict is more political than religious though religious symbols are used for legitimation. Panchsila continues to be state philosophy in Indonesia despite demand for establishing Islamic State. In India too there is pressure for establishing Hindu State though it very much continues to be a secular state under the BJP-led dispensation. 

            When the military dictatorship was overthrown and elections were announced there was a demand for establishing an Islamic state in Indonesia. The demand continued for some time even after parliament was constituted. But it has subsided now. Abdur Rehman Wahid became the first president of Indonesia. He is a noted Islamic scholar and is very liberal in outlook. It was for the good of Indonesia that a liberal man like him became its president and saw it through most tumultuous period when Indonesia was under great political strain and all sorts of sectarian demands were being made. Though he has been removed as he had minority support in the parliament (he had only 50 M.P.s out of more than 500 and Meghawati has more than 200) the policies initiated by him will have its impact on Indonesian political scene. 

            There is resurgence of Islam in Indonesia after the overthrow of military rule. In a democracy such resurgence is a natural phenomenon. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world and Muslims in that country got political rights for the first time in last several decades. The resurgence of Islam is not entirely a negative phenomenon. Today the Indonesian society is polarised between fundamentalists and liberals and moderates. Though it is difficult to have exact estimate, my hunch says there are more moderates than fundamentalists. 

            Another significant minority is of course of those Muslims who are attracted by liberation theology of Islam. They want to interpret Islam so as to bring about radical changes in the society, particularly overhauling its exploitative economic structure. My book Liberation Theology in Islam has also been translated in Bhasa and is in great demand. Muslim women are also becoming increasingly aware of their rights and demanding changes in law. 

             What is most important is that a large number of women are going for Islamic studies and doing Ph.D. in Islamics and learning Arabic and trying to interpret the original sources. Many women in Indonesia can freely converse in Arabic language, which is very important for their empowerment. They can study the sources of Shari`ah law and its evolution through original sources. A large number of Universities have sprung up. I was told there are as many as 70 universities in Yogyakarta alone. Yogyakarta is primarily an educational centre of Java. Many of these universities are Islamic universities. It is true that orthodox Islam is also striking firm roots but it will have to face a continuous challenge from liberal Islam too. 

            There was a conference in Ujang Panda of South Sulawesi in June 2001 on Qur’an and World peace to which I was invited. There was very large gathering of Islamists from different universities in Indonesia along with others from different countries including Arab countries. I had a chance to talk to a large number of Indonesian scholars during the conference and was happy that there was moderation and urge for peace among most of them. If that trend continues Indonesia can become a model Islamic country for the world. It is also heartening that a Muslim woman has become president of this largest Muslim country. However, it is difficult to say how long she will continue as like Abdur Rahman Wahid, she is more of a compromise candidate and has no strong political base of her and also lacks political sophistry.