Political Islam’s Impact on Government and Society
The discussion around politics in Islam still feels actual, in the political aspect it should be noted that, during the Prophet’s era, he had established an Islamic socio-political order in Medina. However, more than three centuries later, new legal thinkers formulated their political theories more systematically.
Among the Islamic thinkers who are popular with their political concepts are Al-Mawardi and Al-Ghazali. According to Al-Mawardi, who was the first figure to issue a theory regarding state politics based on Islamic principles and values, the concept of Islamic politics is based on the obligation to establish power institutions, because it was built as a prophetic substitute to protect religion and govern the world.
According to Al-Mawardi, a country needs to have a foundation in the form of a caliphate (leadership system), a caliph (leader), and the necessary requirements to become a caliph. In this concept, it is necessary to adopt an institutional approach by maximizing the institutional function of the state. Meanwhile, Al-Ghazali agreed with al-Mawardi that choosing an imamah (leader) was mandatory.
“The political phenomenon of Islam must be understood in the span of the historical course of the form of power and government in Islam when in some Islamic periods reached the peak of glory, starting from the time of the Prophet, Khulafaurrasyidin, Umayyad Dynasty, Abbasid Dynasty and Usmani Turks. After the decline of civilization accompanied by the weakening of politics and power, world power turned to the West.
Through Western colonialism, the position of Muslims is further weakened and marginalized from the world stage. In this case, the obsession with regaining the glory of Islam has given rise to the phenomenon of al-shahwah al-Islamiyyah.
The Islamic revivalist movement is a response to colonization to reclaim the glory of Islam,” said Ahmad El Muhammady, Assistant Professor at The International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) International Islamic University Malaysia in a Webinar entitled Political Islam Impact on Government and Society, which is a collaboration between The Apex Chronicles and the Islamic Communication and Broadcasting Study Program of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta and the University of 17 August 1945 (UNTAG) Surabaya.
This is what drives that we need to look not only at the popular aspect of the study between Islamic politics and government, namely the influence of Islamic politics on government politics, but also to see the importance of how the political dynamics in a country affect the movement and development of Islamic politics.
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The origin of Islam as a political movement has begun in the time of the prophet Muhammad in 622 AD since the Prophet hijra to Medina. The Prophet’s Hijra to Medina was the right political move, especially in order to streamline Islamic proselytizing.
The Prophet Muhammad was well acquainted with how to overcome the social conditions in Medina, which were heterogeneous and harbored the latency of acute conflict. So, the Prophet Muhammad made a treaty under the name of the Charter of Medina, which emphasized the unity of the Muslims and Jews, guaranteed religious freedom for all groups, and emphasized cooperation, equal rights and obligations among all groups in realizing defense and peace.
This is in accordance with the explanation of Ahmad El-Muhammady Assistant Professor at The International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) International Islamic University Malaysia who stated that “the background of the political emergence of Islam began in the time of the Prophet until the fall of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924; The era of the Prophet (613 – 632), Khulafaurrasyidin (632 -662), the era of the Umayyads (661 – 750), the Abbasid era (750 – 1258), and the Ottoman era (1299 – 1924),” he explained.
The political journey of Islam suffered a collapse during the Ottoman period. This makes Islam reclaim the legacy that has been lost, so that it uses not only historical background but also through several approaches to the Ummah, one of which is a new breakthrough, namely through “jihad” as a struggle that needs to be approached and implemented.
After the Ottoman period (1924) the emergence of the Islamic revivalist movement (al-sahwah al-Islamiyyah)which was a response to colonialization in order to reclaim the glory of Islam, the Islamic revival movement adopted a different approach to face the new reality.
Ahmad El-Muhammady emphasized that the reality in question is the colonization of the state – nation, foreign political ideology, disintegration of the ummah, and economic backwardness. Groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbut Tahrir, Tabligh Pilgrims adopted various approaches in various fields such as education, welfare, proselytizing, social work, and then political participation in the democratic process of political Islam, and their only goal is to Return to the original teachings of Ilsam, and reclaim the legacy that has been lost”, he said in the International Webinar.
Political Role of Indonesian Women in Collective Efforts to Prevent Religious-based Violent Extremism
According to Irine H. Gayatri, a Ph.D. candidate at the gender, peace, and security center of the school of sciences faculty of arts at the Monash University, considers that Indonesia has never been separated from the trend of Violent Extremism (VE) carried out by a group of people by involving the recruitment process of women with the lure of jihad, heaven, and amaliyah normalized.
This act of faith-based violence has continued to increase since the period 2018 – 2021 where young women became perpetrators of violence. To prevent the increasing number of women’s involvement in extremism groups, it is necessary to understand the reasons behind their recruitment.
This fact is what makes the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 7 of 2021 concerning the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Countermeasures of Violent Extremism (RAN PE) which leads to terrorism 2020 – 2024. This policy was born from a joint initiative between BNPT and civil society groups, especially community-based women’s organizations.
Irine H. Gayatri asserts that “RAN PE is an example of a policy product that accommodates Islamic values, deliberation, and cooperation, which is practiced by activists in formulating tools to prevent extremism.
Consequently, in its application, in order to prevent the involvement of women in groups who like to commit violence in the name of religion, several roles are needed(1) persuading, (2) Lobbying, (3) Campaigning, (4) Problem Management, (5) Knowledge, (5) Networking.
Multi-application initiatives for the implementation of concrete RAN P/CVE at the local level, allowing the expansion of P/VCE as a common agenda,” said Irine in the International Webinar.
Political Islam And Persistent Threats of Terrorism in The Philippines
Dr Rommel C. Banlaoi, PhD, Chairman, Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR), who was also a speaker at the webinar, explained the impact of Islamic politics on the Philippine government and society, where they are grappling with the reality of the threat of insurgency from Islamic extremism groups despite ongoing efforts to build peace.
Banlaoi defines Islamic politics as “a conceptual framework that uses Islamic religious precepts as justifications for radical and revolutionary political actions”. He explained the dynamics of conceptual understanding of Islamic politics in various contexts such as in academic literature, intelligence, and academic discuss.
In the academic literature, Islamic politics refers to forms of Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic conservatism, Islamic revivalism, and Islamic radicalism. Islamic politics in the world of intelligence is closely related to violent extremism that carries out various acts of terrorism.
In the scholarship discourse, Islamic politics is considered to be at the core of the ideology of modern Islamism which is antipathy towards the West, secularism, and the status quo which leads to forms of violence.
In the Context of the Philippines, Islamic politics is closely related to the narrative of the insurgency as it is connected with the ideologies and activities of the Armed Insurgency movements of the Muslim Philippines such as the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front), MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) as well as terrorist groups such as the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group), BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters), AKP (Ansar Khalifa Philippines) etc.
During the pandemic the groups’ activities became more deadly, dangerous, and devastating with the advent of suicide terrorism, a tactic strongly encouraged by ISIS. The Government of the Philippines is now implementing a National Action Plan to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism, formulated in 2019, and the Anti-Terrorism Act passed in 2020. These developments could change the landscape of Politics Islam in the Philippines and its impact on the Government and Society of the Philippines.
In another facet, Islamic politics was used by some Filipino Muslim politicians during the general elections. From these various understandings, according to Banlaoi “Islamic politics has many facets, ideas and understandings. However, in order to examine more specifically, he analyzed the politics of Islam in the context of the Philippines,” he said.
Islam had already entered the Philippines in the 14th century as an influence of the development of Islam in Malaysia. In that era there were two sultanates, namely the Sulu sultanate which was established in 1405, which was then followed by the establishment of the Maguindanao sultanate in 1520.
This shows the great influence of Islam on the government and society in the pre-colonial era in the Philippines. However, this influence receded, especially with the beginning of the Spanish colonialization in 1521, which came with indicting Christianity to the government and society
In the Philippines, Muslims are classified as a minority group. However, they have a great influence on the community and the government due to the diversity of the food supply they inhabit. In the Philippines there are also very few Muslim intellectuals and some religious leaders who have an understanding of the politics of Islam.
They understand that Politics of Islam provides a narrative of resistance, because it is related to the ideology and activities of Filipino Muslim-resistant armed groups.
This international webinar event was also attended by a presentation from AAI Prihandari Satvikadewi, S. Sos, M. Med. Kom, who raised material related to the trend of wearing hijab in Indonesia.
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AAI Prihandari Satvikadewi, S. Sos, M. Med.Kom, Head of the Center for Gender and Child Studies (PSGA) University of August 17 1945 Surabaya explained material related to the trend of wearing the hijab in Indonesia. According to her, after the 1998 reform, the hijab in Indonesia has begun to spread to public. This is not only for religious activities, but also in activities in public spaces.
In 2001 in Indramayu and Tasikmalaya, West Java, it began to mandate the hijab in schools. However, it can be seen that the phenomenon that has just occurred in the near future in Yogyakarta that there is a forced wearing of the hijab in schools, causing this victim to be anxious and depressed.
In fact, starting in 2021, the government through theMinistry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Religious Affair, and Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a Letter of joint decree (SKB) the minister regulates dress and uniform procedures in primary and secondary public schools.
In the broader context of the Joint Decree (SKB 3 Ministers) must contribute to reducing the politicization of the hijab (and Islam) and recasting the extent to which the state has the right to regulate its citizens to dress,” concluded Satvikadewi.
