Summary of Week 3: The Making of Indonesian Ideology

References: Moch Nur Ichwan, “The Making of a Pancasila State”

Introduction

Based on the paper, Indonesia has experienced the ideology issues that was stared in

the early 1970s. The problem occur due to the fact that unlike Turkey, the Secular-State

won’t fit the Indonesian situation. Therefore, the government tried to make its own version

of ideology due to the unique characteristic of Indonesia.

Implication - The form of Pancasila has become such kind of huge debate as the Indonesian

identity due to its position that is considered as Secular-Ideology while keeping its religious values. It

is caused due to the fact that many in the other Muslim-World the movements for independence

were made by Muslim-dominant parties; while in Indonesia the movement were carried equally by

both of the religious and nationalist ones. The role of Indonesia founding father such as Sukarno and

Mohammad-Hatta were the western-educated leader that unified both the nationalist and religious

leader of Pre-Independence Indonesia. In one hand, the Pre-Independence Indonesia who were

colonized by the Dutch didn’t speak any religious matter in the politic matter. This creates the

climate for both of the politician and society to run their way of thinking as same as the western-

paradigm way. This has created such kind of rare case where the government encouraged the official

political debates on the relations of religion and state between parties many times.

In one hand there has also a kind of association regarding to the secularism between the nationalist groups with the anti-secularism groups. Therefore, this implication makes Indonesia mix both of the values; this makes Indonesia implies the democracy government in the populous Muslim Society. During the end-time of Japanese Occupation; Indonesia has proposed its new Ideology that is called as Pancasila. The story can be traced from the declaration of the Jakarta Charter; the issue that arisen during that time was about that Indonesia could become a kind of Islamic State. It is caused due to the fact that there was a kind of debate among the founding fathers regarding to the first point that obliged the citizen to comply with the Islamic rules. This issue was then solved by the change of the first rule in the nowadays Indonesian Ideology that is called as Pancasila.

During the era of Sukarno, there were some important parties that came from Persatuan Islam; Educated in Dutch-managed secular schools and university, and inspired by secular Muslim scholars Ali Abd al-Raziq, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and other Turkish scholars, Sukarno tried to promote the idea ofsecularism that separates the state from religion. Separating the state from religion, he argued, is for the betterment of religion itself, in order that religion grows well in society and is distanced from dirty politicization. Which was then challenged by Muhammad Natsir and Ahmad Hassan who argued that Islam teaching should unify the state and religion; this means that the Sukarno’s promotion towards the religion and state contradicts Islam values or can be simply translated as a “non-religious”. The debate was then followed during the preparation of Indonesian Independence during Japanese occupation in the BPUPKI and PPKI. The meeting was then continued by the issuance of the now recognized ideology that is called as Pancasila. Which is filled with the rules of: 1. Belief in One Almighty God.2. Just and civilized humanity.3. The unity of Indonesia. 4. Democracy guided by inner wisdom in unanimity arising from deliberation amongst representatives. 5. Social justice for all of the people of Indonesia.

Timothy Jevon Lieander

14/361200/EK/19720