‘NOT A RELIGIOUS STATE’\ud A study of three Indonesian religious leaders on the relation of\ud state and religion

摘要

This article explores the concept of a ‘secular state’ offered by three\udIndonesian religious leaders: a Catholic priest, Nicolaus Driyarkara\ud(1913–1967), and two Muslim intellectuals who were also state\udofficials, Mukti Ali (1923–2004) and Munawir Sjadzali (1925–2004).\udAll three, who represented the immediate generation after the\udrevolution for Indonesian independence from the Dutch (1945),\uddefended the legitimacy of a secular state for Indonesia based on\udthe state ideology Pancasila (Five Principles of Indonesia). In doing\udso, they argued that a religious state, for example an Islamic state,\udis incompatible with a plural nation that has diverse cultures,\udfaiths, and ethnicities. The three also argued that the state should\udremain neutral about its citizens’ faith and should not be\uddominated by a single religion, i.e. Islam. Instead, the state is\udobliged to protect all religions embraced by Indonesians. This\udargument becomes a vital foundation in the establishment of\udIndonesia’s trajectory of unique ‘secularisation’. Whilst these three\udintellectuals opposed the idea of establishing a religious or Islamic\udstate in Indonesia, it was not because they envisioned the decline\udof the role of religion in politics and the public domain but rather\udthat they regarded religiosity in Indonesia as vital in nation\udbuilding within a multi-religious society. In particular, the two\udMuslim leaders used religious legitimacy to sustain the New\udOrder’s political stability, and harnessed state authority to\udmodernise the Indonesian Islamic community.