The Indonesian Difference: Nationalism, Islam, and Pancasila Pluralism from State Formation to the Present

Abstract

The relationship between religion and the state in Indonesia is unique within the Muslim world, as Indonesia’s state is neither fully secular nor fully Islamic. This chapter traces the history of Indonesia’s unique balance between church and state, examining both the historical development of the archipelago’s particular approach to Islam and the development of the Indonesian national idea. At critical points in Indonesian history, key actors made strategic compromises that helped form a unique and relatively stable synthesis known as Pancasila. The theistic pluralism Pancasila represents has survived rebellions, authoritarianism, and a turbulent democratic transition and is so far mostly weathering an upsurge of Islamic populism around the world. Critical to this story are two groups. Religious minorities, Christians in particular, have played a key role in shaping the religious dimensions of Pancasila, as the need to accommodate Indonesia’s Christians led to a moderation of some early attempts to make the state more Islamic. Even more critically, Indonesian Muslim organizations, particularly Nahdlatul Ulama, have adopted and defended Pancasila in their own right, often against other Muslim groups and sometimes even against the government itself. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the future: the stability of the Pancasila coalition; the challenges that arise from Islamic populism and departures from Pancasila in some local jurisdictions; and the growing global significance of Indonesia’s Humanitarian Islam movement.