The Contested State of Sufism in Islamic Modernism: The Case of the Muhammadiyah Movement in Twentieth-Century Indonesia

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    9 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Muhammadiyah in Indonesia is commonly known not to be very sympathetic
    towards mysticism in terms of its manifestations in mystical religious fraternities and
    pantheistic identity mysticism. Although its stance versus these religious phenomena
    seems to be very clear, many of its members are struggling to determine their attitude
    towards the issue. The continuing uncertainty about its legitimacy is evident from the
    questions Muhammadiyah members send to the Suara Muhammadiyah regarding this
    topic. In this article I focus on the Muhammadiyah’s ‘official’ vision through its first
    hundred years of existence. My thesis is that its rigidness in rejecting ‘mystical and
    spiritual’ manifestations is not only caused by its fear of unbelief and heresy, but also
    closely related to the political and social circumstances in which it is confronted with
    these ‘mystical and spiritual’ manifestations in the first place.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)183-219
    Number of pages37
    JournalJournal of Sufi Studies
    Volume3
    Issue number2
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

    Keywords

    • aliran kepercayaan
    • mysticism
    • Indonesia
    • Muhammadiyah
    • Islamic modernism
    • kebatinan
    • polemic
    • religious diversity
    • Sufism
    • tarekats

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The Contested State of Sufism in Islamic Modernism: The Case of the Muhammadiyah Movement in Twentieth-Century Indonesia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this