Democracy and the Islamic State: Muslim Arguments for Political Change in Indonesia

Abstract

The main argument of this article is that there has been a significant development in Muslim acceptance of democracy in Indonesia. By comparing two generations of Muslim intellectuals, this paper shows the congruence between the decline of the Islamic political agenda with the rise of a new Muslim generation often dubbed as liberal Muslims. I argue that there is a significant role played by this new Muslim generation in advocating and promoting the idea and practice of democracy. By developing Islamic arguments in dealing with the modern political concepts mostly imported from the West, they are able to vindicate the compatibility of Islam and liberal democracy.