A new book by ANU specialists presents the first collation of the many different views of Islam in Southeast Asia from Muslims themselves.

“There’s no need to be tricked by the title. I really am a troublesome demon who reeks of death. But don’t misconstrue this: it doesn’t mean that I’m an anarchist or paranoid. I’m just normal, you know.” Imam Samudra, page 373.

This confession from a “troublesome demon” is one of the more intriguing extracts from a new sourcebook on Southeast Asian Islam.

It is the first book of its kind on Islam in the region to be published in the English language, and the only place to find extended translated writings of the perpetrators of the 2002 Bali bombings. The man intent on pleading his normality in the extract above is Imam Samudra, one of the masterminds behind the attack.

But don’t assume that Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook concentrates on the most radical interpretations and actions of Muslims in the region. Such extreme views are held by only a very few of the nearly 215 million Muslims in the region, sourcebook co-editor Dr Greg Fealy says.

“Our argument for including these extracts is that it’s important to understand the basis for these views. Even though very few Southeast Asians interpret their religion in such an extreme way, you only need a small of group of people carrying out a terrorist attack to have enormous consequences for the region and for perceptions of its Islamic community.”

The extracts of Bali bombers Samudra and Mukhlas, as well as the general struggle guidelines of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), are published in a chapter alongside more moderate writings on jihad, which is a central and much debated element of Islamic belief. Extracts of a text titled Characteristics of the Pious Woman, taught at a Central Javanese Islamic school founded by JI leaders Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and Abdullah Sungkar, are also contained in the Gender and the Family chapter.

Reading the extracts in isolation would not convey the intricacies of Islam, and both editors felt it important to include chapter introductions and extract commentaries to provide crucial context. For example, Fealy’s introduction to the jihad chapter explains jihad as a complex, guiding principle for many Muslims.

“Jihad can take a wide variety of forms. It can mean the personal struggle to make oneself a better Muslim through prayer and fasting, and by acquiring a deeper knowledge of the faith. It can mean a broader exertion to improve society through charitable works, religious teaching, political activity, economic initiative and social leadership. It can also mean fighting against injustice, ignorance and oppression through preaching and writing. Finally, it can mean armed struggle or holy war, particularly against enemies of the faith. Indeed, jihad is the only legal form of warfare permitted in Islam.”

Sourcebook co-editor Professor Virginia Hooker says Southeast Asian Muslims who were consulted on the book’s contents emphasised the importance of including materials on the peaceful concept of jihad alongside the extracts of the writings of the two Bali bombers.

“They were concerned that the extremists’ views not be seen as the general view, and that they be seen as abhorrent. I believe there is shame in the region that the terror attacks occurred and therefore to have anything that appeared to give air space to that splinter group was of concern to them.”   

While taking such concerns on board, the researchers felt it was important to include in the sourcebook both moderate and radical views that have not been widely published in the West. 

“A lot of the materials, particularly the JI materials, are not widely available either to Western or Southeast Asian audiences,” Fealy says. “They really give the most detailed and revealing accounts of why they [the terrorists] did what they did.  The handwritten documents have been read by very few people and certainly not translated and published before this.”

According to Hooker, it is difficult to appreciate the pressure on mainstream Islam if examples of the thinking of hard-liners are not given.

“In order to understand mainstream Islam, it’s necessary to see the extreme views so that you can see how the more moderate thinkers have to frame their own positions to counter what the extremists are saying.

“I think it has been hard for people in the region to understand that non-Muslims outside of Southeast Asia don’t know what the mainstream position is, so they’re having to ask themselves ‘Well, what do we think?’ and then having to articulate it. To a certain extent some of the extremist writings are shaping the debate and the beauty of this book is that all the information is given in context.”

Chapter 11: ‘Sharia’

“You can imagine what would happen if sharia were actually to be implemented as state law. Dissension would occur not only between Muslims and non-Muslims, but also within the Muslim community itself. This would clearly be dangerous.” Ahmad Shafii Maarif, pg 150.

Islamic law, or sharia, is a hotly debated subject in Southeast Asia. Some nations have implemented state-determined laws for Muslims in a few realms of life – specifically family law, banking and finance – but the region’s legal system is predominantly secular, thanks partly to colonial history.

But the benefits or otherwise of the full implementation of sharia is a regular topic of public discussion – particularly in Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous nation of Muslims – and the divergent views on sharia are presented in the sourcebook.

“The sharia chapter was one that was very difficult, because sharia is so contentious in the region,” Hooker says. “There are so many points of view ranging from judges and academics, to women activists and politicians. There are some quite daring attitudes towards it on many fronts which make it interesting.”

The tough job of choosing which extracts were most representative of the diversity of views on sharia for the chapter typified the main challenge of the book – what to include and what to exclude.

“We had a lot more material translated than we could use in the book, so a good deal of cutting was required,” Fealy says.

“From the outset we said an objective was to capture the breadth and depth of thinking on Islamic issues and some of the attitudes of Southeast Asia. That meant for many chapters we had to try and include more extracts and make them shorter.

“Looking at the sharia chapter, for example, choosing what was important to Muslims themselves, and what was important to say about the regulation of Islamic life in parts of Southeast Asia, required a lot of thought and consultation with regional colleagues,” Fealy says.

“We couldn’t just read something and say, ‘This part was interesting’ or ‘That part was interesting’, we had to prioritise the most representative and illuminating parts.”

The chapter on Islam, State and Governance contains the oldest extract in the sourcebook, dating back to 1945. “In this chapter we wanted to trace through the evolution of thinking, so that’s why we have quite a few documents from the 1950s too – they allow us to see the development of the debate on an Islamic state,” Fealy says.

The extracts of the sourcebook are preceded by country overviews, which describe the history and current state of Islam in the region, including Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The editors didn’t have to look outside of ANU for experts to write the country overviews, drawing on the great depth of scholarship on Southeast Asia at Australia’s national university. Even the map on the inside cover of the Sourcebook was drawn by Cartographic Services in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.

“The breadth of knowledge certainly comes out in the overview chapters, where we didn’t have to go outside of the University for those authoritative summaries on Islamic history, society, and politics, which is an impressive achievement for the ANU,” Hooker says.

Chapter 10: ‘Personal Expressions of Faith’

“So I think I really have to demonstrate my Islamic identity in the way that the Qur’an stipulates, that is, by wearing a headscarf. This also differentiates me from other people. When people see someone walking without a headscarf, they’re unsure about their identity – whether they are Muslim or not – but if they see a woman wearing a headscarf they see straight away the Muslim identity of that person.” Khairunisa, pg 120

When the first draft of the sourcebook was presented to the consultative committee of Southeast Asian Muslims for “frank feedback”, the predominant suggestion by those gathered in Canberra was the addition of the opening chapter, Personal Expressions of Faith.

“The Personal Expressions chapter aims to reflect what it means to be a good Muslim to individuals in the region. Its inclusion has become very important to introducing Islam as a religion without having to do it in an obvious way,” Hooker says.

This section of the sourcebook covers the rise in religiosity; the pillars of the religion; Sufism (the spiritual aspect of Islam); manifestations of piety, including views on education, health and healing, and dress; and Islamic culture and civilisation. Some of the primary material was collected by Hooker, who interviewed a range of Indonesians about their views of their religion. The previous extract, where a young girl describes the connection between identity and head dress, is from one of those sources.

The issue of dress – particularly the headscarf – is also addressed from different perspectives in the Gender and the Family chapter of the book (in Indonesia the headscarf is called jilbab, while in Malaysia it is called tudung). Contentious issues and their place within Islam – work, polygamy and abortion – are also discussed in this revealing chapter by ANU academic Dr Sally White.

All of the book’s extracts are from primary sources, including the writings of clerics, academics, politicians, journalists, rebel leaders, heads of government and ‘lay’ Muslims. The editors have attempted to authentically preserve these writings throughout the translations, reflecting the original form as much as possible. The sourcebook also contains 21 colour plates, including paintings, cartoons and photographs of significant Islamic sites and leaders.

“We had a group of people and combed websites, libraries and newsletters, and along with our own sources tried to identify key primary sources representing a spectrum of views,” Hooker says.

“We chose extracts based on their representativeness, that they represented a particular stream of view in an articulate manner,” Fealy says. “We then just tried to explain the material in as even-handed a way as possible and let people decide what makes the particular extract distinctive.”

“The main thing for us is that we have accurately portrayed the views of Southeast Asian Muslims, and that we have provided the information without passing judgement so the reader can make up their own minds.”

The Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific.

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ANU Reporter 
Summer 2007