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Abstract
The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the development of political Islam in Indonesian politics by employing a social movement approach to study the political trajectory of Indonesia’s oldest and largest Islamic student movement Himpunan Mahaswisa Islam (HMI), The Islamic Students Association. For the last 30 years, the alumni of HMI have risen to become the most influential political actors in Indonesian political life. However, unlike other Islamic organisations in Indonesia that have influence in the country’s political life, there is a dearth of research in the extant literature on HMI and its domination of Indonesian politics. To carry out this research, a review of the development of the political thinking of the Kaum Santri, commonly translated as the ‘Pious’ Community of Indonesia, was first undertaken as it is from this community that HMI was spawned. This study is subsequently divided into a prism of three sections. In the first section, it is shown that as a socio-political community, the Kaum Santri, through its thinkers, organisations, politicians and public officials occupy the role of maintainers and developers of political Islam in Indonesia. So, the origins of Islamic political thinking in Indonesia, its subsequent inception and development by the Kaum Santri are discussed. The development of Islamic political thinking from a ‘scripturalist’ outlook to that of a ‘substantialist’ one and its affect on political Islam in Indonesia is addressed. In addition, due to its similarities, a comparison to the current development of political Islam in Turkey is analysed. The second section of this dissertation then examines how the legacy of Kaum Santri Islamic political thinking has influenced HMI and in turn HMI’s influence on Indonesian politics. The dissertation demonstrates that through the adherence and implementation of its variant of political Islam, HMI has been successful in the infiltration of its alumni within the corridors of power — including the army, bureaucracy, inside political parties as well as in Government departments and bodies which has led to the increasing ‘santrification’ of political life in Indonesia. However, in line with the social movement approach, as the practice of oligarchical democracy and decentralised clientelism have consolidated Indonesia’s post-Suharto political landscape, whereby personal wealth and/or the ability to access state resources determine political influence, the final section evaluates whether the success HMI alumni have had through its infiltration of Indonesian politics, has translated to a success for the cause of political Islam in Indonesia and helped enrich Indonesian political society in general.