The Inclusive Islamic Model in Indonesia as a Critique Study of Samuel P. Huntington's "Clash Of Civilizations" Theory

Abstract

This article aims to explore a phenomenon called Islam Nusantara in Indonesia, as a critical study toward the discussion of islam dimension in the book entitled “ The Clash Of Civilization and The Remaking of World Order “ written by Samuel P. Huntington.  As for the result, it shows some weakness of the theory of clash of civilization which is mainly seen either  from theoretical or historical approach. There is an inconsistent use of realism approach in its theoretical building. Beside that, Huntington looks confused on choosing between the geographical or religious ground to identify the so called civilization. Lots of conflicts in the world are not based on differences among civilization. The fact that Huntington only deals with Islam in Middle-East is very problematic. It creates false impression as if Islam is merely represented by one region or cultural domain. Our case is trying to prove that the model of Islam Nusantara could potentially clarify some misleading understandings about Islam in his theses. We find that the phenomenon of Islam Nusantara is quite contradictive to Huntington’s argument about Islamic dimension. Islam could adapt well to various local cultures and modernity at some degree. The practices of Islam Nusantara in Indonesia, the largest moeslem country in the world, has been providing different face and dynamic of Islam. We argue that the model of Islam Nusantara, Which is pioneered and promoted by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has been able to display Islam that characterized with attributes like moderate, non-radical, inclusive, and tolerant.