Indonesia’s Islamic Revolution

From 1945 to 1949, as the nascent nation of Indonesia fought off Dutch re-colonization, several simultaneous understandings of the fight were current among the fighters. The Islamic understanding, calling the fight against the Dutch a Holy War and expecting the creation of an Islamic state, was held among religious militias and pious communities across the archipelago. This presentation, a summary of Dr Fogg’s forthcoming monograph, explains some of the characteristics of the Islamic understanding of the revolution at the grassroots level, and contrasts that experience with the struggle of Islamic politicians in the highest echelons of the government. Finally, it draws some conclusions about how the Indonesian revolution set up the structures of Islamic life and politics in Indonesia until today.