CHAPTER II
NURCHOLISH MAD JID ON
MODERNIZATION FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
It has been more than a century since scholars, Muslim and non-Muslim, began
focusing their attention on conditions within Muslim societies. They have tried to gauge the
religious response to the challenges of modem times by observing the role of the existing
interpretations and practices ascribed to Islam and the Qur'h, and their relationship to the
backward and stagnant conditions in Muslim societies. They have also called for a
reinterpretation and reformulation of Islamic traditions in order to suit them to the needs of
the changing contemporary period.'
John Esposito, in this case, has shown how varied the Muslim response to the issues
has been.' and how this variety has led to the emergence of various movements and schools
of thought? However, at the heart of the debate concerning the response lies the question of
' Several recent conferences in Southeast Asia can be mentioned as reflecting such specific
intellectual efforts. See for example Sharifah Shifa al-Attas, ed., tsl- and the ChaNcnge of
Modernity. Proceedings of the Inaugural Symposium on Isliim and the Challenge of Modernity:
Historical and Contemporary Contexts, Kuala Lumpur. August, 1-5, 1994 (KuaIa Lumpur:
International Institute of k l d c Thought and Civilization, 1996); and Religion and Society in the
Modern World: Islum in Southem Asia, proceedings of a confuence held in Jakarta May 29-3,
1995.
' See John J. Donohue and John L. Esposito. eds., Islam in Transition: Mulim Perspectives
(New York: Oxford University, 1982), p. 3.
' For a complete end detailed elaboration on these movements, see FazIw Rahman, "IsIam:
ChaUenges and Opportunities," in A.T. Welch and P. Cachia, eds., Islam: Past InfluenceCUtdPresent
Challenge (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1979), pp. 315-325; Aziz Alunad, Islornc
Modernism in India a d Pakistan (London: Oxford University, 1967); Issa J. Boullata, T r e h d
Issues in Contemporary Amb TItought (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990); Ali
Rahnema, ed.. Pioneers of Islamic Revivalism (London: Zed Books, 1994); and Ibrabirn Abu-Rabic.
Inteilectual Origins of Islamic Rwgence in the Modem Arab World (Albany: State Univetsity of
"Fathimah, Chapter ll, " 50
whether modernity may be equated with enlightenment, progress and the best hope for the
future of humanity, or whether it represents something destructive of and incompatible with
Islam and the ethical aspects of society, and in short whether modernization always entails
change to and usually the disintegration of a traditional religious system. This includes
questions as to whether modemization is basically the same as the processes of
rationalization, secularization, and Westernization. In addition, since modernity is something
inevitable and is a historical necessity, the questions also focus on how Muslims, as religious
believers, should respond and react.
It is important to note that such responses and reactions are becoming increasingly
urgent and significant, since despite the fact that modernism is generally considered to be
deceased and obsolete, there are many indication that it is still very much alive and up to
date.' Nurcholish Madjid, one of the most outspoken Indonesian figures of this cennuy,
also believes in the din need to address such issues. He has canfully considered the effects
of modernity on Islam in general and the points with which Islam not only can, but
ought to come to terms and amend its traditional concepts accordingly. As a theologian and
devout Muslim, he proposes an alternative solution to the problems that Muslims face in
responding to the challenge of the modem era -a solution which consists in formulating
a theological base for the theory of modemization. He agrees with the modem thinkers
that Muslims should respond in a positive and active manner to modemization as
New Yo& Press, 1996).
In contempomy social science. this perspective can be found in modernist thinkers such as
Jtirgen Habermas who does not regard the importance of postmodernist thought and still supports
the validity of modernity and its capability to guide contemporary life, since in his eyes modernity
has a clear philosophical root See JiIrgen Habemas, 17u Philosophical Discourse of Modernity,
translated by Fderick G. Lawrence (CTambridge, MA: The ha Ress. 1993).
"Fathimah, Chapter Il, " 51
an inevitable consequence of the historical process, since for him Islam and modernity are
conceptually compatible. It is the aim of this chapter to present his ideas relating to these
subjects.
The Meaning of Modernization.
In an attempt to understand better Madjid's ideas regarding the Islamic perspective
on modernization, it is necessary that the chapter fmt discuss briefly the historical
parameters and the general meaning of modernization.
Modernization or 'transmutation,' to use Marshall Hodgson's expression, has been
referred to as a new civilization which marks the development of a bundle of processes such
as dramatic growth in knowledge and science as well as technological advances in
communications, transportation and the modes of industrial production, the creation of urban
forms of life and the nation-state, etc? Whatever it is that scholars are trying to name and
comprehend by the term modernization and its values, it is something that has happened in
the real world within the last few centuries; the attempt to identify them rests upon the
premise that they constitute a new and distinct phenomenon in world development. This new
phenomenon, bringing with it changes that have been so profound and fundamental, seems
to present clear evidence that society is undergoing a great transformation, comparable
perhaps to that which occurred when the hunting economy changed to agriculture or when
' Marshall Hodgson and Arnold Toynbee mention that the birth date of the modem era can be
traced back to the 15th century (14504500); see their respective works The Venture of Islam
(Chicago: University of Chicago Ptess, 1974)' vol. 3, p. 176 and A Study of History (Oxford
University Press. 1957), vol. 2, p. 148. See also Madjid. Islam, Dokrin dim Peraddm (Jakarta:
Paramadina, 1992). p. 451- However, as an ecclesiastical and theo1ogia.I phenomenon,
modernization emerged onIy in the sixteenth century when the Protestant reformation took place.
See Hms J. Hillerbrand, "Refonnation." in EncycIopedia of Religion. vol. 12, pp. 244-254-
"Fathimah, Chapter 11. " 52
stone implements were replaced by bronze and iron ones?
Nonetheless, as a technical term which comprehends the essential features of the
process of modern history, modernization is of relatively more recent origin. It was not
introduced until the 1950s.' As a technical term, modernization has been defmed in almost
as many ways as there are social scientists. Yet with all the varieties of detail and emphasis
on its meaning from the economic, social, cultural, political, intellectual, and religious points
of view, the basic concept is quite clear. Most writers on modernization implicitly or
explicitly assign the following features to the phenomenon:
1. Revolutionary process; the change from tradition to modernity consequently involves a
radical and total change in the pattern of human life.
2. Complex process; involving changes in virtually all mas of thought.
3. Systematic process; changes in one factor are related to other factors.
4. Global process; in my event, all societies were at one time traditional; now they are either
modern or in the process of becoming modem.
5. Lengthy process; while modernization is revolutionary in the extent of changes it brings
about, it is evolutionary in the amount of time required to bring about those changes.
6. Phased process; society will move from one level to another level of modernization.
7. Homogenizing or universal process.
8. Irreversible process; society which has reached certain levels of modemization in one
decade will not decline to substantially a lower level in the next decade.
9. Progressive process; meaning that it enhances human well-being.'
While the majority of these statements elicit little argument, the last point, i.e., that
modernization inevitably entails "progress," is open to dispute. It seems that the attribution
James O'Connell. 'The Concept of Modernization." in Cyril E. Black, ed., Comparative
Modernizatiorz (New York: The Free Press. 1976), p. 13; and Lawrence Cahoone, ed., From
Modernism to Postmodemism: An Anthoiogy (Cambridge, MA: Blackweli Publishers, 1 B6), p. 1 1.
Habermas, The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, p. 2. It is important to emphasize here,
however. that this periodizationdoes not seem to be the case for every range of field. L fact, in
literary tradition, the 1950s were recognized by Irving Howe as the "end" of modemismand the new
beginning of postmodemism. See Cahoone, From Modernism to P ostmodemism, p. 8.
'S amuel P. Huntington, The Change to Change: Modernizatio~D~e,v elopment, and Politics,''
in Comparative Politics (April. 1971). pp. 283-322.
"Fathimah, Chapter Il, " 53
of 'progress" to modernization, particularly as far as ethical and religious aspects are
concerned, may not be appropriate. Despite the fact that modernity was originalIy defued
as largely analogous with progress due to its accommodation to positive values and the belief
that the present is better than the past, the meanings of "modem" and "progress" now seem
to diverge. Progress remains an open and positive term closely associated to improvement,
whereas modem or modernity has developed into amore relatively fixed yetpejorative term?
It has been equated unsympathetically with such terms as Westernization, rationalization and
secularization, the influence of which has led to an assumption that with the coming of the
modem era, the roles of religious institutions and traditional forms of piety are doomed to
an irreversible decline. Such an assumption, whose significance needs to be reexamined
carefully, has in turn justified the denials and negative responses by religious authorities. The
emergence of religious fundamentalism and postmodernism, for instance, have been depicted
as a red manifestation of the dissatisfaction felt with m~demization,'a~l though some
scholars have questioned such a reIationa1 position."
Peter L. Berger, Facing up to Modernity (New York: Basic Book Inc., 1977), p. 70.
lo Bruce B. Lawrence in his influential studies says that without modernity, there are no
fundamentalists; see his Drfcnders of God: The Fundamentalist Revob against the Modcm Age
(New York Harper and Row, 1989), p. 2 and Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence
(Princeton. NJ.: Princeton University Press, 1998). Cf. Cahoone, From Modernism to
PostmodemiJm p. 10.
" John Obert VoU and Martin van Bruinessen, for instance, argue that fundamentalism cannot
be considered as a distinctively modern phenomenon. He also stresses that the Hanbalf tradition and
early Islamic radicals like the KhiEjI'sect represent premodern expressions of a fbndamentalist style
of Islamic affirmation. See Voll, 'FundamentaIism,~i'n Esposito, ed., nte O+rd Encyclopedia of
the Modem Islamic World (New York, Oxford: the Oxford University Press, 1995). vol. 2, p. 33 and
Bminessen, cMusIimFundamentalism: Something to Be Understood or to Be Explained Away," in
Islam and Christian-Muslim Relatim, Vol. 6 (1999, pp. 157-171. See also Richard C. Martin's
assertion in his article entitled "Imagining Islam and Modernity: The Appropriation of Rationalism
by Muslim Modemists and Postmodemists." in Religion a d Society, p. 3; Mark R. Woodward,
'Takihg Across Paradigm: Indonesia, Islam, and Orientalism," in Woodwani, ed., Toward A Nau
"Fathimah, Chapter IZ, " 54
h the Muslim world, modernization in general is said to have begun during the
nineteenth century, spumd by the intrusion of modem Western ideas and ideologies such as
liberalism, rationalism, democratization, nationalism, pluralism, and secularism. In modem
Islamic history, the rejection of and bitter reactions to modernization and its global impacts
have been quite remarkable and appear to have been far stronger and more radical than those
which have been manifested in other religious traditions." Such reactions have undoubtedly
rendered the processes of modemization less effective and even counter-productive at times.
This may have been caused in part by the fact that modernity in the Muslim world was
introduced violently by way of force, that it was by a product of Western colonialism which
brought with it an intrinsic pattern of life lacking in human values.* Moreover, since the
polarity between Western colonizers and colonized Muslims has been equated with that
between Christians on the one hand and Muslims on the other, the term modemization is
correlated not memly with Westernization, but also with Christianization." Under such
Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic nought (Tempe: Arizona State University,
1996), p. 2. and cf. Martin, Woodward and Dwi S. Atmaja, eds., Defenders of Reason in Islam.
MuCtuziIismfromM edieval School to Modern Symbol (Oxford: Oneworld, 1997), pp. 76.
" Cf. Donald Eugene Smith, Religion, Politics, and Social Chunge in the Third World (New
York: Free Press, 197 I), p. 2.
l3 As is well known, the nineteenth century was the most critical period for the history of the
Muslim world; it was the period when almost all parts of Muslim territories were captured by the
Western colonizers. See Nildri R. Keddie and Harnid Algar, eds., An tsimic Response to
Imperialism: Politicai and Religious W~tingsof Sayyid Jam&&? -Din rcai-Afghhii' (Berkeley:
University of California press, 1983). p. 102; and Sheila McDonough, "Modernity in Islamic
Perspective." in Wiam NicholIs, ed., Modernity and Religion (Waterloo: WiIfrid Laurier
University Press. 1987). pp. 112-1 14.
" See Madjid,Tradisilsfam: Perm &n Fwrgsinya &lam Pem6ungunan di Indonesia (Jakarta:
Paramadina, 1997), pp. 7677. See also Jacques Waardenburg, 'Muslim Enlightenment and
RevitaIization: Movements of Modernization and Reform in Tsarist Russia (ca. 1850-19 17) and the
Dutch East Indies (ca 1900-1942); in Die Weft Des Islam, vol. 28 (1988). p. 574; Deliar Noer,
Thc ModernifiMuslim Movernmtin Idonesia 1900-1942 (KnaIaLumpur: Oxford University Press,
1973), p. 29; Abdallah Laroui. Islam et modemit4 (Paris: &ions La DCcouverte, 1986). p. 163;
' Fathimah, Chapter n, " 55
circumstances, it is no surprise that many Muslims should not only reject modernization as
something foreign, but also challenge it and battle against it as a force inimical to the faith
of blam.
In Indonesia, mainly because of colonization, Islamic modernism did not emerge until
the beginning of the twentieth century, at which time then wen established several reform
organizations, such as Jami'at K h a (~19 05), S.D.L (1905), Muhammadiyah (19 12), S. I.
(19 12), Al-Irshiid (19 l3), Persis (1923), N. U. (1926), Masyumi (1945), H.M.I. (1947), and
others.lSThe image of the modem lifestyle as epitomizing Western and Christian colonialism
rendered indigenous Muslims antagonistic to modernization generally. Muslims, for
example, were forbidden by their religious leaders to attend Dutch schools, whether or not
these were open to them, or to learn their sotailed Western sciences. As well, they were
forbidden to dress or act like the Dutch, wch as by wearing a tie or trousers, or to learn the
Roman alphabet or speak their language, etc. Their extraordinarily Iong, unpleasant and
traumatic experience at the hands of Christian Dutch colonizers (no less than three and a half
~entwies),~%vhwoe re regarded as the epitome of all that was "modem," prejudiced the
--- -- -
CAO. van Nieuwenhuijze, Paradise Lost: Reflections on the Struggle forAuthenticity in the Middle
Em (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1997), p. 89. Cf. Hodgson The Venture of lslm, vol. 3, p. 203; and
Woodward, 'Talking Across Paradigm," p. 3.
Is However, it is crucial to note that the emergence ofthese reform movements might have been
necessitated in part by the condition in which Dutch colonizers decided to apply a new and different
strategy to treat Indonesians. It was the time when they introduced the so-called "ethical politics"
whose agendas consisted of promoting education, irrigation, and migration. See Madjid, Trodsi
Islam, p. 1 17; Tau- AbduIlah, Treface," in Swdi, Haji Agus Salim don Konfllik Politik &Itam
Sarekat Islam (Jakarta: Pustaka Shar Harapan, 1997), p. x. Cf. Noer, Zhe Modernist M d i m
Movement, pp. 29-30.
16See for example accounts of Noer, me Modhist Muslim Movement, pp. 7-8; Hamid Algadri.
Dutch Policy Againsr Islam and Idonesians of Arab Descent in Indonesia (Jakarta: LP3ES, 1994).
p. 1 ; Karel S teenbrink, Dutch Co[onialismmd lndonesionlslmn. Contactsad ConfIies 2596-1950
(Amsterdam, Atlanta, GA.: Rodopi, 1993). trans. by Jan Steenbrink and Henry Jansen; Cf. Akbar
"Fathimah, Chapter Il," 56
population to such a degree that it seemed as though another three centuries would have to
pass before Muslims could accept ideas and theories coming from the West. For this to
change, the concept of modernization would have to be depicted as containing no harm for
them, their culture or their religion. Efforts by the reformist Muhammadiyah movement, for
instance, were apparently not ample or strong enough to change the general perspective of
Muslims regarding modernization and its related principles. Even with almost half a century
having elapsed since the birth of the Muhammadiyah and other Muslim reform movements,
Muslim intellectuals still have to struggle to promote the idea that the essential principles of
modernization do not contradict those of Islam and that Islam in fact encourages the spirit
embraced in the modem outlook,
Indonesian Muslim attitudes since the beginning in 1966 of the New Order era, as
Madjid points out in his writings, can be seen as reflecting this persistent misconception of
modernization. The bulk of 'ulame" and other Muslim leaders have tended to be
conservative, even fanatic, in their religious attitude. They have not shown much flexibility
in accepting new educational, culnual, economic, political, and other social changes made
by the New Order government whose development agenda prioritizes industrialization and
modernization." What is more is the fact that the psychological, ideologicd and political
factors implied in the above statements have been supplemented by theological grounds.
S. Ahrned, Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society (New York: RoutIedge
and Kegan Pad, 1988). pp. 117-142.
I7Madjid, The Issue of Modernization among Muslims in Indonesia: fbmaPanicipmt's Point
of View," in Ahmad Ibrahim, Sharon Siddique. Yasmin Hussain. (eds.), Readings on Islam in
Southern Asia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1985), p. 385; and in several parts
of his Islam, Kernodeman dan Keindonesiaan, Agus Edi Santoso, ed. (Bandung: Mizan, 1987). See
also F.R. Von der Mehden, Religion und Modemitatron in Southeast Asia (Syracuse: Syracuse
University Press, 1986). p. 90.
"Fathimah, Chapter Il, " 57
Many Muslims seem to be having difficulties in accepting the changes brought inherently by
the process of modernization on the grounds that mch innovation is considered as bi#a and
therefore un-Islamic." This fact has given rise to the impression held by the governments
and individuals in the West that Islam is clearly antithetical to modernity.
However, with the growing number of Muslims who have access to modem
education, there has been an increase in the attempts to clarify and reexamine the prevailing
ideological, political and theological barriers attached to modernization. The purpose of these
studies has been dedicated primarily to remedy the image of Islam as antithetical to
modernity by trying fmt of all to expose different facets of the controversial phenomenon
and to formulate a theological underpinning for it.'' It is partly as a result of such studies that
the concIusive idea that modernization and Islam do indeed reinforce one another has began
to flourish. Well-known contemporary Muslim thinkers and scholars such as Fazlur Rahman
(19 Wl988), IsmiFil R H .a l-F~q(i1 921-1986), Mohammed Arkoun (b. 1928), Seyyed
Hossein Nasr (b. 1933), Hassan Hanafi @. I935), 'Abdul a l - h i m Suroush (b. 1945) and
others have undoubtedly contributed significantly to the process?0
In Indonesia, this trend is represented by Nurcholish Madjid, one of the most
They, for example, based their argument on hdth such as "man tushabbaha biqawmin
fuhuwa minhwr" which they translated as "whoever imitates a peopldtribe, he is part of them." See
Madjid, Islam Dobrin dan Peradaban, p. lvi. See also Bambang Harymurti. "Sebuah Pembaharuan,
Sebuah Tradisi." in M.RusIi Karim, ed.. Muhammadhah Dalam Kritikdon Komentar (Jakarta: C.V.
Rajawali, 1986), p. 5. For the authenticity of the hadah, see AJ. Wensinck, Concordance et Indices
& la Tradition Musulmane (Leiden: Brill, 19921, vo1.3, p. 62.
l9 Madjid, IsIam, Doktrin dan Peradaban. pp. 468 and 484.
20 Such studies also come from non-Muslim scholars who possess a comparatively sympathetic
a W e towards the interpretation of blamic history and tradition. like Montgomery Watt, Marshall
Hodgson, John L. Esposito. John Obert Voll, Ernest Gellner, Maxime Rodinson, W i d Cantwell
Smith, Issa I. BoulIata, Howard M. Fedenpie!, Robert F. Hefher, Mark R Woodward, and others.
"Fathimah, Chapter n, " 58
influential Muslim intellectuals to have emerged this century. In his attempt to overcome
problems faced by Indonesian Muslims in the early period of the New Order, ranging from
Muslim rejection to participate in the government's modernization program to the tendency
on the part of the secular elites and nationalists to support the government who adopted
blindly Western concepts of modernization, Madjid has proposed an alternate Islamic
outlook of modernization. Following in the general footsteps of the earlier reformist thinkers,
Majid's proposal not only stresses the importance of Islam and tries to prove its compatibility
with the spirit of the modern age, but it also impresses the young generation (hum mu&),
in particular, with the need for reforms in the social and economic structure of the Muslim
community?' However, he does not hesitate to criticize the secular elites and nationalists
for proposing reforms and changes that would violate the religious spirit of Islam. He
attempts instead to redefine the concept of modernization and to interpret it according to the
Islamic context. In this case, his major concern is to explicate, for exarnpk, how in the
theory of modernization, terms like 'Westernization,' 'rationalization.' and 'secularization'
have been perceived and how Muslims should perceive them. This concern is especially clear
in Madjid's early writings and speeches but it is also detectable in his later works. One can
follow the development of this discussion and thereby elicit an idea of what Madjid
precisely means by the concept of "~lamicm odernism.'' Madjid's significance in this case
can be said to lie in the fact that he situates the presentation in relation not only to the works
of Muslim thinkers but also to those of non-Mush theorists as well.
" Madjid. Isfam, Kerndemon h n Keindonesiaan, pp. 171-220.
"Fathimah, Chapter ?I, " 59
1. Modernization and Westemization.
As was mentioned earlier, it is generally accepted that the rapid growth of knowledge
and technology, which came to be characteristic of the modem era, got its start in Western
Europe during the eighteenth century. It is also widely recognized that the Western nations
fist developed the political, economic and social institutions that are best adopted to a
modem way of life. The comparatively high standards in health, education, and welfare
achieved by these societies are regularly used as yardsticks by which other societies are
measured. Western countries are, in this sense, seen as the most successful in making use
of modem knowledge with its strong emphasis on liberalism and individual freedom for
human improvement? Therefore, it is not surprising that Western institutions, not only the
political but also the social, economic and religious ones, may be regarded as appropriate
models for other societies to follow if they want to become modem. In other words, in order
to be modem, a society has to be Westernized.
This interpretation of history presenting the ethnocentric view, even though in
reality it does not always match the ideals, is still very dominant in Western scholarship.
Daniel Lerner, for instance, explains that modernization appears to be equivalent to
~esternization? He argues that since modernity requires a systemic transformation of
Madjid. Islam, Kemodernnn dan Keindonesim, p. 274. See also Black, Comparative
Modentitrrtiun, pp. 2-3.
Lerner, The Passing @Traditional Socicty (Illinois: Free Press, Glencoe, 1958). p. 46. Gala1
A. Amin and aI-EarSiqT also regards that modernization occurred in the Arab and Third WorId is
nothing else than Westernization. See Gala1 A. Amin, The Moderniurtion ofP4veny r A Studj in the
Political Economy of Growth in Ninc Arab Countries 1945-1970 (Leiden : Brill, 1974); and al-
Fmqi, AI-TawNd: Cis imp1ieoton.r for Thought and Lifi (Virginia: IIlT. 1992). 2nd edition., p.
xiv. See also Bodata, Tre& ond issues in Contemporary Arab Thought, pp. 99-105 and Derek
Hopwood, 'The Culture o f Modernity in Islam and the Middle East," in John Cooper, Ronald L.
NettIer and Mohamed Mahmoud, eds, Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intetlectuali Respond (New
"Fathimah, Chapter IT," 60
Mestyies and since it is the nations of the West that wen first modemized, it is logical then
that modernization requins the adoption of a Western mode of existence." However,
modernization can create problems, particularly when it is related to the cultural aspects of
a particular civilization, especially where it is the religion that defines its traditional identity.
To impose this type of modernization on a Merent civilization, as implied in Lerner's
statement, would mean the elimination of such identities in the latter. For this reason,
Western-centric interpretations and application of modernization have been frequently
criticized and challenged by religious thinkers? One of the most incisive appraisals is given
by Madjid. Quoting Lucian W. Pye, he confrrs the fact that Western-centric or Euroceotric
modernization is evident in the existing conventional concept of modernity and
modernhation, to the extent that it may even be depicted as a process towards
Westernizati~n.H~o wever, if Madjid argues that it is a substantial error to identify
modernization as ~esternizationi,t ~is not mainly and necessarily due to the alleged affinity
between Westernization and imperialism, nor simply because of the association between
Westernization d Orientalism and Christianization, as the majority of Muslims would
believe.= Hanafi, for instance, is also of the opinion that the history of the world was
written as if the West were the very center of the Universe, and Westernizing tendencies in
York, London: I.Be Tauris, 1998), pp. 1-2.
Lemer, The Passing of Traditional Socieq, p. 46.
An illuminating discussion on this topic with special reference to Arab culture can be seen
in Issa l. Boullata, Trends and Issues in Contempomry Arab Thought.
" Madjid. Islam Do- dm Peradoban, pp. 454 and 530.
" Madjid, Islim, Kemodernan don Keindonesi~np, . 187and Bifik-Bilik Pesantren: Sebuah
Ponet Perjalanan (Jakarta: Pammadina, 1997). pp. 88-89.
" See Madjid's discussion in his Tradisi Islam, pp. 76-80.
"Fathimah, Chapter ll. " 61
the process of modernization have become common realities outside the European and
American territories? But, Hanafi goes further by contending that Westemization is
unacceptable, not only since it results in the annihilation of national cultures and identities,
but also since it serves as a cultural form of imperialism over Muslims by Western societies,
which brings in its wake the concepts of Christianity and Orientalism?
For Madjid, such affinities between Westemization, imperialism and Orientalism
cannot be accepted as entirely red and adequate, since according to him Orientalism was in
fact developed first in Germany, a country that had virtually no colonies compared to other
Western countries such as England, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium.
Madjid asserts that the ground of Orientalism itself was not deliberately to destroy Idam and
its culture as was that of colonialism. Rather, Orientalism arose out of Western curiosity and
the fact that traces of Islamic influence are evident in modern civilization?' Furthermore,
Madjid seems to believes that imperialism, Christianization or Westernization are one thing,
and that Orientalism or modernization are quite another; they cannot be identified with one
another simply because they all have the same master, the West. Even if there were such
29 Hassan Hanafi, Islam in the Modern World: Tradition, Revolurion, and Culture (Cairo: The
Anglo-Egyptian Bookshop, 1995), vol. 2, p. 356. See also al-Fmqi, Af-Taw&-d, p. xiv.
'O Hanafi, Islam in the Modern World, vol. 2, p. 353. See also Laroui, Mum et modernit&, pp.
160-163; and G.H. Bousquet and J. Scbacht, eds., Selected Work of C. Snouck Hurgronje (Leiden:
EJ. Brill, I957), p. 267.
3' Madjid, Kdi Langit Peradaban Islam (Jakarta= Paramadina, 1997). p. 58. See also Bernard
Lewis, "The Question of Orientalism," in Tslm and the West (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), pp. 117-1 18. Cf. Mona Abaza, 'Tecceptions of Middle Eastem blam in Southeast Asia and
blamic Revivalism," in Oricnr, vol. 35, no. 1 (1994), p. 107. For Muslim response against
Orientalism, see Edward Said, Orierualism (New Yo* Vintage Books, 1979), p. 2; A. L Tibawi,
''English-Speakiag Orientalists: A Critique of their Approaches to blam and Arab Nationalism," in
The Muslim World, vol. 54 (1963), p. 19 1; Donald P. Little. ''Three Arab Critiques of Orientalism,"
in The Muslim World, vol. 69, no. 2 (1979). pp. 110-13 1; Waardenburg. "AL-Musta&r@din," in ET,
vof. vii, pp. 735-753.
"Fathimah, Chapter IL " 62
tendentious connections among them, or even if there was evidence, for instance, indicating
the use of modernization and Orientalism as tools in the colonial effort to destroy Islam and
to dominate, Christianize, and Westernize Muslims," this does not mean that Muslims
should reject the entire notion of modernization and Orientalism. Nor should it legitimize
deIiberate accusation leveled by Muslims that the latter are ultimately destructive in n a m
as that of imperialism? As Madjid suggests, such realities should be enough to motivate
Muslims to adopt a careful and critical attitude to guard against any possible misleading
judgments and tendentious conclusions, especially about Islam, as a result of such
colab~rations.M~ adjid seems to regret the fact that Edward Said's and the earlier A. L.
Tibawi's propositions, that Orientalism is nothing other than the West's primary agenda to
32 Madjid, for instance, does admit the fact that modernization and Orientalism had functioned
as a political weapon against Muslims during the period of Western colonization, by for instance.
Snouck Hurgronje who served as political advisor of the Dutch during their occupation in Indonesia
and had been very successful in using such weapon to weaken the power and the unity of Muslims.
Also. he does not deny the fact that Westernization and Christianization also happened to be parts
of the colonizers' main agendas in Indonesia. See his Islum, Kemdernan dan Keindonesiaan, pp.
193-20: and Islam Agama Perudaban: Membavgun Makna dnn Relevansi Dokrin Islam &lam
Sejuruh (Jakarta: Paramadina, 1995) , p. 307. See also Noer, Thc Modernist Muslim Movement, pp.
2 1-23; Algadri, Dutch Policy Against Islam, pp. 12-1 4; and S teen brink. Dutch Colonialism,
especially section on ''The Age of Mission (1850-1940); pp. 98423.
33 Some Muslims argue that colonialism had a conspiracy to Westernize and Christianize
Indonesia Such an impression can be seen for instance in Rasyidi, "Usaha Mengkristealrao
Indonesia dan Dunia," Suura Mrrhammclci&ah, vol. 1-2 (January, 1968), p, 3ff, quoted from
Muhammad Kamal Hassan, Muslim intellectiiui Responses to "Nov Order" Modernization in
Indonesia (KuaIa Lumpur. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustalca Kementrian Pelajaran Malaysia, 1982). p.
7.
Madjid. Kakihngit PeradzbanIslam. pp. 65-66. Besides, as Olaf Schumann says, the history
of classical and modem civilization has shown how coIonialism has had subtantid factors more in
political andeconomic conflicts rather than in ~Ligiouos r ethnic. See Schumann, ''Christian-Muslim
Encounter in Indonesia," in Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Wadi 2. Haddad, eds., Christian-Mush
Encounters (Gainesfille, Horida: University Press of Ronda, 1995). p. 285-299 and Schumann,
'Tersepsi Diri clan Pempsi Majemuk di B q " in Agum dnn Dialog Antar Peradoban (Jakarta:
Paramadina, 1996).
"Fathimah, Chapter I ' " 63
colonize Muslims culturally, has legitimizeds uch a c o ~ e c t i o n . ~ ~ e s pthiet mea ny criticisms
of such propositions and other similar appraisals of Orientalism, the vast majority of
Muslims still very much believe in its truth. This, in Madjid's view, contributes sigruficantly
to the diffkulty that Muslims have in accepting it as an objective phenomenon and continues
to make them suspicious of Orientalists and Westerners in general." Also, although to some
extent these factors had some positive impact on and benefits for Muslim interests," they
nevertheless bear a great responsibility for the long-lasting negative psychological effects that
Muslims have suffered, particularly in terms of their perspective on and attitude toward
government and modernization. Madjid illustrates the significance of the Western colonial
framework and its impact on the perception that Muslims are antimodernity and antigovernment,
and on the prevailing anti-Islamic image held by government and nationalist
leaders?' Referring to V.S. Naipaul's book, Among the Believers, McDonough arrives at a
similar conclusion:
IS Madjid, Kaki kngit Peraduban Islam, p. 58. For a comparative assessment of Said's and
Tibawi's approach to Orientalism. see Little, "Three Arab Critiques of Orientalism," pp. 110-1 31.
Cf. Tibawi's counterargument against Little's, "On the Orientalists Again." in The Muslim Worldt
vol. 70 (1980), pp. 56-61.
36 Madjid, Kaki Lungit Perahban Islam, p. 58. It is interesting to note that not only are the
Westerners considered as the Orientalists, but also the Muslims whose ideas show basic approval
of the Western paradigms or who were trained in Western educational institutions are to be called
Orientalists or at least agents of Western Orientalism. For example, such attribution is given to
Madjid himself by his opponents. See Cak Nur in Focus, nd; and Woodward, "Talking Across
Paradigms," p. 12. Little has also given similar attribution to Tibawi and Abdel Malek as
"Orientalists by profasion" who have spent their careen reading and digesting Orientalism. See
Little, "Three Arab Critiques of Orientalism," p. 121.
" Madjid, TrudisiIslam, p. 18. As an iIIustrationl they had created peopIe's sympathy towards
the people with Islamic faith as those who saffeted from the hostility of the Western Christian
coIonizers and made a major and effective contribution to the spread of Islamtbroughout the Muslim
world. Cf. WE. Wertheim, Indonesian Society in Transition: A S&y of Social Change (The Hague
and Bandung: W. Van Haw, 1956), p. 196.
'* See Madjid Islam, Kemudernwt don Keindonesiuan, pp. 84.85.96-97 and 200.
"Fathimah, Chapter 11, " 64
[AJlthough almost 200 years have passed since the Napoleonic invasion,
Muslim nations still tend to perceive Western nations as aggressive and
rapacious. Modemity as a way of life mediated by Western societies therefore
seems to many Muslims to produce human beings who appear to be
subhuman, that is lacking in compassion, justice, and aesthetic sensibility.
Many Muslims have therefore envisaged the challenge of modernity as a
problem of how to strengthen themselves so as to be able successfully to
resist domination by the powers they perceive to be inninsically hostile?'
Madjid's views seem to be in line with those of Akbar S. Ahmed in suggesting that
Muslims need to be more objective in looking at the case of Orientalism since it has indeed
had a positive contribution to Muslim culture particularly in the modernists' efforts to find
the best way to reformulate the fundamental principles of Islam!* For example, Madjid
quotes Muhammad Fu'Hd cAbd al-Biiqi's story about Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh who had
benefited from using a French Orientalist's methodology in his tafsii.? This confiis H. A.
R. Gibb's position that Orientalism was mainly an academic tradition promoting Western
attempts both to find out the truth about Islam, which has long suffered due to its dislocation
from a formal outward process and inner realities, and to speak on behalf of Muslims about
it? Unfortunately, this fact, as Madjid notes, has been misinterpreted by some Muslims, such
as Muipmiad al-Bahi, who accuses modernist Muslims of posing the same danger as the
Orientalist~P.~e rhaps Madjid's call for a keener approach to the issue of Orientalism is
39 McDonough, "Modernity in Islamic Perspective." p. 112.
" Madjid, Kaki hngit Paradaban Islam, pp. 63 and 66; Ahmed, Posmodernism und islam:
Predicament and Promise (London, New York: Routledge, 1992), p. 180.
'I Madjid, Kaki h g i t Peradah Islam, pp. 60-6 1. See also =AM al-Biiql, 'Muqaddima li aITabea
d-ThEniya," in Tdsr'i dNt dQur'& & ~(Cairo: ~DHr QyB,' aI-Kut ub al-CArabiyya,
1955). the author's translation of Jules La Beaume [I 806-1 8761, Le Koran Aaal'e p. 6.
Gibb, Modcrn Trends in lslam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1947). p. 108; Said,
Orientalism, pp. 28 1-283; and Little, "Three Arab Critiques of Orientalism," p. I 10.
' See Madjid, Kcrki Lungit Peradzban Islam, p. 61; and aI-Bahi's work A l e al-IsCM d-
Kit&& wa S'ahhu bi al-btPm& af-Gli&f(Cairo: Maktaba Wahba, n.d), pp. 17 1-200.
"Fathimah, Chapter ll, " 65
tenable, considering Bryan S. Turner's statement that "there were in fact many forms of
Orientalism and it was inadequate to lump so many diverse traditions into asingle Orientalist
tradition.'" Indeed, Said himself mentions, though in a completely different tone and with
a different implication, the possibility of looking at another face of Orientalism, for as he
cornmeats on Gibb:
The ground [Orientalism] had shifted considerably from Hurgronje to Gibb,
as had the priorities. No longer did it go without much controversy that
Europe's domination over the Orient was almost a fact of nature; nor was it
assumed that the Orient was in need of Western enlightenment. For Gibb, the
West has need of the Orient as something to be studied because it releases the
spirit from sterile specialization, it eases the affliction of excessive parochial
and nationalistic self-centeredness."
Furthermore, Madjid' s observation is clearly correct considering the case of the postcolonial
orientation of the Orientalists. As Madjid remarks, colonial Orientalism was colound by the
perspective of the Christian concept of heresy, in that it has misrepresented lslam and denied
its existence." However, quoting Phillip K. Hitti, Madjid shows that the emergence of
modem Western scholars has contributed to the change in the Orientalist tendency to ignore
the significance of Islam due to political bias." In this case, Madjid mentions names like
Marshall Hodgson, Kanl Steenbrink and R. W. S~ u t h e r nB. e~s ides, Madjid argues that the
Turner, Orientalism, Posrmodenzism and Globalinn (London: Routledge. 1994), p. 5.
'' Said. Orientath, p. S7.
" Madjid Islam, Aguma Peradubun, pp. 308-309.
" Madjid, KakXangit Perodrrban I s h , p. 65 and idom. Agma Perdaban, p. 3 12. The same
tone can be found in H. M. Fedenpiel. "The Endurance of Muslim Traditionalist Scholarship: An
Analysis of the Writings of the Indonesian Scholar Sirajudd'i Abbas," in Woodward, ed., Toward
a New Parudigm, pp. 193-220. See also Boullata's Totes of the Qparter" of the MESA meeting in
1974 in which Orientalism is said to be dead rather than turning to a new direction. The Mc(s1im
WorH. vol. 65 (1975). p. 69.
"M adjid, I s lu~A,g cuno Pemdaban, pp. 300-309.
"Fathimoh, Chapter Il, " 66
concept of Orientalism as described by Said needs to be rethought since nowdays it has a
tendency more to connote "regional studies" and, therefore, scholars are no longer called
Orientalists but are given new attributes such as Arabists, Iranists, Indonesianists, etc?
However, many people, such as Said and Hanafi, seem to ignore this fact and
consider that there is no actual difference between the orientation of the old-colonial and the
post-colonial perspectives of Orientalism. They believe that in any case, Orientalism always
carries with it political bias against Islam. Also, one might criticize Madjid for missing the
point that albeit Orientalism in some ways did emerge as an effort to clear up misconceptions
about the religious message of Xslam, it was primarily intended as a way to acquire better
understanding of their own religious sources;so or using Thierry Hentsch's phrase, as a way
"to look at oneself through the other."J But, for Madjid, despite the bias and prejudice that
any Orientalkt perspective might have, it would be equally hostile for Muslims to promote
a counter-conceptl ike "Occidentalism,"'~as what Hmafi and other 'ulamZ have been trying
'' See his article "Menatap Masa Depan Islam" in Ulumul Qur'un, no. 1, vol. V (I994),
repubished in Madjid, Dialog Keterbukaan: Artikulasi NNil daiam Wucana hsial Politik
Kontemporer, Edy A. Effendy, ed. (Jakarta: Pararnadina, 1998). p. 121.
" Woodward, for instance, stresses that although from the beginning there was a tendency to
focus primarily on the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad, this focus was largely due to the centrality
of the gospels and the importance of the sacralized biography of Jesus of Nazareth in the Christian
tradition. See Woodward. 'Talking Across Paradigms." pp. 21-24. Cf. Little, "Three Arab Critiques
of Orientalism," pp. 1 10-13 1.
'' Thierry Hentsch, L'Orient imaginain: la vision politique Occidentale de 1'Est mediterranien
(Faris: Les Editions de Minuit, 1988), p. 8. Cf. Abaza, "Perceptions of Middle Eastern k1m."
p. 107.
a Madjid, Kdi Langit Peradaban Islam, pp. 65-66. In this case, Madjid seems to share ideas
with Turner and Akbar S. Ahmcd See their respective works Religion Md Sociul Theory: A
Materiuiiist Perspective Qondon: Heinemann Educational Books, 1983). pp. 20-21 and
Po~tmodcmismp, . 177.
"Fathimah, Chapter I&" 67
to do? Madjid's absence in engaging in the discourse may indicate his overall disapproval
of such an ideological approach."
Madjid's belief that modernization does not connote Westernization is based more
on the theory that although the origins of the modem age are to be found in the West, the fact
is that modernity also constitutes a historical necessity, a natural continuation of human
history." Thus, it does not really matter where the modem era got its start, since it would
have had to take place somewhere else if it had not been in the West. What seems to be more
significant, in Madjid's view, is that as a historical necessity and a logical order of the
historical process, modernity constitutes further development of a variety of previous
achievements of human civilization which can be said to be the defining roots of the modern
era However, as Turner notes, the sociological problem has been to decide which of these
former developments has been the most profound in determining the countours of modernity.
Madjid claims that it was Islam that played the fundamental role in nurturing the roots of the
modem era. As Madjid aptly remarks:
The forming ingredients of modem civilization were taken from the earlier
experiences of societies around the world. Since geographically the center of
the premodern civilization was located in the Middle East with its strong
Islamic cuIture, it can be concluded that Islam is then the kind of civilization
For Hanafi's account on Occidentalism, see his islam in the Modern World. vol. 2, especially
sub-chapters on 'bFmmOrientalismto Occidentalism," pp. 353366; and Wew Social Sciences," pp.
447-472. Also see Kazuo Shimogaki, Between Modernity and Post-Modernity; The Islamic Lrfr and
Dr. Hmsm HaMfi's Thought: A Critical R e d n g (Niigata-ken: Kokusai DaigaIcu, Chiit6 Kewjo,
1988), pp. 53-54.87.132-133.
h Indonesia, there has been an ongoing debate among Muslims about the need to establish
this new counter research approach called Occidentalism, expressed in the works of thinkers like
Burhanuddin Daya, "OccidentaIisrne," Muzairi, "Orientalisme dm Oksidentalisme: Suatu Agenda
Masalah," and Alef Theria Wasim, 'Madjid Fakbcy Tentang Fundamentalisme dm Oksidentahne,''
among others. See AI-Jami'ah, no. 53 (1993), passim.
" Madjid, Islam, Doktrin dim PcrnAnhan, p. 452 and idem, Tr0d.i Islam, pp. 66 and 79.
"Fathimah, Chapter 2 . " 68
that contributed the largest part of the classical elements to the modem age?
It is interesting to note that in this case Madjid appears to concur with Reinhard
Bendix, whose criticism of Lerner's evolutionary approach does not prevent him from
admitting the fact that such "studies of social change are not possible without a 'before-anciafter'
model of the social structure in q~estion."W~h ile Madjid seems to believe that an
Islamic antecedent of human knowledge is indeed justified by many Western scholars
themselves,n the mainstream scholarship on modem Western scientific progress has still
effectively denied the Islamic part?
There is another and more important sense in which the association of modemization
with Westernization, in Madjid's thought, is inappropriate. Like Weber and other Weberian
- -- - - - - -. " Madjid, islam. Kemodernun dun Keindonesiaan, p. 274. The same idea is repeated by Madjid
in several other places such as in his Islam Dokrrin dun Peradaban. pp. xxxvii-xxxviii, 451-452.
456,473475 and Kaki kurgit Peradabarz Islam, p. 15 and 17. See also Osman Bakar, ''Islam's
Destiny: A Bridge Between East and West, in Japan, Islam and the West: Peuceficl Coexistence or
Conflict?, Second International Seminar on Civilisational Dialogue organised by University of
Malaya and Japan C u l ~ aCl e ntre, Japan Foundation (l996), p. 6.
" In accordance with the evolutionary perspective of social development, a history is
interpreted with the help of a theory of stages which assumes that a higher stage emerges from a
lower one and preserves, continues, and cumulates its achievements. Reinhard Bendix, the most
severe critic of the evolutionary approach in favor of Max Weber, is depicted as the founder of an
historical sociology that rejects evolutionism and the philosophy of history. See Wolfgang
Schluchter, The Rise of Western Rationalism: Mar Weber's Developmental History, trans. by
Guenther Roth (Berkeley: University of California Press, 198 1). pp. 1-3.
In this case, Madjid refers to scholars like Max Dimont, Bellah. Dermenghem, Abraham S.
Halkin. George F. Kneller. Gustave von Gmebaum, Peter Davies. See his Islam, Dokrin dm,
Perudaban, pp. 154-158 and Kaki Langit Pcmdrban Islam, pp. 13-16.
" O'Connell, for instance, does not include Islam in his Iong list of the forming ingredients of
modern civilization. See his "The Concept of Modernization," p. 16. See also Turner, Orientalism.
pp. 7 and 10; and Ozay Mehmet, Westemiring the Third World: the Eurocentricity of Economic
Development Theories (London, New York: Routiedge. 1995), p. 9; and idem, Islnmic Identity md
Development : SMes of the Islamic Periphery (London. New York: Routledge, 1990), pp. 8 1-84.
"Fathimah, Chapter ll. " 69
thinkers such as Robert N. ella ah," Madjid considers modernity to be a universal or global
phenomenon, just as he sees social theories such as modernization as possessing also the
basic epistemological character of science in general, i.e., it is neutral or value-free and it is
therefore interchangeable and transmissible;" Islamic modernization can be applied as one
way of giving value to the theory? This would be the nucleus of what Syed Muhammad
Naquib al-Anas calls the "dewestemization of knowledgemo or what al-FTuEqi refers to as
the "Islamization of kno~1edge."I~n this case, it is important for Muslims to be able to
distinguish between modernization as a universal theory and modemization as a Western
theory." Such a differentiation is necessary considering what Ozay Mehmet says, which is
that 'Western economic development theorizing has been formulated as Western-style
rational behaviour in mainstream market theory is universal, whereas in fact it is not.''66
" As is well known, Weber with his comparative approach to modemization theory makes
modernity as a neutral model in space and time for processes of social development in general. See
his The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit ofCapitalism, trans. by Talcott Parsons, intro. by Anthony
Giddens (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1958). p. 24; Habermas. The Philosophical Discourse
of Modcrni~p, . 2; Schluchter. The Rise of Western Ratiomlism, p. 3; and Bellah, Beyond Belie
Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditional World (New York, Evanson. and London: Harper & Row,
1970), pp. 41-43. Cf. Bryan Wilson, "Secularization: The Merited Model," in Phillip E. Hammond,
ed.. The Sacred in o Secular Age: Toward Revision in the Scientific St* of Religion (Berkeley:
University of California Ress, 1985). p. 10.
61 Madjid. Islam. Kernodeman &n Kehdonesiaun, pp. 268-267 and 273; idem, Islum, Doknin
dm Perdaban, pp. 451-453; and idem, Bilik-Bilik Pesantren: Sebuuh Potret PerjalaMn ( J U :
Paramadina, 1997). p. 89.
" Madjid. Islam, Kemodemn dan Keindonesiaan, p. 268. See aIso Saiful Muzani. '%lam
ddam Hegemoni Teori Modernisasi: Telaah Kasus AwaI," in P r h , no. 1, year22 (January 1993).
p. 74.
" See Al-Attas, Id&, Secukarism and the Philosophy of the Future (London: Mansell
Publishing Limited, 1985), p. 127.
" For FZqfs account on this, see his article ''Islamizing the Social Sciences." in Studies in
Islam, vo1.16, no. 2 (April, 1979), pp. 108-121.
" See also Madjid's elaboration on modernization as rationalization, infm.
" Mehmet, Westernking the Thinl world, p. 8. The italics is his.
"Fathimah, Chapter It" 70
Failure to do so, a mistake which many Muslims have been known to make, will lead to the
misassumption that modernity or modernization is indeed incompatible with hlam since they
would misinterpret modernization as meaning Westernization in the sense of applying the
Western theory of modernity. It is on this point that most people, in particular his Indonesian
critics, fail to judge fairly or understand adequately most of Madjid's ideas. This was the
situation in Indonesia at the beginning of the New Order period, when Muslims, in particular
the conservative groups, did not agree with the modem Western-Oriented policy that the
government had adopted in pursuit of development and modernization. They accused the
government, which had employed the so-called "program Oriented" strategy, and of its
supporters, including Madjid and his associates in the H.M.I., of placing policy above Islamic
values. They did not realize that what Madjid and his associates were trying to accomplish
was not in fact so different in principle fiom their own agenda; only the approach they used
varied. Madjid's approach in this case and in others as far as can be discerned was the socalled
contextual or substantial approach as opposed to the scriptural?
Madjid also observed that the Western concept of modemization has been of
ambivalent value in that the impact of rapid social changes and technologicai advances has
inevitably caused serious socio-psychological problems, such as alienation and loneliness,
consumerism, dehumanization and moral degradation? This is one of the reasons why the
mThe term "substantialist" is used by Liddle who borrows it fiom Bahtiar Effendy . See LiddIe,
"Media Dakwah Scriphlralism,"h Toward a Nnv Paradigm pp. 327-328 and Effendy, 'ZsIam and
the State: the Transfomtion of Islarnic Political Ideas and Practices in Indonesia," Ph. D.
dissertation, Ohio Unkrsit, (1994). See also Chapter I, note 79, supm.
" Madjid, islam, Dohrin &n Per&ban, pp. 531 and 536. Madjid indicates that these negative
impacts have also been rralivd by the Westerners themselves who are now dealing with attempts
to overcome the crisis. See for exampIe Nicholls, ''Immanent Transcendence: Spirituality in a
Scientific and Critical Age," in Modernity and Religion. p. 167.
"Fat himah, Chapter ll. " 71
West today is seen by many Muslim intellectuals as a failure, both culturally and socially,
to serve as a model for M u s h societiesdg And such phenomena also explain in part why in
Islam revival and reform more often resulted from a moral rather than a theological impulse
in the sense that modernization ought to take place within an Islamic framework of values
so as to avoid falling into the decadence of the West." Indeed, as Madjid explains, another
possible motivation for the search for Islamic relevance to modernism is dissatisfaction with
the prevailing Western paradigms, for both socialism and capitalism have shown themselves
unequal to the task of maintaining human prosperityn As a theologian and a Muslim
believer, Madjid is, of course, very much concerned with the idea that modernization must
include an ethical commitment and attitudinal concepts allowing religion and modernization
be in harmony with one another.
Accordingly, Madjid is in favor of Muslims retaining their national and traditional
identities, as Hanafi states, while still keeping pace with global modernity? In this case,
Muslim societies should be studied for their own sake, and not simply in terms of their
relationship to Western influence. This does not mean that the Western idhence is not a
significant force; but rather, that it is secondary to the conversion the heritage of Muslim
@ Martin, "hgining Islam and Modernity,'' p. 4. See also VoU, 'Tslamic Renewal and the
Failure of the West," in Richard T. Antoun and Mary Elaine Hegland, eds., Religious Resurgence:
Contemporary Cms in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University
Press, 1987), p. 127.
Madjid, Islam, Doktrin &n Perdaban, p. 537. See also Fazlur Rahman, "Roots of Is1amic
Neo-Fundamentalism," in Philip H. Stoddard, et al., C h g e and the Muslim World (Syracuse:
Syracuse University Press, 1981), p. 24; and Sheila McDonough, Muslim Ethics and Modernity A
Comparative St* of the Ethical 7bught of SayyidAMKhan and MmIallcl Mawdudi (Ontario:
Wiifrid Laurier University press, 1984).
" Madjid. Islam, Duktrin dan Pemdabun, pp. 468 and 484.
Madjid, Islam, Doknin dnn Peradzban, pp. xv-xvi. Cf. Turner, Orientahn, pp. 8-9.
"Fathimah, Chapter 11. " 72
societies must undergo." Besides, there are alternative conceptions of modernity or
rationality in non-westem c~untries?M~ alaysia presents one of these, for there the
government has adopted a so-called ''look East" policy in which Japan and South Korea are
presented as models of how modernization can be implemented while still retaining moral,
religious and traditional value^?^ Nonetheless. it is important to note that in Madjid's view,
such respect for traditional and indigenous values means rejecting not only Western, but also
other foreign cultural influences, including Arab ones. In other words, if modernization need
not be regarded as Westernization despite the fact that modernity got its stzut in the West,
neither should Islamization be seen as a foreign cultural impact. Even though lslam had its
origin in the Arab world, Islamization certainly does not mean habization." It is primarily
on this point, perhaps, that Madjid's neo-modernism, in which he takes a contextual
approach to Islam and the Muslim tradition, fmds its relevance."
" For funhcr analysis on this, scc Subratn Kumnr bG.iiaa, cd., Ttre Post-Coloiiid St- in Asia:
Dialectics of Politics and Culture (New York Harvester, 1990).
" For an interesting discussion on this. see Mehmet, Islamic Identity ond Development.
75 For a detailed account on 'Look-East' policy, see Jomo K.S., "Japan and Malaysia: A New
East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere?:' in Japan, Islan and the West, pp. 1-13. Som observers like
NichoLls, however, doubt the traditional remnants of modem Japan since they believe that there is
no such thiog as traditional religion in modernized societies. See his "Immanent Transcendence,''
p. 168.
" Madjid, Islam, Dobin dm Pemdaban, p. 358. See also his interview in Matra, no. 77,
(December 1992), n.d., republished in Madjid, Dialog Kctcrbukaan: Artikulasi Nilai Isfatn dalam
Wacana Social Potitik Kontemponr, Edy A. Effendy, ed. (Jakatta-. Paramadine, 1998), pp. 127-152.
Cf. Mona Ab- "Perceptions of Middle Eastern Islam," p. 107.
More elaboration on this subject is to be found in chapter III on the section entitled "Neo-
Modernist Approach,'' infiu.
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