Islamic Parties between Sacred and Profane: Transformation of the Concept of Party in the Muslim Political Discourse

The article is devoted to the analysis of the transformation of the concept of Islamic party in the Muslim political discourse. Considering the processes of separation of Islam and politics as the formation of independent communication systems, the authors try to find an answer to the question of how, despite doctrinal restrictions, the notion “Islamic party” managed to acquire the features of a stable political concept. The authors propose a hypothesis, according to which, as the socio-political modernization of the Arab countries proceeds, the political system appropriates this concept, thereby specifying Islamic values at the level that allows to combine these values with new power institutions and fulfill specific political actions with these values. To test this hypothesis, the authors turn to the analysis of the temporal structure of the concept of party in Quran (Sunnah), the texts of the first ideologues of the Muslim Brotherhood and the rhetoric of the modern Islamic movements that occupy stable positions in the national parliaments. As a result of the study, the authors document the polysemantics inherent in the Islamic doctrine and identify the main parameters of the temporalization and pragmatization of the concept. According to their conclusion, the Islamic parties’ abandonment of Quranic time and placement in the national-historical contexts, as well as the erosion of their initial core values, determine the mo dern perception and functional significance of such parties: they act as an institution that differentiates Islamic norms and ensures their combination with the institutions of the nation state that emerged in the process of moder nization.

Conservative Islamic factions vs. secular nationalists: toward a civil contestation in democratic Indonesia

This paper describes how Indonesia’s presidents have delt with Islamist and secular nationalist political contestation since the preparation of Indonesian independence and how the current president compares. Soekarno’s initial reliance on civil discourse ended in his autocratic decree that banned the Indonesia’s most powerful Islamic party (Masyumi). Soeharto’s initial iron-fist approach ended up meeting some Islamic demands. B.J. Habibie helped transformed Indonesia through a democratic election in 1999, but the leader of the winning party, Megawati was defeated in the parliament that elected a pluralist Muslim cleric, Gus Dur. Gus Dur’s administration, ended by the central axis, suggests that liberal democratic processes cannot be applied in an increasingly conservative Muslim majority country. Megawati lost, partly because she is a female president unpopular among the Islamists, while SBY was sympathetic toward the Islamist’s demands, enhancing the “conservative turn.” Jokowi has used discursive and legal approaches to promote Pancasila in challenging the hardline Islamic demands, enabling him to ban HTI and FPI and to implement the speech freedom-limiting laws, leading to criticisms and the decline in the 2020 Indonesia's Democracy Index. Jokowi’s expansion of these laws to maintain unity and stability may be deemed an “authoritarian turn,” but I argue that it may be more appropriately called “the Pancasila turn.” In framing and analyzing Jokowi’s laws as a Pancasila turn, I am arguing in this paper that this lays the foundation for a more equal, civil, and democratic contestation.

Politics and Election Studies in Terengganu Darul Iman: A Preliminary Study of Systematic Analysis Literature Review

This article is a preliminary study using systematic analysis of literature review for politics and election studies in Terengganu. Based on Table 1, the party that ruled Terengganu had changed thrice from 1959 to 2018. This started from the first general election until the 14th general election. At the beginning of 1959, Terengganu is governed by the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; Parti Islam Se-Malaysia). Nevertheless, the state ruling was taken over by Perikatan or BN in 1964 to 1995 and was seized by PAS in 1999. In 2004, BN managed to occupy the government seat once more, but it lasted for only 15 years compared to the years before because, in 2018, PAS managed to win the hearts of the Terengganu people to rule the state back again. The purpose of this study is to identify the number of studies and research themes in the studies on politics and election in Terengganu. Apart from that, the voting pattern in Terengganu from 1959 to 2018 is also included as the basis of knowledge about the election in Terengganu. Keywords: Elections; Politics; Terengganu; PAS; Systematic Review.

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (Pas) in Malaysia Politics: A History of Tuan Guru Nik Aziz’s Scholarship and Leadership in Establishing an Islamic State in Kelantan

The study seeks to examine the brief history of political Islam in Malaysia with a focus on Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party/Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). The emergence of PAS in the early 1950s marks the beginning of the involvement of Islamic Movements in politics as a platform for the revivalism of Islam in the region. In addition, the role of PAS leaderships also briefly discussed with a great emphasis on the leadership of PAS political maestro, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz bin Nik Mat. His piety in Islam is translated into his political thought which are influential during his involvement in politics. Tuan Guru’s upbringing and his education background had biggest influence towards his worldview on politics. This study described his contribution on Islam and in Malaysian politics, especially his grand idea on the establishment of Islamic state in Kelantan. The idea of ideal Islamic model of a state was established in Kelantan. It is in line with his perspective of how a society should operate and the functions of government in micro-managing the society. As a conclusion, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz plays an important role within PAS and to the establishment of the model of Islamic State in Kelantan.

Path Dependence Repetition Dinamika Perkembangan Partai Proto Islam Indonesia, Sarekat Islam (1911-1940)

This article aims to describe the trajectory of the development of Sarekat Islam (SI) in the pre-independence era by using path dependence analysis and critical junctures. In this context, important political decisions made by the proto-Islamic party agents will identify various alternatives determined by their antecedent conditions, as well as a series of follow-up causal events after critical junctures as path dependence patterns that lead to an outcome or outcome of the development of the SI organization. explained that there were three stages of the development of the Sarekat Islam organization, which transformed into the Sarekat Islam Party (PSI) and the Indonesian Sarekat Islam Party (PSII) which were produced by three agent decisions in moments of critical juntures, namely the stages of growth, division and decline. Key word : Critical junctures, Path dependence, the proto- Islamic party

Changing Character of Political Islam in Pakistan

Pakistan's confessional parties are re-inventing themselves. The Parties that are carrying a legacy from the time before partition are struggling to keep themselves relevant in mainstream political discourse. Pakistan's political landscape is changing because of the rise of Tehreek-i-Insaf, a progressive center-right political party that has altered the electioneering environment in Pakistan. Two main confessional parties Jamaat Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulma e Islam Fazal Ur Rehman (JUI-F) are trying to develop an inclusive and pluralist political agenda. JI is a hierarchical Islamic party whereas JUI-F is a network Islamic party. Political Islam is in the process of shrinking in Pakistan because of the rise of political alternatives and outdatedness of the political and electoral discourse of confessional parties. Political Islam in Pakistan is changing by improving its ideological, political, and organizational structure in relation to its contemporary rivals. Changes in political Islam are not because of intellectual diversity and growth within confessional parties but to manage and compete for the rise of competing domestic political perspectives. Transnational connections with like-minded Islamist groups have scaled-down as the like-minded religio-ideological partners are termed as extremists and terrorists.

MENGAPA PARTAI ISLAM BELUM PERNAH MENANG?: PATH DEPENDENCE REPETITION KEKALAHAN PARTAI ISLAM INDONESIA DALAM PEMILU LEGISLATIF 1955 HINGGA 2019

Sociologically, Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, however no Islamic party has ever won the legislative electoral since the Old Order. There are limited research which link the defeat of Islamic parties with their own history as a context. This study uses the perspective of historical institutionalism, particularly the analysis of path dependencies and critical junctures to analyze the defeat of Indonesian Islamic parties by linking the past political decisions in a critical junctures framework. This study has two main findings. First, the defeat of Indonesian Islamic parties during 1955 to 2019 elections was the result of a causal mechanism which was related to political decisions in moments of critical junctures. The mechanism had a significant effect on the path of development of Islamic parties and led to the outcome of defeat. Second, the defeat of the Indonesian Islamic party indicates a path of dependence repetition which includes three process dependence paths triggered by three critical moments in the form of political decisions of party agents. Each resulted in a series of causal follow-up events in the aftermath of critical juncture, which were the process of reactive sequences, reinforcement or self-reinforcing sequences, as well as reinforcement or self-reinforcing sequences and reactive sequences, and put Islamic parties on a certain development path towards the final outcome of the legislative election defeat.

Ideologies, Brands, and Demographics in Muslim Southeast Asia: “Voting for Islam”

This chapter reviews recent research on popular support for Islamic parties, focusing on Muslim Southeast Asia. It distinguishes among several different linkages between voters and political parties that generate votes for Islamic parties: religious ideology, party brand, and demographic association. Voters face choices among religious and nonreligious parties that bundle together various appeals, only some of which are directly tied to religion, and voters may vote for parties either out of policy concerns or as an expression of their identity. The central implication of this argument is that voting for an Islamic party is not always a vote for Islam, and voting for a non-Islamic party sometimes is. This warrants caution in interpreting popular support for religious parties as evidence of popular support for religious agendas. It also warrants caution in interpreting the success of non-Islamic parties as a defense against religious agendas. Using the cases of Indonesia and Malaysia to illustrate the challenges in inferring voter intentions from vote choices in multiparty electoral systems, the chapter outlines a research agenda that better embeds voter behavior in its sociological, historical, and institutional contexts.

Electoral Power Structure of Islamic Parties in Reform Era Indonesia

The Islamic political parties in the Reform era grew up exceeding the period of Parliamentary Democracy. In the electoral competition during the Reform era, Islamic political parties did not receive adequate votes. The votes won by Islamic parties tend to go down from election to election. There are several factors that have caused the Islamic party to fail to win the support of Muslim votes. First, Islamic parties are fragmented and internal conflict. Second, Muslim voters do a change in ideological orientation which no chooses an Islamic party but a nationalist party. Third, nationalist parties accommodate Muslim aspirations by forming Islamic organizations. Fourth, the crisis of leadership of the Islamic party. Fifth, the absence of a real party program. To improve the electoral, Islamic parties must concern on programs to improve people's welfare, democratization, eradicate corruption, and realize social justice. The leader of Islamic parties must be exemplary, visionary, integrity, and rooted in the community.

Competitive Authoritarianism in Malaysia

This chapter investigates how the same questions of ideology, identity, and institutions that complicated Singapore's integration has remained pertinent throughout Malaysia's development. It analyzes ways in which the state, economy, and society of Malaysia have all changed structurally and significantly over time. Most especially the installation of the Barisan Nasional (National Front, BN) coalition in the early 1970s. The chapter talks about the Alliance, Socialist Front, and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PMIP or PAS) that offered ideological alternatives until episodic ethnic unrest peaked with riots following the 1969 elections. It also mentions Tunku Abdul Rahman who used the violence as justification to suspend the nearly completed election and declare emergency rule.