The pre-colonial Archipelago period of Indonesian history witnessed rapid Islamization. The kingdoms or sultanates served as the centre of emerging Islamic socio-political and cultural dynamics. In this article, the crucial role that the kingdoms played in facilitating Islamization will be examined, giving strong emphasis to how they emerged as hubs for ‘ulamā’ who Islamized  the people of the Archipelago. This process created an Islamic network with the ‘ulamā’ introducing rulers and society to Islam. Islamization unified the people in the “lands below the winds” under one religion. This connecting process was further facilitated by the rise of Malay language alongside the Jawi (Arabic) script as a medium for intra-regional communication as well as Islamic expression. The experience of being Islamized created a collective memory of being part of “the others” and laid a strong foundation for the unification of Indonesian society today.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v25i2.5682

This

is a journal publishedby the Center for the Study of Islnm and Society (PPIM), IAIN Syarif Hidayatullnh, laknrta (STT DEPPEN No. 129/SKDITIEN/PPG/STT/1976) nnd sponsored by the Department of Religious Afairs of tlrc Repttblic of Indonesia. It specializes in Indonesian Islamic studies, and is intended to commtmicnte original researches and current issues on the subject. This journnl warntly welcomes contributions from scholars ofrelated disciplines.All articles published do not necessarily represent the aiews of the journal, or other institutions to zlhich it is ffiiated. They are solely the aiews of the nuthors. The nrticles contained in this journal haae been refereed by the Board of Editors.STUDIA ISLAMIKA has been accredited by The Ministry of National Education, REublic of Indonesia as an ncademic iournal Jajat BurbanudinThe Making of Islamic Political Tndition in the Malay \7orldAbstrak: Kajian-kajian tentang lslam di Asia Tenggara, khwsusnya Indonesia, menwnjukkan bahzaa dunia Melayu telab menerima tingkat pengarub klam dalam derajat yang lebih besar dibanding uilayab-uilayah lain. Nilai-nilai agama tersebut membentuk swbsansi utanTd struhtur potitik dan budaya Melayu, sebingga ia kemudian dianggap identik dengan Islam. Bagi bangsa Melayu, hal ini tere/leksikan dalam satw wngkapan, "nlAst'!.k Islam berarti masuk Melayu". Ungkapan tersebut merupakan zuujwd pemaknaan bangsa Melayu terhadap realitas yang dirumuskan dalam terma-terma Iskm ; sebagai artikulasi perasd'an bangsa Melayu tentang identitas mereka yang cenderung meneTnpatkan Islam sebagai bagian penting dalam rumusan ke-Melayw-an.Artikel ini mencoba menghadirkan satu pelrTbahasan tentdng tradisi politik Islam di dunia Mekyu. Menwrut penulisnya, dalam konteks politik -Melayw, Islam telab menanamkan pengarubnya' yang sangat kuat. Hal ini, antara lain, terlibat jelas dalam bahasa yang digunakan wntuk mengekspresikan gagasdn'gagasan tenta'ng politik, seperti konsep kekwasaan, raja atau penguasa, hubungan raia dengan rakyat, serta bal' hal lain yang berada dalam domain politik' Di sini, bangsa Melayu menjadikan Islam sebagai dasar perulrtusan etika bagi perilaku politik para.penguasa di kerajaan. Dalam teks'teks Melayu klasik, seperti Seiarah Melayu dan Hikayat Raya-Raja Pasai, -dua teks yang masing'masing berbicara tentdng kerajaan Samudra Pasai dan Malaka pada abad 14

Against the general background of the transmission of MuÈammad #Abduh's ideas about reform to Southeast Asia, as reflected in al-Man §r, I examine requests for fatw §s relating to affairs in the archipelago. These requests emanated from three groups: Southeast Asian students in the Middle East, Arabs living in Southeast Asia, and indigenous Southeast Asian readers of al-Man §r. The fatw §s examined here relate to three themes: Islam and modernity, religious practices, and aspirations for religious reform. I conclude that al-Man §r created a new mode of discourse for Southeast Asian Islam in which the mustaftÊ and the muftÊ were not pupils and teachers but fellow discussants of reform in societies undergoing similar challenges.

This report is based on two surveys, a baseline and an impact one, conducted by the PPIM in the framework of gauging the impact of the Islam and Development Program of The Asia Foundation in Jakarta. The first (baseline) survey was carried out in July 2008, just before the program started, while the second one was made after the program had ended in August 2009.Designed to measure the impact of the program, there were two categories of survey respondents: program participants (500 in each survey), who were randomly selected from the list of the names of those who participated in the program. They were interviewed before (July 2008) and after having attended the program (August 2009). As a control group, another 500 respondents were also interviewed in each survey. They had been randomly selected from the Muslim population all over Java.The questions posed during the surveys were related to the contents of the program, and were intended to illicit respondents’ views on such contemporary issues as civic values, democracy, socio-political and religious tolerance, pluralism, gender equity, and Islamism. Muslim responses to these ideas were analyzed in a comparative perspective between the baseline and impact surveys, and between program participants and non-participants. With this perspective, the survey was directed to discover the extent to which the program was able to contribute to the strengthening of the contemporary ideas mentioned above and of democracy in Indonesian socio-political spheres.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v17i1.472