Revisiting Indonesian public reactions against Danish cartoons depicting prophet Muhammad

Abstract

This paper revisits the case of cartoon controversy in 2006, particularly focusing on the way in which the Indonesian public reacted against the twelve Muhammad Danish cartoons by the Jylands-Posten published in September 30, 2005. The study remains relevant as the case reflects not only Muslims' reaction against the blasphemy theologically but it also mirrors the new face of Indonesian Islam in the reform era which has given birth to a new free public December 2015: 195-229 space in which new differing ideologies emerged and were propagated in various media. This study particularly focuses on the selected thirteen op-ed pieces and one interview published by the Indonesian online media in January 2006-three pieces published by Hidayatullah, one posted in a personal website, two published by Kompas, two by The Jakarta Post, one by Gatra, three by Tempo, one op-ed and one interview by JIL (Islamic Liberal Network). My analysis of these works reveals two groups with different arguments: radical and conservative return to their theological foundation to retaliate the cartoonists who committed blasphemy against their prophet, whereas liberals and progressive Indonesians rely on reasoning and draw cultural values in expressing their appraisals of the vilifying images., Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, Volume 5, Number 2,Makalah ini berusaha mengkaji kembali kasus kontroversi kartun pada tahun 2006, terutama berfokus pada cara di mana masyarakat Indonesia bereaksi terhadap dua belas kartun Muhammad yang diterbitkan oleh surat kabar Denmark Jylands-Posten pada tanggal 30 September 2005. Studi ini tetap relevan sebagai kasus yang mencerminkan tidak hanya reaksi umat Islam terhadap penghujatan secara teologis tetapi juga mencerminkan wajah baru Islam Indonesia di era reformasi yang telah melahirkan ruang publik bebas baru di mana berbagai ideologi baru muncul dan disebarkan di berbagai media. Penelitian ini terutama fokus pada tiga belas buah edisi opini dan satu wawancara yang diterbitkan oleh media online Indonesia pada Januari 2006, yang terdiri dari tiga potong yang diterbitkan oleh Hidayatullah, yang diposting di sebuah situs pribadi, dua diterbitkan oleh Kompas, dua oleh The Jakarta Post, satu oleh Gatra, tiga Tempo, satu op-ed dan satu wawancara dengan JIL (Jaringan Islam Liberal). Analisis atas karya-karya ini mengungkapkan dua kelompok dengan argumen yang berbeda: kelompok radikal dan konservatif berpedoman pada landasan teologis mereka untuk membalas kartunis yang melakukan penghujatan terhadap nabi mereka, sedangkan kaum liberal dan progresif Indonesia mengandalkan penalaran dan menarik nilai-nilai budaya dalam mengekspresikan penilaian mereka atas gambar-gambar tersebut.

Promoting moderate Islam in a global community through the ‘English for Ulama’ programme

“…The attack on the Charlie Hebdo office on January 07, 2015, and the attack on the Stade de France Paris Stadium on November 13, 2015, both of which killed more than 120 people and injured scores more, prompted President Hollande to declare a state of emergency. On a larger scale, this episode contributes to Islamophobia and misconceptions about Islam, as evidenced by the Prophet cartoon in the Danish magazine Jylland Posten (Makin 2015) and various other media, such as Geert Wilder's film 'Fitna'.…”

‘Not a Religious State’

“…The two Muslim intellectuals, Mukti Ali and Munawir Sjadzali, did not abide by the principle of separation between state and religion. In practice, the two often used their political power to modernise the Islamic community and to secure the state's interest in curbing radical and conservative ideology, which is on the rise in the current political landscape of Indonesia (Makin 2015(Makin , 2016b(Makin , 2016c.…”

“…Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population in the world, is particularly unique as the majority support secular and nationalist political parties rather than Islamist parties in many general elections (Baswedan 2004;Mujani and Liddle 2009). However, amid the late wave of democratisation in the country, particularly after the fall of Suharto, public piety surged as a consequence of the rise of conservatism and a growing orthodoxy (Barton 2005;Hefner 2000: 84;Makin 2009Makin , 2015Makin , 2016bMakin , 2016c.…”

Untitled

“…The strengthening of conservative Islam after the fall of the repressive regime of the New Order (Bruinessen, 2013;Hefner, 2010;Al Makin, 2009;Al Makin, 2015), was marked by the strengthening of the Islamist movement (Barton, 2002: 2), and on the contrary it encouraged the development of radical Islamic movements (Susanto, 2018: 67;Muzaki, 2014: 2-3). The incidents of bombings in several regions of Indonesia has triggered public concern.…”