Muslim Politics Review

Foreword

2025-06-30T12:18:54+00:00

This seventh edition of Muslim Politics Review consists of diverse authors and topics. By nationality, the authors are two Filipinos, two Indonesians, one Bangladeshi author, and one author is Australian. We are pleased with this diversity because it enriches the perspectives being delivered to readers by the journal. The topics covered in this issue are also varied: three articles discuss majority-minority relations and how the state and community manage them; one is about the Republic of the Philippines’ foreign policy on Palestine and Israel; and another article is about the relationship between the state and a community organization in Indonesia. The final article is about the projection of Indonesia as a middle-power state. These diverse topics broaden readers’ intellectual horizons, as well as geographical ones.

How Philippine Nationalist and Neo-Imperialist Political Identities Influence Foreign Policy: Examining the Case of Palestine

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The discourse on the ongoing escalation of conflict in Gaza has signaled a shift in the stance of the international community on the question of Palestinian statehood. As discourses, and subsequently policies, shift, we investigate the sources and implications of specific policies. In this paper, we look at the Philippines, a democracy with a long anti-colonial history, and examine why its foreign policy has called out Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. In other words, why has the country maintained a foreign policy of following in suit of the United States (US), its former colonizer, in its support towards Israel? Moreover, what impact has this policy had on the Philippines' role in the international system? Using a constructivist lens, we critically review historical events to analyze the origins, components and implications of Philippine political identities, which then inform foreign policy decisions. In order to answer these questions, we first conceptualize the Philippines’ political identities focusing on two streams: nationalist and neo-imperialist. We then argue that the neo-imperialist current, made possible by the collusion of domestic political elites with the US, has facilitated a foreign policy that results in entrenched dependency on the US where the Philippines follows the dominant discourse dictated by the US on issues such as the Palestine-Israel conflict. This dependency has resulted in a vicious cycle where the Philippines suffers from a diminished role in the international stage through the depletion of its moral capital; in turn, reinforcing dependency. Examining this question is significant not just because of moral reasons but also because of the direct implications on the Philippines’ ability to exercise autonomy and use its power internationally. We adopt a multi-method approach consisting of historical analysis, process-tracing, and discourse analysis to trace the genealogy and contours of these identities.

State-Sanctioned Hostility: The Instrumentalization of Mass Emotion Through Pakistan's Anti-Blasphemy Laws and its Impact on Christian Minorities

2025-06-30T14:10:09+00:00

Mass emotion plays a pivotal role in Pakistan's socio-political landscape, often acting as a catalyst for mass violence, particularly against minority communities. Negative mass emotion legitimizes sub-state violence and fosters a ‘herd mentality’, which perpetuates an 'us versus them' paradigm. This dynamic has had dire consequences for Pakistan's Christian minority, who have repeatedly been the targets of state-sanctioned hostility. This paper explores the origins of mass emotion that incites violence against minorities, especially Christians, within the context of Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws. It illuminates how mass emotion incites violence against minorities, particularly Christians, in the context of Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws. The case of Asia Bibi serves as an example of how these laws, manipulated by the state, can arouse mass emotion and incite violence. Furthermore, this paper examines how the Pakistan Supreme Court's discourse during Asia Bibi’s trial attempted to mitigate mass emotion by invoking ethical principles derived from the Prophet Muhammad's teachings on the treatment of Christians.

From Words to Violence: Tracing the Trajectory of Dangerous Speech and Its Impact on the Ahmadiyya Community in Bangladesh

2025-06-30T14:10:43+00:00

This study seeks to examine the phenomenon of 'dangerous speech' and its connection to the violent acts perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya Community in Bangladesh. The Ahmadiyya Community, also called the Qadiani Movement, originated in the late 19th century in the Indian subcontinent and later expanded to Bangladesh in 1912. Despite this, Islamic clerics and many prominent political figures in Bangladesh adamantly refuse to recognize Qadianis as Muslims. This refusal has sparked riots, political violence, divisions, and electoral maneuvering in Bangladesh. This research employs the "dangerous speech framework" to delve into the underlying causes of violence against the Qadiani movement. Through rigorous content analysis and the examination of various secondary sources, this study contends that political violence and riots have been incited by "dangerous speech" disseminated by religious orators and political figures. Furthermore, it posits a plausible cause-and-effect connection between dangerous speech and violence against the Qadinai movement, suggesting that inflammatory rhetoric can lead to violent acts. Such acts of violence can have a profoundly detrimental impact on Qadinai communities, exacerbating their marginalization and discrimination within Bangladeshi politics and society.

Synodality as a framework for Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Asia

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In Asia, where Catholicism constitutes a minority religion except in the Philippines and Timor-Leste, Catholic Christians face the complex task of integrating into a culturally diverse and politically unstable landscape while preserving and asserting their distinct identity. This challenge mirrors the broader experience of minority religious communities coexisting with a dominant religion, particularly in contexts where the majority faith aligns with state or national identity. The interplay between the state and the majority religion often complicates integration efforts or deepens the isolation of the minority faith, while simultaneously fostering distrust among minority adherents toward both the majority and the state apparatus. Consequently, this majority-minority dynamic undermines initiatives aimed at dialogue and collaboration. The relationship between minority and majority religions is thus shaped by state policies and national interests, suggesting that the religious dimension of these intricate interactions is highly vulnerable to political discourses and movements, as explained in the theories of Antonio Gramsci. This article investigates these tensions through a comparative analysis of Christian-Muslim relations in the Philippines (majority Christian, minority Muslim) and Indonesia (majority Muslim, minority Christian). The analysis seeks to elucidate the critical factors generating friction within minority-majority dynamics and to assess the influence of state policies and national priorities on these interactions. The article explores potential avenues for mitigating these challenges through the implementation of the concept of synodality. Synodality is a process currently employed by the Catholic Church for its renewal and adaptation to contemporary demands. Synodality not only serves as a mechanism for Christian revitalization but also offers a robust theoretical framework for analyzing these issues, aiming to foster an effective interreligious dialogue that promotes mutual respect and cooperation across religious communities in Indonesia and the Philippines. By employing synodality as a relational paradigm, this study argues for the dismantling of the majority-minority binary, progressively eliminating barriers to authentic dialogue and collaborative engagement.

Islam-based Civil Society and the State: Muhammadiyah’s Engagement in Indonesian Local Elections

2025-06-30T12:18:55+00:00

Religious organisations in Indonesia often forge close relations with the state, political leaders, and party elites. They devote much effort to gaining support from the state in order to protect their institutional interests. In this research, I consider Muhammadiyah’s relations with the state in the context of the organisation’s involvement in local politics and elections. I explore the nexus between institutional interest and epistemic influence, and the priority given to good state relations. This qualitative research uses data obtained through extensive literature study, analysis of election data, and in-depth interviews. This article argues that Muhammadiyah, as the second largest Islamic organisation with a vast network of educational, health and welfare institutions, places great store on having favourable links with the Indonesian state. Although rich in assets and financially secure, Muhammadiyah nonetheless requires access to state resources and goodwill from political and bureaucratic elites.

Continuity and Discontinuity of National Roles in Middle-Power States: The Case of Indonesia’s Foreign Policy

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This paper examines the continuity and discontinuity of national roles adopted by middle-power states, with Indonesia as a case study. It focuses on two auxiliary roles linked to Indonesia’s master role as a regional leader. The first is Indonesia’s role as a promoter of democracy through the Bali Democracy Forum, a role that continued from the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004-2014) to that of Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo (2014-2024). The second is Indonesia’s role in constructing a maritime cooperation framework under the Global Maritime Fulcrum policy initiated during Widodo’s first term, but which saw discontinuation in his second term. This paper seeks to explain why one auxiliary role persisted while the other did not. Drawing on national role conception theory, particularly the distinction between master and auxiliary roles, it argues that the sustainability of auxiliary roles depends not only on external expectations aligned with the master role, but also on internal legitimacy and support. In the case of the Global Maritime Fulcrum policy, strong domestic contestation undermined the auxiliary role, despite its alignment with Indonesia’s regional leadership ambitions.

New Approach in Interreligious Dialogue Sought

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Rethinking Interreligious Dialogue: Orality, Collective Memory, and Christian-Muslim Engagements in Indonesia by Izak Y.M. Lattu (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 2023)

This important book, published in 2023, explores interreligious conflict in Maluku, particularly in Ambon City, between 1999 and 2004, involving Muslims and Christians. What started as a trivial dispute between two young men of different religions and ethnicities (one a Muslim Bugis migrant and the other a Christian Malukan local) escalated into a deadly conflict. The conflict intensified, resulting in thousands of casualties and displacing around one million people in the region, alongside the destruction of 80 percent of infrastructure. As a result, the conflict in Ambon is intractable, with a history of past domination and inequitable conditions, changes in domination, and a complex mixture of economic, political, and cultural issues (Coleman, 2006).

The Role of Islam Religious Scholars in Politics

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Usaama al-Azami’s Islam and the Arab Revolutions: The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy represents a significant contribution to the growing body of literature examining the political role of religious scholars in the modern Muslim world, particularly in the context of the Arab Spring. Published in 2022 by Oxford University Press, the book seeks to disturb centuries-old presumptions over the "apolitical" or "quietist" nature of most of these traditional ulama and instead lays bare how intimately involved they remain within broader systems of politics—either as the carriers of dissent or tools of authoritarian rule. Al-Azami’s work is distinguished not only by its bold argumentation but also by its nuanced methodology, combining textual analysis of sermons and public statements with broader theoretical reflections on Islamic authority, legitimacy, and political theology.