When President Bush announced the war on terror, he said that, as well
as a physical war, there should be a war of ideas. The latter never
eventuated, but in the long run, it's probably more important in
defeating extremism.
The Illusion of an Islamic State: the Expansion of Transnational Islamist Movements to Indonesiai by former president and Muslim scholar, Abdurrahman Wahid (pictured), is a rare example of progressive Islam
entering the battle for Muslim hearts and minds, making a compelling
argument for urgent action.
The book, launched last Thursday in Jakarta, on the eve of elections that begin on 9 April, is a battle cry to Indonesians to stand and oppose Islamist extremists. Wahid argues that hardliners threaten his beloved country, and his religion.
The book is strategic and political, deeply spiritual and theological, and highly polemical. Wahid doesn't pull any punches, describing extremist elements as an insidious virus that has infiltrated the religion, civil society and government of his country.
I met Wahid in 2006 when I travelled to Indonesia with Geraldine Doogue to make a documentary on Islam in Indonesia for ABC TV's Compass. Confined to a wheelchair, and almost blind from a series of strokes, he didn't appear to be a fighter or a formidable intellect. But in the interview we experienced the wily and influential social commentator that Indonesians know so well.
Wahid comes from one of Java's foremost aristocratic Muslim families, and all his adult life he's been a revered teacher, writer and community activist. For 15 years prior to becoming president he was head of Nahdatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organisation with a staggering 40 million members.
The pessimism in this recent book seems to mark a deterioration in the situation in Indonesia. In the 2006 Compass interview he was more sanguine. 'The moderates I see are so many,' he said then, 'and only a small coterie of fundamentalists, or hardliners exist in Indonesia.'
His diagnosis that Indonesia is now veering towards extremism is worrying for Australia. Roughly 85 per cent of Indonesia's population of 240 million is Muslim, making it the world's most populous Islamic nation. If Muslim radicals come to power or gain significant influence, it would mean a huge hostile neighbour just to our north.
Wahid's analysis draws on two years of research conducted by a number of foundations and institutes in Indonesia. This involved interviews with a wide range of key government,