The "Other" Muhammadiyah

Recently, I came across a journal article written by a NUS lecturer, Asst. Prof. Syed Khairuddin Aljuneid titled "The ‘other’ Muhammadiyah movement: Singapore 1958–2008". The abstract of the paper explains:

This paper provides a critical historical analysis of the Muhammadiyah movement in Singapore. I argue that four processes have been crucial in the emergence and sustenance of the Muhammadiyah within a predominantly non-Muslim society: the symbiotic relationship between the leaders and their followers, the formulation and subsequent reformulation of the ideology of the movement, political opportunities which were judiciously exploited and the availability of a wide array of infrastructures. The Muhammadiyah, as will be shown, provides an informative example of an Islamic movement in Southeast Asia that has transcended the challenges faced by the minority Muslim population by making effective use of the limited resources at its disposal.

Najib Burhani, A researcher at the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) made some suggestions for future research on the socio-political developments of Islamic grassroots movement and Islamic activism in Singapore and Muslim minority communities in South-east Asia:

Finally, this study has two larger implications that should be developed by future research. The first concerns the interface between socio-political developments and the role of ideas in the analysis of grassroots movements in post-war Singapore. All too often, studies of movements in this island city-state have been marked by the lack of an in-depth analysis of the ideas of the participants in these movements, and how these ideas influenced and shaped social life and politics in the country. There is a need to avoid the fallacies of past approaches, and this can be achieved by breaking down the boundaries between social, political and ideational histories. By developing such integrative methodologies, we can deepen and broaden our understanding not only of Islamic movements but also of other movements in Singapore and in Southeast Asia in general.

The second and final implication pertains to the study of Islamic activism in Southeast Asian countries where Muslims are minorities. There has been little research on this topic and it has been overwhelmed by studies concerning extremism and terrorism, many of which were written to inform state policy or to validate jaundiced views about Muslims globally. To the extent that political violence and social unrest are indeed some of the key problems of our time, this fact should not distract us from the urgent task of pioneering new methods and perspectives to further the study of the everyday struggles of minority Muslims in secular settings and their collective efforts to create an environment conducive to Islam.

The content of the article is perhaps the prevalent general view and understanding of the development of the movement. There were other parts that was crucial too such as the episodes of 9/11, the presence and interaction of Islamist-jihadist faction in the likes of Jemaah Islamiyyah members and symphatisers with Muhammadiyah as well as on the development of the youth wing which included the former members of the Gerakan Belia Islam (Kelab Belia Cemerlang) led by Ustaz Abdul Jamil Abdul Hamid. Perhaps these topics, were much more "security" sensitive. Last but not least, the dearth of intellectual progress of Muhammadiyah.

Also, we could see that the development of Muhammadiyah and splinter groups for one, failed to produce a "progressive variant" of entities and figures. In the case of Muhammadiyah Indonesia, there existed entities such as the Jaringan Intelektual Muhammadiyah Muda (JIMM), Maarif Institute, figures such as Syafii Maarif, Amien Rais and Munir Mulkhan.

A commentary in The Jakarta Post describes these leaders as having a "tendency to respond contemporary social problems rather than ritual issues. It means that they have returned the Muhammadiyah movement to the early spirit of Muhammadiyah as developed by K.H. Ahmad Dahlan."

At the grassroots level, people have become totally disenchanted and disinterested with the movement in Singapore altogether. Muhammadiyah could diminish into irrelevance, or move further to the right and become more conservative, more backward as it struggles with its debts and financial matters. The world and in particular, the Muslim world, has developed into discussing contemporary issues such as democracy, gender, secularism and civilisational dialogues but yet the movement in stuck in the early 20th century incapable of progressing further. As the Malay saying goes, "Bagaikan katak di bawah tempurung" (Like a frog under the coconut shell). However, on the international playing field, it is a different ball game altogether. There is hope.

Further reading: http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/mlsasmk/Muhamadiyah_Article.pdf

http://muhammadiyahstudies.blogspot.com/2011/05/other-muhammadiyah-movement-singapore.html

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/23/quo-vadis-%E2%80%98tajdid%E2%80%99-muhammadiyah.html