Carool Kersten about the 'longue durée' of Indonesian Islam

In 1983 Ben Boland wrote the preface for the bibliographical survey of Islam in Indonesia, (most of the work was done by Irene Farjon!). Boland commented that there was no great overview of this history: Fragmenta Islamica, only fragments (quoting the title of a book by G.F. Pijper). Since this publication we have seen the article and three books on six centuries of Islamization in Java by Merle Ricklefs. There is Le Carrefour javanais by the late Denys Lombard. In some way Michael Laffan's The Makings of Indonesian Islam looks somewhat like a history of Indonesian Islam. But now we have a surprising thin book (just under 200 pages) by Carool Kersten, covering the theme in five chapters. Clear, based on recent publications and not too detailed.

24 January Carool came to Leiden and gave a talk about recent developments in Indonesian Islam. It was for me a good incentive to read his history book.
Kersten studied Arabic and Middle East developments, then worked with the oil business for nearly 13 years before returning to academic life and concentrating on Indonesia. It is clear in the book that he has good feeling for the international, especially Arab connections of the archipalego. Chapter I is on the arrival of Muslims in Sumatra, chapter II on the conversion of parts of Java to Islam. I noted 'more about from where Islam came than why people embraced Islam?' In fact: our sources do not give much real information. The historical novel by Pramoedya Arus Balik is a fascinating picture of the period, but it is a novel, not the history we want to find in books like this.
Chapter 3 is on the 19th century and concentrates on 'Islam as resistance': the Java War/Diponegoro, the Paderi Wars and Aceh are the major issues here. Kersten gives here ample space to the Malay sources, written by 'Fakih Saghir' Jalaluddin and by Imam Bonjol. For Aceh he does not join the school of Snouck Hurgronje, but has lucid summaries of the findings by James Siegel. Acehnese society is divided in four interest zones: the sultan, the ulebalang, common peasants and the ulama. The first three were connected to the soil, but the ulama were outgoing people. They did not study on their home villages, travelled elsewhere. He quotes Siegel stressing that the ulama were not really interested in a community on earth 'but in Paradise....  It was not until the 1930s that men began to realize a new life in this world was possible' (p. 90).  I must check this with the book by Siegel again, because it sounds somewhat mysterious.
Chapter 4 is about the period 1890-1945 (rise of SI, Muhammadiyah, NU) and chapter 5 about the last 75 years. Also here we find a cosmopolitan Islam: much about the Egyptian sources for Reform in Indonesian Islam.
In his oral presentation he introduced the terminology of watershed years. 1998 as the turn to democratization; 2005 as the conservative turn (the well known serious of fatwa against Ahmadiyyah, pluralism, liberalism; 2015-6 again a turn towards Islam Nusantara and the 16-point statement of NU and ISOMIL, 9-11 May 2016, the International Summit of Moderate Islamic Leaders.  However, 2016 was also the year of street politics, FPI against Ahok. It remains difficult to give clear and simple qualifications for historical developments. This small book will remain a standard work, stgimulating broader perspectives. Thank you, Carool for this.