Amsterdam University Press The State, Ulama and Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia: Capitalising Co-optation and Capturing the State? (Religion and Society in Asia)

Product Description The Suharto (1966-98) government of Indonesia and the Mahathir (1981-2003) government of Malaysia both launched Islamisation programmes, upgrading and creating religious institutions. The author argues that, while generally ulamas, or religious teachers, had to support state ideologies, they sometimes succeeded in ŸcapturingŒ the state by influencing policies in their favour. The author builds his argument on strong fieldwork data, especially interviews, and he engages in critical discussion of comparative politics paradigms and the concept of capture. Review This book is a welcome addition to the comparative study of political Islam in two Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia. Not many books have been written that compare these two countries in an equal, empathetic, and substantive manner, and Saat's book is one of the very few that strive to fill this knowledge lacuna. - Azmil Tayeb, newbooks.asia, Summer 2020 The State, Ulama and Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia is a welcome addition to the fold of scholarly works comparing the two largest Muslim-majority countries of Southeast Asia ... offering novel insights into the inter-linkages between politics and religion, especially Islam. - Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, Pacific Affairs Volume 93, No. 1, March 2020 Norshaharil Saat has delivered a piece of scholarly work that is both empirically and analytically outstanding and authoritative in its points of comparison. - Zawawi Ibrahim (Universiti Brunei Darussalam), Situations 11.2, 2018 Norshahril's empirically rich and theoretically informed study is a welcome addition to the comparative study of political Islam in two Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia. - Azmil Mohd Tayeb, Kajian Malaysia, Vol. 36, No. 2, 2018 From the Inside Flap The Suharto (1966-98) government of Indonesia and the Mahathir (1981-2003) government of Malaysia both launched Islamisation programmes, upgrading and creating religious institutions. The author argues that, while generally ulamas, or religious teachers, had to support state ideologies, they sometimes succeeded in capturing the state by influencing policies in their favour. The author builds his argument on strong fieldwork data, especially interviews, and he engages in critical discussion of comparative politics paradigms and the concept of capture. From the Back Cover In response to the Islamic resurgence of the 1970s and beyond, the Suharto (1966-1998) and Mahathir (1981-2003) governments undertook massive Islamisation programs in Indonesia and Malaysia respectively. This included co-opting influential religious scholars into state-sponsored institutions. In 1975, Suharto formed the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI); while in the 1980s, Mahathir upgraded the Malaysian National Fatwa Council (JKF-MKI), JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) and IKIM (Malaysian Institute for Islamic Understanding). The 'official' ulamas-the religious scholars who participated in these institutions-were expected to support the states' ideologies in exchange for reward and recognition. This book examines the extent to which official ulamas in contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia capitalised on their co-optation to 'capture' the states. By capture, a concept popularized in political economy, I refer to societal actors' ability to influence laws, policies, and the distribution of resources in their favour. The book examines how policies undertaken by Suharto (1966-1998) and Mahathir (1981-2003) determine capture successes and failures of official ulama in their respective countries. About the Author is Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. He received his PhD in International, Political and Strategic Studies from the Australian National University (ANU). He has published extensively on Islamic authority in Southeast Asia.