Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals of the 20th Century

Book excerpt: This study examines the Indonesian Muslim intellectuals of the twentieth century and their approaches in dealing with the problems that faced Indonesian Muslims at that time. Like their intellectual ancestors in Islamic history these recent Indonesian intellectuals carefully examined the society in which they lived. On one level they studied the original and historical teachings of Islam and attempted to fit that message to the Southeast Asian region. On another level they reacted to the great waves of culture that arrived from Europe, North America, and Asia throughout the twentieth century. They did all of this at a time when the Indonesian nation was forming itself, beginning with the nationalist movements of the early part of the century when the Dutch controlled the archipelago, and continuing into the last half of the century when Indonesia was an independent nation.