Books Review

Yet, if Indonesia is consistent in emulating Saudi’s standpoint, there will be more prohibitions. The Shias may be exterminated since “according to official Saudi teachings, Shias are a Jewish conspiracy (p. 151). Furthermore, radical mass organizations would not be allowed to exist in Indonesia if Indonesia constantly copies Saudi and other Arab countries. Look at this paradox: in fact, Hizbut Tahrir that is anti-democracy and anti-nation state, can only exist and develop in democratic European countries and –don’t forget- in Indonesia!

The thought that falls under the umbrella of modernism and liberalism is not merely consumed and “monopolized” by urban Muslims. Academicians, students and activists consider it to be a new paradigm of Islamic thought. Azyumardi Azra, in the foreword of this book, explains that one thing benefits Liberal Islam in Indonesia, is the paradigm’s recognition by the youth.

The Battle for God is a sequel to Armstrong’s previous work: A History of God. Both works are interconnected. In a History of God, she describes the endeavor of searching for God undertaken by disciples of Semitic religions over the last 4000 years. In The Battle for God she describes the phenomena of fundamentalism within three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Jew and Islam. Her research into the history of these three religions charting their transformations during and since the European renaissance (Aufklärung) details how fundamentalism has arises as a logical reaction to modernism.

The book tries to analyze the weakness of Islamic sharia and fikh, in being considered as final, complete and non-interpretable texts. Critical study of the construction of fikh is here not only based on restudying the primary texts as the foundations for the construction of fikh, but also on empirical studies of several regions that have implemented Islamic sharia.

Religion as a psychological symptom gives us a perspective about the necessity of religion for humanity.  Furthermore, when religion is unable to guide humanity’s future, we can be inspired to create new religions, or at least attempt new religious experiments as a solution to the problems we face.

However, the presence of this book should be positively appreciated, since besides bringing together several articles from diverse sources, it also contains several reports and interviews including one posting between Abdalla and one of the Muslim figures in Makassar.

This book takes the view that wearing the jilbab is not an obligation. Even Al Asymawy has proclaimed that hadits taken as the reference regarding jilbab or hijâb obligation is hadits ahad (transmitted by single person) cannot be perceived a shaving a legal foundation. If jilbab was obligatory for women, the impact would certainly be substantial. As he quoted: “the statement that woman’s hair is aurat,  is because it is their crown. It follows that her face, which is her throne, is also aurat. Then her voice which is her authority becomes aurat and her body which is her kingdom aurat. Eventually, the entire female being is considered aurat.” The implication is ultimately that woman cannot do anything as Allah’s creature because she is all-aurat.