48 islam, politics and change
3.1 The Politics of Gradual Islamisation
As an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the jt has adopted
its ideology, political programmes and organisational structures. Ide-
ologically, the jt follows an ideal of ‘gradual Islamisation’: moving in
phases from Islamising individuals, to Islamising families, to Islamising
society, and then Islamising the polity.⁴¹ For jt members, this evolu-
tionary programme is not only ideal, but also logical in that it follows
the logic of societal development: by Islamising individuals it would be
easier to move towards injecting Islam into families as the smallest social
units. And, once families live under Islamic teachings, then society will
move to uphold Islamic values and cultures. Finally, if Islamic norms
become public norms, then the emergence of an Islamic political system
is just a matter of time.⁴²
This form of gradual Islamisation also represents the moderateness of
the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is a peaceful Islam-based
movement, and cannot be linked to radical Islam-based movements and
organisations. jt activists are keen to put forward this argument, as the
Muslim Brotherhood is continuously being labelled and interpreted,
by foreign as well as domestic writers, as a radical and revolutionary
movement, and the implicit implication being that the jt and pks, as its
derivatives, are likely to follow the same path. Furthermore, in the context
of the Indonesian Islam-based movement, the gradual Islamisation
programme of the Muslim Brotherhood exemplifies a breakthrough that
transcends the antagonism as well as the failures of radical movements
such as Laskar Jihad or the fpi and accommodative movements such
as Muhammadiyah and the nu. This is a new trend among Indonesian
Muslims that has given rise to a new type ofsantri.⁴³ Abdi Sumaithi –
a.k.a. Abu Ridho – explained that such gradual steps of preaching Islam
was the method implemented by the Prophet Muhammad. He started
by persuading individuals to follow Islam, and then internalise Islamic
The original concept of gradual reforms (islah) from Muslim Brotherhood founder
Hassan al-Banna runs as follows: reforming individuals (islah al-nafs), reforming
Muslim families (islah al-bait al-Muslim), reforming society (islah al-mujtamaʿ),
national independence (tahrir al-wathan), reforming the government (islah
al-hukumah), and international prominence and international expansions.
See Fathi Yakan,Revolusi Hassan Al-Banna: Dari Sayyid Qutub hingga Rasyid
Al-Ganusyi, trans. Fauzun Jamal and Alimin (Bandung: Harakah, 2002), 12–13.
Interview with Khalid Machmud, 19 April 2007.
Interview with Yon Machmudi, a pks founder and lecturer at the University of
Indonesia.