ISLAMIC CHARITIES AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM: Welfare, Dakwah and Politics in Indonesia
Dibaca: 1451
Penulis : HilmanLatief
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction 1
Background 3
Charitable Practice and Institutionalised Forms of Indonesian Islam 12
The Notion of Benevolent Deeds and the Category of Beneficiaries 15
Research Focus and Methodology 18
Structure of the Dissertation 24
Chapter 2
Islamic Charities: Development, Movements and Networking 24
Introduction 28
Giving in Islam and Approaches to the Study of Charities 28
Islamic Forms of Giving as Religious and Social Practices 35
Islamic Charity 41
Philanthropy and Long-term Social Enterprises 43
Researching Islamic Charities: Resources, Actors and Institutions 43
Sources of Islamic Aid 45
Middle-Class Roles 48
Networking 52
Islamic Charities and their Embedded Values 52
Public Welfare 55
Missionary Activities and Religious Identity 60
Solidarity and Political Struggle 63
Conclusion 74
Chapter 3
Charities, the Public Good and Islamic Activism 74
Introduction 75
Indonesia: the Social, Political and Economic Setting 75
Islam and Socio-Political Change: 1940s-1960s 79
The Shift in the New Order’s Politics: 1980s-1990s 82
Crisis, Inequality and Islamic Capitalism 85
Intellectual Discourse and State Policies 85
Questions about Welfare and Justice 90
Relating Justice and Welfare to Philanthropic Themes 93
The Culture of Giving and State Policies 97
Social Mobility and the Muslim NGO Sector 97
Early Development of Faith-Based NGOs 102
The Zakat Sector and the Enrichment of Indonesia’s NGO World 105
Charitable Activism and the Expansion of Muslim NGOs 105
Conflict, Natural Disaster, and Relief Organisations 109
Domestic Charities and International Aid Agencies 113
New Alliances in International Relief Projects 115
Conclusion 129
Chapter 4
Health Provision for the Poor 129
Introduction 130
Islamic Charitable Clinics in Indonesia 132
Why the Rise of Charitable Clinics? 136
Charitable Clinics: Programmes, Actors and Beneficiaries 136
Dompet Dhu’afa (DD): Healthcare and Community Development 139
Rumah Zakat Indonesia (RZI): An Islamic Gathering Group with Social Concerns 141
RZI’s Health Services and Integrated Community Development 143
‘Health for All’: Clinic Membership and the Targeted Beneficiaries 143
Clinic Membership: Medical and Financial Reasons 147
Why Maternity Care and Nutrition? 150
How to Reach the Targeted Beneficiaries 151
Beyond Health Services: Religious and Economic Activities 151
Religious and Economic Enterprises 153
From the ‘Haves’ to the ‘Have-nots’ 154
Financing Islamic Charitable Clinics 160
The Muhammadiyah Hospitals: From Charitable to Commercial Enterprises162
The PKU Muhammadiyah: How Poorer Families Are Served164
The Aisyiyah’s Health Programmes 166
Conclusion 175
Chapter 5
Islamic Charities and the Protection of Underprivileged Women 175
Introduction 176
Poverty, Human Trafficking and the Women’s Movement 176
Poverty and Human Trafficking 179
NGOs’ Efforts to Protect Women from Exploitation 184
Dompet Dhu’afa: Relief and Development for Underprivileged Women 184
Micro-finance and Poor Relief: Domestic Projects 187
Assistance for Migrant Workers: Overseas Projects 191
Mutual Help, Solidarity and Religious Gatherings 194
The IMWU: a Movement NGO 196
Daarut Tauhid: Protecting Underprivileged Girls from Human Trafficking 199
Charity Activism, Dakwah and Women’s Issues 201
Why Infant Care Training? 203
Creating Islamic and Talented Infant Care Workers 206
Professionalism or Patron-Client Relations? 208
The Minimum Wage, Workload, and the Question of Empowerment 210
Conclusion 219
Chapter 6
Charities and Dakwah in the Outer Islands 219
Introduction 220
The Muslim Minority in Nias: Culture and Identity 221
Culture and Society in Nias 224
Desa mudik and the image of Muslim Communities 228
Al-Azhar Peduli (AAP): Reaching out to the Muallaf and Strengthening Dakwah 230
The Muallaf and Musholla in Botomuzoi 233
Madrasah and Mosque in Gunung Sitoli 235
Mujahid Dakwah: Muslim Missionaries and their Multiple Affiliations 238
DDII and the AMCF: Charitable Services, Dakwah and the Struggle for Development 242
Informal Networks and Charitable Work 244
The Primary School of the Muhammadiyah in Lahewa246
The Islamic Primary School of the NU in Bezihena 249
Madrasah and Mushalla as Public Facilities 251
‘Ashabul Kahfi’: The Pesantren Hidayatullah 255
FOSDAN (Forum Silaturahmi Da’i Nias) 256
Conclusion 263
Chapter 7
Internationalising Domestic Aid, Solidarity Movements and Political Struggle 263
Introduction 264
Islamic Solidarity and Humanitarianism 269
Indonesia’s responses to the Crises in Palestine and Afghanistan 270
The Government’s Ambiguous Stance 272
The Occupation of Palestine and Anti-Jewish and Anti-American Movements 274
The Occupation of Afghanistan and Anti-Soviet and Anti-American Movements 275
The Genesis: Islamic Solidarity Groups and Relief Missions, 1960s-1980s 276
Islamic Solidarity Groups: KSI and KISDI 278
Helping Muslim Brothers, Sending Jihad Volunteers: Underground Movements 280
New Actors: Islamic Solidarity and Relief Associations, 1990s-Present 282
New Islamic Solidarity Groups: KISPA and KNRP 286
An Interfaith Humanitarian Forum: the HFI 286
Relief NGOs: the PMI, MER-C, and BSMI 289
Information Asymmetry, Islamic Humanitarianism and Politics: Networks and Partnerships 291
The Complexity of Delivering Aid 193
Internationalising Domestic Aid: Minor Criticisms 295
Conclusion 306
Chapter 8
Conclusion: Envisioning a Development Perspective and the Public Good 306
How has Charitable Activism been Conceived in Muslim Societies? 310
Islamic Charitable Associations: Enriching Social Activism 316
Challenges and Opportunities in a Pluralistic Society 322
Trajectories in Ensuring the Social Security of Poor People 325
From Local Dynamics to the International Arena 330
Bibliography 348
List of Abbreviations 352
Glossary 355
Introduction
Background
Charity is about giving, receiving, helping, granting, and the redistribution of wealth. People tend to associate the word ‘charity’ with the practice of assisting the poor, the way the wealthy share their fortunes, and other such good deeds. In many religious traditions, whether we are concerned with Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity or Islam, charitable action is considered as religiously meritorious and remains central to religiously-inspired social activism.1 In fact, the culture of giving’s long history has resulted in charitable foundations, established decades and even centuries ago, such as houses for the poor, orphanages, places of worship, hospitals, public kitchens, and religious schools. The practice of giving has also been preserved in the community, either as a form of religious expression or integrated as a daily customary norm. In short, the concept of ‘generosity’ and the doing of compassionate deeds are culturally contextual.2 The motives, reasons, legitimacy, and idioms utilised in the practice of giving can differ from one culture and another.
In recent times, while charitable activism has remained popular in Muslim societies, including Indonesia, the extent to which charity has been able to alleviate poverty has been heavily constrained by the complexity of the modern social, economic and political system of nation states, and in turn, the provision of means to benefit communities and the creation of the public good at large has also become increasingly complex. Due to this, several terms have been utilised at a discursive level, and various methods have been formulated and put into practice by different actors (such as intellectuals, social activists, and politicians) in order to attain social goals: that is, the welfare of the community. Alongside individual efforts to express piety in the social, economic and even political spheres in Indonesian Islam, there has been a significant institutional transformation of present-day charitable practices, as marked by the tremendous development of Islamic charities with their distinct roles.
One of the main issues that this study attempts to address is how Islamic charities function in modern nation states, and how Islamic forms of giving and notions of benevolent acts have been conceived by Indonesian Muslims in the post-colonial era. Investigating the relationship between Islam and welfare issues, this present study explores, contrasts, and compares the experiences of Islamic charitable organisations in Indonesia’s pluralistic society. In addressing this issue, actors undertaking charitable work, their religious affiliations, their beneficiaries at the grassroots level, approaches to problems and clients, sociological and political grounds for action, and interreligious, local, regional and transnational networks, will come under close scrutiny.
Researching charitable activism in Indonesia is interesting, partly because charitable services can be provided by different types of institutions, ranging from ‘secular’ to ‘religious’ associations, from community-based organisations to private companies or state-sponsored agencies, from dakwah institutions to politically-oriented associations, as well as from local or domestic charitable foundations to international aid organisations. All of these types of organisations have operated in Indonesia and play multiple roles in strengthening civil society at large. In a nutshell, as a result of the actions of Islamic charities, institutionalised forms of Islamic faith have become increasingly visible in public life.
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