Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2020. xvi, 230 pp. US$29.90, paper. ISBN 978-981-4843-80-5.
Whether real or perceived, the beliefs of conservative Islam are a key concern for political scientists when evaluating the effect of Islam on democracy and political stability. Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia joins a growing series of volumes which flip the script. Instead of focusing only on the expanding influence of conservative Islamists, this book highlights the progressive, liberal, and non-mainstream side of Muslim communities. Who are the alternative voices in Muslim Southeast Asia? In contrast with conservative and fundamentalist Islamist groups, the alternative voices are religious actors who seek to reform Islamic beliefs and practices to adapt them to modernity, democracy, and plural societies. While the relatively new conservative strand of Islam (referred to as resurgent or revivalist in the edited volume) is seen as the dominant ideology in Islamic politics, its beliefs and political positions cannot be understood without referencing the views of its ideological opponents. Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia is a timely addition to the literature on Islamic discourse in plural societies, aiding researchers by shining the spotlight on the role played by alternative Islamic voices in Muslim communities in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
While the edited volume is divided into three sections with a total of twelve chapters, the chapters all overlap in descriptive and substantive content. Therefore, I find it more useful to structure the review along the major contributions across all the chapters to the wider literature on Islamic political discourse in Muslim communities. I identify two major contributions within the edited volume: 1) the identification of the alternative Islamic voices and the structural conditions that shape their place in Muslim communities; and 2) the evaluation of the substantive ideological beliefs and political positions held by the alternative Islamic voices. The following paragraphs will expand on each major contribution.
The first contribution of the edited volume is the identification of alternative Islamic voices and the challenges they face. Azhar Ibrahim (chapter 6), Mohd Faizal Musa (chapter 10), and Ahmad Najib Burhani (chapter 12) dive deep into the rich history of these alternative voices and how structural conditions shape both their place in Muslim communities and their impact on Islamic discourse. This is an understudied aspect of Islamic discourse in Southeast Asia and the richness of detail makes the edited volume a great resource for future scholars to turn to for a more comprehensive understanding of social movements in contemporary Muslim communities. Additionally, the edited volume gives roughly equal weight to the ideological opponents of the alternative Islamic voices—the conservative and fundamentalist Islamic groups. Norshahril Saat (chapter 1) and Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman (chapter 5) contextualize the phenomenon of conservative Islamic resurgence in Malaysia and Singapore, while Norshahril Saat (chapter 8), Zainal Abidin Bagir and Azis Anwar Fachrudin (chapter 9), and Ahmad Suaedy (chapter 11) look at how religious conservative elites have successfully captured elements of government institutions and mobilized the Muslim electorate for political gain in Malaysia and Indonesia. The authors argue that alternative Islamic voices diagnose problems in Muslim communities and seek to reform society but are rebuffed by conservatives who are suspicious of liberal reforms. Azhar Ibrahim (chapter 4) and Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman (chapter 5) provide great examples of this—while alternative Islamic voices preach liberal reform, conservative groups identify liberalism as the cause of moral decay and actively work to suppress these alternative voices while agitating for a more fundamentalist “return” to Islam as a solution to societal problems.
The second contribution of the edited volume is the evaluation of the substantive ideological elements of the alternative Islamic voices. Azhar Ibrahim’s (chapter 4) main argument is that alternative Islamic voices are those with the necessary moral will and intellectual rigor to call for religious reform that will allow Islam to remain relevant today. Syed Farid Alatas (chapter 7), meanwhile, locates the philosophical core of progressive Islam in the ideal of moderation and progressive values inherent to Islamic tradition. These chapters provide a solid counterargument to the conservative refrain that progressive Islamic reform is only a Western ploy to weaken the faith of adherents.
Although Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia is a timely addition to the study of religion in plural societies and should be required reading for scholars who want an overview of Islamic discourse which does not focus only on the conservative Islamic groups, my praise for the edited volume comes with some caveats. The edited volume at times seems to cover too much and too little. On one hand, the sheer range of actors grouped under the umbrella category of “alternative voices” across varying contexts and the lack of an overarching framework across the cases (beyond the presumed shared progressiveness of all alternative Islamic voices) makes it difficult to conduct a systematic comparison. A more restricted selection process focusing on a specific group of alternative Islamic voices consistent across all cases might serve to demonstrate similarities and differences for deeper analysis. On the other hand, the Philippines is a conspicuous absence in the country case selection. Its absence serves as a reminder that more scholars need to engage in fresh comparisons between the Philippines and the typically selected Muslim community cases (Malaysia and Indonesia) that do not repeat the old security studies approach.
None of the above diminishes the edited volume’s contributions. Overall, the focus on structural and rational choice arguments makes this edited volume a useful complement to the gamut of studies on Islam in politics and society which emphasize cultural interpretivist arguments. Such arguments not only avoid treading the well-worn path of cultural relativism, but also aid in generalizing the contributions in this edited volume to a wider audience. The influence of religion on government, regime type, and society is an enduring question given the current zeitgeist, and the lessons learnt from Muslim Southeast Asia will be a welcome contribution to the wider world.
Mohamed Salihin Subhan
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver