Salafism and Democracy: A Study on Salafi Muslim Groups In Indonesia
Muh. Adlin Sila (Department of Religion RI)
The term salafi or salafiyya is commonly used to refer to Muslim groups who reject all but the most literal reading of the Scripture. Salafiyya is derived from the Arabic root, al-salaf al-salih, meaning the pious forefathers. This terminology is taken as a criterion to judge later practices of the first generation of Muslims. The salafi groups are various in nature. Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahab, the father of the Wahhabis, is popular with the program of religious purification. He rejected heretical innovation of religious practices that could not be traced to the Qur’an and Hadith. Muhammad Abduh’s reformism called for going back to the Scripture with allegorical and rational interpretation of it. There are yet others who claim themselves salafi both religiously and politically. These latter groups radically reject all unislamic practices that extensively go beyond religious matters such as democratic institutions and practices. Through socio-historical analysis, this article elaborates that the nature of salafi movement is political, because its tendency in rebelling against the establishment of either in religious orientation (orthodoxy) or in political system.
