Islamic Dakwah Movements in Indonesia

Religion is one of the aspects that cannot be separated from human’s life. There are many definitions from religion itself. From sociology side, religion is the actions of a social system where people believe in a certain power (supernatural) and works for self and public safety . There are many religions in the world, such as Christian, Islam, Hindu and Buddhist. Indonesia is the multi-cultural country where everyone has the right to believe in a religion, and government will protect this right for everyone  . As the multi-cultural country, Indonesia is also the country that has the highest number of Muslim   in the world. The high number of Muslim in Indonesia relates to the role of Islamic dakwah movements in Indonesia.

In Islam there is an order to do dakwah   for all muslim. Dakwah is fardhu ain in Islam, which means that it is compulsory if the number of people in dakwah is still enough. The purpose of dakwah is to bring people back into the right way of Allah. In dakwah, Muslim cannot work alone, that is why people work together in jamaah. Jamaah is the group of people who gather to reach the similar aim  . Jamaah will make them stronger to face the challenges in dakwah. Everyone has the reason why they include in dakwah. The common reasons are the hope to get the mercy from Allah, the hope for the heaven that Allah has promised and also to stand the laws in Islam.

There are many Islamic movements in Indonesia. Islamic movement is the part of dakwah in jamaah. The most famous movements are Muhammadiyah, Nahdhatul Ulama, Hizbut Tahrir and Ikhwanul Muslimin. Every movement has their own way and special treatment for dakwah. Each movement also has the different mazhab based on their own believes. These movements in Indonesia are interesting to be acknowledge, because people can see this phenomenon from the positive side. The author hopes that this essay will help people to know more about Islamic movements in Indonesia, and respect them, though they are different in several point.

The first movement is Muhammadiyah. Muhammadiyah is the organization that has been found in 1912 by KH. Ahmad Dahlan. Muhammadiyah was established in the colonialism era. one of the reasons of Muhammdiyah establishment is to against the colonialism and also to bear the educated young generation. The first Muhhamdiyah school was established in 1913. KH Ahmad Dahlan intended to do dakwah through the education in the middle of the situation where education is controlled by colonial. The special dakwah movement from Muhammadiyah is from the education and also the social charity. Muhammadiyah has 130 colleges in Indonesia and also several hospitals as the tools to do dakwah. In Muhammadiyah college, it is not only Muslim study there. There are also many Christian study in Muhamadiyah college. It is intereting, because Muhammadiyah believes that everyone can learn everywhere, and Muhammadiyah never force the students to join Muhammadiyah. They believe when people know Muhammadiyah well, it will summon them naturally to join Muhammadiyah.

The second movement is Nahdhatul Ulama (NU) as the Islamic organization. It is established in 1926. The first leader of NU was K.H. Hasyim Asyhari. NU started their dakwah in the village, because in the colonialism era the cities has been occupied and controlled by the colonial. The special dakwah movement from NU is the usage of culture and pesantren as the tool in dakwah . NU has several pesantren in villages around Indonesia. After Indonesia’s independent, NU participated in politic. It can be seen from several parties from NU, such as PPP and PKB. Now, NU is one of the biggest Islamic organizations that has the high number of participants.

The third dakwah movement is Hizbut Tahrir (HT). It was established in Yordania by Syaijh Taqiyuddin an-Nabhani. The aims of HT are to start the Islamic life which can be reached by building the Islamic country. Because it was firstly founded in Middle East, the first aim of HT is to build the Islamic countries in Middle East. The first step to build the Islamic country is by implementing the Islamic laws and creates the statute based on Al-Qur’an   and As-Sunnah . HT believes that by building an Islamic country it will make the peaceful life, because they will have the power to uphold the laws through the governance. HT does not give big attention to the education aspects, because they believe that people will rise through the system and aqidah . Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) adapts the same aims and way from HT in Yordania. They start dakwah through politic in order to build the Islamic country.

The last dakwah movement is Ikhwanul Muslimin (IM) which established in 1347 H in Isma’iliyah city. The founder of Ikhwanul Muslimin is Hasan Al-Banna. The special dakwah movement from IM is form tarbiyah. Tarbiyah means education in English, but it is not only education. Tarbiyah means the eductaion system where there is one Murrabi (teacher) with maximum 10 mutarabbi (students). Murabbi does not only teach the Islamic education but also supervise the Mutarabbi’s aqidah, worship, etc. The dakwah strategy from IM is by creating Islamic life start from individu, family and environment. Thus they start dakwah from the small scale and step by step. IM also participates in politic, PKS is the party from Ikhwanul Muslimin.

Those are the Islamic dakwah movements in Indonesia. Actually there are still many dakwah movements in Indonesia, but those four movements are the most famous in Indonesia and have many followers. There are many differences between each movement. Commonly, where there is difference, there is also conflict behind it. Each movement has the same aim to bring people back into the right way, and only the methods and system are different. Islam teaches every Muslim to respect everyone and to avoid the conflict. If right now there are many conflicts based on the religion, Islam never teaches about it, and only several people use Islam as the mask.

Islamic dakwah movements play the big role shaping the multi-cultural country. Many people think and ask “why there are so religion based group in Islam?”. Actually Muhammadiyah, Nahdhatul Ulama, Hizbut Tahrir and Ikhwanul Muslimin are from the same source (Al-Qur’an and As-Sunnah), and only the way of interpretation is different among each of them. The difference of interpretation and mazhab  is normal, as long as it is not against Al-Qur’an and As-Sunnah.

The author tries to persuade people to respect each movement based on their own believe through this essay. The author also hopes that this essay will give the clear representation of  Islamic dakwah movement in Indonesia. Each of dakwah movement has the long history and story behind it, and this essay is only the summary of them. There are many books that can be the reference to learn more about the Islamic dakwah movement in Indonesia.


References :

Al-Ghadban, S. M. (2009). Manhaj haraki. Jakarta: Robbani Press.

Hussain bin Muhammad bin Ali jabit, M. (2012). Menuju Jama'atul Muslimin. Kairo: Daarul Wafa'.

Pellokila, j. (n.d.). http://www.jappy.8m.net/blank_11.html. Retrieved from http://www.jappy.8m.net.

MPR RI. (2011). Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945 (10th ed).

Jakarta : Sekretariat Jenderal MPR RI.