Another Face of Puritan Islam: Muhammadiyah and Radicalism among the Youth

The relationship of Muhammadiyah and radicalism has been both exaggerated or denied by a number of observers and Muhammadiyah’s inner circles respectively. In the lights of these two opposing views, this research seeks to investigate connections, possible links, and types of relationships between Muhammadiyah and radicalism among the youth in Indonesia. It assesses and compares Muhammadiyah’s religious doctrines with those of radical Islam’s. The paper confirms certain intersections between Muhammadiyah and radical Islam doctrines. Based on the case of radical Islamic movements in Lamongan, East Java, this research finds that the radical doctrinal intersections do not automatically transform into radicalism in Muhammadiyah milieu, but they developed and advanced outside Muhammadiyah. This relationship is reffered to as “elementary relationship”. When the radical potential developed, those radicalised activists subsequently separated from Muhammadiyah and left for a more radical Islamic groups. This stage is called “separation”. However, when those activists have fully transformed into radicals, some of them returned to Muhammadiyah, not to rejoin the organization, but to correct Muhammadiyah’s religious doctrine that they percive as false, and at the same time persuade Muhammadiyah’s youth to join radical Islamic fronts. This type of relationship is termed as “return-forsalvation”. Furthermore, this paper also reveals that Muhammadiyah youth, especially those who are involving in Muhammadiyah autonomous organizations do not show radical tendency, although some of them are sympathetic to radical Islam agenda