In Search for Muslim Ethics of Calvinism: Improving the Quality of Public Life through the Incorporation of Religious Narratives into the State Policies in Indonesia
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Published:
Mar 1, 2024
Keywords:
Ethics of Calvinism, public life quality, religious doctrines
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Abstract
This article deals with an exploration of how Islam is translated into Calvinist ethics into the state policies in order to improve the quality of public life in Indonesia by revisiting the foundation of “mild secularism” adopted by the founding fathers of this country. Along with this argument, religious ethics can be utilized in improving the quality of public life by revitalizing religious doctrines to support the betterment of public life quality. In doing so, reactivating the mechanisms of inductive rational thinking such as ijtihad or tajdīd is badly needed in order to deconstruct old-fashioned understanding of religious teachings prevalent in society regarding all issues contradictory to the betterment of public life quality such as Human Development Index (HDI), life expectancy index, health issues, and so forth. However, this huge undertaking is only possible by means of a concerted collaboration across institutions both within state structure and outside of it.
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Hilmy, Masdar, and Hammis Syafaq. “In Search for Muslim Ethics of Calvinism: Improving the Quality of Public Life through the Incorporation of Religious Narratives into the State Policies in Indonesia”. Islamica: Jurnal Studi Keislaman 18, no. 2 (March 1, 2024): 49-74. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://islamica.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/islamica/article/view/1097.
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References
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Sirozi, Muhammad. “Secular-Religious Debates on the Indonesian National Education System: Colonial Legacy and a Search for National Identity in Education.” Intercultural Education 15, no. 2 (2004): 123-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1467598042000224998
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Turner, Bryan S. Weber and Islam: A Critical Study. London: Routledge, 1998.
Wahid, Abdurrahman. “Indonesia’s Mild Secularism.” SAIS Review 21, no. 2 (Summer-Fall, 2001): 25-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.2001.0051
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. T. Parsons. London & New York: Routledge, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203995808
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Harper Collins, 1991.
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www.dataindonesia.id (accessed December 22, 2023).
Abu-Nimer, M. Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islam: Theory and Prac-tice. Gainesville, Fl.: University Press of Florida, 2003.
Alfitri. Islamic Law and Society in Indonesia Corporate Zakat Norms and Practices in Islamic Banks. London: Routledge, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003183112
Al-Qurtuby, Sumanto. “Calling for “Islamic Protestantism” in In-donesia and Beyond: Towards Democratic and Pluralistic Is-lam.” Journal of Indonesian Islam 2, no. 1 (June 2008): 151-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15642/JIIS.2008.2.1.151-177
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Assyaukanie, Luthfi. Islam and the Secular State in Indonesia. Singa-pore: ISEAS, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812308900
Barton, Greg. “Indonesia: Legitimacy, Secular Democracy, and Islam.” Politics & Policy 38, 3 (June 2010): 471-496. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2010.00244.x
Batlajery, Agustinus M. L. “The Impact of Calvinist Teaching in Indonesia.” Unio Cum Christo 3, no. 2 (October 2017): 203-2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc3.2.2017.art12
Berger, Peter L. and Luckmann, Thomas. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Penguin, 1991.
Bianchi, Robert R. Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0195171071.001.0001
Bunde, Armin, Jürgen Kropp and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber (eds.). The Science of Disasters: Climate Disruption, Heart Attacks, and Market Crashes. Giessen, Germany: Springer, 2002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56257-0
Chester, D. K. “Theodicy of Natural Disasters.” Scottish Journal of Theology 51, no. 4 (November 1998): 485-506. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0036930600056866
Chester, David K. “Theology and Disaster Studies: The Need for Dialogue.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 146, no. 4 (2005): 319-328. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2005.03.004
Coward, Harold and Gordon S. Smith (eds.). Religion and Peacebuild-ing. New York: State University of New York Press, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book4749
Dubois, Heather. “Religion and Peacebuilding: An Ambivalent yet Vital Relationship.” Journal of Religion, Conflict and Peace 1, no. 2 (Spring, 2008).
Feldman, Noah. The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Fromm, Erich. The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good and Evil. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1964.
Gorski, Philip S. The Disciplinary Revolution: Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Early Modern Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226304861.001.0001
Hedayat, Kamyar. “When the Spirit Leaves: Childhood Death, Grieving, and Bereavement in Islam.” Journal of Palliative Medi-cine 9, no. 6 (2006): 1282-1291. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2006.9.1282
Hefner, Robert. Islam and Citizenship in Indonesia: Democracy and the Quest for an Inclusive Public Ethics. London & New York: 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032629155
Hilmy, Masdar. “Agama dalam Arsitektur Negara-Bangsa.” Kompas, April 17, 2023.
Hilmy, Masdar. “Mengurai Sengkarut Dispensasi Nikah.” Jawa Pos, January 31, 2023.
Hilmy, Masdar. “Nalar Agama Melawan Pandemi.” Kompas, July 30, 2021.
Hilmy, Masdar. “Winning the Battle of Authorities: The Muslim Disputes over the Covid-19 Pandemic Plague in Contemporary Indone¬sia,” Qudus International Journal of Islamic Studies 8, no. 2 (2020): 293-326. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21043/qijis.v8i2.7670
-----. Islamism and Democracy in Indonesia: Piety and Pragmatism. Singa-pore: ISEAS, 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812309730
Hosen, Nadirsyah. “Religion and the Indonesian Constitution: A Recent Debate.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 36, no. 3 (Oc-tober 2005): 419-440. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463405000238
Hull, Terence H. “The Political Framework for Family Planning in Indonesia: Three Decades of Development.” In Two is enough: Family Planning in Indonesia under the New Order 1968-1998. Lei¬den: KITLV Press, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/97890 04454576_006
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York & London: Simon & bSchuster Pa-perbacks, 1996.
Husaini, Adian. Liberalisasi Islam di Indonesia. Jakarta: Dewan Da’wah Islamiyah Indonesia, 2006.
Karber, Phil. Fear and Faith in Paradise: Exploring Conflict & Religion in the Middle East. New York & Toronto: Rowman & Little-field Publishers, 2012.
Khitam, Husnul. “Islam and Capitalism: The Dynamics of Religion and Contemporary Indonesian Work Orientation.” Al-A’raf 19, no. 1 (June 2022): 45-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22515/ajpif.v19i1.5226
Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Evil. San Francisco: Harper, 2004.
Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics and Religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Koenig, Harold G. and Saad Al Shohaib. Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies: Background, Research, and Applications. New York & London: Springer, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05873-3
Mu’ti, Abdul et al. (eds.). Kosmopolitanisme Islam Berkemajuan: Catatan Kritis Muktamar Teladan ke-47 Muhammadiyah di Makasar 2015. Surakarta: Muhammadiyah University Press, 2016.
Mujani, Saiful and Liddle, William R. “Muslim Indonesia’s Secular Democracy.” Asian Survey 49, no. 4 (2009): 575-590. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2009.49.4.575
Nasr, Vali. “Secularism: Lessons from the Muslim World.” Daeda-lus 32, no. 3 (2003): 67-72 (69).
Nelson-Pallmeyer, Jack. Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2003.
“PBNU Gelar Halaqah Fiqih Peradaban di 250 Titik.” NU Online, 21 June 2023.
Saleh, Fauzan. Modern Trends in Islamic Theological Discourse in Twenti-eth Century Indonesia: A Critical Survey. Leiden: Brill, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047401131
Sirozi, Muhammad. “Secular-Religious Debates on the Indonesian National Education System: Colonial Legacy and a Search for National Identity in Education.” Intercultural Education 15, no. 2 (2004): 123-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1467598042000224998
Sirry, Mun’im. “Fatwas and their controversy: The case of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI).” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 44, no. 1 (February, 2013): 100-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463412000641
Sukidi. “Max Weber’s Remarks on Islam: The Protestant Ethic among Muslim Puritans.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 17, no. 2 (2006): 195-205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410600604484
“The Global God Divide.” Pew Research Center, July 20, 2020 (www.pewresearch.org).
Turner, Bryan S. Weber and Islam: A Critical Study. London: Routledge, 1998.
Wahid, Abdurrahman. “Indonesia’s Mild Secularism.” SAIS Review 21, no. 2 (Summer-Fall, 2001): 25-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.2001.0051
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. T. Parsons. London & New York: Routledge, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203995808
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Harper Collins, 1991.
World Bank data (www.data.worldbank.org).
www.dataindonesia.id (accessed December 22, 2023).