Page 104 - Demo

Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesia87was the basis of the Indonesian struggle for independence.Nevertheless, Natsir eventually felt that, in some respects,Soekarno%u2019s ideas might contradict Islamic principles. Soekarnotended to contradict statehood aspirations in Islam andIndonesian national aspirations. Although Soekarno was adevout Muslim %u2014and read many of Natsir%u2019s writings when hewas in political asylum in Ende%u2014, he did not agree with theuse of Islam as the ideology of the Indonesian national struggle.Soekarno thought that, within the political sphere, Islam andthe state were two separate entities. In the 1930s, Soekarnobegan to quote the ideas of Shaykh Ali Abd al-Raziq andMustapha Kemal regarding Turkish nationalism, which wasabout to lead to secularism.Soekarno often emphasized that, as a Muslim, he reallyloved Islam and wanted to place it in the highest possibleposition. Therefore, he did not want Islam to be unified withthe state. Islam would be stronger and more admirable if it wereplaced as a religion and %u201cseparated%u201d from the state, as with theKemalists in Turkey. During the Ottoman Empire, Islam andthe state appeared to be identical. The regression of the Turkishsultanate, due to immoral practices, corruption, andauthoritarianism, brought about the decline of Islam in Turkey.Soekarno did not want to see Indonesia%u2019s Islamic experience asimilar %u201cfate%u201d. He wanted to %u201cbuild a throne for Islam in theheart%u201d.Natsir could not accept this idea. He believed that Islamnot only covered spiritual and eschatological matters, but alsoall other aspects of human life. Quoting H.A.R. Gibb, Natsirsaid that Islam was more than a religion, being a completecivilization. Therefore, according to him, Muslims, as with