Malaysian and Indonesian Approaches in Facing the Development of Islamic Thought: A Comparative Analysis

Islam had its stronghold in the Malay Archipelago since the 13th century of the common era. Various approaches and philosophies are used in explaining the understanding of Islam in various aspects such as akidah, fiqh, tasawuf, and others. In Malaysia, there are various groups such as tradionalist, reformist, modernist, salafi, and rationalist. The difference among these groups produced polemics between the Old and the New Groups, Syafi’iyyah-Salafi, Islamic-secular rationalist and others. In Indonesia, various groups also exist, such as Muhammadiyyah, Nahdhatul Ulama, Liberalist, and others. A general comparison between Malaysian and Indonesian approaches in teaching the development of Islamic thought shows the conspicuous difference. The Malaysian approach is considered as “closed” and “controlled” while that of Indonesia is “open”. In relation thereto, this paper attempts to analyze the pros and cons between the two aforementioned approaches. This also attempts to identify the strength and the weakness of the approaches as used in Malaysia and Indonesia.