Political Islam is a fact of life in countries with large Muslim populations. Indonesia and Turkey, two such countries, have had to deal with this issue for decades. Indonesia's own experience tells us that suppressing or banning political Islam is not the answer. General Suharto tried this when he ruled Indonesia for three decades until 1998, and political Islam simply went underground, making detection of its activities -- some of which were violent -- even more difficult.
If political Islam is accepted as a fact of life, then its presence must be accommodated in any democratic political system. That means the Islamist political parties are allowed to contest elections, but like other political parties, they must abide by the rules of the game called democracy. Obviously, those Islamist groups who preach violence or even engage in terrorism don't count, and must be dealt with by the law. But Islamist parties that adhere to democratic rules and principles have legitimate claims to operate and take part in elections. Secular parties concerned about the country turning into a theocratic state must then confront political Islam through the ballot box.
The jury is still out on where Turkey is heading after the latest electoral victory for the Islamist party. Turkey could go either way: evolve into another Iran (or Sudan or Taliban Afghanistan) by becoming an Islamic state and introduce Sharia law, or it could remain as a secular state, with the ruling Islamist party playing the role that Christian Democrat parties do in Europe. Not everyone has to go the way Iran or Taliban Afghanistan went. There is another path: the European way.
Indonesia has dozens of political parties with Islamic state agendas contesting the five-yearly elections. Their combined total share of votes, based on the 1999 and 2004 elections, has never exceeded 25 percent. That means that at most, about a quarter of the population in Indonesia supports the notion of an Islamic state. The larger population, including Muslims who make up nearly 90 percent of the 220 million Indonesians, voted for secular parties.
The choice of the majority of Indonesians is therefore clear: secularism. Most Muslims, in spite of their devotion to their religion, feel comfortable with this arrangement. Indonesia is by definition a pluralistic nation. While Islam is the dominant religion, non-Muslims live in some pockets of the country where they are the majority religion. They could easily attempt to break away from the republic the moment Indonesia turns into a theocratic state. This is a prospect even the die-hard political Islamists want to avoid.
This has been the case since Indonesia became an independent state in 1945. The Islamist political parties will continue to enjoy some but not a great deal of support from voters, and will thus continue to push their Islamist agenda at every opportunity. The secular parties will continue to enjoy majority support and will continue to confront the Islamist parties.
Political Islam has a legitimate claim in any predominantly Muslim society. Giving space to Islamist parties force them to play by the rules of the game, and to renounce the use of violence. Religious extremism is another issue, one that should be dealt with by the law. In any democracy that upholds the rule of law, there is no room for extremism.
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