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Indonesian Muslims: Believers in Islam or cultural Muslims?
The term “cultural Muslim” refers to a person who adopts a number of Islamic traditions in his life but lacks iman (faith), Islam’s fundamental value. While no one can assess the degree of faith held in another person’s heart, one can, however, compare the person’s actions to what is expected of him in Islam.
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In the Quran, Muslims can find guidance to successfully overcome all kinds of challenges — personal, social, economic, religious and so on. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
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ndonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world and its society is tightly shaped by Islamic values. Despite numerous shortcomings, most Indonesian Muslims consider themselves believers in Islam.
Nevertheless, there is also significant evidence that indicates that most Indonesian Muslims are “cultural Muslims” rather than believers in Islam. The term “cultural Muslim” refers to a person who adopts a number of Islamic traditions in his life but lacks iman (faith), Islam’s fundamental value. While no one can assess the degree of faith held in another person’s heart, one can, however, compare the person’s actions to what is expected of him in Islam.
I will use two cases to explore the distinction between a Muslim believer and a cultural Muslim: the lack of sufficient Arabic language knowledge and the distinction between being born a Muslim and becoming a Muslim, a necessary process to become a believer.
What are the implications of the fact that most Indonesians do not speak Arabic? As Muslims, they are expected to believe that Allah created them and everything around them, and that He is the only true source for guidance in this life and in the hereafter. That nothing in our lives is possible without His consent and grace. To guide humans, Allah sent the Quran, the only infallible guide for humans until the Day of Judgment. In the Quran, Muslims can find guidance to successfully overcome all kinds of challenges — personal, social, economic, religious and so on.
This unique and precious source of guidance and success is, however, written in Arabic language and cannot be translated because it contains the words of Allah. Islamic scholars can make their own interpretation of the meanings of the Quran and share them in other languages.
These personal interpretations can be used by others as one of the sources of advice, but not as guidance. This is because each person will interpret the Quran in a different way, resulting in thousands or millions of interpretations. As a consequence, Muslims are not allowed to seek guidance from anyone besides Allah and His Messenger.
To explore what this situation implies when it comes to assessing whether a person is a believer or not, let us take the fictional case of Aisha, a French woman who recently converted to Islam and is visiting Indonesia. Her only shortcoming is that she cannot learn new languages. During her visit, she meets Nuruddin, a young Indonesian Muslim. With the help of a translator, Aisha and Nuruddin get to know each other well and Nuruddin introduces her to his family. The couple gets engaged and decides to get married after two years.
