This book is about political thought, particularly about Islamic political thought as demonstrated by Indonesian Muslims since independence. It deals mainly with political change and how Muslims develop their arguments in facing it. The main questions I am concerned with in this study are: Why, for example, did many Muslims in Indonesia in the 1930s reject the idea of nationalism and ten years later accept it? Why did many Muslims in the 1950s demand an Islamic state, but twenty years later refuse it? Why did they in the 1970s strongly reject the idea of secularism, but thirty years later begin to accept it?

The same questions can be asked regarding the growing acceptance by Muslims of various political concepts such as democracy, pluralism, and human rights. One of the basic hypotheses that I propose in this study is that Islamic arguments that are developed in intellectual forums, publications, and academic circles play a significant role. An Islamic argument on certain political issues would be cast away when a viable new argument appeared. Muslim acceptance or rejection of certain concepts depends highly on whether or not an argument is theologically and logically justifiable. Argument, as Neta Crawford has stated, is a real component in social and political change. Its role is as important as military force.

To examine the above hypothesis, this study focuses on Indonesian Muslims’ conception on the ideal model of polity. I will examine three generations of Muslim intellectuals since independence. My main aim is to demonstrate that there has been a development of arguments among Muslim intellectuals. A model of polity is the most universal political thought that can embrace political concepts. By studying models of polity, we are not only identifying the variety of religious-political groups among Indonesian Muslims, but also discovering the dynamics of Islamic political thinking. As I will demonstrate, the history of Islamic political thought in Indonesia is the history of progress and transformation towards moderation.