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ISLAM IN INDONESIA
 CAROOL KERSTEN

Islam in Indonesia
The Contest for Society, Ideas
and Values

A
 A
Oxford University Press is a department of the
University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective
of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide.
Oxfordâ•… New York
Aucklandâ•… Cape Townâ•… Dar es Salaamâ•… Hong Kongâ•… Karachi
Kuala Lumpurâ•…Madridâ•…Melbourneâ•…Mexico Cityâ•…Nairobi
New Delhiâ•…Shanghaiâ•…Taipeiâ•…Toronto
With offices in
Argentinaâ•…Austriaâ•…Brazilâ•…Chileâ•…Czech Republicâ•…Franceâ•…Greece
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South Koreaâ•…Switzerlandâ•…Thailandâ•…Turkeyâ•…Ukraineâ•…Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Copyright © Carool Kersten 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,
or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with
the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning
reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
Carool Kersten.
Islam in Indonesia: The Contest for Society, Ideas and Values.
ISBN: 9780190247775
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgements vii
Note on Translation and Transliteration ix
Abbreviations xi
Glossary xv

Introduction: An Intellectual History of Contemporary

Indonesian Islam 1
1.╇Secularism, Pluralism and Liberalism in Indonesian
Muslim Contexts 15
2.╇Islam in Indonesia Today: Discourses and Interlocutors 41
3.╇The Weight of the Predecessors: Adaptation, Critique and
Transformation 83
4.╇Debating Secularism: Islam, Statehood and Democracy 137
5.╇The Letter or the Spirit of Islamic Law? Legal Formalists
versus Substantivists 179
6.╇Contentious Triangulation: Religious Pluralism, Human
Rights and Freedom of Thought 221
Conclusion: Secularity and Toleration, Liberty and Freethinking 279

Notes 289
Bibliography 329
Index 351

v
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has been several years in the making, and could not have been
completed without the generous financial support of various funding
bodies. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of the
United Kingdom awarded a fellowship which allowed me to conduct
research in Indonesia and make time for writing up my findings. Thanks
are also due to Professor Paul Janz, Head of the Department of Theology
and Religious Studies at King’s College London, for granting me
research leave which enabled me to spend the academic year 2012–13
almost exclusively on the completion of this project. Research visits to
Indonesia were made possible by the British Academy and its Committee
for South East Asian Studies, including a travel fellowship under a
scheme of the European Consortium for Asian Field Studies (ECAF). As
part of this program I was hosted by the Jakarta office of the École
Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO). I am very grateful to its director,
Dr Arlo Griffiths, for his hospitality.
€

â•… Indispensable resources were made accessible through the good

offices of Dr Carol Tan and Professor Graham Furniss of my alma
€

mater, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), who facili-
tated my appointment as Research Associate at its Centre of South
East Asian Studies. My Indonesian research assistants, Cherry Augusta
and Yoyo, have been instrumental for data collection and for drawing
my attention to trends, ideas and writings of which I was not yet
aware. Over the years, my research was further aided by the willing-
ness of many individuals in Indonesia to make time available to share
their thoughts; they include: Professor M. Amin Abdullah, Ulil Abshar-
€

Abdalla, Ihsan Ali-Fauzi, Professor Arson Aliludin, Dr M. Syafii

€ €

vii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Anwar, Dr Luthfi Assyaukanie, Professor Azyumardi Azra, Dr Haider

€ €

Bagir, Professor Anies Baswedan, Fuad Fanani, Badrus Samsul Fata,

Ahmad Gaus AF, Professor Komaruddin Hidayat, Dr Moch Nur €

Ichwan, Zuhairi Misrawi, Professor Abdul Munir Mulkhan, Fajar Riza

Ul Haq, Dr Rumadi, Dr Ahmad Suaedy, Professor Yudian Wahyudi,
and Professor Bill Watson. Dr Ahmad Najib Burhani has been very
generous in sharing published and unpublished research materials. A
number of universities and other institutions have offered platforms for
testing my ideas. These include Gadjah Mada University, the Islamic
State Universities of Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta, Slamet Riyadi
University and 11 March University (both in Solo, Surakarta),
€

Jakarta’s Center of South East Asian Studies (Amelia J. Dotulong Liwe

€

and Yosef Djakababa), and the Senior Diplomatic Training Institute of

the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Dr Pribadi Sutiono).
€

â•… Various materials incorporated in this book have been the subject of
presentations at conferences, workshops and seminars, including
Chatham House, the Asia–Middle East Conference hosted by the
Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy
in Annapolis, the IAHR Congress in Toronto, the Asia Research
Institute of the National University of Singapore, the Annual
Conference of the AAR in San Francisco, St Anthony’s College,
University of Oxford, and the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies,
University of Exeter.

Carool Kersten London, Fall 2013

viii
 NOTE ON TRANSLATION
AND TRANSLITERATION

A book on Islam will unavoidably have to deal with terminology, jar-

gon and expressions in non-Western languages; in this instance, Arabic
and Indonesian. Unless published English translations were available,
the translations from the Indonesian and Arabic are mine. In translit-
erating Arabic terms, I have adopted a simplified system based on the
conventions of the International Journal of Middle East Studies
(IJMES), but dispensing with diacritics for long vowels and consonants
with no (near) equivalents in European languages. Those with the
appropriate linguistic and philological qualifications will be able to
establish the original Arabic anyway, while other readers need not be
burdened with a possibly distracting idiosyncratic typography.
â•… Spelling of Indonesian adheres to the changes introduced in 1972,
with the exception of personal names where I respect the choice of the
bearer. Also for the names of the two first presidents I have decided on
Sukarno and Suharto, instead of Soekarno and Soeharto, because this
has become common in contemporary publications. One remaining
complication is the fact that Indonesian has its own system of translit-
erating Arabic terms. Here it is only applied when using materials writ-
ten in Indonesian.

ix
 ABBREVIATIONS

AKKBB Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Bera�gama

dan Berkeyakinan (National Alliance for the
Freedom of Religion and Belief)
Aswaja Ahl al-sunnah wa’ al-jama‘ah (Adherents to the
Traditions of the Prophet and the Community)
BKPMI Badan Komunikasi Pemuda Masjid Indonesia (Com�
munication Forum of the Indonesian Mosque Youth)
BKPRMI Badan Komunikasi Pemuda Remaja Masjid
Indonesia (Muslim Youth Organization)
CLD-KHI Counter Legal Draft Kompilasi Hukum Islam
CPDS Center for Policy and Development Studies
DDII Dewan Dakwah Islamiya Indonesia (Indonesian
Islamic Propagation Council)
FKASWJ Forum Komunikasi Ahlus Sunna Wa Jamaah
FORMACI Forum Mahasiswa Ciputat (Forum of Ciputat
Students)
FPI Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front)
GAM Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement)
Gerindra Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Greater Indonesia
Movement Party)
Golkar Golongan Rakyat (Functional Groups)
HMI Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (Association of
Muslim Students)
HTI Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia
HUDA Himpunan Ulama Dayah Aceh (Aceh Ulama Council)
IAIN Institut Agama Islam Negeri (State Institute for
Islamic Studies)

xi
 ABBREVIATIONS

ICMI Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim se-Indonesia (Asso�

ciation of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals)
IMM Ikatan Mahasiswa Muhammadiyah (Association of
Muhammadiyah Students)
IPB Institut Pertanian Bogor (Bogor Agricultural Univer�
sity)
ITB Institut Teknologi Bandung (Bandung Institute of
Technology)
JI Jemaah Islamiyah
JIL Jaringan Islam Liberal (Liberal Islam Network)
JIMM Jaringan Intelektual Muhammadiyah Muda (Net�
work of Young Muhammadiyah Intellectuals)
KAMMI Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia (United
Front of Indonesian Muslim University Students)
KHI Kompilasi Hukum Islam (Islamic Law Compilation)
KISDI Komite Indonesia untuk Solidaritas dengan Dunia
Islam (Indonesia Committee for Solidarity with the
Islamic World)
KMP Koalisi Merah–Putih (Red–White Coalition led by
Gerindra and Golkar parties)
Komnas HAM Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (National
Committee on Human Rights)
LAKPESDAM Lembaga Kajian dan Pengembangan Sumber Daya
Manusia (Institute for the Research and Develop�
ment of Human Resources)
LIPI Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (Indonesian
Institute of Sciences)
LIPIA Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Islam dan Arab (Insti�
tute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences)
LKiS Lembaga Kajian Islam dan Sosial (Institute for
Islamic and Social Studies)
LKPSM Lembaga Kajian Pesantren dan Sumber Daya
Manusia (Institute for Educational and Human
Resour�ces Research)
LMD Latihan Mujahid Dakwah (Preacher Combatants)
LP3ES Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Penerangan
Ekonomi dan Sosial (Institute for Social and
Economic Research, Education and Information)
LPPI Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengkajian Islam (Institute
for the Research and Teaching of Islam)

xii
 ABBREVIATIONS

LSAF Lembaga Studi Agama dan Falsafat (Institute for the

Study of Religion and Philosophy)
LSIP Lembaga Studi Islam Progresif (Institute for the
Study of Progressive Islam)
LSM Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat (Self-reliant Com�
munity Institutions, NGOs)
MMI Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (Indonesian Council or
Muslim Religious Warriors)
MPR Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s ConsulÂ�
tative Assembly)
MPU Majelis Permusyawaratan Ulama (Consultative
Council of Religious Scholars)
MTPPI Majelis Tarjih dan Pengembangan Pemikiran Islam
(Council for Religious Rulings and the Furtherance
of Islamic Thought)
MUI Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Council of Indonesian
Islamic Scholars)
NKK Normalisasi Kehidupan Kampus (Normalization of
Campus Life)
NAD Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (Privileged Province of
Aceh)
NU Nahdlatul Ulama (Indonesia’s largest traditionalist
Muslim mass organization)
P3M Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren dan Masya�
rakat (Society for Educational and Community
Development)
PAN Partai Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party)
PBB Partai Bulan Bintang (Crescent Star Party)
PBNU Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama (Central Board of
the Nahdlatul Ulama)
PD Partai Demokrat (Democrat Party)
PDI(-P) Partai Demokrasi Indonesia(–Perjuangan) (IndoÂ�
nesian Democracy Party—Struggle)
PERSIS Persatuan Islam
PKB Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (National Awakening
Party)
PK(S) Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (Justice and Prosperity
Party)
PMII Pergerakan Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia (Movement
of Indonesian Muslim Students)

xiii
 ABBREVIATIONS

PPM Pimpinan Pusat Muhammadiyah (Central Board of

the Muhammadiyah)
PPP Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Develop�
ment Party)
PSIK Pusat Studi Islam dan Kenegaraan (Center for Islam
and State Studies)
STF Driyarkara Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara (Driyarkara
Advanced School for Philosophy)
STW Sekolah Tinggi Wiraswasta (Higher School for
Entrepreneurship)
TPI-Muh Tadarus Pemikiran Islam Muhammadiyah (Study of
Muhammadiyah Islamic Thinking)
UGM Universitas Gadjah Mada
UI Universitas Indonesia
UIN Universitas Islam Negeri (State Islamic University)

xiv
 GLOSSARY

Abangan (In.) ‘Nominal’ Muslims, whose religious

beliefs and practices incorporate elements
of customary law (adat) and elements of
other religions (Hinduism, Buddhism,
indigenous spirituality)
Adat (In./Ar.) customary law
Agama Hanif Hanif (monotheist) religion
Ahl al-Dhimma non-Muslims given protected status in
(Ar., In.: Dzimma) Muslim territory against payment of a
special tax
ahl al-hall wa’l-‘aqd (Ar.) ‘people who can loosen and bind’; those
holding legal authority
ahl al-ikhtisas (Ar.) scholarly specialists
Ahl al-Kitab (Ar.) ‘People of the Book’
Ahlussunnah wal-Jama’ah Ahl al-sunnah wa’ al-jama‘ah (Adherents
(In./Ar.) to the Traditions of the Prophet and the
community)
Akhlaq (Ar.) morals; ethics; virtues
Aliran (In.) ideological bloc or ‘pillar’
Aliranisasi (In.) ‘pillarization’ of society into ideological
blocs
Amal salih (Ar.) ‘good works’
Anak Muda NU Young NU (Nahdlatul Ulama) cadres
‘Aqida (Ar.) creed; basic tenets of the faith
‘Aql (Ar.) human reason; rational thinking
Asas tunggal (In.) sole foundation (of the state)

xv

Asl (pl. usul, Ar.)
Baitul Mal Aceh (In./Ar.)
Batin (Ar.)
Bayan (Ar.)
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (In.)
Burhan (Ar.)
Cendekiawan (In./Sanskrit)
Dakwah (In., Ar. da‘wa)
Dar al-harb (Ar.)
Dar al-Islam (Ar.)
Dharuriyyat (Ar.)
Dhimmi (Ar.)
Dinas Syariat Islam (In.)
Dwi-fungsi (In.)
Far‘ (pl. furu‘, Ar.)
Fatwa (Ar.)
Fiqh (Ar., In: fiqih; fikih)
Fitra (Ar.)
Gerakan Pembaruan
Pemikiran Islam (In.)
Ghazwul fikri (In./Ar.)
Hadara (Ar.)
Hajjiyat (Ar.)
Halqa (halaqa) (Ar.)
(Al-)hanafiyya al-samha
(Ar.)
Hanif (Ar.)
Haqiqa (Ar.)
xvi
GLOSSARY
principle
Islamic Treasury of Aceh
inward; esoteric
discursive proof
Unity in Diversity
demonstrative proof
intellectual
literally ‘call’; Islamic religious propaga-
tion
‘Abode of war’; areas not yet under con-
trol of the Islamic realm
‘Abode of Islam’
primary objectives of Islamic law-giving
someone accorded Dhimma status
Shari‘a Office
‘double function’, referring to the dual
role of the Indonesian armed forces in
terms of national defense and economic
development
derivatives, as opposed to principles or
usul
(non-binding) legal opinion issued by a
jurisconsult or mufti
Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic legal science
innate human disposition to religious
belief or faith
Movement for the Renewal of Islamic
Thinking
‘intellectual invasion’; also written as al-
ghazwu al-fikry; ghazw al-fikri
civilization
secondary objectives of Islamic law-giving
study circle
broad religious inclusiveness
Qur’anic term for monotheists who do
not belong to the Judaic, Christian or
Islamic faith tradition
(ultimate) truth

Hudud (Ar.)
Hukum Islam (In.)
‘Ibadat (Ar.)
Ijma‘ (Ar.)
Ijtihad (Ar.)
‘Ilm (pl. ‘ulum, In.: ilmu)
Iman (Ar.)
Insan kamil (Ar.)
‘Irfan (Ar.)
Islah wa’l-tajdid (Ar.)
Jalan tengah (In.)
Kalam (Ar.)
Kalimatun Sawa’ (Ar.)
Kebatinan (In.)
Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa ‘Supreme Being’; belief in this Supreme
Kejawen (In.)
Kepercayaan (In.)
Keterbukaan (In.)
Khalifa Allah fi’l-ard
(Ar., In: khalifatullah)
Khilafa Allah fi’l-ard
Ksatria piningit (In.)
(Al)-kulliyat al-khamsa (Ar.) the five basic rights protected under law:
Kufr (Ar.)
xvii
GLOSSARY
punishments prescribed by Islamic law
Islamic law
acts of worship; subject area in Islamic
jurisprudence dealing with rituals and
practices including prayer, almsgiving,
fasting and pilgrimage
consensus of the scholars
independent reasoning, or the use of
rational thinking; first introduced as a
methodological tool in juridical or legal
thinking
knowledge; science
faith
‘perfect man’: ideal type of pious huÂ�
man being, modeled after the Prophet
€
Muhammad
intuitive knowledge; illuminationism
reform and renewal
middle way
(discursive) Islamic theology
Common Word; Qur’anic reference to
the common origin of Judaism, Chris�
tianity and Islam
mysticism, spirituality (also referred to as
kejawen and kepercayaan); from the Ara�
bic batin, meaning inward and esoteric
Being is the first principle of Pancasila
‘Javanism’, indigenous spiritual practices,
cf. also kebatinan, kepercayaan
indigenous spiritual beliefs
‘opening-up’, liberalization
God’s viceregent on earth (humankind)
human viceregency on earth
‘hidden knight’; mystical Javanese hero
life, religion, intellect, property, lineage
unbelief
 GLOSSARY

Kyai (In.) respected or authoritative religious teacher

Laskar Jihad (In.) reactionary Muslim militia
Lepas-landas (In.) ‘taking off’; reference to acceleration
phase in Indonesia’s economic develop-
ment plan under New Order
Madhhab (Ar., In.: madzab; ‘school’; usually referring to one of the
mazhab) authoritative schools of Islamic jurispru-
dence (fiqh)
Mahkamah syariah (In./Ar.) Shari‘a Court
Majelis Tarjih (In./Ar.) Council for Religious Rulings
Maklumat Keindonesiaan ‘Declaration of Indonesianness’
(In.)
Manhaj (Ar.) method (of scholarly, religious or philo-
sophical thinking)
Maqasid al-shari‘a(Ar., In.: ‘objectives of shari‘a’; Islamic philosophy
Maqashid al-syariah) of law and ethics
Marhaen/Marhaenis (In.) proletariat/proletarian
Maslaha (Ar.) ‘Common Good’; public interest
Masyarakat madani civil society
(In./Ar.)
Masyumi (In.) orig. Masjumi (Majelis Sjuro Muslimin
Indonesia), Indonesia’s main Islamic
party after independence (1945–60)
Mazhab (In.) Indonesian rendition of madhhab
Milla Ibrahim (Ar.) Community of Abraham; a reference to
the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Chris�
tianity and Islam
Mu‘amalat (Ar.) ‘interactions’, subject area in Islamic
jurisprudence dealing with non-religious
issues such as marriage, inheritance,
commercial and political administration
Mu‘tazila (Ar.) school of religious thinking using
Hellenic rationalism, emerging in the 9th
century during the Abbasid Caliphate
Muwatana (Ar.) citizenship
Nahdliyyin ‘Reawakeners’; used to refer to adherents
and activists in the traditionalist Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU)
Naql (Ar.) transmitted knowledge
Orde Baru (In.) ‘New Order’; military regime led by

xviii
 GLOSSARY

General Suharto that controlled Indonesia

1966–99
Organisasi Tanpa Bentuk ‘Organisations without Form’; opposi-
(In.) tional forces considered subversive by the
New Order regime
Paman Sam (In.) ‘Uncle Sam’
PAM Swakarsa (In.) self-defense militias
Pancasila (In.) ‘Five Principles’, the state doctrine first
introduced by President Sukarno in 1945
Pembaruan (In.) renewal, cf. also the tajdid
Pengadilan Agama (In.) religious court
Penghijauan (In.) ‘Greening’, the Islamization of Indonesian
society
Peradaban (In.) civilization
Perda syariat (In.) Peraturan Daerah Syariat (Regional
Orders for compliance with Islamic law)
Pesantren (In.) Islamic boarding school
Poros Tengah (In.) ‘Central Axis’; alliance of moderate
Muslim parties
Pribumisasi (In.) indigenization
Qanun (In./Ar.) bill, law, legal decree
Qat‘i (Ar.) Islamic legal expression referring to cate-
gorical or definitive acts, as opposed to
zanni
Qiyas (Ar.) reasoning by analogy
Reformasi (In.) Reformation; period after the regime
change of 1998 which led to the fall of
the New Order regime led by General
Suharto
Ridda (Ar.) apostasy
(Al-)salaf al-salih (Ar) pious ancestors
Santri (In.) pious, observant Muslim
Sipil (In.) civil
Sipilis (In.) derogative acronym of ‘secularism, plu-
ralism, liberal’, suggesting an association
with the STD syphilis
Sunnatullah (In./Ar.) ‘divine order’
Tabligh (Ar.) ‘dissemination’, practising Islamic reli-
gious propagation
Tafsir (Ar.) Qur’an commentary; exegesis

xix
 GLOSSARY

Taghyir (Ar.) alteration to the authenticity of Islamic

law
Tahsiniyyat (Ar.) non-essential embellishments connected
to Islamic law-giving
Tajdid (Ar.) lawful or permissible renewal of Islamic
thinking
Takhayul, bid‘a, churafat unlawful accretions, innovations and
(Ar./In.) superstitions
Talfiq (Ar.) Islamic reformist practice of choosing
suitable elements from different authori-
tative schools of law
Taqlid (Ar.) imitation
Taqwa (Ar.) God-consciousness
Tarbiyah (In./Ar.) Islamic training
Tarjih (Ar.) selecting the right legal position on the
basis of the strongest possible evidence
Tasamuh (Ar.) tolerance
Tasawwuf (Ar.) Sufism; Islamic mysticism
(Al) -tawassut wa al-i’tidal moderation and justice
(Ar.)
Tawazun (Ar.) balance
Tawhid (Ar., In.: tauhid) unity and unicity of God
Tausiyah (In./Ar.) religious non-legal admonition
Turath (Ar., In: turats) heritage, civilizational legacy
‘Ulama (Ar., In.: ulema) Islamic religious scholars
‘ulum al-din (Ar., In.: religious sciences; disciplines of tradi-
ulumuddin) tional Islamic learning
Umma wasat (Ar.) middle community
Umma wahida (Ar.) single community
Usroh (In., Ar: usra) ‘family’; cell-like structure of the tarbiya
movement
Usul al-din (Ar., In.: foundations of religion
ushuluddin)
Usul al-fiqh (Ar.) foundations of jurisprudence
Wilayatul Hisbah (In./Ar.) religious police force (in Aceh)
Zahir (Ar.) outward, manifest, exoteric
Zandaqa (Ar.) heresy
Zanni (Ar.) Islamic legal expression referring to non-
categorical or changeable acts, as oppo�
sed to qat‘i

xx
 INTRODUCTION

AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
OF CONTEMPORARY INDONESIAN ISLAM

In July 2005, the Council of Indonesian Islamic Scholars (Majelis

Ulama Indonesia, MUI) issued a fatwa, or religious opinion, in which
they categorically condemned the notions of pluralism, liberalism and
secularism as running counter to the teachings of Islam when it comes
to doctrine and acts of worship (‘ibadat).1 In terms of human interac-
tions (mu‘amalat), the fatwa was more ambiguous: stating that
whereas in a society with a plurality of religions the Muslim commu-
nity may assume an inclusivist attitude, they should only interact with
non-Muslims to the extent of not inflicting mutual harm.2 Islamist
movements across the Indonesian political spectrum, from the vigilan-
tes of the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam, FPI) to the
more intellectual Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), regarded the fatwa
as a vindication of their agendas for turning Indonesia into an Islamic
state. Less than a year later, a number of prominent Muslim intellec-
tuals defied MUI and its sympathizers by joining a broad coalition of
pro-democracy activists. They affirmed their adherence to the princi-
ples of pluralism, liberalism and secularism by countering the fatwa
with the so-called Maklumat Keindonesiaan, or ‘Declaration of
Indonesianness’.3 Although inter-communal violence, which ravaged
Indonesia in the years around the regime change of 1998, seemed to
have died down, against the background of this growing antagonism
among Indonesian Muslims themselves, 2005–6 must be considered
another watershed year.

1
 ISLAM IN INDONESIA

â•… The polarization between different groups of Muslim activists is also

echoed in the increasingly confrontational language that is employed
in intellectual debates. Puritan and reactionary elements within
Indonesia’s main modernist Muslim organization, the Muhammadiyah,
challenge their traditionalist Islamic counterparts of the Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) by declaring their practices as unlawful accretions, inno-
vations and superstitions—or takhayul, bid‘a and churafat, in Islamic
idiom. Amidst rising tensions these terms have been abbreviated into
‘TBC’ in order to insinuate that assertive progressive elements within
the NU were infecting Indonesia’s Muslim community with a danger-
ous disease.4 Also the polemical Islamist Adian Husaini (b.1965)
resorts to the rhetoric of pathogens: writing about ‘the virus of liberal-
ism’ that has invaded Islamic university education and academic schol-
arship, or referring to secularism, pluralism and liberalism as ‘sipilis’.5
Progressive Muslims retort by speaking of an ‘ideological pandemic of
religious Puritanism’.6 Unfortunately, this growing antagonism is no
longer confined to a war of words, but emerges through the persecu-
tion, dehumanization and outright murder of perceived ‘deviants’, such
as Shi’ites and adherents of the Ahmadiyya movement.7
â•… While freedom of religion and religious tolerance are evidently one
of the key battlegrounds, there are much wider implications to these
developments: What is the status of universal human rights in
Indonesia? What does this tell us about the chances of success for
Indonesia’s ongoing democratization process? How optimistic (if it at
all) can we be about its sustainability? And ultimately, what kind of
country does Indonesia want to be?
â•… On 22 May 1998, after more than thirty years in power, General
€

Suharto (1923–2008) stepped down as President of Indonesia. This

also spelled the end of his New Order regime (1965–99), as interim
president B. J. Habibie (b.1936) was unable to hold on to power in the
€ €

first free presidential elections held a year later. After decades of

repression, the newly inaugurated Reformasi era threw Indonesia’s
public space wide open, creating prospects for political emancipation
that were difficult to fathom. Unprecedented opportunities also emer�
ged for civil society advocates, including Muslim activists of varying
backgrounds and with diverging agendas. Having blocked attempts by
Islamist politicians to include references to Islamic law in Indonesia’s
constitution of 1945 through an addendum known as the ‘Jakarta
Charter’, in the early 1960s President Sukarno (1901–70, in office

2
 INTRODUCTION

1945–68) moved to outlaw and disband the country’s main Islamic

party, Masyumi.
â•… For most of its rule, the New Order regime continued to exercise a
strict control over political Islamic activism, only slightly loosening its
grip during the course of the 1990s. When, by the spring of 1998, it
became clear that Suharto’s time was running out, it was the leading
independent Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid (1939–2005) who
played an instrumental role in convincing the ageing autocrat to step
down.8 This cleared the way for two other prominent Muslim leaders
associated with the country’s two main Islamic mass organizations to
reach the pinnacles of state power. Abdurrahman Wahid (1940–2009),
former head of the NU, became the first freely elected president of the
Indonesian republic, while Muhammadiyah chairman Amien Rais
(b.1944) was chosen as Speaker of the Consultative Assembly.9
â•… In spite of a relatively peaceful transfer of power, over the next ten
years Indonesia remained the scene of conflicting political experiences:
on the one hand, the executive, legislative, judiciary and military institu-
tional structures underwent significant changes; on the other hand,
large-scale inter-communal and inter-religious violence raged through
the Indonesian archipelago due to a breakdown in law and order, as the
armed forces struggled to adjust to their new role after decades of unbri-
dled political power. While a vast array of political parties have con-
tested four subsequent freely conducted national elections, in each and
every one of them votes for the Islamic parties continued to erode. And
yet, the role of religion in public life still seems to be the foremost issue
in the minds of many Indonesian Muslims.
â•… Thus, the first decade of the twenty-first century saw an unprece-
dented sequence of events in a Muslim country that has consistently
refused to identify itself as an Islamic state. Indonesia’s future course
also has global ramifications. Because of its geographical position and
size, as well as its economic potential as the fourth most populous
country in the world, Indonesia has the ambition to join the other
superpowers-in-waiting: China, India, Russia and Brazil.10 Perhaps
even more important, as the world’s largest Muslim nation-state, its
experiences may be instructive for gauging the repercussions of the sea
of change that has been affecting other parts of the Muslim world in
more recent years—especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
â•… While the Indonesian experience demonstrates that there is an alter-
native ‘third way’ to the binary choice between an unambiguously sec-

3
 ISLAM IN INDONESIA

ular state or an all-out Islamist takeover, the political–religious upheav-

als that continue to plague the country’s democratization also show
that the real litmus test comes after the initial honeymoon period is
over and the process enters its consolidation phase. Meanwhile, the
growing antagonism and polarization among Muslim activists and
intellectuals call for closer attention to the substance of their ideas.
That is what this intellectual history of contemporary Indonesian Islam
tries to do.

Intellectual history as history of ideas

This contribution to Indonesian intellectual history comes with a
caveat: its public life has been affected by a political particularity
which the country inherited from its former colonial masters. From
their European metropole, the Dutch brought with them a domestic
phenomenon known as ‘verzuiling’ (pillarization, or aliranisasi in
Indonesian). This refers to the fragmentation of Dutch political, reli-
gious, social, cultural and educational life into silo-like segments:
Protestant, Catholic, secular, the last of which can in turn be broken
down into conservative–liberal, social–democrat and socialist–commu-
nist subdivisions.11 This has left an indelible imprint on Indonesian
society, in the sense that pillarization continues to be mirrored in the
country’s various aliran or ideological trends, which have shaped the
conceptualization of the political construct of the Indonesian republic,
the structuring of actual political life in postcolonial Indonesia, and
even the way in which the country’s contemporary intellectual dis-
courses have evolved.
â•… There are two reasons for keeping this phenomenon in mind. First
of all, it provides a proportionate perspective on Muslim discourse,
helping observers not to lose sight of the fact that the account which
follows forms only one of several parallel narratives that together con-
stitute the intellectual history of contemporary Indonesia. Secondly—
and in contrast to Dutch pillarization—official Indonesian interpreta-
tions of aliran refuse to give formal acknowledgement to agnosticism,
let alone atheism, while the legal status of convictions or practices that
fall outside the—originally six, now only five—officially recognized
religions, such as Confucianism and Javanism (kejawen, also known as
kebatinan and kepercayaan), remains ambiguous and precarious.12
This issue of recognition and non-recognition of certain existing aliran

4
 INTRODUCTION

is a fixed feature of political and religious debates in postcolonial

Indonesia, and has repercussions for the interpretation of pluralism in
terms of religious freedom and tolerance and, by extension, the status
of human rights in Indonesia. Having said that, also within this wider
context, the notions of secularism, pluralism and liberalism are impor-
tant subjects of debate between Muslim and non-Muslim Indonesians.
However, since 2005 they are even more hotly contested among
Indonesian Muslims themselves, pitching those who favor explicit
Islamic political agendas against others who wish to retain existing
constitutional structures, while at the same time accommodating the
moral compass provided by Islam’s doctrinal teachings. Thus secular-
ism, pluralism and liberalism have become central motifs to the litmus
test which Indonesia’s democratization process is facing now that it
has entered its consolidation phase.
â•… In seeking to analyze the rise of the latest generation of Muslim
intellectuals in Indonesia, this study can be considered a sequel to the
Indonesian part covered in my previous book, Cosmopolitans and
Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam. There I
focussed on one particular individual, Nurcholish Madjid (1939–
2005), who had emerged as one of Indonesia’s leading public intellec-
tuals of the first postcolonial generation, eventually rising to the iconic
status of guru bangsa or ‘teacher of the nation’.13 The present book
extends and expands the investigation to groups of intellectual activ-
ists emerging in the wake of Madjid’s ground-breaking work. In doing
so I believe it is important to remain acutely aware of John Sidel’s cau-
tion against the over-amplification of the role of individuals, as he
claims is the case with Robert Hefner’s Civil Islam: Muslims and
Democratization in Indonesia. At the same time, Sidel is willing to
admit the significance of the fact that, by the end of the twentieth cen-
tury, Muslim religious leaders were holding the two top public offices
in the land.14 So, while he does not deny the importance of such figures
in present-day Indonesian public life, Sidel wants to cut them down to
size by questioning to what extent these intellectuals can really be qual-
ified as the ‘great democrats’ they have been turned into by public
opinion and some scholars.15
â•… Moreover, by 2010, both Nurcholish Madjid and Abdurrahman
Wahid had passed away, while Amien Rais had effectively retired from
active politics by stepping down as people’s assembly speaker and
leader of PAN. In the intervening time, Indonesia witnessed the rise of
€

5
 ISLAM IN INDONESIA

new and younger Muslim thinkers, scholars, writers and activists.

Groomed by Indonesia’s remarkably pluralist and innovative Islamic
education system, this emergent Islamic intelligentsia is certainly
indebted to these predecessors, who have been instrumental in shaping
a comparatively open, forward-looking and diverse intellectual cli-
mate. However, these new intellectuals have not only shown to be crit-
ical heirs and less reliant on the guidance of a few very high-profile
public intellectuals; they are also more inclined to networking and
increased cooperative activism across institutional and ideological
boundaries. Notwithstanding the fact that some of these second- and
third-generation postcolonial intellectuals have been foregrounded as
the public faces of the latest trends in Indonesian Islamic thinking, this
does not necessarily mean that they also offer a coherent system of
thought or even present the most profound ideas.
â•… The current absence of any real prima donnas is not only a result of
the network approach, the use of new social media, or the increased
discursive competition as the diversity of voices grows; it is also the
outcome of demographic developments, namely the explosive growth
of an educated Muslim middle class, both in absolute numbers and in
proportion to the country’s total population. Put together, these devel-
opments lead to the formation of new ways in which ideas are gener-
ated and disseminated, such as ‘crowd thinking’, as Anies Baswedan,
rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta, pointed out in an inter-
view.16 While not denying the value of mapping such networks of cir-
culation and accumulation of discursive power, these factors do not
detract from the importance of continuing to analyze the substance of
the ideas put forward by individual thinkers which are currently circu-
lating in these milieus. As one group of young intellectuals formulated
it: ‘the absence of a big bang’ does not mean that present-day Indonesian
Muslim discourse is not producing anything of interest. Instead of
introducing big sweeping ideas, the intellectuals of today engage in
more detailed and in-depth analyses.17
â•… Also seeing the merit of Sidel’s earlier observation that Hefner’s
focus on individual thinkers obscures the working of social mecha-
nisms, in another assessment of the interplay between reality, manipu-
lation and rationalization of the religion factor in the transition from
New Order to Reformasi, Johan Meuleman pleads for a comprehen-
sive analytical model that addresses local, national and international
dimensions. At the same time, Meuleman also highlights a shortfall in

6
 INTRODUCTION

Sidel’s perspective which points directly at what the present study seeks
to achieve:
[Sidel] overstates the social role of the Indonesian madrasahs—as distin-
guished from pesantrens and Western-type schools—in Indonesian society
in general and in the development of reformist or urban middle class Islam
in particular. On the other hand, Sidel appears to underestimate the contri-
butions of pesantrens and IAINs (Institut Agama Islam Negeri—State
Institute for Islamic Sciences), with their accompanying institutions such as
discussion and study groups, to the social emancipation of large groups of
Muslims and the development among them of pluralist and democratic
ideas.18

â•… So, while conscious of the relevance of the structural dimensions of

political, social and cultural contexts, the present investigation has the
ambition of being, first and foremost, a substantive intellectual history;
a history of ideas telling the story of those conceptualizing and formu-
lating new ways of thinking about religion and translating these into
agendas for reform, addressing some of the most pressing issues that
Indonesia faces today. One challenge in providing such insights into
contemporary Muslim thinking in Indonesia is the absence of any sys-
tematic meta-narratives. The preferred format of Indonesian intellec-
tuals for presenting their ideas is the essay, the opinion piece in one of
the major newspapers, and increasingly the blog or other online out-
lets. Consequently, most publications in book form are edited volumes
of collected essays and articles. The scarcity of monographs forces the
intellectual historian to try piecing together a coherent picture from
these often scattered publications, which in Indonesia also tend to go
rapidly out of print.
â•… The ideas of these Muslim thinkers and writers are not just interest-
ing as an intellectual–historical phenomenon in present-day Indonesia.
Having leaped from a traditional Muslim worldview to what can be
called a postmodern outlook, or adjusting reformist ideas to a new
appreciation for the Islamic heritage, their experiences also suggest that
tradition, modernity and postmodernity are not necessarily successive
stages in intellectual history or bound by a linear progression. For that
reason this contribution to the history of ideas in post-Suharto
Indonesia has some other ambitions as well.
â•… In order to examine how the domestic role of Islamic thought in
�indigenizing or localizing Islam and nation-building relates to wider
international and trans-regional contexts, it is also important to place

7
Another random document with
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Mouth in front of the snout. Eye lateral, of moderate size. Teeth in
villiform bands, sometimes with the addition of canines; no molars or
incisor-like teeth in the jaws; palate toothless. Præoperculum
unarmed, and without bony stay. Ventrals thoracic, with one spine
and five soft rays. Bones of the head with wide muciferous channels.
Stomach coecal. Air-bladder frequently with numerous appendages
(see pp. 144 and seq.)
The fishes of the “Meagre” family are chiefly coast-fishes of the
tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans, preferring the
neighbourhood of the mouths of large rivers, into which they freely
enter, some of the species having become so completely naturalised
in fresh water that they are never found nowadays in the sea. Some
of the larger species wander far from their original home, and are not
rarely found at distant localities as occasional visitors. In the Pacific
and on the coast of Australia, where but a few large rivers enter the
ocean, they are extremely rare and, in the Red Sea, they are absent.
Many attain a large size, and almost all are eaten.
No fossil species have been as yet discovered.
Pogonias.—Snout convex, with the upper jaw overlapping the
lower. Mandible with numerous small barbels. No canines. The first
dorsal with ten stout spines. Two anal spines, the second very strong.
Scales of moderate size.
To this fish (P. chromis) more especially is given the name of
“Drum,” from the extraordinary sounds which are produced by it and
other allied Sciænoids. These sounds are better expressed by the
word drumming than by any other, and are frequently noticed by
persons in vessels lying at anchor on the coasts of the United
States, where those fishes abound. It is still a matter of uncertainty
by what means the “Drum” produces the sounds. Some naturalists
believe that it is caused by the clapping together of the pharyngeal
teeth, which are very large molar teeth. However, if it be true that the
sounds are accompanied by a tremulous motion of the vessel, it
seems more probable that they are produced by the fishes beating
their tails against the bottom of the vessel in order to get rid of the
parasites with which that part of their body is infested. The “Drum”
attains to a length of more than four feet, and to a weight exceeding
a hundred lbs. Its air-bladder has been figured on p. 146.
Micropogon is closely allied to Pogonias, but has conical
pharyngeal teeth. Two species from the western parts of the Atlantic.

Fig. 187.—Pharyngeal bones

and teeth of Pogonias chromis.
A, Upper; B, Lower pharyngeals.
Umbrina.—Snout convex, with the upper jaw overlapping the
lower; a short barbel under the symphysis of the mandible. The first
dorsal with nine or ten flexible spines, the anal with one or two. Scales
of moderate size.
 Fig. 188.—Umbrina nasus, from Panama.
Twenty species are known from the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and
Indian Ocean. One well known to the ancients, under the name of
Umbra, is the Umbrina cirrhosa of the Mediterranean, the “Umbrine”
or “Ombre” of the French, and the “Corvo” of the Italians. It ranges to
the Cape of Good Hope, and attains a length of three feet. Also on
the coasts of the United States several species occur, as U. alburna,
U. nebulosa, etc.

Fig. 189.—Umbrina nasus, from Panama.

 Sciæna (including Corvina).—The upper jaw overlapping the
lower, or both jaws equal in front. Interorbital space moderately broad
and slightly convex. Cleft of the mouth horizontal or slightly oblique.
The outer series of teeth is generally composed of teeth larger than
the rest, but there are no canines. Eye of moderate size, barbel none.

Fig. 190.—Sciæna richardsonii.

Some fifty species are known, but their distinctive characters
have been but imperfectly pointed out. They are found in all the seas
and rivers in which Sciænoids generally occur, and many are entirely
confined to fresh water, for instance the species figured, Sciæna
richardsonii, from Lake Huron; Sc. amazonica; Sc. obliqua, ocellata,
oscula, etc., from fresh waters of the United States. Sciæna
diacanthus and Sc. coitor belong to the most common fishes of the
coasts of the East Indies, ascending the great rivers for a long
distance from the sea. One of the European species, Sciæna aquila,
has an extremely wide range; it not rarely reaches the British coasts,
where it is known as “Meagre,” and has been found at the Cape of
Good Hope and on the coast of southern Australia. Like some of the
other species it attains to a length of six feet, but the majority of the
species of this genus remain within smaller dimensions. A part of the
species have the second anal ray very strong, and have been placed
into a distinct genus, Corvina,—thus, among others, Sc. nigra from
the Mediterranean, and Sc. richardsonii.
 Pachyurus is closely allied to Sciæna, but has the vertical fins
densely covered with small scales.
Otolithus.—Snout obtuse or somewhat pointed, with the lower
jaw longer. The first dorsal with nine or ten feeble spines. Canine teeth
more or less distinct. Præoperculum denticulated. Scales of moderate
or small size.
About twenty species are known from the tropical and sub-
tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The air-bladder is
figured on p. 144.
Ancylodon differs from Otolithus in having very long arrow-
shaped or lanceolate canine teeth. Coasts of tropical America.
Collichthys.—Body elongate; head very broad, with the upper
surface very convex; cleft of the mouth wide and oblique; no large
canines. Eye small. No barbel. Scales small, or of moderate size. The
second dorsal very long, caudal pointed.
Three species from the East Indian and Chinese coasts. The
great development of the muciferous system on the head and the
small eye leads one to suppose that these fishes live in muddy water
near the mouths of large rivers. The air-bladder has been described
on p. 144.
Other genera belonging to this family are Larimus, Eques, Nebris,
and Lonchurus.

Fig. 191.—Histiophorus pulchellus.

 Sixth Division—Acanthopterygii Xiphiiformes.
The upper jaw is produced into a long cuneiform weapon.
These fishes form one small family only, Xiphiidæ.
The “Sword-fishes” are pelagic fishes, occurring in all tropical and
sub-tropical seas. Generally found in the open ocean, always
vigilant, and endowed with extraordinary strength and velocity, they
are but rarely captured, and still more rarely preserved. The species
found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans belong to the genus
Histiophorus, distinguished from the common Mediterranean Sword-
fish, or Xiphias, by the presence of ventral fins, which, however, are
reduced to two long styliform appendages. The distinction of the
species is beset with great difficulties, owing to the circumstance that
but few examples exist in museums, and further, because the form of
the dorsal fin, the length of the ventrals, the shape and length of the
sword, appear to change according to the age of the individuals.
Some specimens or species have only the anterior dorsal rays
elevated, the remainder of the fin being very low, whilst in others all
the rays are exceedingly elongate, so that the fin, when erected,
projects beyond the surface of the water. It is stated that Sword-
fishes, when quietly floating with the dorsal fin erect, can sail before
the wind, like a boat.
Sword-fishes are the largest of Acanthopterygians, and not
exceeded in size by any other Teleostean; they attain to a length of
from 12 to 15 feet, and swords have been obtained more than three
feet long, and with a diameter of at least three inches at the base.
The sword is formed by the prolongation and coalescence of the
maxillary and intermaxillary bones; it is rough at its lower surface,
owing to the development of rudimentary villiform teeth, very hard
and strong, and forms a most formidable weapon. Sword-fishes
never hesitate to attack whales and other large Cetaceans, and by
repeatedly stabbing these animals generally retire from the combat
victorious. The cause which excites them to those attacks is
unknown; but they follow this instinct so blindly that they not rarely
attack boats or large vessels in a similar manner, evidently mistaking
them for Cetaceans. Sometimes they actually succeed in piercing
the bottom of a ship, endangering its safety; but as they are unable
to execute powerful backward movements they cannot always
retract their sword, which is broken off by the exertions of the fish to
free itself. A piece of a two-inch plank of a whale-boat, thus pierced
by a sword-fish, in which the broken sword still remains, is preserved
in the British Museum.
The Rev. Wyatt Gill, who has worked as a missionary for many
years in the South Sea Islands, communicates that young Sword-
fishes are easily caught in strong nets, but no net is strong enough to
hold a fish of six feet in length. Specimens of that size are now and
then captured by hook and line, a small fish being used as bait.
Individuals with the sword broken off are not rarely observed. Larger
specimens cannot be captured by the natives, who are in great fear
of them. They easily pierce their canoes, and only too often
dangerously wound persons sitting in them.
The Mediterranean Sword-fish is constantly caught in the nets of
the Tunny-fishers off the coast of Sicily, and brought to market,
where its flesh sells as well as that of the Tunny.
The remarkable changes which Sword-fishes undergo at an early
stage of their growth have been noticed above, p. 173 and seq.
Sword-fishes are as old a type as the Berycoids. Their remains
have been found in the chalk of Lewes, and more frequently in the
London clay of Sheppy, where an extinct genus, Coelorhynchus, has
been recognised.

Seventh Division—Acanthopterygii Trichiuriformes.

Body elongate, compressed or band-like; cleft of the mouth wide,
with several strong teeth in the jaws or on the palate. The spinous
and soft portions of the dorsal fin and the anal are of nearly equal
extent, long, many-rayed, sometimes terminating in finlets; caudal fin
forked, if present.

Family—Trichiuridæ.
 Marine fishes inhabiting the tropical and sub-tropical seas; some
of them are surface-fishes, living in the vicinity of the coast, whilst
others descend to moderate depths, as the Berycoids. All are
powerful rapacious fishes, as is indicated by their dentition.
The oldest of the extinct genera are Enchodus and Anenchelum;
they were formerly referred to the Scombroids, but belong to this
family. The former has been found in the chalk of Lewes and
Mæstricht; the latter is abundant in the Eocene schists of Glaris.
Anenchelum is much elongate, and exhibits in the slender structure
of its bones the characteristics of a deep-sea fish; it resembles much
Lepidopus, but has some long rays in the ventrals. Other Eocene
genera are Nemopteryx and Xiphopterus. In the Miocene of Licata in
Sicily Trichiuridæ are well represented, viz. by a species of
Lepidopus, and by two genera, Hemithyrsites and Trichiurichthys,
which are allied to Thyrsites and Trichiurus, but covered with scales.
The following is a complete list of the genera referred to this
family:—
Nealotus.—Body incompletely clothed with delicate scales. Small
teeth in the jaws and on the palatine bones; none on the vomer. Two
dorsal fins, the first continuous and extending to the second; finlets
behind the second and anal fins. Each ventral fin represented by a
single small spine. A dagger-shaped spine behind the vent. Caudal fin
well developed.
One specimen only of this fish (N. tripes), 10 inches long, has
been obtained off Madeira; it evidently lives at a considerable depth,
and comes to the surface only by accident.
Nesiarchus.—Body covered with small scales. Several strong
fangs in the jaws; no teeth on the palate. First dorsal not extending to
the second. No detached finlets. Ventrals small, but perfectly
developed, thoracic. Caudal fin present. A dagger-shaped spine
behind the vent.
A rather large fish (N. nasutus), very rarely found in the sea off
Madeira. The two or three specimens found hitherto measure from
three to four feet in length. Probably living at the same depth as the
preceding genus.
 Aphanopus.—Scales none. Two very long dorsal fins; caudal well
developed; ventrals none. A strong dagger-shaped spine behind the
vent. Strong teeth in the jaws; none on the palate.
One species only is known, named A. carbo from its coal-black
colour; it is evidently a deep-sea fish, very rarely obtained in the sea
off Madeira. Upwards of four feet long.
Euoxymetopon.—Body naked, very long and thin. Profile of the
head regularly decurved from the nape to the snout, the occiput and
forehead being elevated and trenchant. Jaws with fangs; palatine
teeth present. One dorsal only, continued from the head to the caudal
fin, which is distinct. A dagger-shaped spine behind the vent. Pectoral
fins inserted almost horizontally, with the lowest rays longest, and with
the posterior border emarginate. Ventral fins rudimentary, scale-like.
This is another deep-sea form of this family, but, at present, no
observations have been made as regards the exact depth at which it
occurs. A specimen has been known since the year 1812; it was
found on the coast of Scotland, and described as Trichiurus lepturus.
The same species has been re-discovered in the West Indies,
where, however, it is also extremely scarce.
Lepidopus.—Body band-like; one single dorsal extends along the
whole length of the back; caudal well developed. Ventrals reduced to
a pair of scales. Scales none. Several fangs in the jaws; teeth on the
palatine bones.
 Fig. 192.—Lepidopus caudatus.
The Scabbard-fish (L. caudatus) is rather common in the
Mediterranean and warmer parts of the Atlantic, extending
northwards to the south coast of England, where it is an occasional
visitor, and southwards to the Cape of Good Hope. More recently it
has been observed on the coasts of Tasmania and New Zealand.
We may, therefore, justly consider it to be a deep-sea fish, which
probably descends to the same depth as the preceding allied forms.
It grows to a length of five or six feet, but its body is so much
compressed that it does not weigh more than as many pounds. It is
well known in New Zealand, where it is called “Frost-fish,” and
esteemed as the most delicious fish of the colony. A still more
attenuated species (L. tenuis) occurs in the sea off Japan, at a depth
of some 340 fathoms.
Trichiurus.—Body band-like, tapering into a fine point, without
caudal fin. One single dorsal extending the whole length of the back.
Ventrals reduced to a pair of scales, or entirely absent. Anal fin
rudimentary, with numerous extremely short spines, scarcely
projecting beyond the skin. Long fangs in the jaws; teeth on the
palatine bones, none on the vomer.
The “Hairtails” belong to the tropical marine fauna, and although
generally found in the vicinity of land, they wander frequently out to
sea, perhaps merely because they follow some ocean-currents.
Therefore they are not rarely found in the temperate zone, the
common West Indian species (T. lepturus), for instance, on the coast
of England. They attain to a length of about four feet. The number of
their vertebræ is very large, as many as 160, and more. Six species
are known.
Epinnula.—Body rather elongate, covered with minute scales,[*.
see below] The first dorsal fin continuous, with spines of moderate
strength, and extending on to the second; finlets none; ventrals well
developed. Lateral lines two. Teeth of the jaws strong; palatine teeth,
none.
The “Domine” of the Havannah, E. magistralis.
Thyrsites.—Body rather elongate, for the greater part naked. The
first dorsal continuous, with the spines of moderate strength, and
extending on to the second. From two to six finlets behind the dorsal
and anal. Several strong teeth in the jaws; teeth on the palatine
bones.
The species of this genus attain to a considerable size (from four
to five feet), and are valuable food fishes; Th. atun from the Cape of
Good Hope, South Australia, New Zealand, and Chili, is preserved,
pickled or smoked. In New Zealand it is called “Barracuda” or
“Snoek,” and exported from the colony into Mauritius and Batavia as
a regular article of commerce, being worth over £17 a ton; Th.
pretiosus, the “Escholar” of the Havannah, from the Mediterranean,
the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic, and the West Indies; Th.
prometheus from Madeira, Bermuda, St. Helena, and Polynesia; Th.
solandri from Amboyna and Tasmania is probably the same as Th.
prometheus.
Young specimens of this (or, perhaps, the following) genus have
been described as Dicrotus. In them the finlets are not yet detached
from the rest of the fin; and the ventral fins, which are entirely
obsolete in the adult fish, are represented by a long crenulated
spine.
Gempylus.—Body very elongate, scaleless. The first dorsal fin
continuous, with thirty and more spines, and extending on to the
second. Six finlets behind the dorsal and anal. Several strong teeth in
the jaws, none on the palate.
 One species (G. serpens), inhabiting considerable depths of the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Family—Palæorhynchidæ.
This family has been formed for two extinct genera:
Palæorhynchus from the schists of Glaris, and Hemirhynchus from
tertiary formations near Paris. These genera resemble much the
Trichiuridæ in their long, compressed body, and long vertical fins, but
their jaws, which are produced into a long beak, are toothless, or
provided with very small teeth. The dorsal fin extends the whole
length of the back, and the anal reaches from the vent nearly to the
caudal, which is forked. The ventrals are composed of several rays
and thoracic. The vertebræ long, slender, and numerous, and, like all
the bones of the skeleton, thin, indicating that these fishes were
inhabitants of considerable depths of the ocean. Both the jaws of
Palæorhynchus are prolonged into a beak, whilst in Hemirhynchus
the upper exceeds the lower in length.

Eighth Division—Acanthopterygii Cotto-scombriformes.

Spines developed, in one of the fins at least. Dorsal fins either
continuous or close together; the spinous dorsal, if present, always
short; sometimes modified into tentacles, or into a suctorial disk; soft
dorsal always long, if the spinous is absent; anal similarly developed
as the soft dorsal, and both generally much longer than the spinous,
sometimes terminating in finlets. Ventrals, thoracic or jugular, if
present, never modified into an adhesive apparatus. No prominent
anal papilla.
Marine fishes, with few exceptions.

First Family—Acronuridæ.
Body compressed, oblong or elevated, covered with minute
scales. Tail generally armed with one or more bony plates or spines,
which are developed with age, but absent in very young individuals.
Eye lateral, of moderate size. Mouth small; a single series of more or
less compressed, sometimes denticulated, sometimes pointed
incisors in each jaw; palate toothless. One dorsal fin, the spinous
portion being less developed than the soft; anal with two or three
spines; ventral fins thoracic. Air-bladder forked posteriorly. Intestines
with more or less numerous circumvolutions. Nine abdominal, and
thirteen caudal vertebræ.
Inhabitants of the tropical seas, and most abundant on coral-
reefs. They feed either on vegetable substances or on the superficial
animal matter of corals.
Extinct species of Acanthurus and Naseus have been discovered
in the Monte Bolca formation.
Acanthurus.—Jaws with a single series of lobate incisors, which
are sometimes movable. An erectile spine hidden in a groove on each
side of the tail. Ventral fins with one spine and generally five rays.
Scales ctenoid, sometimes with minute spines. Branchiostegals five.
The fishes of this genus, which sometimes are termed
“Surgeons,” are readily recognised by the sharp lancet-shaped spine
with which each side of the tail is armed. When at rest the spine is
hidden in a sheath; but it can be erected and used by the fish as a
very dangerous weapon, by striking with the tail towards the right
and left. “Surgeons” occur in all tropical seas, with the exception of
the eastern part of the Pacific, where they disappear with the corals.
They do not attain to any size, the largest species scarcely
exceeding a length of eighteen inches. Many are agreeably or
showily coloured, the ornamental colours being distributed in very
extraordinary patterns. The larger species are eatable, and some
even esteemed as food. It is stated that the fry of some species
periodically approaches, in immense numbers, the coasts of some of
the South Sea Islands (Caroline Archipelago), and serves as an
important article of food to the natives. Nearly fifty species are
known.
 Fig. 193.—Acanthurus leucosternum, Indian Ocean.
At an early period of their growth these fishes present so different
an aspect that they were considered a distinct genus, Acronurus.
The form of the body is more circular and exceedingly compressed.
No scales are developed, but the skin forms numerous oblique
parallel folds. The gill-cover and the breast are shining silvery.
Naseus.—Tail with two (rarely one or three) bony keeled plates on
each side (in the adult). Head sometimes with a bony horn or crest-
like prominence directed forwards. Ventral fins composed of one spine
and three rays. From four to six spines in the dorsal; two anal spines.
Scales minute, rough, forming a sort of fine shagreen. Air-bladder
forked behind. Intestinal tract with many circumvolutions.
Twelve species are known from the tropical Indo-Pacific, but
none of them extend eastwards beyond the Sandwich Islands. In
their mode of life these fishes resemble the Acanthuri. Likewise, the
young have a very different appearance, and are unarmed, and were
described as a distinct genus, Keris. One of the most common
species is N. unicornis, which, when adult (22 inches long), has a
horn about 2 inches long, whilst it is merely a projection in front of
the eye in individuals of 7 inches in length.
Prionurus is an allied genus with a series of several keeled bony
laminæ on each side of the tail.

Fig. 194.—Naseus unicornis.

Second Family—Carangidæ.
Body more or less compressed, oblong or elevated, covered with
small scales or naked; eye, lateral. Teeth, if present, conical. No
bony stay for the præoperculum. The spinous dorsal is less
developed than the soft or than the anal, either continuous with, or
separated from, the soft portion; sometimes rudimentary. Ventrals
thoracic, sometimes rudimentary or entirely absent. No prominent
papilla near the vent. Gill-opening wide. Ten abdominal and fourteen
caudal vertebræ.
 Fig. 195.—Semiophoris velitans.
Inhabitants of tropical and temperate seas. Carnivorous. They
appear first in cretaceous formations, where they are represented by
Platax and some Caranx-like genera (Vomer and Aipichthys from the
chalk of Comen in Istria). They are more numerous in various
Tertiary formations, especially in the strata of Monte Bolca, where
some still existing genera occur, as Zanclus, Platax, Caranx
(Carangopsis), Argyriosus (Vomer), Lichia, Trachynotus. Of the
extinct genera the following belong to this family:—Pseudovomer
(Licata), Amphistium, Archæus, Ductor, Plionemus (?), and
Semiophorus. Equula has been recently discovered in the Miocene
marls of Licata in Sicily.
Caranx (including Trachurus).—Body more or less compressed,
sometimes sub-cylindrical. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width. The
 first dorsal fin continuous, with about eight feeble spines, sometimes
rudimentary; the soft dorsal and anal are succeeded by finlets in a few
species. Two anal spines, somewhat remote from the fin. Scales very
small. Lateral line with an anterior curved, and a posterior straight,
portion, either entirely or posteriorly only covered by large plate-like
scales, several of which are generally keeled, the keel ending in a
spine. Dentition feeble. Air-bladder forked posteriorly.

Fig. 196.—Plates of the lateral line of Caranx hippos.

The “Horse-mackerels” are found in abundance in almost all
temperate and, especially, tropical seas. Many species wander to
other parts of the coast, or to some distance from land, and have
thus gradually extended their range over two or more oceanic areas;
some are found in all tropical seas. The species described are very
numerous, about ninety having been properly characterised and
distinguished. Some attain to a length of three feet and more, and all
are eatable. They feed on other fish and various marine animals.
Of the most noteworthy species the following may be mentioned:
—C. trachurus, the common British Horse-mackerel, distinguished
by having the lateral line in its whole length armed with large vertical
plates; it is almost cosmopolitan within the temperate and tropical
zones of the northern and southern hemispheres. C.
crumenophthalmus, C. carangus, and C. hippos, three of the most
common sea-fishes, equally abundant in the Atlantic and Indo-
Pacific oceans; C. ferdau, from the Indo-Pacific, upwards of three
feet in length. C. armatus, ciliaris, gallus, etc., which have an
exceedingly short and compressed body, with rudimentary spinous
dorsal fin, and with some of the rays of the dorsal and anal
prolonged into filaments.
 Fig. 197.—Caranx ferdau.
Argyriosus is closely allied to Caranx, especially to the last-
named species, but the lateral line has no plates whatever; and the
body is scaleless, chiefly of a bright silvery colour.

Two species from the tropical Atlantic.

Micropteryx.—Body much compressed, with prominent
trenchant abdomen, covered with small scales; lateral line not
shielded; præopercular margin entire. Cleft of the mouth rather small;
præorbital of moderate width. The first dorsal continuous, with seven
feeble spines. No detached finlets. Small teeth on the vomer and
palatine bones.

Micropteryx chrysurus is a semi-pelagic fish, and very common in

the tropical Atlantic, less so in the Indian Ocean.
Seriola.—Body oblong, slightly compressed, with rounded
abdomen, covered with very small scales; lateral line not shielded;
præopercular margin entire. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width, or
rather wide. The first dorsal continuous, with feeble spines. No
detached finlets. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on the vomer and palatine
bones.

These fishes are often called “Yellow-tails,” and occur in nearly all
the temperate and tropical seas, sometimes at a great distance from
land. Twelve species are known, and the majority have a wide
geographical range. The larger grow to a length of from four to five
feet, and are esteemed as food, especially at St. Helena, the Cape
of Good Hope, in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Seriolella and Seriolichthys, the latter from the Indo-Pacific, and
distinguished by a finlet behind the dorsal and anal, are allied
genera.
Naucrates.—Body oblong, sub-cylindrical, covered with small
scales; a keel on each side of the tail. The spinous dorsal consists of
a few short free spines; finlets none. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on the
vomer and palatine bones.
The “Pilot-fish” (N. ductor) is a truly pelagic fish, known in all
tropical and temperate seas. Its name is derived from its habit of
keeping company with ships and large fish, especially Sharks. It is
the Pompilus of the ancients, who describe it as pointing out the way
to dubious or embarrassed sailors, and as announcing the vicinity of
land by its sudden disappearance. It was therefore regarded as a
sacred fish. The connection between the Shark and the Pilot-fish has
received various interpretations, some observers having perhaps
added more sentiment than is warranted by the actual facts. It was
stated that the Shark never seized the Pilot-fish, that the latter was of
great use to its big companion in conducting it and showing it the
way to its food. Dr. Meyen in his “Reise um die Erde” states: “The
pilot swims constantly in front of the Shark; we ourselves have seen
three instances in which the Shark was led by the Pilot. When the
Shark neared the ship the Pilot swam close to the snout, or near one
of the pectoral fins of the animal. Sometimes he darted rapidly
forwards or sidewards as if looking for something, and constantly
went back again to the Shark. When we threw overboard a piece of
bacon fastened on a great hook, the Shark was about twenty paces
from the ship. With the quickness of lightning the Pilot came up,
smelt at the dainty, and instantly swam back again to the Shark,
swimming many times round his snout and splashing, as if to give
him exact information as to the bacon. The Shark now began to put
himself in motion, the Pilot showing him the way, and in a moment
he was fast upon the hook.[42] Upon a later occasion we observed
two Pilots in sedulous attendance on a Blue Shark, which we caught
in the Chinese Sea. It seems probable that the Pilot feeds on the
Sharks’ excrements, keeps his company for that purpose, and
directs his operations solely from this selfish view.” We believe that
Dr. Meyen’s opinion, as expressed in his last words, is perfectly
correct. The Pilot obtains a great part of his food directly from the
Shark, in feeding on the parasitic crustaceans with which Sharks and
other large fish are infested, and on the smaller pieces of flesh which
are left unnoticed by the Shark when it tears its prey. The Pilot also,
being a small fish, obtains greater security when in company of a
Shark, which would keep at a distance all other fishes of prey that
would be likely to prove dangerous to the Pilot. Therefore, in
accompanying the Shark, the Pilot is led by the same instinct which
makes it follow a ship. With regard to the statement that the Pilot
itself is never attacked by the Shark all observers agree as to its
truth; but this may be accounted for in the same way as the impunity
of the swallow from the hawk, the Pilot-fish being too nimble for the
unwieldy Shark.
The Pilot-fish does not always leave the vessels on their
approach to land. In summer, when the temperature of the sea-water
is several degrees above the average, Pilots will follow ships to the
south coast of England into the harbour, where they are generally
speedily caught. Pilot-fish attain a length of 12 inches only. When
very young their appearance differs so much from the mature fish
that they have been described as a distinct genus, Nauclerus. This
fry is exceedingly common in the open ocean, and constantly
obtained in the tow-net; therefore the Pilot-fish retains its pelagic
habits also during the spawning season, and some of the spawn
found by voyagers floating on the surface is, without doubt, derived
from this species.
Chorinemus.—Body compressed, oblong; covered with small
scales, singularly shaped, lanceolate, and hidden in the skin. The first
dorsal is formed by free spines in small numbers; the posterior rays of
the second dorsal and anal are detached finlets. Small teeth in the
jaws, on the vomer and palatine bones.
Twelve species are known from the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific;
some enter brackish water, whilst others are more numerous at