The Foreign Service Journal, April 2008

level leaders have sought to implement the decree, many others fear that its implementation would cause a decisive break in the Muhammadiyah — splitting the world’s sec- ond-largest Muslim organization into competing camps. Meanwhile, radicals continue to work full time to assume complete control of the board of the Muhammadiyah in 2010, bolstered by the fact that Hizb ut-Tahrir and the PKS continue to grow in strength and numbers. The Muhammadiyah decree may serve as an inspira- tion and help point the way forward for those who seek to promote a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam. The decree clearly demonstrates that radical attempts to engage in a successful “long march” through the institu- tions of society are not guaranteed success — especially if opposed by courageous and influential members of that society, willing to defend the moral and spiritual values that lie at the heart of every religion, including Islam. The past year has witnessed similar developments in the Nahdlatul Ulama, which issued decrees stating that there is no theological requirement for Muslims to estab- lish a caliphate or reject democracy (a direct rebuttal of Hizb ut-Tahrir); condemning the spread of extremist for- eign ideology; and instructing members “to safeguard their heritage, so that the NU’s own houses of worship are not turned against it and used to attack the NU and the Republic [of Indonesia].” A Broader Struggle Of course, the struggle between radical and moderate Islam that we see playing out in Indonesia today is only part of a much broader, global struggle for the soul of Islam, which pits well-organized and heavily financed rad- icals against moderate Muslims, who have few sources of encouragement and support. Few political movements have ever had the ideological vitality, or virulence, to filter across national borders, recruit millions of new adherents and subvert the loyalties of a nation’s citizens. Communism was dangerous pre- cisely because it had such power, augmented by the finan- cial support of a resource-rich nation (the Soviet Union) F O C U S 38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 8