Whither Indonesia’s Islamic moderatism?; a reexamination on the moderate vision of Muhammadiyah and NU

This paper seeks to analyze the moderateideology of Muhammadiyah dan NU, popularly knownasthe champion of Indonesia’s moderate Islam. Questions tobe investigated are: to what extent that NU and Muhamma-diyah theologically represent moderatism? Is there any suchthing as “moderate Islam” in Indonesia? How can a blue-print of moderate Islambe formulated in the context of Indonesian Islam? The underpinning theoretical assump-tion upon which this paper is based is that the theological formulation of Islamic moderatism developed by NU and Muhammadiyah can no longer accommodate the latest challenges and demands of the era. In the context of Indo-nesian Islam, therefore, a representative formulation ofhow moderate Islam can be constructed is badly needed.What NU and Muhammadiyah have demonstrated so far inthe landscape of Indonesian Islam, nevertheless, can serveas a stepping stone towards building a more liable formula-tion of an Indonesian Islam in the future.