The Emergence and Development of Today’s Islamic Schools
Reza Pahlevi Dalimunthe, Abdul Rozak, Taufik Rahman, and Nurwadjah Ahmad
UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Jl. A.H. Nasution No. 105, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Islam, Approach, Islamic schools, tolerance, radical.
Abstract: The roots of the emergence and development of Religious school of thoughts in Indonesia are practically
realistic and are in fact only due to different ways of looking at (Approach) from each organization in viewing
a problem. Therefore, each Islamic organization in Indonesia has a different character from this side. From
the very beginning the Islamic schools emerged on the basis of ideological thought. But as the development
of thought and interest appears and the birth of new schools and derivative schools based on the notion of
ideology that is not only ideological, but also political and economic. These developments and emergence are
partially trapped in radical steps in carrying and striving for their ideology.
1 INTRODUCTION
Islam is viewed by its followers from different
perspectives. This has resulted in various views in
Islam. When Rosululloh PBUH was alive, these
various views have no significant impacts since they
can be resolved immediately (Abdul Rozak, 2017;
Reza, 2017).
Islam in the early days was very advanced in
regard to Muslims never argue on various issues
narrowly that led to conflicts. Even when a
complicated problem was alleged to cause conflict,
Rasulullah never hesitated to mediate the conflict
wisely, then the Prophet requested to leave the dispute
in the discussion because the discussion was
suspected to end with a conflict. It is claimed that
Imam Malik was very unhappy with the Muslims
discussing the matter of Kalam, for apart from the
Messenger of Allah forbade us from talking about it,
Kalam speaks only theory rather than Islamic
practice (Read Mushthafa Abdu al-Raziq, 1959). It
was stated that: “Kana Anas bin Malik yaqulu: al-
Kalamu fi al-dini akrohuhu. Wala uhibbu al-kalama
illa fima tahtahu ‘amalun. al-Mutakallimuna qaumun
yaquluna fi umurin laisa tahtahu ‘amalun. Fa
kalamuhum nadhariyyun lafdhiyyun la yata’allaqu
bihi fi’lun. It was also further stated: “Qad bayyana
Malik rahimahu Allahu. Anna al-kalama fima
tahtahu ‘amalun huwa al-mubahu ‘anhu wa ‘indahu
ahli baladihi”.
To this end, the author tries to write the book of
Kalam II (Abdul Rozak et al., 2014), which is used to
teach Strata I students, Department of Aqidah and
Philosophy, and Department of Religion Studies at
Ushuluddin Faculty. That is, Kalam in this study,
discusses Kalam Science / Islamic theology of the
universe (macrocosm), individual Islamic theology,
and social Islamic theology. The focus of the study
advocates Muslim thought in understanding the
universe, individual and social in Islam. In this case,
theology serves as a methodology for examining
these three issues
It is to be understood that historically, the
occurrence of quarrels or differences in Islamic
religious matters and the various things grow later.
While when the Prophet and his companions were
still alive Islam was completely peaceful and seemed
only one. The value of that unity is the mission of
Islam or prophet hood brought by all the prophets
(Read Mushthafa Abdu al-Raziq, 1959). After the
death of the Prophet and the unifier of thought is no
longer there, then there are conflicts and dissents
among shahabat that got sharp. So it is stated that Abu
Bakr Siddiq RA, the first Khalifah of the Prophet
Muhammad was considered the first bomber in Islam.
That the payment of zakat was an act that was very
less favored by the tribes who in the days of the
prophet still lived submitted to Islam only to obtain
protection. Therefore, after the prophet's death they
wanted to be detached from Islam, one of the reasons
is not because of Islam, but their objection to pay the
Dalimunthe, R., Rozak, A., Rahman, T. and Ahmad, N.
The Emergence and Development of Today’s Islamic Schools.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 477-481
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
477

zakat. To this, Abu Bakr RA, which has been banned
by the Muslims in Medina, embattled against people
who do not want to pay zakat, because the obligation
to pay zakat is equal to the obligation to perform the
prayer. (Baca Abdurrahman Qadir, 2001; Jo. Syed
Mahmuddunnasir. 1994). This was due to religious
reasons, in this case zakat. It was stated that: Asbabu
ikhtilafi al-shahabah wa al-tabiin fi al-furu’:
1) Minha Shahabiyyan sami’a hukman fi
qadliyyatin aw fatwin wa lam yasma’hu al-
akhar, fa ajtahid bi ra yihi fi dzalika w3a hadza
huwa al-wujuh:
a. an yaqa’a ijtihaduhu mawaqifa al-haditsi
b. an yaqa’a bainahuma al-munadharah wa
yadhharu al-haditsu bi al-wajhi alladzi
yaqa’u bihi ghalibu al-dhanni fa yarji’u
‘an ijtihadihi ila al-masmu’i
c. an yuballighahual-hadits wa lakin la ‘ala
al-wajhi alladzi yaqa’u bihi ghaliu al-
dhanni, fa lam yatruk ijtihaduhu bal
tha’nun fi al-haditsi .
d. an la yashila ilaihi al-haditsu ashlan.
2) Wa min tilka al-dlurubi an yaraw Rasulallahi
SAW fa’ala fi’lan fa hamalahu ba’dluhum ‘ala
al-qurbati wa ba’dluhum ‘ala al-ibahati.
3) Wa minha ikhtilafu al-wahmi.
4) Wa minha ikhtilafu al-sahwi wa al-nisyani.
5) Wa minha ikhtilafu al-dlabthi.
6) Wa minha ikhtilafuhum fi ‘illati al-hukmi.
Wa minha ikhtilafuhum fi al-jam’i baina al-
mukhtalifain. (See Waliyullah al-Dahlawiy.1978)
The disagreements of the companions were
allegedly due to several reasons:
First, a Companion hears an explanation of a
problem; while others did not hear it, so he did ijtihad.
As it is understood that ijtihad may be different from
one shahabat to another in view of a problem,
because:
1) The ijtihad perhaps corresponds to a hadith of
the Prophet.
2) The result of ijtihad is somewhat similar to a
hadith; however, it appears that the hadith is
stronger, so the shahabat tries to rectify the
results of his ijtihad by turning to the hadith of
the Prophet.
3) Perhaps the result of his ijtihad is somewhat
similar to hadith; but apparently his thought of
ijtihad was more rational and more convincing,
so the shabat did not abandon the results of his
ijtihad, he even suggested the hadith of the
Prophet.
4) The possibility of absence of a hadith that
speaks of this subject.
Secondly, some Sahabahs saw the Messenger of
Allah doing a deed, assuming that Rosul was
performing a prayer, while others assumed Rosul was
just doing an ordinary act (permissibility). Third, the
difference is caused by misunderstanding. Fourth, the
difference is from forgetting. Fifth, Differences are
due to different reasoning (methods). Sixth, the
differences comes from understanding the
background of a cause of problems. Seventh, the
differences are caused by compromising two different
opinions.
The science of Islam has grown ever since. The
fiqh, kalam, tafsir, hadits and other science have also
developed.
There are four well-known school of thoughts in
fiqh; Imam Hanafi 80 AD/699 BC, Imam Malik 93
AH/712 BC, Imam Syafii 150 AH/767 BC and Imam
Ahmad Ibn Hambal 164 AH/780 BC. They each have
a different way of understanding the Qur'an, and
different propositions that lead to different
conclusions in legalizing the law.
In understanding the law in Islam Imam Hanafi
uses: Imam Hanafi 1) Kitabullah, 2) Sunnah Rasul, 3)
Fatwa-fatwa 4) Qiyas, 5) Istihsan, 6) Community ‘Urf
and culture. Imam malik in denominating the laws
hold on to 1) Kitabulloh, 2) Shohih Sunnah 3) Medina
Ulama practices even have to reject the hadith that
looks counter with the charity scholars of Medina, 4)
Qiyas, 5) Mashlahah al-Mursalah and Istishlah. Imam
Syafii uses 1) Dhahir al-Qur'an as long as there is no
proposition that divert other meanings, 2) Sunnah as
long as with reliable narrator. He likened the Shahih
sunna to al-Quran, 3) Ijma (no dispute of the
scholars), 4) Qiyas, by rejecting istishlah and istihsan,
and 5) Istidlal. Imam Hambali uses 1) Nash al-Qur'an
and Hadith Marfu, 2) Fatwa-sahwa sahabat, 3) Fatwa
Sahabah close to al-Qur'an and al-sunah, if fatwa-
fatwa contradiction, 4) Hadits Mursal and Dlaif, and
5) Qiyas. (Read Abdurrahman I Do’i. 1984; Jo. Hasbi
al-Shiddiqi. 1968)
There are also Kalam school of thoughts as
(Abdul Rozak, dkk., 2012; ‘Abdul Qahir bin Thahir
bin Muhammad al-Bagdadiy al-Isfirainiy al-Tamimi,
1037; ‘Ali Mushthafa al-Gurabiy, 1958): Hasan al-
Basri (30-110 H), Washil bin Atho (....-131 H), Abu
Hudzail, al- Nazzam, al-Jubba’i, Ibn Hisyam, ‘Amr
bin Ubaid, and al-Khayyat, they are known as
Mu’tazilah. They are also rational theologist. There
are also other moderate theologists as: Abu Hasan al-
Asy’ari, al-Baqillani, al-Juwaini, al-Msturidi, dan al-
Bazdawi. The development of Syiah theologians has
also added to the development of theology in the
Islamic world. They have contradictive thoughts with
most theologians. Their statement, among others,
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478

states that the heir of the Caliphate after the death of
Rasulullah SAW is actually Ali bin Abi Talib RA, the
son-in-law of Rasulullah SAW. Hence the earlier
caliphs such as Abi Bakar al-Siddiq RA, Umar Ibn al-
Khattab RA, and Ustman bin Affan RA, were
unlawful caliphs for having seized power that was not
his own.
There are also Sufi school of thought see Dr
Ibrahim Baisuni, 119; Abu Bakar Muhammad al-
Kalabadziy. 1976; ‘Abdul Qadir Isa. T.T) like: Sufi
‘amali as for example Hasan al-Bashri (21-110 AH)
with his al-khauf wa al-raja theory, Robi’ah al-
Adawiyah (96-185 AH) with her al-hub theory, al-
Junaid (297 AH) with his al-Fana wa al-Tauhid and
Dzu Nun al-Mishri (156-245 H, with al-Ma’rifah.
There were also several movements of the philosophy
of Tasawuf such as Yazid al-Bustami (W261 H) with
his al-Fana wa al-ittihad theory, Abu Mansur al-
Hallaj (W 244 H) with his al-Hulul theory al-
Suhrawardi al- Maqtul (W549 H) with his Hikmah al-
Ishraq theory, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi (598-638 H)
with his Wihdah al-Wujud theory, Jalaluddin al-Rumi
(604-672 H) with his life axis theory, and Abdul
Karim bin Ibrahim al-Jilli (767-811 H) with his al-
Insan al-Kamil theory. And a few more Sufism
movements that lead to the teachings of the tarekat.
The state of this dissent continues throughout the
time of the Tabiin, and the tabiinat tabiin, as well as
the aftermath and evolves throughout the Islamic
world.
To this, the historical reality of Islam adopted and
practiced in Saudi Arabia, is very different from that
of Islam in Pakistan, or in Europe, in America, and in
Indonesia. Even nationally, Islam is embraced and
practiced in the Padang of West Sumatra is different
from Islam adopted by Javanese or Sundanese
With regard to this, to the extent that an orientalist
(Gustave Evon Grounebaum (ed. 1983)) who is
conducting an Orientalist conference on Islam
worldwide, in order to see the development of Islam
at that time, in order to know the developments, the
weakness, then give criticism, that, the teachings of
Islam did indeed lead to unity, but in the meantime
aroused the practice of Islam in diversity. The
unifying principle in Islam is the basic teachings
revealed by God in the Qur'an. But the Qur'an itself,
whose verses of dzanninya provide a diverse
interpretation, has created a variety of thoughts, and
cultures in Islam. In the eyes of the orientalists, the
diversity of Islamic practices, as well as the strength
of Islam in adapting to local life. Actually the
conference initiated by von Gruneboum is on behalf
of the Department of Anthropology, University of
Chicago and has selected the participants concerned,
among others: Fifteen scholars from European
countries, in order for the conference to be more
critical, but as it turns out, the outcome of the
conference, instead adds information to the Muslims,
that the seemingly diverse Islam in practice has
shown that Islam is so flexible, elastic, adherent, and
adaptive to local culture, so that the variations of
Islamic flower in the Islamic landscape are so wide-
ranging.
2 METHODS
This study uses social research method. The method
is for data sampling, questionnaire, and interview.
This means that when the sampling does not find any
accurate data and information regarding the
development and the birth of the groups, the
questionnaire takes place. The results of the
questionnaire are expected to be able to reveal factors
of the birth of new groups that are considered radical.
After this is confirmed, interview is then carried out.
The sampling should be representative and coming
from one population. Having taken a look at the data,
this study will use all three methodological
approaches mentioned earlier.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Islam in Indonesia, although as stated that the
Indonesian Muslims are known as Sufism followers'
amalinya al-Junaid, fiqh Syafi'i, Sunni theology
(Read Abdul Rozak, 2005; Abdul Rahman Haji
Abdullah, 1990), but in fact Islam in Indonesia also
appears in different school of thoughts.
Historically, if traced in the real reality of Islam in
Indonesia, it has actually undergone several phases of
development.
First, hacker phase, this phase can be
expressed as the phase of Islam's entry into
Indonesia. This phase is marked by the emergence
of individual Islamic activities in Indonesia. At
this time the Muslims began to face various
challenges in carrying out his teachings. The
Muslims who were practicing this Islam must deal
with the Hindu religious figures as well as
Buddhists who love poor and mystical life.
Phase two, exploration phase. In this phase,
professional da’is as wali came and emerge in
Indonesia. (Read Masykur Arif. 2013) It is
claimed that some famous Dai in Islamic history
in Indonesia, known as Wali Sanga. They are 1)
The Emergence and Development of Today’s Islamic Schools
479

Sunan Gresik (Mulana Malik Ibrahim), 2) Sunan
Ampel (Raden Rahmat), 3) Sunan Bonang (Raden
Maulana Makdum Ibrahim), 4) Sunan Drajat
(Raden Qasim), 5) Sunan Kalijaga (Raden
Syahid), 6) Sunan Giri (Raden Paku), 7) Sunan
Kudus (ja’far Shadiq), 8) Sunan Muria (Raden
Umar Said), and 9) Sunan Gunung Djati (syarif
Hidayatullah). (See Nur Amin Fattah, 1994;
Effendi Zaekasi, 1981). They claimed that the
mubalighs at that times were not only nine, there
are other walis such as 1) Sunan Ngudung/Syekh
Sabil/ Usman Haji, 2) Sunan Muria/R Umar Said
3) Sunan Wilis/ R Sayid Muhsin 4) Sunan
Manjuran/R H Usman 5) Sunan Bintatra/R Fatah
6) Sunan Bangkalan/R Iskandar 7) Sunan
Tembayat/ Ki Gede Pandan Arangt, and 8) Sunan
Geseng/Ki Cokrojoyo.
The third phase, institutionalization phase.
This phase is the phase of the emergence of
Islamic kingdoms in Indonesia.
The fourth phase, expansion phase. In this
phase, various models of modern Islamic
education in Indonesia emerged. This modern
education developed after there were several
Indonesian Muslim leaders who studied in the
Middle East and were influenced by modern
thought and movement in the Middle East (Abul
Hasan Ali al-Nadwi 1983, Harun Nasution,
1984), such as Jamaluddin al-Afghani,
Muhammad Abduh, and so on.
The fifth phase is structuring phase. In this
phase Islamic movements that intended to
nationalize the movement of Muslims to join
secular nationalists to form the Unitary State of
the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) thrives.
Comparing with thought (Azyumardi Azra, 1995;
A Hasymi, 1981; Yusuf Abdullah Puar, 1984; AH
Johns, Ahmad Ibrahim, Sharon Siddique, and Yasmin
Hussain (Ed) .1985) stated that The Origins of
Islamization in Southeast Asia are beginning with
Pasai and other part towns along the northeast coast
of Sumatra. Jo. Majlis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). 1986.
Amanat Sejarah Umat Islam Indonesia. Surat Kabar
(SK) Pelita. 5 Desember 1986. Jo. M C
Ricklefs.1998. Sejarah Indonesia Modern. Cet.VI.
Yogyakarta: Gajahmada Universiti Press. P.4.
claimed that Islam came and developed in the XIII
century.
Today, Islam in Indonesia nationally presents
different school of thoughts. There is Muhammadiyah
that is theological, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) that is
theological and sufist, and there is Persatuan Islam
(Persis) that is salafist and so on. Moreover, Islam in
certain locales, it appears to local specialties, such as
Islam in certain Javanese areas, also in certain
Sundanese, which reveal Islam singkretis (Read M
Bambang Pranowo, 2011; Abdul Rozak, 2005;
Suwardi Endraswara, 2003; Zainuddin Maliki, 2004;
Noerid Haloei Radam, 2001).
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) with its peculiarities in
theological and philosophical aspects, has become
one of the great and wide-ranging organizations of the
Islamic faith. Muhammadiah with its specialties in
theological aspects has also become a large and vast
organization of religious influence. So des Persatuan
Islam (PERSIS)
Then came the organizations with smaller scope,
which was allegedly affiliated to the big organizations
above. Wahdah for example is affiliated to
Muhammadiyah. Alwasliyah is also basically
affiliated to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). FPI is also new
school of thought is allegedly affiliated to Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) viewed from its symbol. Partai Keadilan
Sejahtera (PKS) has also its own school that is
engaged in dakwah and politics.
Then there are also those that apply to their
organizations by inducing the organization from
abroad. Hizbut Tahrir is affiliated to Hizbut Tahrir
from abroad. Jamaah Tablig is also affiliated to
Jamaah Tablig from India.
In fact, the differences that reveal certain
characteristics or characteristics of the Islamic
schools in Indonesia are theoretically different from
the perspective in understanding the problem.
Different perspectives cause and elicit a separating
movement from the original school by creating a new
school. The emergence and development of this
school seemed to flourish for various reasons and the
various perspectives on which they emerged.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The culmination of this literal research is culminated
in several points:
1) The emergence of a genuine religious school
driven by ideological factors undergoes a shift
to the ideological sphere of economic and
ideological politics;
2) It requires further research from literature to
field research to observe more closely the
emergence and development of such schools.
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