Amelia Fauzia
PhD Candidate Asia Institute |
Background
Amelia Fauzia is a Lecturer at the State Islamic University (UIN), Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia. She is currently a PhD candidate in Indonesian and Islamic Studies at the Melbourne Institute for Asian Language and Societies, the University of Melbourne. Ms. Fauzia’s previous qualifications include an Executive Secretary for the Center for Languages and Cultures of the State Islamic University Jakarta, and MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Research Interests
Her research interest includes Islamic philanthropy, Islam in Indonesia, Islamic movement and women and Islam.
PhD Research
Religious Philanthropy for Social Change: A Case Study of Zakat in Modern Indonesia
Control of Muslim philanthropic practices - especially zakat - has become the site of intense competition in modern Indonesia, on the one hand between Muslim civil society and the state and, on the other hand, between Muslim groups. The result has been a significant increase in the practice of zakat in modern times, especially since 1998, and an expansion of state control over the administration of zakat. The tensions between the state and Muslim philanthropic organisations have not declined and it is unlikely that they will in the near future, as zakat becomes increasingly important to Indonesian Muslim identity.
The tension between state and Muslim civil society is based on two reasons. First, zakat is the source of significant economic resources and that motivates the state to acquire control. Second, interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence relating to zakat are disputed between modernists (represented by Muhammadiyah), who are more accommodative to state involvement and are strongly involved in philanthropy, and the traditionalists (NU) who are less accommodative to the state but less active in philanthropy. Both organisations have however encouraged a growth of Islamic philanthropy as part of increased Islamic identity in Indonesia.
The management of zakat has also been contested between state centralisation and privatisation by Muslim organisations. The state’s involvement is motivated by the notion of zakat as taxation, while privatisation is encouraged by strong civil society movement. Transformation of zakat practices is driven by modernist Muslims who see zakat as important to Muslim identity because it includes ideas of religious purification and it is seen as a means to “Islamise society.” Despite different approaches, both modernist and traditionalist organizations use zakat to engineer social change, in the case of NU, through political activities and in the case of Muhammadiyah principally through education and social welfare activities.