An interview with Amien Rais.

Amien Rais led and inspired the reform movement that forced the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, and ushered in an era of constitutional reform and democratization in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia. Rais was invited to Columbia University's Center for Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR) to participate in the visitor program, "Democratic Voices in the World's Religions." As part of his stay, Rais delivered a university-wide lecture, met with faculty and students and had the chance to speak with CDTR director Alfred Stepan and doctoral candidate Mirjam Kunkler for a candid and informative interview. Rais offers his perspective on contemporary politics in Indonesia, and the intersection of the secular and religious in political affairs. He retells the story of the night of 20 May 1998, the events surrounding Suharto's resignation and his chairmanship of the country's largest modernist Islamic organization, the Muhammadiyah.

Stepan: In your biography, Putra Nusantara, by Amien Rais, Muhammad Najib and Irwin Omar, you are quoted with the following statement on page 11:

The Quran does not say anything about the formation as an Islamic state, or about the necessity and obligations, both moral and political obligations on the part of Muslims to establish a Sharia or Islamic state. Secondly, the Quran is not a book of law, but a source of law. If the Quran is considered a book of law, Muslims will become ...

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