The purpose of this paper is to look at the ways of political participation of Muhammadiyah in the Indonesian presidential election of 2004. Muhammadiyah actively participated in the election campaigns, the participation of which is viewed to be a religious duty and a 'political jihad'. This paper aims to understand political influences of Muhammadiyah, which have sometimes been taken for granted and thus been given little attention, its political and religious dynamics at the local level, its appropriation of Islam as political resources and relation of Islam with democratization in Indonesia. The study shows that the 'political jihad' waged by Muhammadiyah members in order to help Dr. Amien Rais to get through the first round of the presidential election was done in compromising ways. Rather than finding out the most effective ways to win the election, their campaign activities resorted to passive methods which could minimize socio-cultural conflicts in everyday interactions. Their major target was those who had been sympathetic to them and they were hesitant to express their political aspirations to those outside the boundary of Muhammadiyah. Amien Rais was not successful in the first round of the presidential election. He ranked at the fourth nationally and at the second in Yogyakarta. The poor election result was attributed by Muhammadiyah members to their lack of political experiences and of competence in political mobilization. Although not pointed out by themselves, this study shows, their compromising and passive attitudes in the election campaign should also be considered. The poor performance of Amien Rais urges us to reconsider political strength of Muhammadiyah in particular and Islamic organizations in general, which has been taken for granted, due to 'the myth of the numerical majority' of Muslims in Indonesia.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the ways of political participation of Muhammadiyah in the Indonesian presidential election of 2004. Muhammadiyah actively participated in the election campaigns, the participation of which is viewed to be a religious duty and a 'political jihad'. This paper aims to understand political influences of Muhammadiyah, which have sometimes been taken for granted and thus been given little attention, its political and religious dynamics at the local level, its appropriation of Islam as political resources and relation of Islam with democratization in Indonesia. The study shows that the 'political jihad' waged by Muhammadiyah members in order to help Dr. Amien Rais to get through the first round of the presidential election was done in compromising ways. Rather than finding out the most effective ways to win the election, their campaign activities resorted to passive methods which could minimize socio-cultural conflicts in everyday interactions. Their major target was those who had been sympathetic to them and they were hesitant to express their political aspirations to those outside the boundary of Muhammadiyah. Amien Rais was not successful in the first round of the presidential election. He ranked at the fourth nationally and at the second in Yogyakarta. The poor election result was attributed by Muhammadiyah members to their lack of political experiences and of competence in political mobilization. Although not pointed out by themselves, this study shows, their compromising and passive attitudes in the election campaign should also be considered. The poor performance of Amien Rais urges us to reconsider political strength of Muhammadiyah in particular and Islamic organizations in general, which has been taken for granted, due to 'the myth of the numerical majority' of Muslims in Indonesia.

Indonesia, election, Muhammadiyah, political jihad, democratization