The Islamic Voluntary Sector In Southeast Asia

The Islamic economy may be broadly divided into three main sectors: the government, the commercial, and the voluntary. In Islamic states, these sectors play complementary roles in accordance with the tenets of Islam. In the non-Islamic states of Southeast Asia where there are, nevertheless, large Muslim communities, the Islamic voluntary sector has to assume greater responsibilities if the economic welfare and development of Muslim communities in the region are to be consonant with Islam. In this volume, several scholars examine the role of the Islamic voluntary sector (broadly defined) in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore. and Thailand, and explicate issues such as the mobilization, administration, and management of zakat and its various forms, waqf, and saddaqah.

The Islamic world, often regarded as an anathema to civil society, in fact has rich traditions of associational life pursuing “common good”. These religious resources have been reinterpreted for the enhancement of civic virtues and participatory politics in contemporary context, that is, democratization. Such pioneering efforts have been clearly observable in Muslim Southeast Asia. In November 1999, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation invited ten Muslim activists and scholars from the region to Japan for exchanging views and experiences among themselves and with Japanese participants. Here their papers and discussions are compiled into a book, Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia.

Examines the role, relevance and challenges, as well as the political and strategic dimensions of Islam in contemporary Southeast Asia.

In an era when Islam ostensibly lies at the heart of a volatile nexus of a global campaign of war on terrorism, simplistic notions and dangerous misunderstandings about the cultures and nature of Southeast Asian Islam, in all its variants, are used to inform and justify policies.

This compelling account offers a unique insight into the modern Islamic corporation.

The Politics of NGOs in Southeast Asia traces the history of the emergence of NGOs in the Philippines and southeast Asia and the political factors which encouraged this. The main focus is on the period from the mid-1990s when NGOs first became a notable force in the region. It documents the complex relations between NGOs and other political actors including the state, organised religion, foreign donors, the business sector and underground insurgent groups and their impact on NGO strategy.