[1] Previously, Muslim society in Java in particular was analyzed through the division of abangan, santri and priyayi popularized by an anthropologist Clifford Geertz based on communal identity.
[4] Modernism/Reformism in the Indonesian context is defined by its pure adherence toward the Qur'an and Hadith, promotion of ijtihad (individual reasoning), rejection of madh'hab (Islamic schools of jurisprudence) and as well as criticism against taqlid (imitation of judicial precedence) to religious scholars, Sufism, and vernacular traditions based on syncretism with local practices.
It is also often discussed in terms of its internal conflict between the tendency inspired by the Enlightenment philosophy, science and rationality, championed by Muhammad Abduh, and the one oriented toward scriptural literalism and unified regulation of formal ritual behavior promoted by Rashid Rida.
[5] According to Robin Bush of RTI International, modernism initially encouraged ijtihad in order to widen the freedom of individual interpretation, but the rejection of religious sources outside of the scripture has led to the development of a rigid and legalistic tendency.
[1] Since the 1980s and 1990s, attempts to bridge the gap between traditionalism and modernism were made, and progressive intellectuals of both sides have attained interpretational resemblance with common goals of pluralism and interfaith tolerance.
It had legitimated the authority of the ulama and taqlid as a learning system, and prompted incorporation of vernacular Hindu or animist practices into the Islamic tradition.
DDII built strong relations with the Middle Eastern Muslim scholars of Salafi and Wahhabi brands and played a huge role in importing these doctrines to Indonesia.
Neo-modernists and Madjid had played a major role, along with progressive traditionalists such as Abdurrahman Wahid after the fall of Suharto and the democratic transition in the reformation era.