My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist

by Sadanand Dhume

Overview

A nation once synonymous with tolerance, Indonesia, the fourth-most populated country in the world and its most populous Muslim country, now finds itself in the midst of a profound shift toward radical Islam. Sadanand Dhume, a Princeton-educated Indian atheist with a fondness for literary fiction and an interest in economic development, travels across Indonesia to find out how a society goes from broad inclusiveness to outspoken intolerance in the space of a generation. His traveling companion is Harry Nurdi, a young Islamist who hero-worships the late Osama bin Laden and sympathizes with the Taliban. Their travels span mosques and discotheques, prison cells and dormitories, sacred volcanoes and temple ruins. Over time, they forge an uneasy friendship that offers a firsthand look into the crucible of radical Islam’s future.

With a new preface by the author detailing what has happened in Indonesia since the book’s initial publication, My Friend the Fanatic is the story of an alternately disturbing, amusing, and poignant journey that illuminates one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634504218
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	02/23/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sadanand Dhume is a Washington, DC–based writer and a nonresident fellow at the Asia Society. His articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Commentary, and Foreign Policy. He has appeared on CNN, PBS, NPR, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Dhume holds graduate degrees from Princeton and Columbia and a bachelor’s from the University of Delhi. My Friend the Fanatic is his first book.

Table of Contents

Map x

Preface xiii

Prologue: Bali October 2002 1

Part 1 Java 7

1 Jakarta 9

2 A Brief History of Indonesia 22

3 Jakarta 30

4 Nationalists v. Islamists 49

5 Garut/Tasikmalaya 63

6 Yogyakarta/Parangtritis 77

7 Jakarta/Bandung 90

8 Jakarta/Yogyakarta/Solo 104

9 Ponorogo 125

Part 2 Sulawesi, Borneo, Riau, The Moluccas 137

10 Makassar 139

11 Makassar/Bulukumba 160

12 Balikpapan 180

13 Batam 197

14 Jakarta 212

15 Jakarta 226

16 Ambon 246

Epilogue: Jakarta February/March 2007 263

Organisations 272

Acknowledgments 273

Editorial Reviews

"Easily the best account by a journalist writing on Islam in contemporary Indonesia. Sadanand Dhume has really done the stuff, met the believers and extremists, and found out what drives them and what they plan for us all. With humor and style, he draws us into the world of radical preachers, hotheads, and youthful idealists, showing how militant Islamism has won the sympathy of a growing number of ordinary Indonesians. A wonderful book, entertaining and alarming in equal measure." —Andrew Beatty, author of A Shadow Falls: In the Heart of Java

“Guides the reader deftly through the whirlpool these [radical Islamist] currents have created.” —Wall Street Journal (Asian Edition)

“At once funny, sad, and unpretentiously intellectual, this fine book tells us much about Indonesia and about Islamism.” —Robert W. Hefner, Far Eastern Economic Review

“My Friend the Fanatic should be required reading for anyone interested in the rise of radicalism in Indonesia, or in similar movements in other parts of the Muslim world.” —Jamie F. Metzl, senior fellow at the Asia Society and author of Genesis Code

"Easily the best account by a journalist writing on Islam in contemporary Indonesia. Sadanand Dhume has really done the stuff, met the believers and extremists, and found out what drives them and what they plan for us all. With humor and style, he draws us into the world of radical preachers, hotheads, and youthful idealists, showing how militant Islamism has won the sympathy of a growing number of ordinary Indonesians. A wonderful book, entertaining and alarming in equal measure." —Andrew Beatty, author of A Shadow Falls: In the Heart of Java

“Guides the reader deftly through the whirlpool these [radical Islamist] currents have created.” —Wall Street Journal (Asian Edition)

“At once funny, sad, and unpretentiously intellectual, this fine book tells us much about Indonesia and about Islamism.” —Robert W. Hefner, Far Eastern Economic Review

“My Friend the Fanatic should be required reading for anyone interested in the rise of radicalism in Indonesia, or in similar movements in other parts of the Muslim world.” —Jamie F. Metzl, senior fellow at the Asia Society and author of Genesis Code

From the Publisher

Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country in the world, but Indonesian Islam rests lightly on the nation's rich mixture of Hindu-Buddhist history and culture. Indian-born Dhume, educated in the United States, worked as a mainstream journalist throughout Southeast Asia before moving to Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2000. Intrigued with the displacement of Indonesia's tolerant past by the expanding impact of conservative Islam, he traveled to different regions and interviewed a wide range of Islamists to prepare this book, his guide a young editor committed to building an Islamic community reflecting the challenge facing his country. Dhume conveys his frustration with his companion's mix of kindness and rigidity. He weaves discussion of recent Indonesian history and politics with his confusion over the contrast between the cosmopolitan, hedonist elite and popular culture in Jakarta and the austere intolerance and sometimes violence intrinsic in the push toward Sharia law. Even as he respects the opportunity and discipline that Islamic organizations bring to Indonesians, Dhume despairs over the loss of curiosity and empathy that results. Dhume's lively writing creates an impressionistic array of personalities and settings, but some readers might hope for more structure and balance. Recommended for general readers.
—Elizabeth R. Hayford

Library Journal