Islam Transformatif : Journal of Islamic Studies
Vol. 10 No. 1 (2026): January-June 2026

Negotiating Secularism: Daoed Joesoef’s Intellectual Mediation between Islamic Ethics and State Rationality in the Post-Colonial Context of Indonesia

Muhammad Iqbal (Universitas Diponegoro)
Dhanang Respati Puguh (Universitas Diponegoro)
Endah Sri Hartatik (Universitas Diponegoro)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2026

Abstract

Abstract This article examines how Daoed Joesoef mediated Islamic ethics and state rationality in postcolonial Indonesia. Using qualitative-interpretative intellectual history, it analyzes eight works through close reading, contextual reconstruction, and comparative interpretation. Findings show that Joesoef did not treat secularism as an exclusion of religion. He reframed it as ethical rationality that protects pluralism and prevents confessional capture while keeping state power morally accountable. Islam functions as a source of civic virtue—justice, trust, adab, responsibility, and service—rather than a juridical-state ideology. Joesoef translated these principles into educational statecraft through literacy, character formation, and institutional discipline. The article terms this synthesis "Islamic Rational Statecraft," demonstrating how an Indonesian Muslim intellectual transformed secularism into a contextual grammar of moral governance beyond the secular-state/Islamic-state binary.   Abstract Artikel ini mengkaji mediasi Daoed Joesoef antara etika Islam dan rasionalitas negara dalam Indonesia pascakolonial. Dengan pendekatan kualitatif-interpretatif sejarah intelektual, kajian menganalisis delapan karya melalui pembacaan dekat, rekonstruksi konteks, dan interpretasi komparatif. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa Joesoef tidak memaknai sekularisme sebagai pengusiran agama, melainkan rasionalitas etis yang melindungi kemajemukan, mencegah dominasi konfesional, dan menjaga akuntabilitas moral negara. Islam berfungsi sebagai sumber kebajikan kewargaan—keadilan, amanah, adab, tanggung jawab, dan pelayanan—bukan ideologi negara yang legalistik. Prinsip tersebut diterjemahkan ke dalam statecraft pendidikan melalui literasi, pembentukan karakter, dan disiplin kelembagaan. Artikel menyebut sintesis ini Islamic Rational Statecraft, sebuah tata bahasa kontekstual bagi pemerintahan bermoral di luar dikotomi negara sekuler dan negara Islam.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

islamt

Publisher

Subject

Religion Social Sciences

Description

Islam Transformatif : Journal of Islamic Studies is a Scientific Journal published in full online using the Open Journal System with e-ISSN 2599-2171 and p-ISSN 2599-218X since 2016. Articles are published twice in one year. Islam Transformatif Journal is published by Institut Agama Islam Negeri ...