Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Genealogy of Islamic Populist Politics in Indonesia

Abstract

This article analyzes the influence of Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s thought on the genealogy of Islamic populist politics in post-Reformasi Indonesia. The study is grounded in the growing mobilization of religious identity, the rise of Islamic moral politics, and the increasing use of “ummah”-based narratives within contemporary Indonesian democratic dynamics. In this context, Islam is not only understood as a spiritual identity but also as a political resource that shapes public discourse and electoral contestation. Methodologically, this research employs a qualitative approach using political genealogy analysis to trace the relationship between transnational Islamic thought and the development of Islamic populism in Indonesia. This approach enables a historical and contextual examination of how ideas circulate, transform, and are reinterpreted within specific socio-political environments. The theoretical framework used is Vedi R. Hadiz’s theory of Islamic populism, which conceptualizes Islamic populism as a form of identity-based political mobilization constructed through a dichotomy between the “ummah” and the elite. The findings show that Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s thought has made a significant contribution to the formation of Islamic political discourse in Indonesia. His key concepts—such as syumuliyyah al-Islam (the comprehensiveness of Islam), Muslim political participation, Islamic morality in public life, and global Muslim solidarity—have provided intellectual and moral foundations for various Islamic movements. The dissemination of his ideas has occurred through multiple channels, including campus da’wah networks, the tarbiyah movement, Islamic publishing houses, satellite television, graduates of Middle Eastern universities, and, more recently, digital media platforms.

The study also finds that al-Qaradawi’s thought has undergone processes of adaptation and localization within Indonesia’s pluralistic and multicultural democratic context. His ideas are not adopted in a uniform manner but are reinterpreted according to local political and cultural conditions. The relevance of his intellectual legacy is evident in the rise of Islamic identity politics, religiously based mass mobilization, digital da’wah practices, and moralized political narratives within Indonesian Islamic populism. In conclusion, Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s thought constitutes one of the key intellectual and moral foundations of Islamic populist politics in Indonesia. However, its influence is neither singular nor deterministic, as it continuously interacts with domestic socio-political dynamics, digital media ecosystems, and broader cultural transformations within contemporary Indonesian Muslim society.