Nurcholish Madjid's thoughts on Islamic politics in Indonesia

This article focuses on the thoughts of Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur) on Islamic politics in Indonesia. Based on the library research and using qualitative descriptive approach to explore how Cak Nur see the relation of state and Islam. According to him, a strong Islamic orientation is always associated with opposition to the government. He also explained that Islam itself is not a theory or ideology. He further said that in the field of politics, Islam is in a position that accompanies sharia and is closer to philosophy with its own dynamics and characters. The concept of an Islamic State is a distortion of proportional relations between religion and the State. The state is one aspect of worldly life whose dimensions are rational and collective, while religion is an aspect of life whose dimensions are spiritual and personal. Islamic politics, according to Nurcholis Madjid, is not intended as an application of politics and turning Muslims into politicians, but it is intended to globalize the values that are supposed to be worldly, and to release Muslims from the tendency to put them into the life-after matters (ukhrawi). Thus, the mental willingness to always test and re-examine the truth of a value in the face of material facts, moral or historical, becomes the nature of the Muslims