In this study of Indonesia, an influential group of Muslim intellectuals has come to national prominence and put forward their thinking regarding the important issues of social direction, economic goals, and political participation. Supportive of government economic-development policy, these intellectuals have called for fundamental reform concerning the moral structure that should undergird Indonesian nationalism.

At the same time these intellectuals call for reform of the Muslim community itself, so that its institutions and message is presented in terms that reflect the modernizing context of Indonesia.

Tolerated and even promoted by the Western-oriented Indonesian government, this group of Muslim intellectuals presents a far different attitude toward the implementation of Islamic values than exists in other countries where severe disputes and even bloodshed have marked the efforts of Muslims to transform their values into political reality.