Proletarian Islam in the Dutch East Indies: Haji Misbach's Thoughts and Social Justice Discourse in Sarekat Islam Surakarta

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to analyze Haji Misbach's thoughts in building an Islamic-based social justice discourse and its role in the dynamics of the Surakarta Islamic Sarekat movement in the Dutch East Indies period. The main focus of this study is how Misbach formulated the idea of "proletarian Islam" as a form of resistance to colonial oppression and socio-economic inequality. Theoretical framework: which is used to combine social movement theory, especially the concept of framing and mobilization, with Antonio Gramsci's hegemonic approach to read ideological resistance to colonial domination. Literature review: shows that studies of Sarekat Islam tend to place major figures such as HOS Tjokroaminoto and Agus Salim at the center of the narrative, while Haji Misbach is more often positioned as a marginal or controversial figure due to his proximity to the leftist movement. Previous studies have also not reviewed in depth the construction of Misbach's thinking on Islamic social justice in the context of the struggle of the small working class. Methods: This study uses a qualitative-historical method with a critical library research approach through the analysis of primary documents such as Misbach's writings, archives of the Islamic Sarekat movement, contemporary newspapers, and colonial documents, which are then analyzed using historical discourse analysis techniques. Results: The research shows that Haji Misbach developed the concept of Islam as a liberation ideology that placed workers and peasants as the main subjects of the struggle, as well as criticized the movement elite who were considered too compromising towards the colonial system. Misbach also produced a framing of struggle that combined Islamic identity with class solidarity, thus giving birth to a model of Islamic movements oriented towards socio-economic transformation. Implications: This study reinforces the understanding that Indonesia's Islamic thought tradition has, since its inception, had a social justice orientation and structural critique of colonial capitalism, making it relevant to contemporary Islamic political discourse. Novelty: this research lies in the attempt to reconstruct Haji Misbach's thought as a representation of "proletarian Islam" that not only functions as a historical phenomenon, but also as an embryo of progressive Islamic ideas in the Indonesian nationalist movement.