Herman L. Beck

The rupture between the Muhammadiyah and the Ahmadiyya

The Muhammadiyah is often mistakenly associated by outsiders with the Ahmadiyya1 according to the writers of the Muhammadiyah sebagai gerakan Islam (Kamal, Yusuf and Sholeh 1994:130-1). In this book, they want to explain to students attending the upper secondary schools of the Muhammadiyah, and also to ordinary members of the organization, what kind of organization the Muhammadiyah is and what it stands for. To define the character of the Muhammadiyah, they deal with, for example, the position of the organization in relation to other Islamic religious groups (Ar.: firqa) and the Islamic law schools (Ar.: madhhab) (Kamal, Yusuf and Sholeh 1994:126-36). The authors regard the differences between the Islamic religious groups as resulting from differences of opinion regarding essential elements of the Islamic creed (Ar.: ‘aqida). However, in their view, the differences between the various Islamic law schools are connected with divergences of opinion not affecting the basic tenets of Islamic doctrine (Ar.: khilâfiyya). The the authors of Muhammadiyah sebagai gerakan Islam mention the Ahmadiyya while discussing some other Islamic religious groups.

Captured at a Glance : The Dutch Image of Islam According to an Early Nineteenth Century Picture

This article focuses on the picture “Moroccans,” by Jacques Kuyper, in Martinus Stuart’s work. Although the picture of the “Moroccans” does not have any special art-historical value, it is interesting as a document-cum-monument that tells a fascinating story about another tipping point with regard to the image of Islam in Dutch history. “Moroccans” conveys a message that a twenty-first-century beholder cannot, or can no longer, grasp at a glance. This message cannot be understood unless the picture itself, as well as Martinus Stuart’s comment to it, is studied, and both are interpreted in their own socio-historical context.