Penolong Kesengsaraan Umum The charitable activism of Muhammadiyah during the colonial period

• Published in: South East Asia research Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 379 - 394
• Main Author: Fauzia, Amelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications Ltd 01-12-2017; SAGE Publications; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Charities; Civil society; Colonialism; Disadvantaged; Discrimination; Humanitarianism; Islam; Philanthropy; Race; Racism; Religion; Religious beliefs; Social capital; Social groups; Social services; Suffering; social capital; inclusivity; Muhammadiyah; Charity; Indonesian Islam
• ISSN: 0967-828X; 2043-6874
• DOI: 10.1177/0967828X17740458

This article discusses the nature of Islamic philanthropy and social services in the context of the plurality of Indonesian society by looking at the early development of Muhammadiyah’s charitable activities, known as Penolong Kesengsaraan Umum or by the acronym PKU (Assistance for the Relief of Public Suffering). This article asserts that PKU took an inclusive approach to humanitarian issues in providing social services to underprivileged groups and that this was claimed as being ‘without discrimination of religion and race or group.’ It analyses the ‘bridging’ and ‘bonding’ aspects of faith-based philanthropy as social capital and questions how it was that PKU could formulate inclusive ideas that underpin its vision and activities and that bolster Muhammadiyah’s label as a civil society organisation. Even though the ideas were overtaken at the end of the Dutch colonial period, the potential for an inclusive principle remained in place.