Scriptural Nationalism in Print

Genre Partition and the Making of the Other in the Persatuan Islam’s Risalah (2005–2025)

Résumé

This article examines the role of scriptural interpretation in shaping modern nationalism by examining Persatuan Islam (Persis), a reformist Islamic organization in Indonesia. Drawing on an analysis of its print culture – particularly the magazine Risalah and the fatwas of Dewan Hisbah between 2005 and 2025 – the article introduces the concept of scriptural nationalism, defined as a form of national imagination in which scriptural reasoning provides the ethical grammar of citizenship. The study argues that Persis constructs nationalism not through institutional expansion or political mobilization alone, but through disciplined hermeneutic practices. These are sustained by a structured division of discursive labour: Dewan Hisbah consolidates doctrinal authority through juristic reasoning, while Risalah translates theological concepts into accessible discussions of national life. This genre partition enables Persis to maintain orthodoxy while engaging broader publics. The article further demonstrates that Persis constructs the “Other” through a layered framework: theologically as bounded exclusivism, socially as conditional coexistence, and politically as oppositional differentiation. This stratification allows the organization to reconcile doctrinal boundaries with civic participation. By foregrounding interpretation, this study contributes to broader debates in religious studies and nationalism theory. It suggests that nations can be constituted not only through institutions, identities, or narratives, but through recurring acts of scriptural interpretation. In doing so, it extends existing frameworks such as civil Islam and offers a new lens for understanding how religious traditions shape modern forms of political belonging.