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Success story of nonviolent movement of civil Islam called Bela Islam and Bela Tauhid against the governor of DKI Jakarta, Basuki Cahaya Purnama (well known as Ahok) was indicated as the raising of Islamism in the Post-Reform Era. However, recently this fact has not been explained sufficiently as an academic discourse on Islamic studies especially in Indonesia. The progress of Islamism movement in Indonesia whether it is or not as result of democratic transition, has shown that there are many Islamic scholars who have less attention on the impact of radical and conservative Islam in the Post-Reform Era.In that context, Hefner’s thesis (2000) has become a significant basis for academic work influenced by many scholars and policy makers to observe Islam in that era.

Hefner defines Civil Islam as the variety of public ethics developed by Islamic scholars, activists, social-organizations in Indonesia or other countries which is Muslim as the most population. They have definitely similar objective to harmonize between Islamic values and traditions with democratic values. This perspective has been explored by Indonesian Muslim scholars such as Nurcholis Madjid, Dawam Rahardjo, and Abdurrahman Wahid. Those Islamic thinkers have integrated successfully between the classic theology of Islam and the Western (modern) social theory to describe Indonesian society during the New Order Era. The main of goal their idea is to reform the landscape of Indonesian Islam focusing on Islam as basis for the nation that disseminated by conservative Indonesian Muslim thinkers into Indonesian Islam which its values such as democracy, pluralism, and tolerance as the basis for establishment of the nation.

However, factually after two decades of the reform era, their belief on those values was not accepted by most Indonesian Muslim. This fact, as stated by van Bruinessen (2013), shows that conservatism and intolerance towards others, people or ideas that are different form them are growing significantly ((Menchik 2016). Moreover ironically, these ideas are expressed by not only Islamists such as Front Pembela Islam (FPI), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), but also by Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul  Ulama (NU) adherents or thinkers. Here, Islamist is meant as Muslims who believe whatever they do as an agenda of Islam (Piscatori 2000)– which is more dominant as Islamic discourses in public bspace in Indonesia at present.

After two decades of the reform era, many people have expected that there will be civilised Muslim as an agent of change to enlighten the blurred culture and society. In fact, the voices of democratic Muslims do not disappeared at all but it has not progressed and developed either. In contrary within vacuum of the democratic Muslim in public space, recently it shows the dominant role of Islamist groups who disseminate not only utopia idea as formalization of Islamic syari’a (Islamic law) and Islamic khalifah but spread hatred speech provocatively towards others within their community and outsider as well.

In Hefner’s work as ultimate reference on civil Islam, he also has considered some possibilities of political and cultural aspects that become obstacles for the progress of democratic Muslim in Indonesia. His analysis mostly focuses on some difficulties to promote the role of civil Islam caused by certain social conditions such as uncivilized country, the strengthening of militants in religious group, and supporter of terror ‘organized the government during the regime of Suharto.Therefore to comprehend the missing observation done Hefner related to the progress of Civil Islam in democratic era, it is good idea to pay attention what is suggested by Fred Halliday (1996) in the book entitled Islam and the Myth of Confrontation. Halliday argues that cultural factor is important but it is not the only one dominant factor to explore the debate between social power and economics interest formed by capitalism in a certain region or country.

In this part, Hefner’s work had missed to highlight as the crucial variable to be considered to observe the stagnancy of Islamic democratic power and the progress of fanaticism, conservatism, populism, and moderation in Indonesia.