Are Islamic Political Parties Different From General Political Parties?

Islamic political parties have a big impact on Indonesia because the majority of Indonesians embrace Islam. However, basically, Islamic political parties have become a big arena for Indonesia. Currently, the Islamic political scene became fragmented in the 1950s. At that time, Islamic parties included the Indonesian Islamic Syarikat Party, Nahdathul Ulama, Masyumi, the Indonesian Tariqat Unity Party, and the Islamic Tarbiyah Association. And currently, Islamic political parties include the National Mandate Party, the National Awakening Party, the Social Justice Party, and the Crescent Star Party.

Islamic political parties are different from political parties in general. In Islamic political parties, politicians concentrate on religious and societal issues. Many politicians have religious backgrounds, which in turn leads to a logic of power that tends to be cooperative, hegemonic, and corrupt. Because the world of politics is profane, which necessitates selfishness, is full of political content, and is tendentious, As a result, the power of reason (the power of logic) and the logic of morality, which prioritizes the sincerity of devotion possessed by religious leaders, are lost.

So that currently the difference between nationalist and Islamic political parties is getting thinner, according to Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, "Now in this situation the difference is getting smaller, between the parties that were said to be national parties and religious parties," said Kalla at the DKI Jakarta DPD Golkar office, Cikini, Jakarta, Friday (1/6/2018).

The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia gave an example during the month of Ramadan in 2018. Golkar breaks fasts more often than Islamic political parties.
"The proof is like this: maybe the other parties haven't had an iftar (joint) event, but Golkar has already held an iftar (together)," said the former chairman of Golkar.

Jusuf Kala is of the opinion that there are no differences between general political parties and Islamic political parties in Indonesia. What distinguishes one political party from another is its achievements, programs, and implementation. (Safina, 2023)