Henry Corbin, Charles Taylor, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas: Metaphysics and the Making of Islam Nusantara in Indonesia (Southeast Asian Studies)

Islam Nusantara is often discussed as a cultural expression or a sociological variant of Islam. This book approaches it differently- as a metaphysical and intellectual formation shaped by imagination, moral order, and the struggle for meaning in the modern world.

Bringing together Henry Corbin, Charles Taylor, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, this work offers a deep philosophical exploration of how Islamic thought in Indonesia negotiates modernity without surrendering its spiritual depth. Corbin's imaginal ontology, Taylor's analysis of modern moral frameworks, and al-Attas's critique of secularized knowledge are woven into a single, coherent reflection on Islam Nusantara as a living tradition of thought.

Rather than treating Islam Nusantara as identity, slogan, or political label, the book presents it as an ongoing intellectual responsibility-one that demands metaphysical seriousness, ethical clarity, and imaginative courage. Indonesia appears here not as the periphery of Islamic thought, but as a site of conceptual creativity where global philosophy encounters local wisdom.

Written in a reflective and accessible style, this book speaks to readers interested in Islamic philosophy, religion and modernity, metaphysics, and Southeast Asian Islam. It does not offer easy answers, but invites readers into deeper questions about how Islam can remain meaningful in a fragmented modern age.

Prof. Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad, Ph.D. is an Indonesian scholar, philosopher, and author whose works explore the intersections of religion, culture, and the moral imagination of modernity. He is the founder of KBA13 Insight, a digital think tank and publishing platform dedicated to critical and interdisciplinary analysis of philosophy, geopolitics, religion, and society.