Focusing on Indonesia and Malaysia, Islam and Colonialism examines how European colonial and Islamic modernising powers operated in the common and parallel domains of government and politics, law and education in the first half of the twentieth century.

The book demonstrates that colonialisation was able to coexist with Islamisation, arguing that Islamic movements were not necessarily antithetical to modernisation, nor was Western modernity always anathema to Islamic and local custom. Rather, by distinguishing religious from worldly affairs, they were able to adopt and adapt modern ideas and practices that were useful or relevant while maintaining the Islamic faith and ritual they believed to be essential.

By developing an understanding of the common ways in which Islam was defined and treated in Indonesia and Malaysia, we can gain new insights into Muslim politics and culture in Southeast Asia.