Michael Laffan obtained his doctorate from the University of Sydney, 2001. He is currently a visiting fellow with the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University, working within a project examining development of religious authority in twentieth century Indonesia. Michael Laffan is the winner of the ASAA President's Award 2002.

'All readers should be duly impressed by the considerable achievements of this new book. Laffan's study demonstates impressive erudition, analytical skill, and a supra-regional breadth rarely found in Southeast Asian Studies.' - Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'This is a work which should be an integral part of university courses dealing with the history of both Islam and nationalism in Southeast Asia.' - Southeast Asian Studies

• Introduction 1. An Ecumene in the 'The Lands Below the Winds' 2. Arab Priests and Pliant Pilgrims 3. The Hijazi Experience and Direct Colonial Visions of the heart of the Ecumene 4. Colonizing Islam and the Western-Oriented Project of Indies Nationhood 5. Reorientation among the Jawa of Mecca 6. The Jawa and Cairo 7. Islamic Voices from Singapore, Java, and Sumatra 8. Towards an Indigenous and Islamic Indonesia 9. Indonesia Visualised as a Fractured Umma below the Winds 10. From the Meccan Discourse of a Jawi Ecumene to the Cairene Discourse of an Indonesian Homeland