Religious Intolerance in Indonesia
Updated October 10, 2018
Religious Intolerance in Indonesia
Overview
groups. While some Indonesian polls are considered
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority
unreliable, their findings have been borne out by qualitative
country, and it has long been known for its moderate
accounts. In 2016, Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute
interpretations of Islam. Yet, in recent years, there have
for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), noted that “a more
been numerous acts of religious intolerance directed against
conservative, more intolerant atmosphere” has gradually
minority religious groups in the country, including
emerged in the country.
Ahmadis, a Muslim sect. This sort of intolerance gained
international attention in December 2016 when over
Muslim Groups in Indonesia
200,000 protestors descended on Jakarta, Indonesia’s
In Indonesia, there are several hardline Islamist groups. One
capital, to demand that the city’s governor, Basuki Tjahaja
is known as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). It was
Purnama, resign. They accused Basuki, otherwise known as
founded in 1998—according to some, with the backing of
Ahok, of blasphemy because he had suggested that his
the military and police—and it has an estimated 200,000
political opponents were using a Quranic verse to
members. The group has engaged in vigilante-style
encourage Muslims to vote against non-Muslims. (Ahok is
violence. It has closed down nightclubs and bars during
a double minority in Indonesia: he is a Christian and
Ramadan, and it was a driving force behind the anti-Ahok
ethnically Chinese.) Months later, Ahok lost his reelection
protests. Another group, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI),
bid; he also was charged with blasphemy, convicted, and
was involved in the anti-Ahok protests as well. The group is
sentenced to two years in prison.
part of a wider, transnational organization, and seeks to
establish a caliphate through non-violent means. It has tens
The sentence shocked many Southeast Asia observers.
of thousands of members in Indonesia. According to IPAC,
After the demonstrations, some of them began to question
it has a “strong presence on university campuses,” and is
Indonesia’s reputation for religious tolerance. They pointed
“committed to the infiltration of government and security
to an uptick in the number of attacks and discriminatory
forces, so that Islamic governance can be achieved from
practices aimed at minorities, and noted that Islamist
within.” The Indonesian government banned HTI in 2017.
groups’ political influence seemed to be increasing.
Previously, these groups had limited influence in national
politics, and secular parties dominated national elections.
“Islamist groups and hardline rhetoric may have
Secular parties still are the most powerful ones in the
an unprecedented impact on the upcoming 2019
country, but given the success of the anti-Ahok
general elections.”
demonstrations, Islamist groups and hardline rhetoric may
have an unprecedented impact on the upcoming 2019
general elections. Some observers argue that even some
mainstream political figures have become more inclined to
Indonesia’s two largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul
use religious intolerance to shore up political support.
Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, are considered more
moderate. Both have deep religious and political influence,
Several factors may be contributing to the more-mainstream
largely because of their size. NU has an estimated 40
acceptance of hardline interpretations of Islam, including
million members; Muhammadiyah has about 30 million.
the country’s Islamic schools, funding from the Persian
NU and Muhammadiya have roots in many smaller
Gulf region, and the Indonesian government’s policies.
religious and civic organizations across the country, and
they have been involved in efforts to combat militant
Background
interpretations of Islam in Indonesia. But some are worried
Indonesia’s population is over 260 million, comprising
that grassroots elements within both groups—and NU
Muslims (87.2%), Protestants (7.0%), Roman Catholics
especially—are becoming more conservative. (Historically,
(2.9%), and Hindus (1.7%). Many Indonesian Muslims
NU has been the more moderate of the two.) According to
worship local spirits and deities, in addition to practicing
William Liddle, a political scientist at Ohio State
their Islamic faith. The country’s constitution protects
University, “during and since President [Abdurrahman]
religious freedom, but in recent years, studies have found
Wahid”—who headed NU before becoming Indonesia’s
that religious intolerance is increasing. In 2017, an
president in 1999—“the impression that moderates
Indonesian NGO, the Setara Institute, reported that “acts of
dominate NU has never been accurate.”
religious intolerance” increased between 2015 and 2016—
Foreign Influence
from 236 acts to 270. That same year, the Jakarta-based
Center for the Study of Islam and Society polled Indonesian
For decades, Saudi Arabia, along with its neighbors, has
high-school and university students; almost 90% of
funded schools and programs to spread Salafist-Islamic
respondents said that the government should ban heretical
thought in Indonesia. (Persian Gulf funding comes from
government and nongovernment sources, including wealthy
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Religious Intolerance in Indonesia
individuals.) According to Krithika Varagur, a Jakarta-
country’s former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
based writer, “Saudi Arabia has, for decades, been making
(SBY) spoke before the Ulama Council, a grouping of
investments” in Indonesia, and has created an
Indonesian Islamic organizations, including the FPI and
infrastructure, including universities and scholarships,
NU. He said that the government “should heed the fatwas
“aimed at influencing Indonesian culture and religion.”
from [the council] and ulamas.” The fatwas have no legal
standing, but SBY essentially made the council the arbiter
In 1980, Saudi Arabia established the Islamic-Arabic
of Islamic religious matters. Moreover, some secular
Sciences Institute (LIPIA) in Jakarta. It is an all-expenses-
institutions in Indonesia, such as the military and police,
paid university and a branch of the Imam Muhammed ibn
reportedly are becoming more religious.
Saud University in Riyadh. Many of its faculty members
are Saudi Salafis, and its curriculum focuses on the
Current President Joko Widodo (or Jokowi) has challenged
teachings of Muhammed ibn Abd al Wahhab, the 18th
the Islamists. He has condemned religious intolerance, and
century theologian whose partnership with the Al Saud
5 of his 34 cabinet members are from minority faiths. Yet,
family provided the basis for the first kingdom of Saudi
in August 2018, Jokowi named Ma’aruf Amin, an
Arabia. Al Wahhab’s writings describe Muslims who
influential NU cleric who heads the Ulama Council, as his
incorporate local customs into their religious practices as
Vice-Presidential nominee. It likely was an attempt to
“apostates.” As of 2016, about 3,500 LIPIA students
preempt suggestions that Jokowi is not a Muslim ahead of
graduated each year. Saudi Arabia also has built 150
the 2019 elections. Those same charges were made during
mosques in the country (out of about 800,000 in total), and
the 2014 campaign, and likely narrowed Jokowi’s margin
has offered scholarships for Indonesian students to study at
of victory. (He is a Javanese Muslim.)
the Kingdom’s universities. One of these students, Habib
Rizieq, later founded the FPI.
Some argue that democratization has been a boon for
Indonesian Islamists and Salafis. Democracy “has been a
Religious Schools
godsend for Salafis,” suggests Din Wahid, an expert on
According to some scholars, religious schools also have led
Indonesian Salafism. “They are now free to propagate their
to a more “homogenized” and conservative interpretation of
ideas ... in the open, even though Salafis reject democratic
Islam in Indonesia. This development has, in large part,
values that protect ... minorities’ rights.” Some Indonesian
been driven by two factors—the public school system and
Islamists see democracy as a type of government, not as a
Indonesia’s Islamic schools. From the 1960s to the late
set of values. As Bachtiar reportedly said, “Islam accepts
1990s, the authoritarian Suharto regime controlled
democracy but the question is, does democracy accept
Indonesia, and expanded the state education system to
Islam? We’re the majority, therefore, according to
impose greater social order on the country. Religious
democratic principles, we should be the ones who
instruction was a mandatory part of the curriculum, and
determine the law.”
ultimately contributed to “a more uniformly Islamic
population,” according to Liddle. The public schools were
Indonesian and U.S. Responses
nominally free, but many charged informal fees. These fees
Indonesia’s government has established programs to
still exist today, and are too expensive for some families,
counter violent extremism, but it has struggled to combat
who send their children to cheaper Islamic schools, such as
the influence of Islamists. It has been reluctant to push back
madrassahs. The madrassahs generally teach a more
against the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, in particular,
fundamentalist version of Islam.
because it does not want Riyadh to cut its hajj quota, which
is the annual number of Muslims from each country
The vast majority of Islamic schools in Indonesia, including
allowed to make the hajj (or pilgrimage) to Mecca. That
madrassahs, do not disseminate radical interpretations of
said, in July 2017, Jokowi signed a presidential decree,
Islam. But a few do, such as al-Mukmin, which was
allowing the government to ban groups that threaten
established by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, a founder of the
national unity. Some U.S. policymakers also have been
terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). (The Saudis
concerned about rising religious conservatism in Indonesia.
reportedly helped to fund al-Mukmin in 1972.) Several of
In 2010, the United States and Indonesia inaugurated a
the school’s graduates were involved in the JI-orchestrated
Comprehensive Partnership; one of its goals was to
Bali bombings in 2002. That said, most Indonesian
establish “bridges” between different faiths. The United
Islamists eschew violence, but they do see education as a
States has funded programs to promote religious tolerance
way to shape the debate about Islam’s role in Indonesian
in Indonesia for decades. In 2017, Search for Common
society. According to IPAC, Bachtiar Nasir, one the
Ground began implementing a State Department-funded
organizers of the anti-Ahok protests, seeks “to mold a new
program aimed at “reinstating the values and norms of
generation of young people into pious, capable Muslim
pluralism within state institutions, youth, and local
leaders who can compete in future elections.” He has
communities in Indonesia.”
established an Islamic center with a 500-student school.
Government Actions
Wil Mackey, Research Assistant
Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs
The Indonesian government, at times, has seemed to tilt
toward the Islamists, in part to appeal to an electorate that
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has been “open to Islam playing a central role in law and
governance,” according to Shadi Hamid. In 2005, the
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Religious Intolerance in Indonesia
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