RELIGION and REGULATION in INDONESIA Religion and Regulation in Indonesia

ISMATU ROPI RELIGION AND REGULATION IN INDONESIA Religion and Regulation in Indonesia [email protected] Ismatu Ropi Religion and Regulation in Indonesia [email protected] Ismatu Ropi UIN Jakarta Indonesia South Tangerang, Indonesia ISBN 978-981-10-2826-7 ISBN 978-981-10-2827-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2827-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956540 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This book was advertised with a copyright holder in the name of the publisher in error, whereas the author holds the copyright. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / Alamy Stock Photo Cover design by Samantha Johnson Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #22-06/08 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore [email protected] ABSTRACT This book analyses the state regulation on religious affairs in modern Indonesia, focusing on understanding its history and consequences to citizen’s religious life. Indonesian constitutions have preserved religious freedom, but by the same token have also tended to construct wide-ranging discretion- ary powers in the government to control religious life and to oversee religious freedom. Consequently, during more than four decades, as the Indonesian government has constructed a variety of policies on religion based on those constitutional legacies that have mostly been interpreted in the light of norms and values of the existing religious majority group. At the heart of this issue is then a tension between ensuring religious order and harmony on the one hand, and protecting religious freedom for all on another. This book discusses at length that while successive govern- ments have grappled with the problems of religious life, they have indeed increasingly prioritized order and harmony over the rights of all citizens’ religious freedom. Overall this book also argues that the history of the politics of regulating religion has been about “the constant negotiation” for the boundaries of authority in regulating religious affairs between the state and the majority. In this vein the government is eager to oversee and strictly control religious activities, but at the same time the majority group is interested to steer the direction of state policies to be closer to their norms and values. v [email protected] REFERENCING AND TRANSLITERATION All references in this book will be fully quoted the first time used in the footnote, followed by the page number. In referencing the book, the example is as follows: Peter W. Edge, Religion and Law (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2006), 6–10. Later references will use a shortened form of the work, followed by the page number such as Edge, Religion and Law, 25. An example of referencing article from academic journal is as follows: Neil A. Englehart, “Rights and Culture in the Asian Values Argument: The Rise and Fall of Confucian Ethic in Singapore,” Human Rights Quarterly 22, 3 (2000): 548–568. Later references for journal will use a shortened form of the work, followed by the page number such as Englehart, “Rights and Culture in the Asian Values Argument,” 559. Reference to works in languages other than English, like Indonesian, will also follow the above pattern. In this book, all Indonesian terms are written according to their modern spellings as they are used in today’s Indonesian language. Instead of using, for example, oesaha (effort), I have given its modern spelling, usaha. In spelling some Indonesian names especially from the older gener- ation, I follow the most common way those names are spelt at the current time. For instances, I prefer to write Hasyim Asy’ari, not Hasjim Asj’ari, or Sukarno and Suharto, not Soekarno and Soeharto respectively. In most cases I keep Indonesian wording instead of translating them into English. The examples are the word Pancasila and the phrase Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (with italics). However in those cases generic translation of the word or phrase will be supplied in its first usage. vii [email protected] viii REFERENCING AND TRANSLITERATION Considering the strong Arabic influence on Indonesian terms and names, I have opted to employ their Indonesian spellings. Instead of sharî‘a, kitâb, ‘ulamâ’ and fatwâ for example, I employ the terms sha- riah, kitab, ulama and fatwa without italics. Likewise, the plural forms of Arabic-influenced terms are indicated by adding the letter “s” to the word in its singular form, as in kitabs or fatwas rather than kutub or fatawa. For Arabic terms and names which are not part of Indonesian language, I use the international standard of Arabic transliteration. [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a revised version of my PhD thesis submitted to The Australian National University (ANU) in 2012 and completed during my honorary fellowship at ANU from September to November 2015. Many people and institutions greatly contributed to the completion of this book. Chief among them is Associate Professor Greg Fealy, without whose guidance and constant encouragement the book could not possibly have been fin- ished. His passionate commitment particularly to Indonesian studies, his refreshing intellectual honesty, constructive criticism, advice and support have been my model for academic excellence. Terima kasih banyak Pak Greg! I would also gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support and advice I received from Professor Edward Aspinall in PSC ANU. I am grateful to Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (Universitas Islam Negeri/UIN) Jakarta through the Office of Institute for Research and Community Outreach (Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian pada Masyarakat/LP2M) for providing me with research grant to undertake my fellowship in Australia as part of the 2015 UIN Jakarta’s International Collaborative Research Program. Professor Dede Rosyada, the current Rector of UIN Jakarta, Professor M Arskal Salim GP and Imam Subhi are among who deserve my acknowledgements for their kind help. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the tremendous support from the research centre where I have been working as a researcher for more than twelve years, the Center for Studying Islam and Society (Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Masyarakat/PPIM) UIN Jakarta. Among them are Professor Azyumardi Azra, Professor Komaruddin Hidayat and Professor Jamhari for always helping me in many different ways. I thank all my research ix [email protected] x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS colleagues in this institution, especially Professor Murodi, Dadi Darmadi, Saiful Umam, Ali Munhanif, Oman Fathurahman, Din Wahid, Fuad Jabali, Jajang Jahroni, Arief Subhan, Idris Thaha, Tasman and Didin Syafruddin as I have benefited much from intellectual exchanges and friendship. To those who are not mentioned by name, I wish to express my sincere appreciation for all their beneficial contributions. I would like also to record my gratitude to my mother, Hj. Siti Rohila, who always prays for my success. She is the continuous light of my life. My special sincere prayers go to my late father, H.M. Ropi Machmud, who passed away during my first month of my graduate study at ANU in 2006. My gratitude is also due to my parents-in-law in Rangkasbitung Banten as well as my extended family in Jakarta for their support and care. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to my family. My deepest thanks are due to my wife, Eka Indrawati, for her pure affection, caring, honesty and constant love. Words are not enough to thank her adequately for all the sacrifices she has made to accompany my life journey. My sweet beloved daughters, Alefa Passadhya Raihani and Qisthi Vinaya Mahathira, also deserve special appreciation and gratitude. They have always proven to be my steady inspiration, happiness and joy. At the very last, I have to mention that none of the above people is responsible for any inadequacy or inaccuracy in this book. I alone take responsibility for all those failings and errors. [email protected] CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 About This Book 7 Scholarly Studies on the State–Religion Relationship in Indonesia 8 The Structure of the Book 10 2 The State and Religion: An Overview 15 The Patterns of Relationship 15 The Nature of the Relationship 18 3 Theorizing Regulation of Religion 29 Regulating Religion and Religious Freedom

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