Religion and Regulation in Indonesia

Ismatu Ropi

Religion and Regulation in

Indonesia

ISBN 978-981-10-2826-7 ISBN 978-981-10-2827-4 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2827-4

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Ismatu RopiUIN Jakarta Indonesia South Tangerang, Indonesia

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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 regulat-ing religion has been about “the constant negotiation” for the boundaries of authority in regulating religious affairs between the state and the major-ity. 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.

AbstrAct

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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 mod-ern 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.

referencing And trAnsliterAtion

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.

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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

Acknowledgements

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 appre-ciation 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.

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1 Introduction 1About This Book 7Scholarly Studies on the State–Religion Relationship in Indonesia 8The Structure of the Book 10

2 The State and Religion: An Overview 15The Patterns of Relationship 15The Nature of the Relationship 18

3 Theorizing Regulation of Religion 29Regulating Religion and Religious Freedom 30

4 Religion and Religious Life in Indonesia: Legacies from the Past 43Agama: From Tradition to Political Identity 44The Dutch and Religious Affairs 46

5 Negotiating Boundaries of Religion Roles in the State System 57Religiously-Motivated Struggle for Independence? 58Debating the Dasar Negara 61The Phrase Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa 73

contents

xii CONTENTS

6 Religion and the Intrusive Constitutions 79Religion in the Indonesian Constitutions 80

7 Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa: Contests of Meaning and Interpretation 89The Politics of Interpreting Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa 89

8 The Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Muslim Community and the Administration of Religious Life 101The Establishment of MORA 102Bureaucratizing Islam 103Opposing the Heterodoxies 108

9 Regulating Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa in Public Life 117Defining Religion and Religious Group 118Religious Vilification Act and the Nation-State Religious Character 120

10 Suharto New Order’s Regime, Development Programme and Religion 127The Regime, Development and Religion 128

11 Governmentalization of Religious Policies 139Governing Religious Life 139The De-politicization of Religion and New Roles for MORA 143Prohibition of Aliran Sesat 147Politics of Religious Identity 152

12 Managing Religious Tension 161The 1969 Joint Decree on Places of Worship 162Decrees on Mission Aid and Overseas Missionaries 166The Ahmadiyah Case 170

xiiiCONTENTS

13 Islamic Populism over Minority Rights 183From Concession and Accommodation to Islamization 184Islamic Symbols to Centre Stage 185Decentralization and Shariah By-Laws 187

14 Old Issues New Controversies: Cases of the  Places of Worship, the Ahmadiyah Group and the Judicial Review of the Vilification Law 199The New Joint Decree on Places of Worship 200Recent Ahmadiyah Controversies 205Judicial Review of the Vilification Law and the  Rise of Legal jihad? 211

15 Conclusion 219

Appendix 1 227

Appendix 2 231

Bibliographies 235

Index 257

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abangan nominal Muslims, usually referring to Javanese religiosity

ABRI Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia) in the New Order era, cur-rently known as TNI Tentara National Indonesia (Indonesian National Armed Forces)

Adat Arabic-derived term referring to a region’s manners, tastes, customs, traditions and beliefs, see hukum adat

Ahmadiyah a heterodox religious movement in Islam, based on the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, ca. 1889 in North India, see also JAI or Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia

aliran kepercayaan local Java religious groups with strongly mystical tendencies; often interchangeably called aliran kebatinan or kejawen

aliran sempalan a small new (religious) group believed to promote any teaching or doctrine that are allegedly deviant from the teachings or doctrines of mainstreaming religious groups

glossAry And AbbreviAtion

xvi xvi GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION

Azas Tunggal “Sole Base,” unifying principle imposed by the New Order regime to pledge Pancasila as the only ideological basis of all Indonesian organizations and institutions

BAKIN Badan Koordinasi Intelijen Negara (Coordinating Body of State Intelligence)

BAKORPAKEM Badan Kordinasi Pengawasan Aliran Kepercayaan di Masyarakat (Coordinating Body for Monitoring and Supervising Local Religious Beliefs in Society)

BAPPENAS Badan Perencana Pembangunan Nasional (National Body for Development Planning)

BPUPK(I) Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan (Indonesia) ([Indonesian] Investigating Body for the Preparation of Independence).

dakwah Islamic mission or propagation; preaching an appeal for a deeper performance of faith among the Muslim community

Darul Islam Islamic polity or society where Islamic doc-trines and law are well-implemented. Also a separatist political movement in approx. 1950–1980

Dasar Negara Philosophical foundations of the state, later referring to Pancasila

DDII Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (Indonesian Council for Islamic Propagation)

DEPAG Departeman Agama (Department of Religious Affairs), the state office for administering religious affairs. Currently known as KEMENAG (Kementerian Agama or Ministry of Religious Affairs). Also see MORA

DGI Dewan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia (Indonesian Council of [Protestant] Churches)

xviiGLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION xvii

DPR Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (People’s Representative Assembly), the Indonesian Parliament

DPRGR Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Gotong Royong (Peoples’ Representative Council of Cooperation); refers to the Indonesian Parliament during Sukarno’s Guided Democracy

Dwi Fungsi dual security and socio-political functions of the Indonesian armed forces

fatwa religious opinion or edict issued by an Islamic scholar or Islamic organization in response to particular issue or problem in the Muslim community

FKUB Forum Komunikasi Umat Beragama (Forum for Inter-Faith Communication)

GBHN Garis-Garis Besar Haluan Negara (The Mainlines of State Policies)

Golkar Golongan Karya (Functional Group), powerful government political party in the New Order era

haji Title given to Muslims who have per-formed pilgrimage to the holy site of the Kabah at Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The hajj is one of the Five Islamic Pillars as a once-in-a lifetime obligation of religious devotion

hukum adat customary law, see adatIAIN Institut Agama Islam Negeri (State

Institute for Islamic Studies), referring to state-run Islamic higher education institu-tions, see UIN and STAIN

ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ICMI Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim se-Indo-nesia (Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association)

JAI Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia (Ahmadiyah Community of Indonesia), see Ahmadiyah

xviii xviii GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION

jihad “struggle” or “exertion.” The meaning can range from personal struggle against sinful tendencies to assisting the community in holy war

jilbab or hijab an outer garment, a long gown covering the whole body or a cloak covering the neck and bosom, worn by Muslim women

Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa The First Principle of Pancasila literally means the Oneness of God denoting the belief in God

KNIP Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat (Central National Committee of Indonesia)

KOPKAMTIB Komando Operasi Keamanan dan Ketertiban (Command of Security and Order Operations)

KUA Kantor Urusan Agama (District Office for Religious Affairs in particular deal-ing with marriage and divorce of Muslim community)

KWI Konferensi Wali Gereja Indonesia (Conference of [Catholic] Indonesian Bishops)

kyai Muslim religious leader or scholar of Islamic studies, see ulama

MAWI Majelis Agung Wali Gereja Indonesia (High Council of Indonesian Bishops)

MORA Ministry of Religious Affairs, see DEPAGMPR Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s

Consultative Assembly)MPRS Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat

Sementara (Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly)

Muhammadiyah Indonesian modernist Muslim organiza-tion founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan

MUI Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars)

NAD Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam or Aceh is a province located in Sumatera island

xixGLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION xix

NASAKOM Nasionalis, Agama, Komunis (Nationalism, Religion and Communism), a political slogan created by Sukarno to fuse three intentional political and social powers in Indonesia

Negara Ketuhanan “Religious-based State,” in which reli-gion plays an important part; often the term interchangeably called Negara ber-Ketuhanan

New Order 1969–1998, the regime under the Presidency of Suharto

NKRI Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia

NU Nahdlatul Ulama (Revival of Religious Scholars), the largest traditionalist Muslim organization in Indonesia established by Hasyim Ashari in 1926

Old Order the term used by the Suharto regime to point out the previous regime under the Presidency of Sukarno from 1945 to 1969

P4 Pedoman Penghayatan dan Pengalaman Pancasila (Guidelines for the Internalization and Application of Pancasila)

Pancasila The “Five Principles” constituting the national ideology of the Indonesian state. They are: belief in one supreme God; just and civilized humanity; national unity; democracy led by wisdom and prudence through consultation and representation; and social justice

PDI Partai Demokrasi Indonesian (Indonesian Democratic Party), a political party cre-ated by the New Order regime in 1970s to merge some nationalist and Christian political parties

Permesta/PRRI Perjuangan Semesta/Pemerintahan Revolusioner Republik Indonesia (Universal Struggle/the Revolutionary Government of Republic of Indonesia), a

xx GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION

so-called rebel movement declared by civil and military leaders in 1957 against the Central Government in Jakarta

Persis Persatuan Islam (Islamic Union), reform-ist organization founded in 1923 by Ahmad Hasan

Pesantren Islamic boarding-school system in Indonesia

PGI Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja Indonesia (Communion of Indonesian Churches)

PKI Partai Komunis Indonesia (Communist Party of Indonesia)

PMP Pendidikan Moral Pancasila (Pancasila Moral Education)

PPKI Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (The Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence)

PPP Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (the United Development Party), a political party created by the New Order regime in the 1970s to merge some existing Islamic political parties

priyayi Javanese feudal aristocracy; in many cases the term also refers to employees of the Indonesian civil service

Reformasi 1998–present, era of democratic reformREPELITA Rencana Pembangunan Lima Tahun (Five

Year Development Plan)Salafism Term used to describe movements that seek

to return to the teachings and example of the early generations of Muslims; recently denoting the most strictly puritanical of Islamic movements

santri students in an Islamic boarding school (see pesantren) or in some cases referring to pious Muslims vis-à-vis abangan

SARA Suku, Agama, Ras dan Antar-golongan (Ethnicity, Religion, Race and Inter-class), prohibitions on unfavourable mention of these sensitive issues in public

xxiGLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATION

“Seven Words” (of 1945 Jakarta Charter) is a controver-sial phrase containing seven words (dengan kewajiban menjalankan syari’at Islam bagi para penganutnya or “with the obliga-tion for [Muslim] adherents to carry out Islamic shariah”). This phrase for many was regarded as the main element of the enshrinement of Islamic shariah in the Indonesian Constitution.

syariah or shariah Islamic law or jurisprudenceSKB Surat Keputusan Bersama (Joint Decree of

two or more Ministerial Offices)STAIN Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri (State

College for Islamic Studies), see UIN and IAIN

UIN Universitas Islam Negeri (State Islamic University), see IAIN and STAIN

ulama Muslim scholar, see kyaiUndang-Undang Haji the Law of PilgrimageUndang-Undang Wakaf the Law of EndowmentUndang-Undang Zakat the Law of Philanthropy or Alms-Giving

xxiii

Ismatu Ropi is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Theology and Philosophy (Ushuluddin) State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, and Director of Research at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Jakarta.

He obtained his MA from McGill University on Muslim–Christian rela-tions in Indonesia, and his PhD from the Australian National University on the politics of regulating religion in Indonesia.

He has written widely on inter-religious relations in Indonesia, pub-lished in scholarly journals and articles. He is the author of Fragile Relation: Muslims and Christians in Modern Indonesia (2000), and has co-edited books on Islamic studies such as Women’s Images in Islam (2002), Islamic Social Institution in Indonesia (2002) and Studying Islam in Middle Eastern University (2001).

His main research interests are on religious studies particularly Christianity and Judaism, new religious movements and minorities in Indonesia, religious education in Indonesia, Islam and issues of democ-racy in Indonesia.

About the Author

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list of figure

Fig. 11.1 Religion in the Pancasila State 142

xxvii

Table 4.1 Subsidies to religious groupings 53Table 6.1 Articles on religion in Indonesian constitutions 81Table 13.1 List of regional regulations on Shariah By-Laws

(based on year of issuance) 189

list of tAbles