ICC Note:
The increase in religious rights violations and increase in cases of religious violence in Indonesia reveal a possible trend toward religious intolerance in Indonesia. This may the contributed to, in part, by a growth of hardline conservative Muslim theology. A recent article by Voice of America reported on the growing influence of a brand of Islam known as Salafism which has been supported by Saudi Arabia in Indonesia. Salafism is an “ultra-conservative” brand of Islam and seeks a return to “Koranic times.” Saudis in Indonesia support scholarships to teach this brand of Islam to Indonesians. Although the true result of these teaching in Indonesia have yet to be seen, in some ways changes are already noticeable. Many regions are implementing more strict forms of Sharia law. The recent protests against the Christian governor of Jakarta were largely influenced by student of Salafism. The increased conflation of Islamic law with national law, however, has meant fewer freedoms for people of other religions. Christians must often hide their faith in Indonesia due to the threat of persecution.
1/18/2017 Indonesia (VOA) – When Ulil Abshar-Abdalla was a teenager in Pati, Central Java, he placed first in an Arabic class held at his local madrasa. The prize was six months of tuition at the Institute for the Study of Islam and Arabic (LIPIA), a Jakarta university founded and funded by the Saudi Arabian government. At the end of six months, LIPIA offered him another six. He stayed on.
After that, it offered him four more years of free tuition to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Islamic law, or shariah. He accepted that too. In 1993, after five years at LIPIA, he was offered a scholarship to continue his studies in Riyadh. He finally said no.
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