TY - JOUR
T1 - Regional aspects of the Indonesian Ulama Council's ideological turn
AU - Millie, Julian Patrick
AU - Hindasah, Linda
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - When national governments support homogenising religious programs within plural populations, scholars are called to pay close attention to the subsequent interactions between state power and religious projects/actors. This article responds to this need by providing a sub-national perspective on Indonesian Council of Islamic Scholars (MUI), a national body seen by some as a state-supported homogenising project. Based on fieldwork in the Indonesian cities of Tasikmalaya and Malang, the article describes the ideological diversity that exists between the central MUI and its regional branches. In the regions, the MUI is supported financially by regional governments, and in this way, its branches are shaped by local political conditions rather than by allegiance to ideological programs promoted from the centre. The authors observe the openness of the Tasikmalaya MUI to a wide range of Islamic movements, and contrast this with the ideological homogeneity of Malang s MUI, where the regional government is intent on restricting Islamic programs that threaten religious and social diversity. The contrasting religio-political positionings of the regional MUI signal the ideological heterogeneity to be found within the Indonesian Islamic Scholars Council and shed light on the importance of sub-national factors in shaping Indonesia s institutional responses to religious diversity.
AB - When national governments support homogenising religious programs within plural populations, scholars are called to pay close attention to the subsequent interactions between state power and religious projects/actors. This article responds to this need by providing a sub-national perspective on Indonesian Council of Islamic Scholars (MUI), a national body seen by some as a state-supported homogenising project. Based on fieldwork in the Indonesian cities of Tasikmalaya and Malang, the article describes the ideological diversity that exists between the central MUI and its regional branches. In the regions, the MUI is supported financially by regional governments, and in this way, its branches are shaped by local political conditions rather than by allegiance to ideological programs promoted from the centre. The authors observe the openness of the Tasikmalaya MUI to a wide range of Islamic movements, and contrast this with the ideological homogeneity of Malang s MUI, where the regional government is intent on restricting Islamic programs that threaten religious and social diversity. The contrasting religio-political positionings of the regional MUI signal the ideological heterogeneity to be found within the Indonesian Islamic Scholars Council and shed light on the importance of sub-national factors in shaping Indonesia s institutional responses to religious diversity.
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14442213.2015.1034167
U2 - 10.1080/14442213.2015.1034167
DO - 10.1080/14442213.2015.1034167
M3 - Article
SN - 1444-2213
VL - 16
SP - 260
EP - 281
JO - The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology
JF - The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology
IS - 3
ER -