Politics of faith: Finding a place for religion in society that is democratic, harmonious and responsible

Long cited as an example of a successful Muslim democracy by political and religious leaders from a wide array of faiths and nationalities, Indonesia’s cultural blueprint continues to provide a stable bedrock for increasingly welcoming political and economic climates. “We are a Muslim majority nation, but democracy also works very well here,” the head of the centre of information and public relations for the ministry of religious affairs, Zubaidi told OBG. “Elections cover more than 400 districts and 33 provinces, and all the district heads and governors are elected directly by the people.”

MUSLIM MAJORITY: With a population in excess of 240m, Indonesia sets the mark as the most populous Muslim country in the world. But while roughly 89% of the country’s citizens subscribe to Islamic beliefs according to official government statistics, the country also prides itself even more on its tolerance and diversity. There are six officially recognised religions in Indonesia according to the constitution: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism), Catholicism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Both the Sunni and Shia forms of Islam are accepted in Indonesia, although the majority are Sunni Muslims. The constitution guarantees the rights of citizens to practice their religion freely.

CHURCH AND STATE: Because of the wide geographic dispersal of the country and its populace, social structures and populations vary widely between regions. For this reason, substantial autonomy is given to provinces to govern themselves in political as well as religious arenas. And although Indonesia is far from implementing sharia law across the country, the central government has allowed specific areas to implement their own unique religious laws.

In the sprawling metropolis of the nation’s capital, Jakarta, for instance, the spires of catholic churches rise next to the minarets and domed roofs of mosques, and the majority of women forgo traditional Muslim attire for western garb. These scenes are in contrast with those in the more conservative Aceh Province in north-western Indonesia, with its roughly 95% majority Muslim population. Here the federal government has allowed the state to partially implement sharia law since 1999.

However, in Indonesia these laws are limited in scope in that legislation deals only with social issues, including marriage and divorce. Strict Islamic dress codes such as head scarf requirements, for instance, are applicable to practising Muslims, while non-Muslims are free to remain bare-headed. Other Islamic laws enforced in Aceh include the prohibition of men and women who are not blood relatives or married to one another from being together in an isolated place. Criminal offenses, such as assault or murder, as well as appeals to higher courts, remain under the standard national law.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: In keeping with the country’s diversity of religion and culture, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) oversees not just issues relating to the majority religion of Islam, but of all officially recognised religions. The five primary missions of MoRA are to enhance the religious life of the people; improve harmony both between religions and within them; provide religious education; facilitate religious pilgrimages; and improve internal governance. Of these five objectives, the two with the highest priority are education and religious harmony, according to Zubaidi. To carry out these tasks, the MoRA is responsible for both the promotion and facilitation of religion for all Indonesians, but must also manage the sometimes more tricky undertaking of promoting accord and harmony among all faiths. In its supervision of religious issues, the ministry appoints a separate director-general for each of the six officially recognised religions, whose role is to administer the affairs of their respective faiths.

In addition to addressing the internal issues of each religion, MoRA established the Centre for Harmony to provide a common ground for contentious issues relating to religion, as well as offer a forum for the mediation of interfaith disputes. Moreover, a satellite centre for religious and social harmony has been established in each of the country’s provinces, with the role of addressing the different challenges of each locality.

EDUCATION: Public education in Indonesia takes the form of both general public schools and religious schools (madrassas). As a result, provision is the province of both MoRA and the Ministry of National Education. Both standard public schools, which may offer around 1-2 hours of religious education a week, and madrassas, which offer 5-6 hours of religious education weekly, are open to all students. In this manner, students and their families may choose which form of education they prefer, and may opt to switch between the two as they progress through the national system from primary to secondary education. For example, a student may attend a madrassa in elementary school and choose to switch to public schools for junior high or high school, and vice versa. In 2011, approximately 20% of students elected to attend religious schools while 80% chose standard public schools according to MoRA.

Both religious and secular education systems operate under the same criteria and practices overseen by MoRA, including national standardised testing and curriculum, educator standards and other criteria. The underlying goal of these uniform standards is to ensure a universal education for all children, regardless of religion, ethnicity or other distinction.

As of 2009, the last year for which data was available from the government, there were 3773 educational institutions overseen by MoRA. In keeping with the demographic trends of the country, the vast majority of these were Islamic facilities. Of these, a total of 3689 (97.7%) were madrassas along with six national Islamic universities, 12 national institutes of Islamic studies and 31 national Islamic colleges. The remaining schools were divided among the religious minorities as follows: 22 national colleges of Hindu studies, including six national colleges of Buddha studies, and six national colleges of Christian studies, with one national institute of Hindu Dharma studies.

TOLERANCE: Although the vast majority of Indonesia’s millions of Muslims practice a tolerant, open form of Islam, peacefully coexisting with those of other belief systems, a small percentage of radicals and fundamentalists manage to capture headlines through acts of violence against minority religions as well as other forms of Islam. One of the most infamous of these is Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has ties to Al Qaida and is responsible for a string of deadly bomb attacks, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed more than 200 people. Although relatively few in number, these fringe elements have presented significant challenges to the government in recent years and have tarnished the country’s reputation as a tolerant nation.

“We give some attention to [militant extremists], we try to get them back on the right path,” Zubaidi told OBG. “We also try to defend against the spread of extremism through education to make sure that others are not influenced by militants. This is particularly important because these people specifically try to recruit young people, and we also work to defend children via our education programmes.” JI and similar groups have stated goals to create an Islamic Republic. Their methods have evolved from largely peaceful means to terror attacks, starting in the 1990s. In the years since the 2002 attacks Indonesia has stepped up activity against these extremists. These have resulted in the arrest of a number of militants.

HAJJ: The MoRA is also responsible for assisting its citizens in undertaking the traditional pilgrimage of Hajj. The fifth pillar of Islam, completing the Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is considered a religious duty for all able-bodied Muslims as well as a demonstration of Muslim solidarity and of submission to Allah.

Specifically, the ministry is responsible for appointing the airlines designated to fly the charter flights to Medina and Jeddah in accordance to the 2008 Hajj Law. For 2011, the airlines chosen were Indonesian national flag carrier, Garuda, and Saudi Arabia Airlines, although additional airlines can bid through a tender process to service passengers preferring the premium Hajj package. According to MoRA, 14 wide-bodied aircraft were chartered by Garuda for the event. Pilgrims travelling by the standard package on the two airlines paid $3469 per person for the service, while those opting for the premium package (ONH Plus package) on other airlines paid in the region of $4000- 6000. With vast numbers of Muslims around the world vying for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fulfil their religious obligations during a very tight time window (45 days), the number of visitors granted access to the holy sites is rigorously regulated by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly known as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference). Made up of 57 member states, the OIC allocates each nation an annual quota of pilgrims based on the formula of one invitation per 1000 Muslim population. Indonesia’s quota, for instance, increased by 10,000 in 2011 for a total of 221,000 of the country’s 220m-plus Muslims.

WAITING LIST: This represents nearly 10% of the total estimated 2.5m pilgrims estimated to attend the gathering, 1.8m of which will come from abroad. It falls to MoRA to coordinate the selection and transport of passengers in order to ensure the programme runs smoothly. Yet despite the increase in the quota, the waiting list in Indonesia for the annual honour is still between 5 and 11 years, depending on the province. In strong Muslim majority areas such as Aceh, South Kalimantan or Sulawesi, pilgrims may have to wait 10 years or more, while in other areas where Islam is not as prevalent, waiting lists are closer to five years.

Although pilgrims are generally selected on a first come, first serve basis, the MoRA has indicated that the elderly will be given first priority for the additional quota of 10,000 new slots in 2011.

HALAL: An estimated 70% of the 2bn Muslims living worldwide adhere to halal (lawful) food standards, creating a global annual market of approximately $2.13trn according to the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). The bulk of this value is accounted for by the food and beverage subsectors, which accounted for 66%, or $1.4trn, of all halal goods. Pharmaceuticals made up another 22% ($506bn), with cosmetics and personal care products totalling $23bn. Indonesia has yet to fully exploit its potential as an emerging power within the fast-growing halal industry. Despite its sizeable population, Indonesia differs from many other Muslim markets (particularly those in the Middle East). Unlike other many affluent nations flush with wealth derived from large stores of hydrocarbons, Indonesian income levels and standards of living vary widely from region to region or even between neighbourhoods. Because of this, large portions of the market remain underutilised because those on low incomes are less inclined to pay more for halal-certified goods.

But for the growing middle class, this market continues to exhibit strong growth and should continue in parallel with the county’s economic development. With steadily increasing income and education levels and acceptance of halal products among the country’s large Muslim population, this represents a substantial market in the future. One recent report by research outfit Frost & Sullivan estimated the Indonesian halal market at some $122.4bn in 2009.

In an effort to capitalise on this potential, the Indonesian government is in the midst of overhauling its halal certification programme. One bill under consideration as of November 2011 would impose regulations guaranteeing halal certification on a wide variety of products including food, cosmetics and drugs by 2012. The impetus behind the proposed mandatory law is to cut down on false or unverified halal certification in the country, which has been on the rise in recent years. According to a recent study by the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), just under 37% of all products registered as halal with the agency had official certification. If the law is implemented there would be a substantial increase in demand for halal ingredients, processes and professionals to oversee and certify the procedures. Under existing regulations, halal compliance is voluntary. Certification of these products is the responsibility of the Assessment Institute of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics, which is the halal arm of the Indonesian Ulema Council.

This growing and potentially lucrative market holds a number of investment opportunities, which many non-Indonesian companies want to capitalise on. Presently many of the country’s halal products are imported from other nations including Australia, the US and Europe. With its vast agricultural resources, Indonesia is still an attractive location to develop halal manufacturing facilities such as fast moving consumer goods sector, including food and pharmaceuticals.

OUTLOOK: Indonesian cultural hallmarks of tolerance and moderation will continue to shape the social fabric of the predominantly Muslim nation as the country continues its social and economic evolution. The delicate balance between religious expression and plurality looks set to be maintained in the future.

As the government continues with its strong commitment to education and understanding between different religious beliefs, the country should continue to enjoy the benefits of a stable democratic system. With a captive domestic market of more that 200m citizens, numerous investment opportunities are also available to companies looking to capitalise on sharia-compliant products including halal and Islamic finance.