Islam and christianity in Indonesia

Abstract

Since Indonesia proclaimed its sovereignty and independence in 1945, the relationship between Christianity and Islam in this country has been characterized by cooperation, tension and competition. Until the 1960's Muslims constituted about 90 per cent of the population, but in the early 1990's this figure dropped to 87.5 per cent. Two and half per cent of 185 million people is around 4.5 million and, of course, this number cannot be ignored. Strain and competition have frequently colored the relationship between the two religions up to the present day, and it goes without saying that the future of Indonesia will very much depend on the nature and prospects of relations between Christians and Muslims. When Islam entered Indonesia in the twelveth century the people in the archipelago had already embraced Buddhism, Hinduism, animism and dynamism. History clearly indicated that da'wah Islamiyyah conducted by Muslim missionaries from India and Arab lands had converted the majority of people to Islam voluntarily and peacefully. It seemed that the Muslim missionaries converted the elite and noble strata first and, in a feudal society like Indonesia, the masses f allowed suit. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Dutch imperialism and colonialism, like their Western counterparts which came to the East, including the Muslim world, and coined the white man's burden in Gold, Glory and Gospel. For three and a half centuries Dutch colonialism had made every effort to Christianize Indonesian people. However, in the eyes of the colonial authorities the results were very disappointing. Only 5 to 6 per cent of the nation were converted to Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic. It is not an exaggeration to say that Dutch imperialism and colonialism become a violent interruption of the peaceful and voluntary Islamic transformation process. When Indonesia declared its independence in August 1945, Pancasila was agreed upon by Indonesia's founding fathers as the state ideology or state philosophy. Pancasila, literally meaning the five principles, consists of belief in one God, humanitarianism, national unity, democracy by consensus and social justice for all Indonesian people. It should be noted that the Muslim leaders at that time accepted Pancasila with the basic consideration that all five principles did not in any way in contradict Islamic teachings. In a sense Pancasila is the greatest gift from the Muslim people to the whole nation, since without their consent and concession Pancasila would never have existed. From 1945 to 1965, when the communists made an abortive coup de'etat, religious tolerance between Muslims and Christians was remarkably good. During this period there was no significant strain between the two groups and in some cases they worked together to confront the problems of underdevelopment as their common problems. There were at least two reasons why Muslims and Christians had a good relationship: firstly, Christians did not over propagate their religion and, secondly, both parties saw the immensity of the danger from the communists. However, the quiet and almost harmonious relationship between Islam and Christianity in Indonesia changed abruptly after the abortive communist putsch in 1965. The new government which under the leadership of Suharto claimed itself as the New Order, decreed that all Indonesians must believe in God and must embrace a sanctioned religion. The five religions recognized by the Indonesian government are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Protestantism. Later, Confucianism was also granted the status of a religion. Christians stepped up their proselytizing activities following the unsuccessful communist coup without heeding the psychological situation of Muslims, and consequently these activities created deep concern and tension among the latter group. The Christian activities which most hurt Muslims were the building of churches in Muslim communities which did not have any Christian families and the church-related distribution and donation of food and sometimes even money to the needy in order to convert them to Christianity. Such activities were perceived by Muslims as the manifestation of arrogance and insensitivity on the part of Christians. As a consequence, some violent acts were launched by Muslims in response to the arrogant attitudes of some Christian missionaries. In mid 1967, for example, a church in Meuleboh, Aceh, was attacked by Muslims. This accident triggered a national debate about how to avoid missionary activities that bring about tension and conflict. It is obvious that the future of the relationship between Islam and Christianity in Indonesia will be marked by cooperation, tension and competition. Of course tension can be almost entirely removed if both Christians and Muslims respect each other by abiding by a common code of ethics, the most significant content of which is that da'wah and missionary activities are banned among people who already profess belief in a religion.