Fiqh of tolerance and religious moderation: a study towards Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand

Abstract

The issue of tolerance in religion is crucial to discuss because it is related to laws that allow or prohibit it, so pro-contra traditions arise between one group and another. The pros and cons of the law regarding tolerance between religious communities are divided into two mainstreams: groups that prohibit it and groups that allow it. In detail, groups that prohibit them usually use sad al-dzari’ah instruments to prevent harm to one’s faith. Meanwhile, groups that allow usually use maslahah instruments with the consideration of providing mutual benefit. This paper aims to find the fiqh of tolerance concerning religious moderation in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This research method employed more library research with a qualitative comparative descriptive method. The research results indicated that in Southeast Asia, especially in three countries that are geographically located in the Southeast Asian region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the moderate concept of religion is equally applied (Moderation in Religious Practice). Therefore, religious concepts that are extreme or tend to justify the use of violent means, as adopted by Wahhabism, are often described as the most intolerant schools of thought or madhhab in Islam, which seek by any means, including violence, for the development and implementation of ‘Pure Islam’, which they consider being the truest Islam. It cannot be implemented in these three countries. This research contributes to find the fiqh of tolerance concerning religious moderation in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.