Challenging Moderate Muslims: Indonesia’s Muslim Schools in the Midst of Religious Conservatism

Abstract

Muslim school is an important element of education in Indonesia. The school has been in place long time before Indonesia’s independence in 1945. The school educates Indonesian Muslim children to understand and practice religion, and simultaneously, promotes the sense of nationalism. Thanks to Muslim schools, Indonesian Muslims are recognized as being moderate (Hefner, 2000). In the last few years, however, the moderate nature of Indonesian Islam is challenged by the spirit of conservative Islam (Van Bruinessen, 2013). Issues such as Islam and democracy, Islam and modern state, Muslim and non-Muslim relation, and rights of citizen that have been resolved and agreed upon are being reinstated. As Hefner (2007) argues that there is a relationship between politics and education, especially religious education, it is important to see the relationship between schools and the changing society. The question is how the current conservative trend in Indonesian Islam is occurring at schools. This paper explores how the curriculum of (Islamic) religious education potentially contribute toward the development of Indonesian conservative Islam, and how religious education teachers view sensitive issues concerning conservative Islam. To answer the questions, analysis of religious education’s curricula and interviewing experts serve as the primary method of data collection. Four religious education teachers from different provinces of Indonesia were interviewed to reveal their opinions on various religion-related issues. This paper discusses how Islamic education in Indonesia has been designed to present moderate Islam, but at the same time faces a number of challenges that try to turn religious education into a conservative one.

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“…Indonesia is seen as a model for the development of moderate Islam with Muslims living in harmony with adherents of other religions. This reason might underlie Islam in Indonesia for being a role model for the implementation of democracy in other Muslim countries [54]. However, this image as a tolerant country is beginning to be doubted and questioned after various violent incidents happened in the name of Islam.…”

The Hijrah Phenomenon in Tertiary Education in Indonesian: A Multidimensional Analysis of Moderate Religious Values

“…52 The biggest problem facing Indonesia in religious moderation is the spirit of religious conservatism. 53 The influx of students from year to year, which is not controlled as a whole, deradicalize religion to hit the scale. 54 .…”

“…So far, Azra sees that Indonesian Islam is still being suppressed by conservative Muslims or Islamic populism. 57 Therefore, it is essential to actualize moderation in well-organized efforts both individually and communally. For this reason, self-control through a complete understanding of religion must be presented and adapted to traditional knowledge materials.…”