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Hoping for a tried and tested 'middle path Islam'
Researchers have revealed how the number of churches attacked or closed in the first 10 years of the reform era were much more than in 30 years of the New Order under Soeharto.
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Built in 1753, the Blenduk church is the oldest building in Kota Lama. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
T
he speech delivered by Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies on May 18 leads one to ponder the aim of the lecture, entitled “Middle path Islam: Indonesia’s experience.”
The center, a focal point for international collaboration, has featured princes, prime ministers and state figures like Nelson Mandela. Kalla’s lecture was special and also controversial, attracting protests from some Indonesians outside the venue
The lecture, on Islam in the world, on Islam in Indonesia and finally on Indonesia’s role, was a straightforward and rather simplistic stroke of the brush on the issues involving Islam in this country, which has many nuances in its past and present. The opening was misleading because he called Indonesia the world’s largest Muslim country and Indonesia is not an Islamic country. However, this fact was later stated by Kalla. He should be more consistent on this point, as this is what makes Indonesia unique.
As founding father president Sukarno famously said in a 1955 speech, “The Republic of Indonesia is not owned by a group, or a religion, or an ethnic group, or a customary group, but it belongs to all of us.”
