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'Hijrah' not always about intolerance: Group founders
“The increase of Islamic conservatism has sharpened polarization in society,” said Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute.
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A group of Indonesian Muslim. (Shutterstock/SVRSLYIMAGE)
E
xperts are raising concerns that a growing religious revival in Indonesia could lead to exclusive attitudes among those who have performed hijrah, a journey toward a more devout Islamic way of life, as they tend to see themselves as better than those who have not.
“The increase of Islamic conservatism has sharpened polarization in society,” said Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. The polarization has consequently fostered intolerance and discrimination against religious minority groups, he said.
While religious revival movements such as Terang Jakarta and Pemuda Hijrah have claimed they never espoused exclusivity among their followers, those who attended an Islamic gathering held by the Rabbaanians, a group promoting the ultra-conservative teachings of Salafism, a reform branch of Sunni Islam that favors a literal interpretation of Islamic texts, learned otherwise.
Thousands attend when the Rabbaanians routinely gather every Wednesday night at Al-Azhar Grand Mosque in South Jakarta.
Read also: Rise of the ‘hijrah’ movement
When The Jakarta Post attended a recent gathering, the sermon that Wednesday night was given by a Salaf preacher named Subhan Bawazier who introduced the doctrine that the kafir — so-called infidels who are considered to not believe in Allah and Muhammad — were trying to destroy Islam in any way they could.
He said Muslims should avoid infidels during their social interactions.
