TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
It takes no edict. Surge in piety gives rise to sharia-inclined society in Indonesia.
Along with the growing number of Muslims who have pursued a more Islamic way of life, sharia has been institutionalized even without a province or a city implementing it.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
In general, hijrah movement is a positive activity toward a better way of life based on Islamic values. (Shutterstock/SantiPhotoSS)
L
ike many of her colleagues, Wulan, a civil servant in Batam, Riau Islands, has recently performed hijrah, or a conversion to a more devout Muslim way of life.
For a few years now, Wulan has attended sermons by fundamentalist preachers who have gained fame among the country’s Muslims, such as Khalid Basalamah, Felix Siauw and Abdul Somad, who have regularly visited Batam to hold pengajian (Quran study sessions).
While all three preachers command large followings, they have also drawn controversy. Khalid, for example, has been rejected at several Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) mosques for dismissing several traditional NU practices as bid’ah (heretical). Abdul, meanwhile, once said that Muslims who patronized Starbucks would go to hell for supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, while Felix had been a member of the now-banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).
“We listen to their sermons, but we’re not that exclusive,” Wulan said.
Read also: Muslims only: Exclusive Islamic housing comes with loss of tolerance
She added, however, that since performing hijrah she has limited some of her activities, including interactions with the opposite sex and long work trips without a chaperone.
“[Hijrah] makes me a better person, and stronger in my observance of Islamic law,” she said.
