saint (wali) and ruler of a small province of the
Majapahit kingdom, formed the Walisongo (or
Wali Sanga), a council composed of nine saints, in
the late 15th century. The saints engaged in mis-
sionary activities, founding centers and mosqUes
at Demak and Giri. Centers associated with their
names continue to provide spiritual guidance for
Indonesians. More than two dozen different Sufi
orders have established themselves in the country,
some originally from South Asia and others from
the Middle East. The Naqshbandis and Qadiris are
two of the leading orders in Indonesia. The tombs
of some of the early Javanese Sufi saints have
become pilgrimage sites. Indonesians have also
participated in the annual haJJ to Mecca, espe-
cially after the introduction of modern forms of
transportation in the 19th century and indepen-
dence in 1945. Contact with religious scholars in
mecca and medina has contributed significantly
to Islamic reform movements and daa wa activities
in Indonesia. Since the 1980s, Indonesia regularly
sends about 200,000 pilgrims per year, more than
any other country. Another distinction is that
more women than men participate, unlike other
Muslim countries.
Today more than 86 percent of the Indonesian
population identify as Muslims (2000), making
the country the home to the largest number of
Muslims in the world, in excess of 200 million.
Included in the larger Muslim community, along
with followers of scriptural Islam and Sufis, is
a significant number of followers of a variety of
Islamic-inspired syncretistic religions. Many mix
Islam with native Indonesian religions, often
characterized by the inclusion of ancestor venera-
tion. Others are new spiritual movements such as
sUbUd and Sumarah.
On December 26, 2004, much of Aceh and
other parts of coastal Sumatra were devastated by
a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 Indone-
sians. Much of the damage was centered on Banda
Aceh, the provincial capital. An international effort
was launched to help the Indonesian government
bring emergency relief to the survivors and rebuild
affected areas. Islamic Relief, a London-based non-
governmental organization, was one of the agen-
cies that participated in this effort.
See also bUddhism and islam; colonialism;
hindUism and islam.
J. Gordon MeltonFurther reading: Greg Barton and Greg Fealy, eds.,
Nahdlatul Ulama, Traditional Islam and Modernity in
Indonesia (Clayton, Aust.: Monash Asia Institute, 1996);
B. J. Boland, The Struggle of Islam in Modern Indonesia
(The Hague, Netherlands: H. H. I. Smith, 1970); Bahtiar
Effendy, Islam and the State in Indonesia (Singapore:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2003); R. S. Kipp
and S. Rogers, Indonesian Religion in Transition (Tucson:
University of Arizona Press, 1987); Karen Petersen,
“The Pesantren at Surialaya.” Saudi Aramco World 41
(November/December 1990): 8–15.infidel See idolatry; kafir.
Insan al-Kamil, al- See ibn al-arabi, muhyi
al-din; perfect man.intercession
Belief in intercession involves the theological prin-
ciple that prayers and practices on another’s behalf
have the power to bring salvation or blessing. Sev-
eral terms in Arabic signify the idea of intercession,
principally shafaa and wasila (or tawassul), the
former emphasizing the substitutionary aspect and
the latter the mediating aspect of intercession.
In the qUran, the term shafaa appears 24
times, and its significance is ambivalent. The
Quran clearly indicates that there will come a
time when no intercessory power will avail. This
is confirmed in the canonical hadith texts of al-
Bukhari, Muslim, and al-Tirmidhi, which contain
traditions indicating that due to the prayers of
mUhammad, no one will remain left in the FireK 360 infidel