3 Enforcing Religious Freedom in Indonesia
Muslim Elites and the Ahmadiyah
Controversy after the 2011 Cikeusik ClashBastiaan Scherpen
1 Introduction
The Ahmadiyah controversy in Indonesia took a deadly turn for the
worse in February 2011 when an angry mob clashed with followers of the
sect in a remote village in Banten province, brutally killing three men in
the process. As graphic footage of the Cikeusik mob attack circulated on
YouTube, Islam-based organisations and parties were forced to take a
stand. In this chapter, the aftermath of this attack will be used as a case
study to examine the attitudes and behaviour of mainstream Islamic
organisations and Islam-based political parties. Based largely on personal
interviews and an examination of statements in various media and in
the House of People’s Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/dpr),
this contribution shows that there is considerable divergence between
proposals by politicians and those by civil society groups associated with
their parties about how to deal with a sect almost unanimously seen as
deviant in Indonesia. It is shown that while major civil society groups
like Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah seem to advocate pragmatic
solutions, Islamic idealism often prevails in the political arena.
2 Muslims, Minorities and Democracy¹
While the sprawling Indonesian archipelago is often said to be a vanguard
of ‘pluralist’ or ‘moderate’ Islam – as opposed to more ‘radical’ Islamic
ideas and practices said to be prevailing in Middle Eastern countries –
Besides the people who kindly freed up some of their valuable time for an
interview with me (and who are mentioned throughout this paper), I would like
to thank the following people for their feedback, advice and help in contacting
sources: Martin van Bruinessen, Kees van Dijk, Ridho al-Hamdi, Ahmad-Norma
Permata, Nico J.G. Kaptein, Anita Rachman and Moch Nur Ichwan.