134 islam, politics and change
After 1998, when the Reform Era started, the role of the central and
regional government in promoting Islam changed. What came to the
fore can best be described as an effort to promote decency and morality
by stressing religious values. As is pointed out in this section of the book,
the resulting stated intentions and regulations are at times vehemently
contested by part of the Islamic community (and in a number of instances
also by non-Muslims) because of their impact on the lives of Indonesians.
At the national level the original draft of the Anti-Pornography Act of
2008, inspired by puritan Islamic moral perceptions, is one example.
Its wording led to protests by feminists, artists, Hindus and Christians,
fearing that their way of life might be affected. Another is the plan
revealed in March 2013 to amend the criminal code, among other things,
to make living together outside wedlock punishable by law and to increase
the sentences for adultery.
The same intention of creating a society governed by high moral stan-
dards is reflected in a specific category of regulations issued by regional
representative bodies and heads of administration. All issued after 1999,
when the central government allowed greater regional autonomy, they are
lumped together as Sharia Regional Regulations because of the religious
motivation underlying their drafting. Their promulgation is the result of
the interplay between the religious sentiments of local politicians and
administrators driven by national and local Islamist pressure groups, the
desire for political gain by playing the religious card, and the give and
take game of coalition politics; and, not forgetting social pressure and
a (wish for a) wider and stricter adherence to Islam and its prescripts
and rituals in society. Upholding the byelaws is a matter for the secular
authorities. Except for Aceh, there is no Sharia police and the powers of
the religious courts, again with the exception of Aceh, do not pertain to
matters dealt with in the byelaws.
Some of the regional regulations have come under scrutiny because
they limit women’s options with regard to dress and restrict their freedom
of movement. A number of them, their history and reception, are
discussed in this section. Examples include regulations in Cianjur in
West Java presented by Euis Nurlaelawati, in Bantul in Yogyakarta, and in
Bulukumba in South Sulawesi reported on by respectively Muhammad
Latif Fauzi and Stijn van Huis. (Aceh, where such regulations have also
been promulgated, has a separate section in this book). All, in one way or
another, are an attempt to combat anti-social behaviour inspired by the
conviction that Islam and religiosity provide the means to accomplish
this.
Some of these byelaws prescribe Islamic dress codes for civil servants