Old Issues New Controversies: Cases of the Places of Worship, the Ahmadiyah Group and the Judicial Review of the Vilification Law

Abstract

This chapter discusses the steady impact of the gradual shift of Indonesia’s political landscape since the 1990s when the regime became more accommodative to Islam and in turn systematically incorporated Islamic values and symbolism into the state system. In turn, this shift has to some degree paved the foundation of religious conservativism among the Muslim community. In addition to this, the chapter argues that the regime’s political shift to Islam was one triggering factor for the rise of religious intolerance toward other religious groups and minorities at the expense of the principle of preserving religious orthodoxy endorsed by the government. Examples to point out are controversies surrounding the enactment of the new Joint Ministerial Decree on Houses of Worship and the Joint Ministerial Decree on the Ahmadiyah and the rise of legal jihadism in the case of judicial review of the Law of Vilification.