Religious Affairs
From The Report: Indonesia 2012
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While roughly 89% of the country’s citizens subscribe to Islamic beliefs, according to official government statistics, the country prides itself on its tolerance and diversity. There are six officially recognised religions in Indonesia according to the constitution, which guarantees the rights of citizens to practice their religion freely. The Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) oversees not just issues relating to the majority religion of Islam, but of all officially recognised religions. For example, MoRA oversees religious schools, over 97.7% of which are madrassas and other Islamic learning facilities.

This chapter contains an interview with Suryadharma Ali, Minister of Religious Affairs.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Politics of faith: Finding a place for religion in society that is democratic, harmonious and responsible
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Long cited as an example of a successful Muslim democracy by political and religious leaders from a wide array of faiths and nationalities, Indonesia’s cultural blueprint continues to provide a stable bedrock for increasingly welcoming political and economic climates. “We are a Muslim majority nation, but democracy also works very well here,” the head of the centre of information and public relations for the ministry of religious affairs, Zubaidi told OBG. “Elections cover more than 400…

Interview

Suryadharma Ali, Minister of Religious Affairs: Interview
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Interview:Suryadharma Ali What are the most pressing priorities for the Ministry of Religious Affairs? SURYADHARMA ALI: We have identified five key areas as our priorities here at the ministry. First, we must improve the quality of religious life in Indonesia, increasing the understanding of the values that are inherent in each of our religions while gaining a true understanding of how to apply these values correctly in our society. The second key area we are focusing on is improving tolerance…

Analysis

Growing market: Sharia-compliant finance shows strong potential
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Although Indonesia may be home to more than 200m Muslims, its share of Islamic finance products compared to conventional financial instruments is still fairly small. With these specialised banking and financial services growing by as much as 20% per year, there remains significant potential for the country to capture a larger slice of this market and in the process offset a budget shortfall which has recently climbed to in excess of 2% of GDP. As of late 2011, sharia-compliant financial services…