Week 2: Religion in Indonesia

The academic theme for our second week of Study is Religion in Indonesia. Indonesia’s 17,000 islands contain incredibly diverse expressions of culture and faith. While there are 6 nationally recognized religions here (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism), we quickly learned that the diversity of Indonesian religion extends beyond these categories into local and indigenous expressions of faith and culture, and small communities of other global religions like Judaism and Bahá’i. Throughout the week, SSTers experienced an array of these expressions of faith. 

We kicked off the week by worshipping with Javanese Mennonites at GKMI, the local Mennonite Church. 

Dr. Achmad Munjid, Professor of Cultural Sciences at Universitas Gadjah Mada, introduced students to religion in Indonesia by describing a diverse array of religious practices, rituals, holidays, and sacred sites from across the archipelago. He also discussed challenges and tensions related to how the central government relates to the Muslim majority while protecting the rights of minority traditions, and introduced us to a range of grassroots initiatives to build peace and cooperation between religious groups.

Dr. Fatimah Husein, professor at UIN Sunan Kalijaga and member of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies gave a powerful lecture on the roles of women in Islam. She explained how these roles are shaped by interpretations of the Qur’an (Islamic scripture) but also by how local cultures influence ideas and customs around gender. Dr. Husein introduced us to fascinating scholarship that rethinks these connections, and along the way shared lots of personal experiences and examples from her own life. 

Students spent a day at Pesantren Bumi Cendekia, a co-ed Muslim boarding school founded and directed by Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Ahnaf, an alumni of Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice & Peacebuilding. 

Students enjoyed interacting with the middle school and high school students living and studying there, touring a newly built mosque, classrooms, and dormitories constructed with recycled materials, and playing games and sports. The group connected over Pak Iqbal’s vision of education and shared values of peacemaking, environmental sustainability, and stewardship of resources. 

On Friday we visited Interfidei, an institute for interreligious dialogue with a mission of building peace between religions through mutual understanding. We heard from Interfidei’s director, Elga J. Sarapung, and several staff members, about their work bringing religious community leaders, teachers, and students together for interfaith encounters that break down stereotypes, foster new relationships, and sow seeds for more just and cooperative relationships between Indonesia’s many faith groups.