Reading Ahmadiyah and Discourses on Freedom of Religion in Indonesia

Fuller, Andy. 2014. "Reading Ahmadiyah and Discourses on Freedom of Religion in Indonesia," in Religious Diversity in Muslim-majority States in Southeast Asia: Areas of Toleration and Conflict, edited by Bernhard Platzdasch and Johan Saravanamuttu, pp. 75-88. Sngapore: ISEAS.

The process of democratization that emerged in 1998 was seen as a highly positive break from an authoritarian and highly centralized recent past. Decentralization, democratization, and a liberal press, however, also opened up space for intense conflicts to emerge. Some of the voices that have gained prominence in the post-New Order era have been highly anti-democratic and illiberal. This casts a question mark over Indonesia's reputation for fostering a supposedly "tolerant Islam"...

A reading of the ongoing cases and controversies surrounding Ahmadi communities and Ahmadi faith is necessary in order to gain a deeper understanding of how public debates on Islam and religious freedom are changing and developing. This chapter draws on material from the mainstream liberal media as well as from texts that seek to condemn liberal thought. It explores some of the main ideas that are being circulated, critiqued, and debated concerning Ahmadiyah and the contestable legitimacy of the Ahmadi faith. I argue that such a reading will provide an insight into the range of views and perspectives on Ahmadiyah and freedom of religion. Does this multiplicity of voices indicate diversity and richness, or does it indicate a reluctance of some groups to understand and approach the religious other