Shia Islam in Indonesia

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Shi'a Islam in Indonesia represents a small minority in that largely-Sunni Muslim country. Around one million Indonesians are Shias, who are concentrated around Jakarta. [1] Indonesian Shia are found in areas of Java, Madura and Sumatra.

Contents

History

Certain Shia practices or beliefs may have influenced some historical Indonesian literature and customs. Shia Muslim merchants may also have visited and resided in precolonial Indonesia. Small groups of Shia Arabs lived in Indonesia since the 19th century. However, Shiism as an organized religion or native conversions to Shia Islam didn't begin in Indonesia until the 1970s, especially after the Iranian Revolution. [2]

Communities

Among the Indonesian communities which practise Shiism are minority segments of the Hadrami, Arab-descended Indonesians, who have a "small, but increasing, minority of Shia followers". [3] Another group are the Shia of Pariaman and Bengkulu in Sumatra, and Sigli in Aceh, who claim descent from Indian sepoys, and are known as Sipahi people (orang Sipahi) or Kling people (orang Keling). The Sipahi people traditionally practise the Shia tabut ritual, though in Aceh it has been banned since 1953. [4]

Persecution

The 2010 report to the United States Congress by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom noted attacks against the Shia communities in Indonesia, particularly in East Java and Madura in 2008. In one incident in Madura, local villagers surrounded Shia houses and demanded they desist religious activities, but the crowd was dispersed by local leaders and clergy. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Reza, Imam. "Shia Muslims Around the World". Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Zulkifli (2013). The Struggle of the Shi‘is in Indonesia. ANU Press. pp. 2–9. ISBN   978-1-925021-29-5.
  3. ↑ Frode Jacobsen (13 January 2009). Hadrami Arabs in Present-day Indonesia. Taylor & Francis US. pp. 19–. ISBN   978-0-415-48092-5 . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Margaret Kartomi (15 June 2012). Musical Journeys in Sumatra. University of Illinois Press. pp. 75–. ISBN   978-0-252-03671-2 . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Leonard Leo. International Religious Freedom (2010): Annual Report to Congress. DIANE Publishing. pp. 261–. ISBN   978-1-4379-4439-6 . Retrieved 24 October 2012.


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