Shia Islam is a followed by a 0.1% small minority in Indonesia, which is mostly a Sunni Muslim country. The Indonesian Shias are concentrated mainly around Jakarta. [1]
Among the Indonesian communities which practise Shiaism are minority segments of the Hadrami, Arab-descended Indonesians, who have a "small, but increasing, minority of Shia followers". [2] 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. [3]
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. [4]