Islam and Minority in Indonesia: Muslim‘s Intolerant to the Heterodox Sects

Abstract

Religious-based violence and intolerance are of the issues that have made religious life dynamic and peculiar in post-reform Indonesia. Some small groups sects considered as a heterodox become victims of violence. Although religious communities in Indonesia are generally tolerant, they tend to be intolerant of heterodox sects accused of heresy. This paper aims to investigate the factors that have led Muslims to be intolerant to heterodox sect groups. By tracing the data of intolerance and violence against heterodox sects, investigating religious fat was and some court decisions against heterodox denominations in Indonesia and deploying political approach, this paper argues that Islamic intellectualism from the earlier was less amiable to the heterodox group that met with a new outgrowth of the theocratic constitutionalism in different parts of the world. This paper also argues that the attitude is a continuation of the pattern of sect relations in Islam that is more colored by hostility and mutual disregard and is not merely because of differences in interpreting Islamic orthodoxy, but also of political competition.