Indonesian loses blasphemy appeal over mosque loudspeaker complaint
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Supreme Court has upheld a jail sentence for a mother of four who was convicted last year on blasphemy charges for complaining that her neighborhood mosque was too loud. In a March 27 ruling posted on the court’s website on Monday, the court rejected the appeal by Meliana, a 44-year old […]
“Moaning About Mosque Loudspeaker Not Blasphemy”: Indonesian Muslim Group
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organisation called for greater tolerance on Friday as it criticised a court that jailed a mother of four for blasphemy after complaining that a mosque in her neighborhood was too loud. The 44-year old ethnic Chinese Buddhist woman, named Meiliana, was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in prison by a court […]
Indonesian Woman’s Jailing Over Mosque Noise Sparks Backlash
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s jailing of a woman for complaining about the volume of a mosque loudspeaker has sparked a wave of criticism, with a petition calling for her release gaining more than 100,000 supporters. Rights groups and the Muslim-majority country’s biggest religious organization slammed the 18-month blasphemy sentence handed out Tuesday to the defendant, an […]
Indonesia’s main Muslim group criticizes blasphemy sentence
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization has criticized the blasphemy conviction and imprisonment of a Buddhist woman who complained that the call to prayer from her neighborhood mosque was too loud. Officials from Nahdlatul Ulama, which claims 60 million members, said Thursday the woman’s complaint about mosque loudspeakers doesn’t constitute blasphemy under Indonesian […]
Indonesian youth: Saudi Arabia has ‘politicised’ Hajj
Depok, Indonesia – Saudi Arabia has “politicised” access to the Hajj, according to organisers of a Muslim youth conference in Indonesia. Ziyad Abdul Malik, chairman of the Muslim Students Association’s (HMI) branch in South Jakarta, lambasted the kingdom for using the pilgrimage to Mecca, considered Islam’s holiest city, to impose its policies on other Gulf […]
Hardline Muslims Rally Outside Facebook’s Indonesian HQ
About 200 Muslims rallied Friday outside Facebook’s headquarters in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to protest the social media giant’s blocking of pages that are run by hard-line groups for allegedly promoting hate. The protesters, who were organized by the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), marched from a mosque to the company’s headquarters, which was […]
Thousands rally in Jakarta against US Jerusalem move
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied outside the US embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Sunday’s protest was the fourth and largest mass rally in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, since Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem’s status on December 6. An estimated 80,000 protesters called […]
Hard-line Islamist Groups Meet Official, Popular Roadblocks in Indonesia
After playing a major role in Indonesian politics by influencing the Jakarta election, hard-line Islamist groups may have hit an impasse. Although they were allowed broad leverage to organize and demonstrate across Indonesia in the past year, an effort to replicate their success outside Jakarta fell flat, and the government has taken measures to hamper […]
Indonesia’s blasphemy law
Jakarta (dpa) – Indonesia’s blasphemy law originated with a 1965 presidential decree from the country’s first president, Sukarno, a response to demands from majority Muslim organizations calling for a prohibition on deviant beliefs. It was made law in 1969 during the rule of a later president, Suharto. The law covers acts that deviate from the […]
Saudi Arabia Quietly Spreads its Brand of Puritanical Islam in Indonesia
When Ulil Abshar-Abdalla was a teenager in Pati, Central Java, he placed first in an Arabic class held at his local madrasa. The prize was six months of tuition at the Institute for the Study of Islam and Arabic (LIPIA), a Jakarta university founded and funded by the Saudi Arabian government.