SUFI ISLAM AND SYNCRETISM IN JAVA: AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL SECULARISM
Abstract
This paper examines the influence of animism and Sufi
Islam in Java. It will show that the accomodating approach
of Sufism and its tolerance of syncretism was a factor
in the spread of Islam in Java. It will be argued that this
syncretism also opens a place for certain local forms of
interreligious tolerance and prepares for what is known
in Indonesia as pancasila. Many modern versions of
secularism while porporting to be accomodating to religion
have become hostile to religious belief. But Indonesian
forms of secularism and pancasila emerge from these deeper
religious roots, which are often overlooked. Nowadays,
with greater global influence, this syncretism and religious
tolerance is under threat. This paper will suggest that an
appreciation of the Sufi and syncretic origins of Indonesian
thought can serve to strengthen modern understandings of
pancasila and secularism. This can work to mitigate hostility
and sectarianism. By maintaining itself as an approach
which harmonizes with Western concepts of secularism, yet
with a deeper religious framework, Indonesia can maintain
a tradition of toleration, which respects multiculturalism
and religious pluralism in resistance to more intolerant
relgious movements
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สุรชาติ , บำ�รุงสุข, แนวคิด-ยุทธวิธี ขบวนการก่อการร้าย เจไอ (JI : Jemaah Islamiyah).
กรุงเทพ : อนิเมทกรุ๊ป. 2550.
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