(ANALYSIS) The Feb. 14 election of Indonesia's current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto as the country’s president should raise concern in the U.S., both because of who he is and also the chicanery surrounding his campaign. Official results will still take some weeks to appear and there are allegations of election fraud.
Read More(TRAVEL) Aside from traditional methods such as counseling with psychologists and psychiatrists, many people explore various other methods to deal with mental health. In Indonesia, "melukat" has become one of the most-practiced methods when it comes to healing and purifying the mind, heart and soul.
Read MoreMany Americans may think Buddhism is a philosophy tied to mindfulness and yoga — but across much of Southeast Asia, being Buddhist is an important part of national identity, a new study reveals. The same is also true of the region’s Muslim-majority nations.
Read MoreIn the unusual tradition of Ma’nene in South Sulawesi of Indonesia's Toraja region, families lovingly clean, dress up and even put cigarettes in the mouths of the exhumed bodies of their dead relatives. This photo essay and video offers ReligionUnplugged.com readers a glimpse of this unique religious and cultural ceremony.
Read More(OPINION) The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim organization, recently welcomed the new leader of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). The two groups aim to further Muslim-Christian relations and counter threats to religious freedom and secular extremism.
Read MoreSince the fall of President Suharto in 1998 and especially since the establishment of regional autonomy in 2001, there has been controversy over the practice by many Indonesian public schools to require Muslims and non-Muslims to wear symbols related to religion, like a headscarf.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Thousands of Islamic militia members are going to gather outside churches in Indonesia this Christmas week. This sounds like a terrifying scenario, and in parts of the world it certainly would be. But very few, if any, Indonesian Christians are worried. They are more likely to greet the militia members with tea and cake.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The recent return from Saudi Arabia of Islamist firebrand Muhammad Rizieq Shihab sparked massive welcoming crowds, threatens to reform old political alliances and may even create new ones.
Read More(OPINION) Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs wants to model a way of being a faithful and zealous Muslim that is consistent with Indonesia’s tradition of tolerance and pluralism. Their work is especially important at a time when Indonesia is experiencing a rise in religious extremism and intolerance.
Read MoreSeveral leaders of Muslim countries have condemned France and President Emmanuel Macron for their response following the murder of a school teacher who showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of speech. Muslims in Southeast Asia have called Macron’s statements Islamophobic.
Read More(OPINION) Islam is caught in an ideological civil war, irreconcilable visions of the faith on each side. Do Muslim centrists have a chance to overpower these views?
Read MoreUsually during Eid, sales of livestock for animal sacrifices surge in Indonesia, but this year the sales are about half of last year’s for local cattle sellers, indicating a tough and uncertain economic climate. Prayers were held outdoors at Jakarta’s largest mosque, observing COVID-19 safety measures like temperature checks and socially-distanced prayer rugs.
Read More(OPINION) Social distancing has fractured Muslim gatherings for Ramadan this year. A Presbyterian missionary couple shares the way Ramadan celebrations are interfaith in their neighborhood.
Read More(OPINION) With approximately 30 million members, Muhammadiyah is Indonesia’s and the world’s largest modernist Muslim organization. While the Indonesian government has been slow to respond to COVID-19, Muhammadiyah has drawn on the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and the Quran to advise Muslims to stay home during Ramadan celebrations, including ritual obligations some may see as essential to their faith.
Read MoreNyepi Day, or The Day of Silence, is a Hindu new year celebration unique to Bali. For 24 hours, the festival looks a lot like social distancing. But Balinese authorities are also allowing tens of thousands to attend ceremonies during the pandemic — and experts fear that despite warnings to limit gatherings, the coronavirus will spread.
Read More(TRAVEL) A village once burned down by radical Islamists is maintaining its culture by following Islam as well as their pre-Islamic ancestral traditions, including living mostly without electricity, building from wood and bamboo and living 430 steps below access to a main road.
Read More(NEWS ANALYSIS) The conviction in the UK of a gay serial rapist from Indonesia is fueling debates in the Muslim-majority country of whether rape is a symptom of homosexuality. While homosexuality is not a crime in Indonesia, the largest Muslim organizations have been advocating to criminalize gay sexual activities.
Read More(OPINION) A trip to the Sekaten festival reveals a colorful Islamic tradition that is scorned in some Sunni regions, but celebrated with much ado in Indonesia.
Read MoreA Chinese apostle of Islam is a symbol of religious and racial harmony in the world’s largest Muslim country.
Read MoreThis Indonesian province has a rich history of a matrilineal society that’s shifting from its indigenous culture toward a more austere form of Islam. Cultural and theological divides are widening with less openness to discussion.
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