Contrasting Trajectories of Shi‘a Emergence in Post-New Order Indonesia

The establishment of Shi‘a civil society organisation, IJABI (Ikatan Jamaah Ahlul Bait Indonesia, All-Indonesian Assembly of Ahl al-Bayt Association), is a struggle by this minority religion to gain public status in Indonesia. This struggle for legitimisation is occurring along two contrasting trajectories, namely state recognition and the engagement with advocates of the Sunni majority. When IJABI was officially registered in a Ministry of Home Affairs as a Shi‘a civil society organisation, this moment signalled acknowledgment by the state. With this acknowledgment, Shi‘a communities were allowed legally to perform their religious practices in public. In contrast to the state’s bureaucratic approval, Sunni Muslims have perceived the public emergence of Shi‘a Muslims as a peril that threatens the public welfare. This paper describes and critically analyses the two contrasting paths of the Shi‘a struggle for public acceptance in post-New Order Indonesia.