Overview

This book draws on the work of Rawls to explore the interaction between faith, law and the right to religious freedom in post-Soeharto Indonesia, the world’s largest democracy after India and the United States. It argues that enforcement of Islamic principles by the state is inconsistent with religious diversity and the country’s liberal constitution. The book thus contributes to understanding the role of religion in the development of democracy in the world’s largest Muslim nation. A key objective is to test the argument that Rawls’ thinking about public reason cannot apply to the case of Indonesia, and Muslim states more broadly. The book therefore contributes to emerging scholarship that considers Rawls in a Muslim context. In addition to examining public reason in detail and considering critiques of the concept, the work highlights the fact that the theory was created to deal with value pluralism and is therefore relevant in any religious setting, including an Islamic one. In doing so, it emphasises that Islam is multifaceted and demonstrates the difficulties, and negative consequences, of integrating faith and law in a liberal state.

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9781138362857

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'A masterly exploration of the intersection between legal, political and religious institutions in Indonesia as they engage with the difficult issue of religious freedom and blasphemy.' Professor Abdullah Saeed, University of Melbourne, Australia 'Based on extensive fieldwork in Java, this is a beautifully written and meticulously researched account of the paradox that democratisation in Indonesia led to rising intolerance in the Muslim community. It has important implications for the wider intellectual project of reconciling Islamic thought with Western modernity.' Professor Tim Lindsey, University of Melbourne, Australia

Author Information

Stewart Fenwick is an Honorary Professor of the Australian Catholic University at the Institute for Religion, Politics and Society, and an Associate of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, and the Asian Law Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia. He was awarded the Harold Luntz Graduate Research Thesis Prize for 2015 at the Melbourne Law School, and was awarded the Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis for 2016 at the University of Melbourne.

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