Examining Muslim Tolerance Toward Ordinary Non-Muslims: Social, Religious, and Political Tolerance in Indonesia

Abstract

Studies on public attitudes and tolerance mostly focus on “non-ordinary” groups. These include communities considered as strangers, outsiders, or outgroups as well as those perceived to hold values and practices that deviate from the majority. Consequently, the question of whether social interactions between “ordinary” groups are also marred with intolerance is largely unexplored. Additionally, existing studies on this issue often focus only on political tolerance, neglecting social and religious tolerance. Using a nationally representative survey in Indonesia, this study aims to examine the patterns of social, political, and religious tolerance of Indonesian Muslims toward ordinary non-Muslims. The study shows that religiosity in general is not associated with tolerance, nor are other variables such as democracy and socio-economic status. Instead, we discover consistent and significant findings that higher levels of Muslims’ interreligious interaction with non-Muslims are positively associated with higher social, religious, and political tolerance. On the other hand, Muslims’ participation in religious study clubs (pengajian), as a form of intrareligious interaction, is significantly related to lower levels of social, religious, and political tolerance. As such, friendship between ordinary religious groups is key to reducing intolerance.