Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa: Contests of Meaning and Interpretation

Abstract

As discussed in the previous chapter, the idiom Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa is found chiefly in the Constitutions of 1945 and 1950, as well as serving as the First Principle of Pancasila, the Indonesian state ideology. This idiom was employed to bridge the gap between the Nationalists who were in favour of a “secular” state and the Muslims who preferred a more Islamic official symbolism. While it was a common perception that it denoted monotheism, in fact there was no unanimity on its possible wider signification. It was only after the enactment of the 1950 Constitution that the problem of the meaning of the idiom drew public scrutiny. This was particularly noticeable since this constitution included the idiom in tandem with the role of the government in religious affairs. It will also become obvious later in the discussion of this chapter that the sorting out of these constitutional legacies was rigorously adopted as the main task of the Ministry of Religious Affairs as the state institution to manage matters of religion in Indonesia. Therefore, this chapter examines the contests over the concept of Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, exploring the development of this concept which underpinned state policies on religion from the Sukarno period onward.