Interreligious Relationship Research Articles

Theological Values in Inter-religious Relation Verses : A Study on Tafsir Marah Labid

<p class="06IsiAbstrak"><span lang="EN-GB">Building interreligious relations was often viewed merely from social perspectives. It actually contains theological values. This research attempts to analyze the theological values in the tolerance and interreligious relation verses of the Qur’an that are interpreted by Syaikh Nawawi Al-Bantani. This descriptive-analytical study employs thematic methods by Al-Farmawi. The collected data are then analyzed in terms of its theological aspect. Marah Al-Labid is chosen for it’s written by an Indonesian scholar connecting classic and modern era. In addition, Marah Al-Labid is of Sufistic tafsir. Therefore, it is interesting to know how an Indonesian scholar viewed interreligious relation and its spiritual and theological values in the context of Indonesia. It can be concluded that having interreligious relation is lawful. Muslims are allowed to have social relation with Ahlul kitab or the people of books such as to get marry with them, to eat the meat of the animals they (Jews and Christians) slaughtered, and to have debate and discussion with them in the best way.</span></p><p class="07KatakunciKeywords"> </p>

Network Of Islamic Education Ideology in Aceh Islamic Boarding Schools: A Systematic Literature Review

This study reviewed 53 articles on Islamic education ideological networks in Islamic boarding schools in Aceh, Indonesia. This systematic literature review used the PRISMA protocol with the steps of identification, screening, eligibility, inclusion, abstraction, and data analysis assisted by the Publish or Perish 7, Mendeley, VOSviewer, and NVIVO 12 Plus applications. The search results obtained 544 Scopus-indexed articles, then filtered and 53 articles remained. The topic finding were: Islamic education ideology network, Aceh, Islamic boarding school, concept of Islamic education ideology, impact of Islam education ideology, Islam, pesantren, Indonesia, Islamic moderation, dayah, boarding school, which are directly connected, and Indonesian pesantren, anti-Muslim racism, formal religious education, Islamic culture, ISIS, terrorism, inter-religious relationship, Islamic religious college, cyberterrorism, deradicalization, curriculum development, curriculum, and dayah scholars. The findings of the articles were analyzed according to the topics defined through NVIVO 12 Plus and the results were described based on the research questions. The research findings explain that the ideology of Islamic education in Islamic boarding schools is a system of values, ideas, beliefs, and culture that is the basis for determining curriculum, teacher management, and learning. The ideological networks of Islamic boarding schools in Aceh are reform-modernist, traditionalist-Ahlussunnah Waljamaah, and Salafi-Wahabi which are developed based on typology, affiliation, characteristics, and curriculum. The ideology of Islamic education in Islamic boarding schools affects teachers, leaders, curriculum, learning, and society.

Common grace as theological encouragement for interreligious dialogue

The Dutch theologian-statesman Abraham Kuyper developed the doctrine of common grace in a lengthy manner. Common grace emphasises that God’s grace operates not only in a salvific way for the elect, but also in a general way for every individual. Despite sin, human beings are capable of doing beautiful, just, and wise things and are endowed with gifts and talents, due to God’s act of common grace. On that doctrinal basis, Christians are called upon to appreciate the people outside the church, for there are fruits of common grace in their lives. On many occasions, Kuyper acknowledgedthat people of other religions have better qualities than Christians. Although not salvific, common grace opens various possibilities for Christians to learn from non-Christians. Thus, common grace could be a theological encouragement for interreligious dialogue toward mutual enrichment. This doctrine shows how the interreligious relationship between Christians and non-Christians should not be reduced to evangelism alone; it should also include dialogue and further cooperation toward the common good.

A Deconstruction of the Cross and the Crescent for Inclusive Religious Pluralism between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria

The Crescent and the Cross as religious symbols are beyond the mere signification of religious affiliations. They are symbols on which over two hundred years of wars were sustained and are indicative of the religious dichotomy between modern Christianity and Islam across the globe. However, the tangential relationship between the usage of the symbols and the Jihad or the Crusade reeks of memories of fierce competition and unhealed historical memories. The collective memory of the wars fought under the symbols has remained a moniker for conquests and forceful submission. The exclusive propensities of the experiences are evident in the interreligious relation of the adherents of both religions in Nigeria. This article attempts to answer the question of how the exclusive religious disposition underlining most instances of religious crises in the country may be addressed. This article uses deconstructive analysis to strip the symbols and their exclusive religious dispositions for an inclusive religious pluralism model. It argues for the need for a critical rethinking of the exclusive interreligious model operative in the country to facilitate social development and the peaceful co-existence of the adherents of both religions.

SILENCE AS A STEP TOWARD THE PROCESS OF LISTENING AND ITS CENTRAL ROLE FOR INTERRELIGIOUS RELATIONS: A REFLECTION IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE PLURALITY OF INDONESIA

This article is developed by drawing from the Indonesian context. The country is characterized with its plurality, in terms of religion, belief, language, culture, and ethnicity. I start reflecting on the discourse of silence by exploring the rituals practiced by the Hindus in Bali and a number of Muslims in Java. An effort is then made to elaborate it from a philosophical perspective in which silence can be understood as the beginning of listening. The further elaboration, from a theological perspective, is worked out by focusing on the figure of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, through whom silence with listening can be regarded as a way to live out the faith that seeks for understanding and wisdom. Finally, I put it on the circumstances of interreligious relations. Here, being silent for listening can be considered as a sort of culture that requires certain conditions, some of which are the readiness to deal with internal tensions and the capability to listen through the inner ear of the heart by way of discernment. KEYWORDS: Silence. Listening. Faith. Understanding and Wisdom. Interreligious Relation.

Reinventing the Human Dignity in Islamic Law Discourse: The Wasatiyah Approaches from Khaled Abou El-Fadl to the Interreligious Relation

Violence in the name of religion has never completely disappeared from discourse on religious life. Surprisingly, Islamic law is used as the basis for committing acts of violence damaging interreligious relations. There is a gap between the goals of Islamic law and practice in society. This article aims to unpack the wasatiyah approach provided by Khaled Abou El-Fadl in Islamic law discourses. This research is a qualitative method using library research, which obtains information from books, articles, and journals. This research concludes that El-Fadl provides an essential concept known in contemporary Islamic law as al-wasatiyah by integrating various scientific disciplines to strengthen human dignity. El-Fadl offers a moderate-humanist approach as a system that is considered more holistic and comprehensive in Islamic law, especially in constructing texts, understanding the context, and optimizing legal reasoning based on maqasid al-shariah through independent reasoning. This article shows that El-Fadl allows greetings to non-Muslims, greetings of Christmas to non-Muslims, interacts with non-Muslims, and elects non-muslim leaders. El-Fadl believes in strengthening the theological basis of pluralism, which requires tolerance as a pathway for creating a mutually productive life together.

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS IN SUSTAINING INTER-RELIGIOUS HARMONIOUS RELATIONS UNDER ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES IN THE AGE OF NEW MEDIA

Background and Purpose: Inter-religious harmony is crucial in maintaining peaceful co-existence and national stability of a multiracial and multi-religious society. The existence of minor racial or religious tension in the society can escalate to a crisis and jeopardise inter-religious relations in this age of new media. The failure to preserve religious harmony may expose the society to conflict and chaos. Thus, this article aims to discuss and elaborate the fundamental elements in sustaining harmony among multi-religious society from Islamic perspective in the age of new media.
 
 Methodology: This research employs the qualitative research design. The research method used is content analysis, and the library data that comprises the physical and online books and articles on topics related to religious harmony and new media, was collected from the years 2010 until 2021. Using deductive reasoning, the challenges of new media in the area were identified and solutions proposed.
 
 Findings: The findings indicated that the challenges of interreligious harmony in the age of new media are the rapid spread of atheism, religious pluralism, misperception of a religion due to its intra-faith issues, mistaken identity of a religionist versus racist, misunderstanding of ‘izzah as arrogance and misrepresentation of Islam. These challenges can be reduced by applying the fundamental elements to sustain interreligious harmony in Islamic perspective, namely ta`āruf (knowing each other), tafāhum (mutual understanding), ta`āwun (mutual cooperation), takāful (mutual protection), tasāmuḥ (mutual tolerant) and acceptance. Besides, Muslim educators or murabbiyun have to be the prosumers of the new media to continuously teach Islam, and instil iman and adab among fellow Muslims.
 
 Contributions: This article contributes to the foundation of peaceful co-existence in a multi-religious context because the fundamental elements discussed form the basis of fiqh al-ta’ayush or the understanding of co-existence, especially in the age of new media.
 
 Keywords: Basis of religious harmony, inter-religious relation in Islam, fiqh al-ta’amul, fiqh al-ta’ayush, religions in the age of new media.
 
 ite as: Mohd Khambali @ Hambali, K., Ghazali, A., & Senin, N. (2022). Fundamental elements in sustaining inter-religious harmonious relations under Islamic perspectives in the age of new media. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(2), 147-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss2pp147-165

Interreligious relation: Position of women in strengthening Christian and Muslim bonds

Strengthening Muslim–Christian relations is very important for a nation such as Indonesia that has plurality in terms of tribes, ethnicity and religion. This study aims to analyse the role of Muslim women who live in a pluralistic socio-religious situation. This is a qualitative research that uses purposive sampling to determine the informants. The approach used by the Discovering Cultural Themes model is to understand the symptoms of the many themes, cultures, values and cultural symbols. Data analysis was conducted by using software for qualitative research, which is needed in managing data found from the field, in this case, nVivo Basic 12.00 for Windows. The results show that Muslim women translate justice, empathy and rationality in religion by building relationships with other religions. This attitude is part of Islamic teachings that contain moderate, accommodating and tolerant aspects. In addition, culture has encouraged women to blend in and form egalitarian equality in the social and cultural realm. The culture of generosity and mutual help has become a tradition both in religious and customary activities.Contribution: This article provides an insight into the contribution of Muslim women in strengthening Muslim–Christian relations. This agenda is very important because Islam and Christianity have the largest adherents in Indonesia. This contribution is very important and crucial in the midst of radicalism issue in Indonesia lately.

Schadenfreude Keagamaan di Kalangan Netizen Indonesia: Penghalang Tak Kasat Mata bagi Pluralisme dan Multikulturalisme di Indonesia

This research aims to examine the form of religious schadenfreude reflected on written comments on news. The data in this study were the documentation of comments on national and international news posted on the Youtube channel of national online news portal such as Tribun, Kompas and Liputan 6. It was found that religious Schadenfreude among Indonesian netizens exists in two major situations: Inter-religious relationship and within the religion itself. This phenomenon occurs in an empathetic situation in the form of religious stereotyping, trash-talking other religions and beliefs, the satisfaction of other’s misfortune. To conclude, the religious schadenfreude phenomenon among Indonesian netizens more likely occurs because society focus on the difference exists within the community. Therefore, promoting the beauty of religious diversity is required to eliminate antipathy and provide another perspective on pluralism and multiculturalism.

Remove the Stumbling Blocks An Overview of the Concept of Oneness of God in Christianity and Islam as a Challenge and a Way for Interreligious Relation between the Two Religions

Confession of faith is one of the most important part of religion. In Christianity’s confession of faith it is clear that there are mentioned what so called as Trinity in which Christians proclaim their belief to God the father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. On the other hand, Islam have confession of faith in which they proclaim the oneness of God which is known as Tauhid. However, in the context of inter-religious relation between Islam and Christianity, their confession of faith often open a discussion even debate. Therefore, the Christian belief in a triune God and the deity of the Prophet Jesus are a serious “stumbling block” in dealing with Indonesian people in general and Islamic societies in particular. Concerning Islam, another question that immediately arises is, whether there is any interpretation which able to broke the ‘stumbling block’ or actually it is untranslatable of religion that should be accepted and honored? This kind of questions will be discussed in in this paper because the effort to remove these ‘stumbling block’ and built more harmonius inter-religious relation between Christian and Islam is both side duty.

SIBLING RIVALRIES

The issues of religious proselytization as well as the construction of house of worship are of main contentious topics inciting tensions between religious adherents, particularly between the minority Christians and the majority Muslims in contemporary Indonesia. This article discusses these two inter-religious problems and poses a question to extent that the competition between Muslim and Christians, both in their missionary activities and the building of new house of worship, inflicting inter-religious relation in contemporary Indonesia. Taken some cases as points of discussion, this article further offers that inclusive dialogue and social justice are solutions to minimize—even to prevent—the worsening tension between Muslim and Christians.

SIBLING RIVALRIES

The issues of religious proselytization as well as the construction of house of worship are of main contentious topics inciting tensions between religious adherents, particularly between the minority Christians and the majority Muslims in contemporary Indonesia. This article discusses these two inter-religious problems and poses a question to extent that the competition between Muslim and Christians, both in their missionary activities and the building of new house of worship, inflicting inter-religious relation in contemporary Indonesia. Taken some cases as points of discussion, this article further offers that inclusive dialogue and social justice are solutions to minimize—even to prevent—the worsening tension between Muslim and Christians.

Experiences of interreligious encounter at religiously affiated hospital: Striving to build amicable interreligious relationship through healthcare service in Yogyakarta context

This paper aims to examine the interreligious encounter experiences of patients and their families who have diverse religious backgrounds and come to religiously affiliated hospitals (different from their religion). The main question raised is how this experience strengthens their recognition and respect toward other religions, so they are enabled to build amicable interreligious relations. This study is necessary especially in the context of Yogyakarta, which claims itself as ‘City of Tolerance,’ but unfortunately, this claim and image have faded because of many cases of intolerance in multiple social settings, such as school, campus, worship place, religious event, boarding house, even also cemetery. Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, three major religiously affiliated hospitals have served Yogyakarta residents for tens to hundreds of years, namely Bethesda, Panti Rapih, and PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. Following Peter L. Berger, this paper argues that hospital can be seen as a unique social setting, in which pluralism as empirical experience truly happens because, in terms of attitude, the hospital is an institution that is in its service should practice no discrimination toward people from a different background (ethnicity or religiosity) related to service for humanity. Therefore hospital will be a place of encounter for people from various backgrounds and identities. Within the religiously affiliated hospital, pluralism is not only a formal philosophical concept but a social situation in which people with different ethnicities, religions, worldviews, and moralities live together peacefully and interact with each other amicably.

Aftermath Friendship: an Indonesian Feminist Theological Perspective on Trauma and Interreligious Peace

Abstract This article offers an Indonesian Christian feminist theological voice on religion’s contribution to peace as a risky interreligious practice of friendship following religious violence—thus, an aftermath friendship. I argue that aftermath friendship is a relevant feminist theological metaphor for the capacity and the role of women in negotiating difference and practicing healing from within the wounded interreligious relationship caused by religious violence. It is a practice of simultaneously building and recovering interreligious friendships that have been ruptured, for example, by the trauma of a religiously related attack on a church building. This article brings into dialogue women’s aftermath narratives that are embedded in the ruptured interreligious landscape, the biblical concept of friendship, and feminist trauma theology to unveil the polyphonic features of interreligious peace, friendship, and healing.

Internet-Mediated Interreligious Dialogue A Study Case on @KatolikG’s Model of Dialogue

Internet-mediated interreligious relations could go in two directions: increasing the number of interreligious encountering with weakening process of religious exclusivism and lead people to religious fundamentalism and interreligious polarization. In the Indonesian context, the emergence of the Garis Lucu (Funny line) social media platforms allow a dialogical internet-mediated interreligious relation rather than the monologue one. This opportunity especially works in the relation between @KatolikG and @NUGarisllucu, two (unofficial) religious-based social media account that cover Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook Page. This study uses @KatolikG perspective on looking for several patterns of internet-mediated interreligious dialogue. The study finds three patterns of internet-mediated interreligious dialogue: doing daily dialogue, discussing sensitive issues, and doing social actions. Within these three works, @KatolikG contributes in sharing communal agenda and concerns that enable people to work hand in hand in supporting interreligious dialogue. Following the idea of Pope Francis to have ‘a greater discernment and responsibility for contents both sent and received,’ @KatolikG supports social cohesion among Indonesians in the context of Internet-Mediated Interreligious Dialogue.

Religious Rivalry in the Seventeenth Century: A Buddhist–Christian Case in China

To shed new light on the place of Christianity in seventeenth-century Chinese society and the debates and conflicts between Christians and Buddhists, this paper reflects on Christians' critiques of Buddhist dogma and praxis as well as rejoinders from the Buddhists. It will focus on the sustained debates, roughly between 1590 and 1690, with regard to the relative ‘merits and defects’ as represented in polemical texts. Several treatises serve as the essential link of the continuous debates, eliciting back-and-forth elaboration and rebuttals from both sides. Through an analysis of the polemical discourse, I argue that the Buddhist–Christian case offers an instance of what René Girard termed ‘mimetic rivalry’. The conflict entails internal rivalry resulting not only from different religious perspectives but also from social, cultural and economic ones. Seeking interconnectedness between traditions by creative imagination and analogy may offer a way out of ignorance and enmity in dealing with interreligious relationship. 1

The Qur'an and Inter-Religious Relation Models in Contemporary World

This article examines interreligious relations during the Qur’anic revelation and its contextualization in the contemporary world. This library research, focusing on ‘Ali Jum’ah’s thought, utilizes a qualitative with a historical approach. The results of this research show that the Qur'an was revealed in four models of Muslim and non-Muslim relations: the Meccan period model; the Habasyah phase, the first migration of some Muslims and as a minority under non-Muslims authority; and two Medina periods (the Early and the Latter) when Muslims become a majority who lived together peacefully with other religious communities under Muslim authority. Ali Jum'ah uses nasā’ as a theory to contextualize the four models of interfaith relations. According to him, each of these models can be applied and developed in contemporary Muslims, especially in the Indonesian context, based on the principles of the Qur'an.

Insuficiência da tolerância

A pergunta central do presente trabalho é: a tolerância é um valor suficiente nas relações inter-religiosas em uma sociedade onde há diversidade religiosa? Para responder isso, começo mostrando alguns usos cotidianos de tal conceito, a fim de elucidar alguns erros comuns a tais usos. Após isso, apresento algumas defesas filosóficas desse conceito e defendo uma ideia de tolerância que entendo ser mais razoável. Em seguida, mostro como tal conceito é necessário e importante para as relações inter-religiosas, apesar de ser insuficiente para tais relações, podendo, na verdade, limitar relações mais profícuas entre religiões, principalmente, em relação a debates de interesse público. Ao final, apresento, brevemente, uma proposta de relação inter-religiosa que vai além da tolerância e promove, a meu ver, uma interação mais profícua entre diferentes religiões.

MEMBACA PERSEPSI, MENCERMATI KOMUNIKASI, MEMPREDIKSI HUBUNGAN ANTARUMAT ISLAM DAN HINDU DI KOTA MATARAM, PROVINSI NTB

Studi ini fokus untuk mengungkap tiga hal pokok yaitu persepsi, pola komunikasi, dan prospek hubungan antarumat Islam dan Hindu di kota Mataram, provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB). Riset kualitatif dengan tradisi fenomenologi ini menjadikan 25 orang umat Islam dan Hindu sebagai informant. Data diperoleh lewat wawancara mendalam, pengamatan, dan dokumentasi, yang selanjutnya dianalisis dengan teknik analisis data fenomenologi dari Van Kaam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa umat Islam dan Hindu di kota Mataram saling memberi persepsi positif dan tidak ditemukan stereotype di antara mereka. Persepsi positif dari kedua umat berbeda agama ini simetris dengan keakraban komunikasi yang mereka perlihatkan di ruang publik. Komunikasi yang familiar tersebut tercermin dalam dua pola komunikasi yaitu pola komunikasi aktif yang berlangsung permanen dengan tingkat hubungan emosional yang kuat, dan pola komunikasi pasif yang berlangsung situasional dengan nuansa pragmatisme yang kental. Persepsi positif dan keakraban komunikasi yang ditunjukkan oleh warga Muslim dan Hindu mengindikasikan adanya harmoni di antara mereka sekaligus menjadi indikator tetap terjaganya hubungan baik antara kedua umat mayoritas tersebut di kota Mataram pada masa yang akan datang.

Inter-religious Relations as a New Foundation for Comparative Religion

Abstract This article argues that the problems that comparative religion encountered in the 1980s and onward did not arise from the comparative project as such, but rather from the fact that comparative religion was founded on an analytical strategy that relied on defining religion. In order to overcome these problems and critique of Jonathan Z. Smith, Talal Asad and others, it is proposed that the comparative study of religion could be re-established on the basis of a different analytical strategy and more specifically on the basis of a relational perspective, in which the crucial point of departure is the finding that religions in many periods and cultural settings seem to constitute themselves in relation to at least one significant other religion. In periods and cultural settings, where religions relate to each other, we do in fact have a commonality between all religions, namely the inter-religious relation. This relation can ensure that we are not comparing things that have nothing in common. If the inter-religious relation is the point of departure, the comparative study of religion can be transformed in such a way that it is not overturned by the social constructionism or post-modernism of J. Z. Smith, Talal Asad and others.