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this page Newsletters - Families at the Frontiers of Faiths
Indonesia
Indonesia, with its highest Muslim population in the world, is very pluralistic in terms of race, language, local culture, and religion. This brings a great potential for intermarriages of people of different faiths. This can be seen in the coverage of celebrities' marriages in printed and electronic media, as well as the marriage of ordinary people. From the perspective of traditions of religion, civil law (Marriage Law No 1/1971) and religious law (Islamic Law 1991), inter faith marriage is actually prohibited in Indonesia.
One of the complicated problems among the people of religious groups is how to harmonise the tensions between religious doctrine and the long history of humanity itself - history of social interactions among different people groups. The theological aspect stated explicitly in the Scriptures and reflected in the teaching of religious institutions, has become distanced from the reality of this history, built by people of the religion itself. This tension is experienced not only by people of different faiths who have considered doctrines or teachings of others but also exists among people of the same faiths.
For example, in the normative tradition of Islam, marriage between a Muslim with a non-Muslim is debatable. On one hand, the Quran prohibits any Muslims marrying non-Muslims, especially Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men. On the other hand, it also allows Muslim men to marry women of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). While in Christian traditions, there is a prohibition for Christians to marry people from different faiths.
Even though the religious law (Islamic Law) prohibits inter faith marriages, many Muslim women have married non-Muslim men and vice versa. In order for their children to obtain birth certificates, many of them had to convert to the religion of their spouses. For some wealthy couples, they married abroad.
There are two characteristics in inter faith marriages: religious conversions and religious co-existence. Religious conversion means one of the couple embraces the religion of his or her partner before marriage or after marriage. Religious co-existence means both parties hold firm to their respective religions yet still remain married. The consequence of such marriages is theological boundaries are getting thinner. During the Ramadhan (fasting month in Islam), members of the family would be accompanied or helped by a wife, husband, mother or children who are not Muslim. On the other hand, during the Christmas season or other religious festival, other family members would help in the preparation for the celebration. In most cases, the children can choose to follow the faith of either father or mother, though when they are still small the parents could choose for them. Sometimes, the children are divided according to the faith of the father and the mother. The problem arises when they have to get birth certificates. Although the family members are divided in the area of religion, they can still live together in harmony where there is respect for one another - tolerance and solidarity despite the difference.
From the perspectives of Indonesian Civil Law, The Marriage Law No 1/1974 gives room for couples of different faiths to get married abroad. Article 56 of the Marriage Law states that marriage between Indonesian citizens or between Indonesian citizens and non-Indonesian citizens abroad is valid because it's based on the law of the country. This creates tension when the couples return to Indonesia where the Religious Law is still effective.
Recent development in Marriage Law shows significant progress. The Ministry of Religious Affairs launched in October 2004 a draft amendment to the 1991 body of Islamic Law, a move that several Muslim scholars say could be part of a 'revolution' in sharia. However, the draft - which allows inter faith marriages, prohibits polygamy and promotes gender equality - quickly received strong criticism from mainstream Islamic Law experts. The draft was compiled by a team led by Muslim gender expert, Siti Musdah Mulia.
Cleric Husen Muhammad of the Darut Tauhid Islamic boarding school in Cirebon, West Java, welcomed the draft amendment and urged Muslim scholars to make Islamic teachings more friendly to the changing environment. Also, Ulil Abshar Abdalla of the Islamic Liberal Network hailed the draft. “It's very radical not only for Indonesia but also for all Muslim countries, if not the world,” he said.
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