Democratization and the diffusion of shari’a law

Abstract

The democratization of politics has been accompanied by a rise of Islamic laws in many Muslim-majority countries. Despite a growing interest in the phenomenon, the Islamization of politics in democratizing Muslim-majority countries is rarely understood as a process that unfolds across space and time. Based on an original dataset established during years of field research in Indonesia, this paper analyzes the spread of shari'a regulations across the world's largest Muslim-majority democracy since 1998. The paper shows that shari'a regulations in Indonesia diffused unevenly across space and time. Explanations put forward in the literature on the diffusion of morality policies in other countries such as geographic proximity, institutions, intergovernmental relations and economic conditions did not explain the patterns in the diffusion of shari'a regulations in Indonesia well. Instead, shari'a regulations in Indonesia were most likely to spread across jurisdictions where local Islamist groups situated outside the party system had an established presence. In short, the Islamization of politics was highly contingent on local conditions. Future research will need to pay more attention to local Islamist activists and networks situated outside formal politics as potential causes for the diffusion of shari'a law in democratizing Muslim-majority countries.

Transformation Of Islamic Law Into National Law: Model, Problem And Alternative Solution Of Practicing Sharia In Indonesia

“…The demand for broader autonomy, particularly in social and economic, was voiced more by the Free Aceh Movement, while the demand for implementing Islamic law as a whole was a longstanding demand carried out by Islamism or fundamentalism group who use Islam as an ideology in order to make Indonesia an Islamic State (Nurrohman, 2002). In other words, the Islamization of politics was highly contingent on local conditions (Buehler and Muhtada, 2016). Historical background related to the Islamic State movement (Darul Islam) has been considered as the origin of Qanun Jinayat in Aceh as well as sharia bylaws in West Java and South Sulawesi (Garadian, 2016).…”

From Formalization of Sharia to Islamic Conservatism: The Post Reform of Islamic Movement Phenomena in West Sumatera

“…Since 1998-2013, the graph of the distribution of the application of Islamic law in Indonesia is increasing massively. 30 This is caused by at least four factors; (1) local history and culture; (2) corruption and the desire to divert people's attention from the issue of corruption; (3) political elections at the local level; and (4) the low capacity of government at the local level in managing their regions. The last factor is the most dominant factor that becomes the cause of the massive political Islamization movement.…”

The Women’s Movement and Indonesia’s Transition to Democracy

“…Decentralization has given conservatives (often allied with secular parties) much more opportunity to control local provinces and regions, because they are better organized at the local level and often have inroads with the police and military (Budianta 2006;Buehler 2013;Buehler and Muhtada 2016). For example, in 2009, the city of Tasikmalaya passed a by-law for "Community Values Based on Muslim Teachings," and began planning to enact it in early 2012 with an ordinance requiring Muslim women to wear headscarves (Suwarni 2012).…”