On being moderate and peaceful: Why Islamic political moderateness promotes outgroup tolerance and reconciliation

Abstract

Islamic moderateness is said to be one of the key factors that contribute to the promotion of peace in Muslim societies. We present an empirical study conducted in Indonesia ( N = 299) that assessed Islamic political moderateness and examined its role in explaining Muslims’ tolerance towards non-Muslims, as well as the first group’s support for making reconciliation with the latter group. We found as hypothesised that Islamic political moderateness was a positive predictor of outgroup tolerance, because of the role it had in positively predicting the sense of national identity as a higher order identity vis-à-vis Islamic identity (i.e. higher order nested identity). Outgroup tolerance positively predicted and, in turn, fully mediated the positive association between Islamic political moderateness and Muslims’ reconciliatory tendencies, including feelings of collective guilt and shame, intergroup trust and perspective-taking, intergroup cooperation, willingness to apologise, as well as support for intergroup empowerment and reparative actions. These findings suggest the benefit of Islamic political moderateness to drive Muslims to appreciate the existence of non-Muslims. We discuss these empirical findings in terms of theoretical implications, research limitations and practical implications.

Pemetaan Tren Belajar Agama Melalui Media Sosial

“…Melalui pemanfaatan teknologi dalam desain platform media sosial, proses internalisasi konten juga dipertimbangkan, sebagaimana adanya daya dukung atau karisma dari para ustadz yang memberikan ceramah online (Qudsy, 2018). Hal ini menuntut para pengguna untuk selektif dalam mencari konten keagamaan (Gumilar et al, 2017;Nuryana, 2019;Sari, 2017;Zaduqisti et al, 2020). Internalisasi konten positif juga ditingkatkan melalui penyebaran akun dan platform media sosial sehingga menghasilkan kebermanfaatan positif bagi masyarakat (Faiqah et al, 2018).…”

The Sufi order against religious radicalism in Indonesia

“…On the other contrary, Sufis' tolerance towards different religious groups, thoughts, schools and communities can overcome psychological barriers for Sufi order in social interaction. Tolerance including towards non-Muslims can overcome socio-psychological barriers and facilitate reconciliation with different groups (Zaduqisti et al 2020). A study conducted by Zaduqisti et al shows that a moderate attitude can pave the way for Muslims to have a positive attitude towards peace and reconciliation with non-Muslims.…”

Negative Evaluations of National Ethics and Its Impact on Islamic Radicalism

“…Even the benefit of the out-group's expressions of empathy and responsibility in facilitating a process of reconciliation may backfire when in-group members distrust the out-group (Nadler & Liviatan, 2006). Supporting these rationales, research by Zaduqisti et al (2020), for example, found that the less Muslims endorsed a moderate version of Islam they demonstrated more distrust toward non-Muslims. The second reason relates to the chronic tendency of radicals to engage in out-group blame, which reflects moral disengagement (Bandura, 2004).…”