Understanding the Oppressed: A Study of the Ahmadiyah and Their Strategies for Overcoming Adversity in Contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

The Ahmadiyah is a highly controversial Islamic reformist movement that is persecuted throughout the Muslim world. In Indonesia, the movement's situation has become increasingly precarious with the growth of conservative Islam. This article examines the everyday experiences of oppression suffered by individual Ahmadis at the hands of the state and their Muslim opponents in Indonesia, and looks at their responses to these experiences. I found that Ahmadis employ six diverse strategies to emotionally, socially, and spiritually withstand adversity. These strategies are conceptualised under the following labels: ‘Fortitude through faith and spirituality’, ‘Rationalising oppression’, ‘Ideological manoeuvring’, ‘Acts of resistance’, ‘Harmonising identity’, and ‘Satisfying the need to belong’. I argue that the agency of Indonesian Ahmadis is embedded in these strategies, which mitigate their suffering, and at times seek to change oppressive social environments.

Gender-Based Perspectives on Key Issues Facing Poor Ahmadi Women in Pakistan

“…The AMC is discriminated against and persecuted in all Muslim-majority countries (Connley 2016). However, oppressive behaviour against AMs from the Muslim majority populations in South Asia such as those of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and Africa seems at the highest end.…”

Homo Sacer: Ahmadiyya and Its Minority Citizenship (A Case Study of Ahmadiyya Community in Tasikmalaya)

“…In the context of this research, the fundamentalist movements considered as excluders are represented by those who reject the existence or postpone the rights of the Ahmadiyya community. In the academic treasury, they are given with various names in many works of literature discussing the minorities, ranging from Islamist (As' ad, 2009; Ropi, 2010), hardliner, radicals (As' ad, 2009;Mariani, 2013;Mudzakkir, 2011), conservatives (Connley, 2016), and the likes.…”

“It's a Jihad”: Justifying Violence towards the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia

“…In line with Suryana, Jacqueline Hicks (2014) sees anti-Ahmadiyah discourse in the wider processes of maintaining or securing political and social authority. Aleah Connley (2016) discusses the Ahmadi responses to discrimination and persecution in Indonesia and their strategies for dealing with adversity. Research on the logic and detailed arguments, or the theological matrix used by religious vigilante groups that inflicted acts of violence directed against the Ahmadiyya, is relatively neglected in existing literature.…”

“…After the fall of Suharto in 1998, the heresy campaign against the Ahmadiyya has become more intense and has sometimes involved physical attacks. Scholars have commonly focused on the issues of human rights, citizenship, political and social authority, media propaganda or media reports, and the capability of government in managing diversity when discussing the resistance, attack, and heresy campaign against the Ahmadiyya (Connley 2016;Crouch 2011;Hicks 2014;Putra et al 2018;Soedirgo 2018;Suryana 2016Suryana , 2018Suryana , 2019. Suryana (2016Suryana ( , 2018Suryana ( , 2019, for instance, discusses agency and structure in the rising of intolerance and violence against minority religious groups.…”