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A boy band belted out songs about loving the Prophet Muhammad. A younger girl sporting a full-face veil was moved to tears by the religion of latest converts. Later, the group applauded as a 15-year-old lady transformed to Islam earlier than their eyes. Many posted selfies on social media, delighting of their shared religion.
The scene was an annual pageant in Padang, a part of a brand new conservative Islamic motion in Indonesia often called Hijrah that’s attracting tens of millions of believers, a lot of them younger and drawn by superstar preachers on Instagram.
Islamic conservatism has been on the rise in Indonesia for years, at the same time as the federal government has lengthy tried to take care of a secular, religiously numerous society. The present iteration within the Hijrah motion is distinct in its use of social media to unfold the phrase, and in its attraction to the younger. And its recognition is producing concern amongst authorities and non secular officers, who concern it may erode a extra reasonable model of Islam.
Kamaruddin Amin, a director with Indonesia’s Ministry of Non secular Affairs, mentioned his division has begun a counternarrative to problem the Hijrah motion’s momentum. The model of conservatism it promotes, he mentioned, “will not be good for Islam within the Indonesian context.”
From the federal government’s viewpoint, behind the Hijrah motion “is a really threatening ideology referred to as Wahhabism,” a fundamentalist pressure of Islam that originated from Saudi Arabia, mentioned Dadi Darmadi, a professor at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State College in Jakarta. He referred to as Hijrah followers “born-again Muslims.”
However Derry Sulaiman, a Muslim preacher who spoke on the pageant, mentioned in an interview that followers have been misunderstood. “We don’t discuss radicalism,” he mentioned. “We don’t battle the federal government, we simply come to take heed to the experiences from everybody on how they really feel after Islam.”
There are not any clear figures on the variety of Hijrah adherents — a lot of them self-identify with the motion — however they’re estimated to be not less than within the tens of tens of millions based mostly on the social media following of in style Hijrah preachers. The motion is rising whereas opposition Islamic events have additionally change into extra outspoken, for instance, mobilizing a whole lot of individuals in protests in opposition to the constructing of Christian church buildings. Final 12 months, they helped cross a legislation banning intercourse exterior marriage in Indonesia.
A 2019 survey of millennials and Technology Z youths, carried out by the Jakarta-based analysis agency Alvara, confirmed that 60 p.c of the roughly 1,500 respondents surveyed throughout 34 provinces recognized as “puritan and ultraconservative.” A tally of the Instagram accounts of 12 of Indonesia’s most distinguished Hijrah preachers confirmed that there are not less than 45.8 million followers.
To be Hijrah is to primarily lead a extra Islamic life — encompassing the whole lot from gown to courting, that means extra girls are sporting the hijab, or the niqab, the full-face veil. Extra males are sporting beards and non secular apparel. The motion’s preachers reject something that may very well be probably Haram, or forbidden below Islamic legislation, like courting or, generally, secular music.
Actors and musicians self-identified as Hijrah have used their social media accounts to publicly have fun the rediscovery of their religion. Younger folks have change into supporters of the “Indonesia With out Relationship” motion, which promotes organized marriages.
The motion matches right into a wealthy non secular tradition in Indonesia. Though the nation is the world’s most populous Muslim nation, it has 5 different official religions and greater than 200 unofficial ones. Many of the 230 million Muslims in Indonesia observe a type of Islam that mixes the faith with native rituals, like visiting the graves of ancestors.
Nesa Okta Mirza, 27, who’s making ready to go to graduate faculty, mentioned she recognized as a part of the Hijrah motion in 2014. When she placed on the hijab, although, her mother and father objected as a result of nobody else in her household wears a head scarf. She recalled how a relative criticized her, asking, “‘Are you ISIS?’”
Ms. Nesa mentioned that, influenced by Hijrah preachers who discourage contact between women and men exterior of marriage, she is going to now not hitch rides on the again of motorbikes pushed by males. She mentioned she has additionally stopped binge-watching Korean dramas as a result of the behavior was slicing into her sleep and affecting the standard of her life, which can also be in opposition to her religion, she defined.
Later this 12 months, she plans to ship her C.V. to a pal to assist her “taaruf,” the phrase used to explain the observe of organized marriages.
The federal government, although, is anxious about a few of these practices, fearful that they might upend the nation’s multireligious society. Mr. Kamaruddin, of the non secular affairs ministry, mentioned his workplace has inspired younger Muslim preachers to emphasise that Islam should “recognize range.” He famous that some Hijrah followers have constructed housing for under Muslims, or have criticized girls for not sporting the hijab.
The rise of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia has compounded the federal government’s considerations. Lately, President Joko Widodo’s authorities has banned teams like Hizbut Tahrir and the Islamic Defenders Entrance, which have referred to as for a Muslim caliphate in Indonesia.
Ulil Abshar Abdalla, a senior official with Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic group, mentioned Hijrah followers “need Islam to be a closed identification, a cultural marker that makes them separate from the remainder of society.” “We don’t give them a inexperienced mild to be talking within the title of Islam, to be the one representatives of Islam,” he mentioned.
The group has referred to as for the federal government to ban the annual pageant in Padang, often called HijrahFest. Final 12 months, it complained that the occasion’s organizers had used its logos with out permission, ensuing within the sudden cancellation of the pageant.
“Hijrah” is Arabic for journey, and the time period is most intently related to Muhammad’s migration to Medina to flee persecution in Mecca. The bulk of people that make up the motion are Muslim by start, and are rededicating themselves to their religion.
Arie Untung, the founding father of HijrahFest, mentioned the group was incessantly criticized by different Muslims for not being puritan sufficient. “I feel we even have the identical vacation spot, however we’re on totally different automobiles,” mentioned Mr. Arie, a former MTV V.J. He described HijrahFest as primarily a business occasion, not a non secular one.
At this 12 months’s occasion, salespeople promoted halal cosmetics and Quran memorization providers. All attendees, no matter faith, have been required to decorate conservatively. The roomful of Muslim women and men have been separated by gender. One preacher mentioned he would educate folks a prayer to curb any L.G.B.T. components of their household.
Natta Reza, a distinguished Islamic boy-band singer, was a headliner. He proposed to his spouse in 2017, inside hours of discovering her Instagram account. They married quickly after and at the moment are social media influencers who promote organized marriages.
Mr. Natta mentioned his years of courting have been “not good.” “I hope this could be a lesson for the singles,” he mentioned from the stage. “Don’t be a silly individual like me, who took care of another person’s soul mate,” he mentioned, referring to his courting life earlier than he grew to become a Hijrah influencer.
The group hooted as his spouse laughed behind her veil.
The preacher who spoke, Mr. Derry, 44, was as soon as a guitarist for Betrayer, a preferred heavy steel band. He mentioned that in that point, he partied each night time and had “many girlfriends.” In 1998, like different Indonesian musicians who found Hijrah, he left his band and began creating Islamic music after a fellow musician instructed him to return to his religion.
Now, he creates TikTok content material, saying he “should carry optimistic vibes” to younger believers. On the final night time of HijrahFest, Mr. Derry closed the night by main different Muslim preachers in a prayer for repentance.
He, and lots of others within the viewers, wept as they recalled their sins.
Dera Menra Sijabat contributed reporting.
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