My Friend the Fanatic

… of Sharia Law are interviewed; still in South Sulawesi he journeys to the district of Bulukumba (if Tangerang in Banten has "sharia lite", Bulukumba can claim the heavier version); while a chapter on Batam begins with an almost moving, snippet-like description of the lives of two types of "Batam girls", those who work in the factories, and those who work in the bars;...and plenty else besides.

Islam

What isn't likely to endear this book to a lot of its target audience, …

The Vespa Lifestyle

… of women to put on the jilbab , or headscarf, regional Islamic laws such as those in Bulukumba, the spread of dour Salafi Islam from Saudi Arabia and the decline of the Hindu-Buddhist Islam of the masses, the Indonesia Ulema Council's increasing conservatism and fatwa issuing, the occurrence of terrorist attacks, and so forth.

All the rage.

There is a battle, she says, over what constitutes true Islam, and the destiny of the country is at stake. The battle goes …

Freedom of Religion Report

… female concert-goers but did not punish fans who ignored the barriers.
Between 2002 and 2005 Bulukumba regency in South Sulawesi promulgated four local laws implementing elements of Shari'a for all Muslims in the regency. [ Bulukumba, various]. The local laws enforced Islamic dress, antialcohol and narcotics measures, with caning as a form of punishment. The Bulukumba regent claimed that 100 percent of Muslim women wore headscarves. In Padang, West Sumatra, the mayor instructed all …

Christian Law

… to the existence of local laws that apply some aspects of Islamic sharia law (see for example in Bulukumba ) could not be understood because the laws of Christianity were very similar to those of the sharia. He mentioned by name the Partai Damai Sejahtera (PDS), a Protestant political party whose parliamentarians are fiercely opposed to any Islamic laws in Indonesia (see MP's Denounce Sharia Laws.)

So it's strange that Christians oppose Islamic law when their own law is very similar, …

Non-Muslims Support Sharia

The mayor of Bulukumba in south Sulawesi says non-Muslims support the imposition of sharia law in his regency.

Andi Partabai Pobokori, the mayor, said in Jakarta on Monday:

The non-Muslim community supports the application of local laws with an Islamic basis in Bulukumba. At the Islamic Community Congress in Bulukumba they also put up banners in support of it.
(Umat non Muslim juga mendukung …

Preparatory Committee for the Application of Islamic Laws

… adopted some sharia, namely the municipalities of Enrekang, Gowa, Takalar, Maros, Sinjai, and Bulukumba. The actual regulations deal with the obligation of paying zakat, or charity tax, requirement of Muslim women to cover their hair and maintain modesty in appearance, ability to read the Qur'an for students and budding newlyweds, and the prohibition of alcohol.

For Azis the measures were an only partial application of sharia law as they only extend to matters aimed at …

Eighteen Regencies Sharia Bound

… Initially, only a few regions such as Cianjur, Tasikmalaya [in west Java], Padang [in Sumatra] and Bulukumba [in south Sulawesi] introduced this law. In 2005, 13 regencies demanded sharia and up to now, 18 regions have already adopted it or are about to do so.

Some of the regencies have even adopted sharia in a way that discriminates against minority groups. For instance, the Padang municipal administration issued a bylaw requiring all schoolgirls, regardless of their religion, to wear the …

Ahmadiyah

Ahmadiyah and the struggle for Indonesia.

Bulukumba, in south Sulawesi, is one of those places where sharia law has partially been introduced and is a good example of the problems facing Indonesia as it struggles to decide, or avoids making any decision at all, whether to take what is more or less the "western" route, secular liberal democracy, or turn back to an Islamic based system of medieval Arab heritage.

There are many ways …

Creeping Sharia Draws Protests

… in recent years, principally in the towns of Padang in West Sumatra, Cianjur in West Java, Bulukumba in South Sulawesi, and Pamekasan on the island of Madura in East Java.

Such laws are usually targeted against women, gamblers, and drinkers. While laws against gambling and alcohol can be argued to not necessarily emanate from sharia principles alone the restrictions of female dress have drawn the most protests since these are a clear violation of the 2004 law on Regional Autonomy …