Authors: Tim Lindsey, University of Melbourne, and Cate Sumner, Indonesia

Once routinely described as ‘Islam with a smiling face,’ the image of Indonesian Islam has been sullied in recent years by a noisy minority of radicals.

The toxic combination of the violent terrorism of Jemaah Islamiyah, vigilante gangs like the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam), inter-religious civil wars in eastern Indonesia, and local governments legislating conservative versions of sharia have all given the impression to some outsiders of an incipient takeover by what Indonesians call ‘hardliners’ (garis keras). Read more…