Islam and Politics in Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia is characterized by ethnic and religious diversity. Islam is the most widespread religion in Indonesia and most of the Indonesian population is Muslim. Indonesian society is based on the principles of religious tolerance. The equality of people is the most important socio-political value of the Indonesian society, which guarantees an equality for allpeople, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or social class. Religion can be the foundation that can strengthen the country and become the foundation for development. At the same time, religion may not be the official state ideology. We study the relationship between religion and state in Indonesia. What problems arise in the relationship between religion and the state? This study aims to find out how Islam and politics in Indonesia are in harmony with the ideology of the Indonesian nation and how religious values can support moral foundations of Indonesian politics. We used analyze secondary sociological data and studied researches of the largest Indonesian academics on the problems of the relationship between religion and politics. We used the method of library research with abstracting and collecting data. A new set of scientific sources in the Indonesian language is being introduced into scientific circulation. The results of the study showed that Indonesia is not a democracy based on the principles of democratic processes of Western Europe. The peculiarity of Indonesia lies in the interaction of religious values and the politics. Indonesian politics is characterized by religious tolerance. At the same time, religious and cultural values are incorporated into the political practices of Indonesia in the form of moral and ethical guidelines. Thus, Indonesia is not a religious or secular country, but a country where religious values are the moral and ethical main ideology of state development.

Islam, religion, ideology, Indonesia, Indonesian politics, religious tolerance