En-Chieh Chao, Entangled Pieties: Muslim–Christian Relations and Gendered Sociality in Java, Indonesia (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). Pp. xv + 223. £ 74.99 (Hardback and Paperback). £ 59.99 (ebook). ISBN: 978-3-319-83938-7 (Paperback). ISBN: 978-3-319-48419-8 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-3-319-48420-4 (eBook).

Religious diversity constitutes an important feature of Indonesian community. Conflicts involving people of different religious backgrounds often make the headlines, even though most people maintain peaceful relationships. Therefore, I am grateful that En-Chieh Chao has focused her study on the relatively peaceful interreligious relations in Salatiga that are rarely studied by researchers of Indonesia. In my own academic journey, I must sometimes reject an invitation for a conference or to write a book chapter due to a theme that only emphasizes the negative aspects of interreligious relations in Indonesia, including faith-based polarization, persecution against religious minorities, and other similar topics. By contrast, in my own research I attempt to underline some positive aspects of the relations, noting best practices by various actors, including individuals, communities, civil society organizations, academic institutions as well as governments. I agree with the author of this book who argues that Indonesian Muslims and Christians live side by side in real life, while acknowledging the urban riots taking place in different places in Indonesia.

The research focuses on two Pentecostal congregations, namely Ester and Fendi (pseudonyms) in downtown Salatiga, and on two Muslim women’s Islamic sermon groups (pengajian) in the neighborhoods of Sinaran and Graha (pseudonyms); this offers fascinating insights into religious and social practices and raises points relevant for the understanding of religious resurgence, the dynamics of Muslim-Christian relations, and women’s agency, well beyond this Javanese urban landscape. The question put forward by the author “How do middle-class Muslims and Christians renegotiate social life in a time of both Islamic resurgence and Pentecostal expansion?” (3) is indeed crucial, especially when it is examined in its relation to the social position of women and religious minorities. While Islamic resurgence, especially in Indonesia, often attracts wide attention, to the best of my knowledge little research has been conducted on the Indonesian Pentecostal expansion. Gudorf, Bagir, and Tahun’s study (2014) on the growth of Pentecostalism in the largest Muslim majority nation is something of an exception.

In addition, the author of this book has successfully analyzed the complex interplay of religion and gender by capturing the dynamic of gendered Muslim–Christian relations, including the strategy of presence and absence as the neighborhood community grapples with the tension between customary sociality and different expressions of piety. While Muslim women have experienced more prominent roles in ritual spaces, at least since the mid-1980s, the Islamic resurgence has unintendedly led to the limitation of Javanese Christian women’s participation in these events. The ability to capture these dynamics proves the depth of the research conducted by the author.

The author’s specific angle on gendered encounters between normative Islam and Pentecostal Christianity, and particularly the argument that the shifting position of Muslim women from “behind the scenes” to “the main stage” (10), also contributes significantly to the discourse on interreligious relations. And the fact that this research on interreligious interactions is written by a woman strengthens this contribution. It is common knowledge that in a more formal setting, interreligious dialogue and formal encounters mainly involve religious leaders who are mostly (if not exclusively) men. Women and women’s voices have often been unheard and have largely escaped scholarly attention. However, the author shows that Muslim women hold prominent positions in life-cycle ceremonies, even though gender asymmetry continues (120).

Ritual practices conducted by Muslim women in Salatiga are very much related to the concept of “religious authority,” as observed by Alatas (2021). Borrowing the concept from Hannah Arendt, Alatas underlines that authority is a relation that is different from power and hierarchical relations. Rather, religious authority needs to be assembled through an unceasing labor of cultivating the community and is a full-time job. Bu Eka’s leadership and Bu Enny’s active involvement in communal rites in Salatiga, for example, are clear illustrations that religious authority is not given at birth and needs hard work to attain. These women do not resist the patriarchal structure in the community, but instead painstakingly exercise their freedom to construct their own versions of piety and authority.

This parallels a recent study of Indonesian Ba ‘Alawi female preachers (Husein 2021), who preserve and transmit the teachings of the Thariqah ‘Alawiyyah, a Sufi path that was established by the founding ancestor of Ba ‘Alawi named Muhammad bin ‘Ali ‘Alawi (d. 1255), a path that is traditionally reserved for men. As the author of the book demands a reconsideration of the assumption that “revivals of ‘scriptural religions’ must result in an unprecedented expansion of the male domain in public affairs and religious life” (120), the ethnographic research on three Ba ‘Alawi female preachers in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Solo (major cities in Java, Indonesia) also shows that even though historically the men of the community were the main guardians and transmitters of the thariqah, women are now adopting this role as well. This exemplifies the Ba ‘Alawi women’s “ascendance in ritual space” (94), as is the case in Salatiga.

I am also particularly interested in the concept of dialogic religiosity as outlined by the author. As she argues, “the process of making religiosity is dynamically derived from anticipation of and responses to multiple religious voices, which carry specific socio-political implications” (20). Furthermore, she explains that dialogic religiosity as entangled pieties is “constructed by a constant flexibility of thoughts and praxis that always anticipates and responds to a super-addressee” (21), which, in the context of the Salatigan Muslims, includes fellow Indonesian citizens and the global Muslim community (umma). However, I wonder how this “dialogic religiosity,” where Islamic and Christian activities influence each other in people’s everyday life, is being maintained during the time of political tensions when faith-based polarization increases? It would be interesting to know how this would impact the current relations between Muslims and Christians in Salatiga.

In Chapter 2, the author discusses in great detail the interaction between the entangled history of Islam and Christianity in Java, underlining their mutual influence and competition. In so doing, she starts with the discussion of the plural faces of the Islamization of Java, the Dutch’s ambivalent attitudes toward Islam in Java, and the rise of Islamic reformism. The data presented are very rich, providing balanced information from both sides, Islam and Christianity. In discussing the Dutch encroachment, it would have been helpful to have added an explanation of the Dutch policy toward Muslims and Christians. While it seemed true that the Dutch officially took a neutral stance toward religion, as manifested, for example, in limiting permission for Christian missionary activities, the missionaries continued their Christianization work without government approval. This is an important factor to bear in mind for later explanations of the dynamics of Muslim–Christian relations in Salatiga.

A similar situation took place in Salatiga in 2007 over the issue of Salib Putih (White Cross), a partially state-owned piece of land managed by a Christian social foundation and the Javanese Christian Church, as discussed in the book. Mayor Manoppo’s strategy to offer Muslims in Salatiga a new office for the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) and funding for a grand mosque for the city, as well as the mayoral office’s endorsement of the Yayasan Universitas Islam Salatiga (YUIS) to have access to Salib Putih, was a clear strategy “to avoid stirring up the sensibilities of the Muslim population” (34) as practiced by the Dutch. This time, however, the mayor seemed to have cleverly won both Muslim and Christian hearts because the decision for the right of usage of Salib Putih land did not depend on him or his office. Even though the Indonesian National Land Agency later decided to extend the Javanese Christian Church (Gereja Kristen Jawa)’s usage rights, it was not the mayor’s decision.

Indeed, interreligious relations in Salatiga are complex. A friend of mine, who is a Protestant pastor from Salatiga, told me that Pentecostal churches in the city have been very active, especially since the 1980s and 1990s when they had many programs to help local farmers. In addition, there are many retreat houses on the way to Kopeng, which clearly displays Pentecostalism’s presence in the public space. He further explained that, in the past, there were many ecumenical churches in areas around Salatiga which later had to compete with Pentecostal churches, especially over the concept of “mission.” These phenomena, he argued, naturally created concern among Muslims and among Christians of other dominations.

In the discussion on nation-building and religionization (41), I am particularly interested to know how the author outlines the New Order (1966–1998)’s policies toward Indonesian Muslims in order to later understand the mutual influence and competition between Muslims and Christians at the national level. However, this question is not dealt with in the book. As is well known, the early years in power of Indonesia’s first president, Soeharto, especially between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, showed a constant resistance toward Islamic political power. His policy of depoliticizing Muslim activities showed a striking resemblance to the policy adopted by the Dutch. In addition, the military was dominated by abangan (nominal Muslims) and Christians, and santri (pious Muslims, also students of Islamic boarding schools) were clearly eliminated. The portfolios of economic affairs within the cabinet were also dominated by Christians, including Radius Prawiro (a Protestant) as Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance, and Industry, Johannes Sumarlin (a Catholic) as Minister of Finance, and Adrianus Mooy (a Protestant) as Central Bank Governor (Husein 2005). I believe these accounts would have provided a useful context to better understand “the entanglement between Islam, Christianity, and Indonesian notions of modernity” (53), and Muslim–Christian relations in Salatiga.

It is clear in the book that the issue of Christianization is real and influences Muslim–Christian relations in Salatiga. In relation to the issue of Christianization the author emphasizes that it is “not just an Islamist agenda only supported by religious extremists” but is also confirmed by pro-pluralist Muslims (68–69). A study conducted on Muslim–Christian relations in Indonesia in the early 2000s (Husein 2005) interviewed some Muslims whom the author categorized as exclusivists. Their perspectives toward “Christians” could be explained through at least two aspects. First, is theological. They often referred to a particular Qur’anic verse [2: 120]: “The Jews and the Christians will never be satisfied with you, O Muhammad, until you follow their way.” They argued that this was a clear explanation as to why Christians, especially, would never stop Christianizing Indonesian Muslims. The second aspect is historical. Exclusivist Muslims pointed to some Indonesian historical accounts, including the New Order’s policies including those of President Soeharto that were perceived as victimizing Muslims (92–215). Coupled with the above Qur’anic verse, concerns about a plan to Christianize Indonesia was not uncommon among Indonesian Muslims, which could also explain the state of current Muslim-Christian relations in Salatiga.

The author also discusses how the community in Salatiga dislikes and even punishes those who are deemed to be fanatics (7). It would be interesting to know how the Muslim community in Salatiga might change with the challenge of Islamism in Indonesia. The author does actually mention the presence of Salafists in Salatiga, and defines them as those “puritanical” Muslims in general, who are overly strict and who separate themselves from the community by their unconventional gender practices (195). One additional contingency that could be added here is the doctrine of al-wala’ wa al-bara’ or loyalty and disavowal—namely loyalty to those who are proper Muslims (i.e., Salafis, and only Salafis), and disavowal/avoidance of all those who are non-Muslim or who profess a corrupted variety of Islam (Haykel 2014; Wahid 2014). This definition could help us to understand the dynamics between Muslim and Christian and among Muslim themselves in Salatiga.

It would also be interesting to know about the role of social media in the daily interaction between Muslim and Christian women in Salatiga, a factor that was not discussed in the book due to the timing of the research. In addition, a closer observation of the approaching 2024 Indonesian national elections, and in particular the rise of faith-based polarization (Ubaid and Habibisubandi 2017), and research findings (such as by Mujani and Liddle 2021) connecting the backsliding of democracy with the emergence of polarization that challenges pluralism and tolerance, would give a more dynamic picture of the relations between the two religious groups. Coupled with the mobilization of civil society organizations for interfaith and interreligious interactions in the greater Salatiga area in the past few years, follow-up research in Salatiga would be very fruitful.

To conclude, the writer has richly presented Islam and Christianity as important forces in Indonesia that need to be understood together. I read the book with enthusiasm and found many interesting and important points that add to my knowledge on interreligious interactions in Indonesia. I will definitely use the book for my inter-religious dialogue and engagement class at the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, Yogyakarta, this coming semester.