Hera Diani, Jakarta – Liberal Muslim scholars here welcomed on Monday the news of a woman leading a mixed-gender Friday prayer service in New York last week.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Conservative religious understanding and cultural elements have hampered the development of the political role of women here, the Women's Research Institute (WRI)

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Prominent Muslim scholars threw their weight behind a demand for the revival of the alternative draft Islamic law code, which they say will encourage gender equali

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Women activists are seeking to revive an alternative draft for an Islamic code of law (KHI), which they say would help reduce domestic violence cases.

Jakarta – With US helicopters dropping noodles instead of bombs and soldiers carrying rice rather than guns, the United States was confident its enormous efforts to help Asian tsunami v

Philip Cornford, Banda Aceh – "They come as angels. They are our friends," said Almascaty after the fundamentalist's first meeting yesterday with an Australian army captain.

Vaudine England – Father Fernando, aged 70, is more comfortable speaking Indonesian or his native Italian, rather than English.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An Islamic extremist group led by elderly cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, currently standing trial in Jakarta on terror charges, has established dozens of new branch

Jakarta – Fears of attacks by Islamic militants are forcing some Christians in Indonesia to abandon traditional churches in favour of more discreet and secure venues this Christmas.

Jakarta – A group of Muslim hard-liners called on the House of Representatives on Wednesday to begin work on a bill that would limit the construction of other religions' places of worsh

Marwaan Macan-Markar, Bangkok – The new leader of the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has a serious challenge ahead, having stepped

Yogyakarta – About 2,000 people from a range of Islamic organizations in the province staged a protest here on Friday against gambling after the police chief let a suspected gambling op

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Although it is emerging as the world's largest Muslim democracy, the country still has a long way to go until it plays a greater role in the Muslim world and o

Devi Asmarani, Yogyakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday urged religious leaders to play a strong role to build tolerance in their communities in the fight ag

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Scholars on Islamic studies warned on Saturday that religious radicalism would continue to grow over the next few years, partly due to perceived unfair treatme

Religious leaders from 13 countries gathered in the heartland of Indonesia's al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group to discuss how to combat sectarian extremism.

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Jakarta – An Indonesian Islamist group said yesterday it was sending volunteers to help Iraq's resistance forces.

Jakarta – Muslim scholars stressed at the weekend that the propagation of Islamic teachings was actually a call to discuss the teachings of Islam.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assigned Religious Minister Maftuh Basyuni to find out how prevalent religious discrimination is in the country and to rev

Officials in Jakarta denied that Indonesian militants might be among Islamic insurgents fighting US forces in Iraq.

Jakarta – A survey showed yesterday that many Indonesians support the implementation of strict Islamic law.

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Pandaya, Jakarta – In recent years Indonesia has sadly been witnessing a wide variety of religious conflicts that have corroded the glue that keeps this multiethnic, multi-religious nat

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – At the end of his sermon, a Muslim preacher in South Jakarta switched to a favourite subject: Kristenisasi, or the Christianisation of fellow believers.

Pekanbaru – The Pekanbaru municipal government warned on Tuesday that government officials would shave sex workers' heads, if they were found operating during Ramadhan.

Newly-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would consider becoming a globe-trotting advocate for moderate Islam, promoting peace in hotspots such as the Middle

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's self-appointed guardians of morality, the once disbanded radical Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), have once again resorted to violence in the nation's

Yogyakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais said on Saturday he would let Muhammadiyah followers build their own political party if they perceived that PAN had fai

At least two known vigilante groups have been conducting raids and trashing entertainment spots across Greater Jakarta during Ramadhan fasting month.

Muslim militants in Indonesia's capital have vandalised a cafe in an area popular with foreigners because it was serving beer during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police announced on Friday that they objected to the the recent vandalism by at least two known vigilante groups who have been conducting raids and tr

Puji Santoso, Pekanbaru – Although Indonesia is not an Islamic state, authorities in Riau province rounded up a number of civil servants for not fasting and food stall owners for openin

Jakarta – At the end of his tenure as minister of religious affairs, Said Agil Al Munawwar sparked controversy on Tuesday by banning any discussion of a draft revision of the Body of Is

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Yulianti, a bartender at a nightclub in Surabaya, had a busy couple of nights before Ramadhan started on Friday.

Jakarta – The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan started yesterday and the Indonesian entertainment industry is grumbling over local edicts to close nightclubs, massage parlours and amuse

Semarang/Medan/Banda Aceh/Indramayu – Millions of Indonesian Muslims, who account for some 85 percent of the total 220 million population in the country, began fasting dawn-to-dusk on F

Sjofiardi Bachyul and Ruslan Sangadji, Padang/Palu – Thousands of Muslim students and activists held protest demonstrations in various cities nationwide on Wednesday in a bid to pressur

Depok – The Depok chapter of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) threatened to raid nightclubs if the administration did not close them down during Ramadhan.

Blontank Poer/Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Hundreds of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) members ended a three-day conference in Cirebon, West Java on Sunday, with several recommendations including a cha

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Women activists have criticized the state for intervening in people's personal affairs using religion as a justification, which they say has led to disc

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Hera Diani, Jakarta – As the projector flickered, people in interfaith relationships told their stories.

Almost all religions forbid homosexuality as can be seen in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible or the people of the Prophet Luth in the Koran.

Mujiburrahman, Paris – Over the past two decades, debates and controversies have abounded among Indonesian Muslims on the interpretations of Islamic theological and legal doctrines on i

Tiarma Siboro and M.

Muhammad Uzair and Suherdjoko, Palembang/Semarang – In observance of Jilbab (Muslim headscarf) International Solidarity Day on Saturday, hundreds of Indonesian Muslim women staged separ

Jakarta – The United States yesterday announced US$468 million (S$802 million) in aid to Indonesia, earmarking part of it for improving Islamic schools, which have been blamed for encou

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – After weeks of controversy, the government-sanctioned Film Censorship Institute (LSF) pulled local movie Buruan Cium Gue (Kiss me quick) from cinemas.

Olivier Roy, Project Syndicate – Many believe that religious revival and political radicalism among Muslims who reside in the West reflects the traditions and conflicts of the Middle Ea