Ulma Haryanto – Several religious organizations in Bekasi have recommended that every Mosque in Bakasi on the outskirts of Jakarta form militia units and called on all local Muslims to

Anita Rachman & Ulma Haryanto – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle lawmakers on Friday demanded the president take action against hard-line Islamic groups, after a meeting betw

Banyuwangi, East Java – A public meeting on free health care services sponsored by the House of Representatives here on Thursday was rudely disrupted by a crowd that considered it to be

Ulma Haryanto, Zaky Pawas & Made Arya Kencana - A day after the Bekasi government sealed another Protestant church because of constant pressure from hard-line groups, the Islamic De

Ulma Haryanto – In a sign of increasing religious tension in Bekasi, members of hard-line groups gathered on Sunday to discuss a coordinated response to bring the city neighboring Jakar

Peter Gelling, Jakarta – Indonesia's Constitutional Court held dozens of hearings and heard testimonies from more than 50 religious experts of all stripes during its six month review of

Armando Siahaan – The country's various Islam-based political parties must consolidate their splintered ideologies and find a strong figurehead if they are to bounce back from their poo

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesia may face disintegration if its national ideology, Pancasila, is replaced by sharia, said politicians and historians Monday.

Amir Tejo, Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – Transvestites on Monday lambasted a religious ruling banning them from cutting or styling Muslim women's hair unless they were spouses or b

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Activists rejected a government's plan to centralize the collection and management of alms or zakat, arguing the move would end privately run alms inst

Surabaya – A preacher and former chairman of the Reform Star Party (PBR), a splinter of the United Development Party (PPP), Zainuddin MZ, said politics was "no place for clerics".

One hundred and twenty-five Islamic boarding schools or pesantren from Java and Madura island issued a fatwa banning transvestites from cutting and/or styling Muslim women's hair unless

Ulma Haryanto – Hard-line groups that convinced or intimidated Bekasi authorities into ordering the destruction of an imposing statue of three women in a private residential complex hav

Nurfika Osman – The number of divorces registered by the country's Islamic courts has been rising sharply in recent years, despite a costly ongoing government program that provides coun

Nurfika Osman & Ismira Lutfia – As Indonesia called for calm, Muslim scholars expressed outrage over a page on the social networking site Facebook that encourages people to draw ima

Camelia Pasandaran – In some of his strongest comments against terrorists yet, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday called on all Indonesians to join the government in combating

Rofiuddin, Semarang – Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali lamented the growing misconception of unlimited freedom that has entered the minds of Islam's followers.

Zaky Pawas & Ulma Haryanto – Three statuesque women carved in steel and an incident involving the Koran have both caused an uproar amongst conservative and hardline Islamic communit

The recent spate of attacks against Christian places of worship could be blamed on a culture of intolerance fostered over the past decade, according to observers.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Muslim intellectuals are urging lawmakers at the House of Representatives to take steps to revise the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law.

Ulma Haryanto – A top government official has condoned the mob attack on a Christian-affiliated building site near Bogor, even as a church council called it symptomatic of the weak law

Muhammad Nafik – The Constitutional Court has upheld the controversial Blasphemy Law, turning down a request for it to review the 45-year old law.

Mohammad Yazid, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court (MK) ruled Monday to uphold the 45-year-old Blasphemy Law after a judicial review request was filed last October by human rights group

Ulma Haryanto – At least 60 workers have been put out of work after Islamic militants mistakenly attacked what they believed was the construction site of a new church.

France and Belgium would be guilty of abusing women's rights if they followed through on plans to ban the wearing of burqas in public, Indonesia's top Islamic body said on Thursday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The Medan branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has condemned a blog it claims goes under the guise of Islam but is in fact misleading and insults Islam.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has again become the target of criticism following its ruling on the controversial Blasphemy Law, with plaintiffs accusing the

Todung Mulya Lubis – The Constitutional Court (MK) ruled Monday to uphold the 45-year-old Blasphemy law after a judicial review request was filed last October by human rights groups and

Jakarta – Renowned lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said Tuesday that the Constitutional Court's (MK) ruling to uphold the Blasphemy Law for its role in preventing vertical and horizontal conf

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court on Monday ruled to uphold the controversial Blasphemy Law, a decision that plaintiffs said was mainly based on fears of a publ

Washington – A United States government watchdog on Monday criticized Indonesia's Constitutional Court for upholding a law against blasphemy, fearing it may embolden extremists.

Anita Rachman & Amir Tejo – Legislators overseeing religious affairs say they expect the Constitutional Court today to issue the "correct" verdict in regard to the 1965 Blasphemy La

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Ahead of the much-awaited ruling on the controversial Blasphemy Law, plaintiffs are holding their breath in anticipation of what they expect to be a hi

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Three months after the Bekasi administration sealed off the small plot of land where they had been conducting church services, members of the Filadelfia Huri

Jakarta – The Setara Institute, a non-profit organization which promotes tolerance and pluralism in Indonesia, has asked the police to have regional morality bylaws deemed threatening p

While most Christians peacefully held Good Friday services across the country on Friday, at least 1,000 churchgoers in Pa-rung, Bogor, had to pray at a restaurant after protests by Musl

Senior cleric and deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama's legal advisory board Masyhuri Na'im said on Friday that Muslims should not use the term kafir, or infidel, lightly.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Critically acclaimed cinematographer and cultural observer Garin Nugroho, who testified as an expert in a hearing of the judicial review request of the

Ulma Haryanto – Members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front assaulted four people in the basement of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday on the last day of arguments in a case see

Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Anita Rachman – After recently shocking many by issuing a religious edict banning smoking, the country's second-largest Islamic organization has stirred a

Anita Rachman, Makassar (South Sulawesi) – Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali defended Indonesia's blasphemy law at a conference of the nation's largest Muslim organization, and

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Two more experts recommended Friday that the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law be revised as critics warned of civil conflict if the law was changed.

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court must be firm on members of hard-line Islamic groups who intimidated petitioners of the blasphemy law judicial review by issuing threats and shouting r

US President Barack Obama must be welcomed as a guest during his much-anticipated state visit next week, say moderate Indonesian Islamic groups, including Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiy

Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – A growing debate in the religious arena over smoking intensified on Sunday, with senior officials from the country's largest Muslim organization and i

Camelia Pasandaran – Islamic scholars and religious experts on Friday demanded the Constitutional Court either revise or annul the 1965 Law on Blasphemy, arguing that the outdated law c

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Academics took to the stand Wednesday in the judicial review of the blasphemy law, as hard-line Islamic groups warned of a violent backlash should the

Ulma Haryanto – Heated debate and cries from a rowdy crowd marked Wednesday's hearing in the judicial review of the 1965 Blasphemy Law, as leaders of the hardline Islamic Defenders Fron

Nurfika Osman – A day after Muhammadiyah issued a fatwa banning its followers from lighting up, both the organization and antitobacco campaigners have targeted cigarette advertising as

Nurfika Osman & Antara – Among the many people demanding changes to the 1965 Law on the Prevention of Blasphemy and Abuse of Religion, Sardy, an ordinary Indonesian citizen, told th