Roles
The government, at the creation of the MUI stated three broad goals for the MUI:
- Strengthening religion in the way the Pancasila describes to ensure national resilience.
- Participation of the Ulama in national development.
- The maintenance of harmony between the different religions in Indonesia.
The MUI acts as an interface between the Indonesian government, which is secular, and the Islamic community.
The changes in civil society after the fall of Suharto have both widened the role of the MUI and made it more complex. The MUI gives fatwas to the Islamic community; through this they dictate the general direction of Islamic life in Indonesia.
The MUI (particularly since the fall of Suharto) have given opinion and issued fatwas on a large variety of issues, from the role of the Indonesian Army in government to the public acceptability of the dancing of pop star Inul Darista.
Read more about this topic: Indonesian Ulema Council
Famous quotes containing the word roles:
“There is a striking dichotomy between the behavior of many women in their lives at work and in their lives as mothers. Many of the same women who are battling stereotypes on the job, who are up against unspoken assumptions about the roles of men and women, seem to accept—and in their acceptance seem to reinforce—these roles at home with both their sons and their daughters.”
—Ellen Lewis (20th century)
“It was always the work that was the gyroscope in my life. I don’t know who could have lived with me. As an architect you’re absolutely devoured. A woman’s cast in a lot of roles and a man isn’t. I couldn’t be an architect and be a wife and mother.”
—Eleanore Kendall Pettersen (b. 1916)