Nur Amali Ibrahim, assistant professor of religious studies and international studies at Indiana University, will give a lecture entitled "Liberal Islam: Religious Play in Post‐Authoritarian Indonesia" on Monday, April 23 at 5:00 p.m. in Chemistry Building (CHEM) Room 144 on the University of Arkansas Campus.

Learn more about the event on its Facebook page.

Many new religious and political actors emerged in Indonesia following the deposal of Indonesian President Suharto's authoritarian regime in 1998 and the subsequent adoption of democratic systems. Emerging from Islamic seminaries and universities, individuals calling themselves 'Liberal Muslims' seek to inject values like individual autonomy, gender equality, and human rights into Islam, and do so by interpreting Islamic scripture through the lens of Western humanities and social sciences. This reinterpretation occurs in private study settings that permit insults, jokes, and laughter, which render religious doctrines vulnerable and changeable.

Focusing on the playful aspects of the liberal Muslim pedagogy, this talk explores the potential and limits of religious critique in politically fluid contexts. Indonesia’s Muslim population is estimated to be the largest in the world, with nearly 225 million practitioners. The Indonesian case study, which occurs in a heightened and volatile political context, brings into sharper relief processes that are happening in ordinary Muslim life everywhere

This lecture is presented by the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies, the Asian Studies Program, and the Department of Anthropology, and is free and open to the public.