Abstrack:
Ahmadiyya community is a minority muslim group in Indonesia often experiencing persecution and violence from radical groups because of their distinctive belief. Ahmadiyya in Indonesia has been in existence since 1924 and spread across the archipelago. Now the community is numbered at around 600,000 people with most Ahmadis living in West Java. Ahmadiyya community in different areas of Indonesia has experienced varied treatments from the local governments. Ahmadis in West Java and Lombok are the most vulnerable and get worse treatment from their local government. However, the Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta enjoy their religious freedom, allowing them to conduct their religious activities without any hassles from people and also the government. Moreover, they can participate in many inter-religious dialogues in Yogyakarta. This paper questions why the Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta can live in harmony with others and relatively safe while others not. What the factors causing these circumstances? Are there any local wisdom that can be derived from the Ahmadiyya community and Yogyakarta, which significantly influence the respect for religious diversity? This paper examines the Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta and its activities in maintaining their faith and also preserving local values of Yogyakarta. Besides active in their own religious community, as part of Yogyakarta, the Ahmadiyya community also partake in wider community activities. In addition, this paper also explores the experience of Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta in the context of Yogyakarta as a cultural city. It argues that the Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta is safe and treated well because of several factors. First, there is a compatibility between Ahmadiyya values and local wisdom of Yogyakarta. Second, Yogyakarta itself as a unique province provides freedom and tolerance to any kind of religious and ethnic groups. Third, the role of Sultan in protecting all people regardless their belief, ethnic, religions. And the last one, there is a special character of Ahmadiyya community in Yogyakarta which different from other Ahmadiyya community in other part of Indonesia.
Full Text: