ebooks Perfection Makes Practice: Learning; Emotion; and the Recited Quran in Indonesia by Anna M. Gade in History

Description

The Javanese - one of the largest ethnic groups in the Islamic world - were once mostly 'nominal Muslims'; with pious believers a minority and the majority seemingly resistant to Islam's call for greater piety. Over the tumultuous period analyzed here - from colonial ruler through Japanese occupation and Revolution to the chaotic democracy of the Sukarno period; the Soeharto regime's aspirant totalitarianism and the democratic period since - that society has changed profoundly to become an extraordinary example of the rising religiosity that marks the modern age.Islamisation and Its Opponents in Java draws on a formidable body of sources; including interviews; archival documents and a vast range of published material; to situate the Javanese religious experience from the 1930s to the present day in its local political; social; cultural and religious settings. The concluding part of the author's monumental three-volume series assessing more than six centuries of the on-going Islamisation of Javanese; the study has considerable relevance for much wider contexts. Beliefs; or disbeliefs; about the supernatural are important in all societies; and the final section of the book; which considers the significance of Java's religious history in global contexts; shows how it exemplifies a profound contest of values in the universal human search for a better life.