Wisata Religi - Religiöser Tourismus

Spirituelle Ökonomien und islamische Machtkämpfe in Indonesien

Abstract

Contemporary Indonesia witnesses a variety of entanglements and ambiguous encounters between economic and religious spheres with particular ramifications for Islam, the religion of the vast majority of Indonesians. The article is concerned with "religious tourism" (Wisata Religi) as an example for such entanglements. It examines the rise of Islamic pilgrimages (ziarah) during Suharto's so-called New Order (1966-98) and analyses the re-positioning of the pilgrimage phenomenon as "religious tourism" in Post-Suharto-times pursued by both state actors, such as the Ministry of Tourism, and Muslims active in or close to Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). The article reflects on this "invention" of religious tourism by discussing the conjuncture of new spiritual economies with ideological differences that characterise the Islamic field in Post-Suharto-Indonesia. Arguing that both the marketization of pilgrimage and its recognition by the state as "religious tourism" adds considerable legitimacy to a practice which is contested within Islam, the paper concludes that the new Wisata Religi further strengthens the Islamic current represented by NU and its self-perception of being "moderate" as opposed to radical Islamic groups in Indonesia which reject ziarah.