Between Buffet-Style Islam and the Complete-Package Islam: The Indonesian Ulama Council Balancing Moderation and Orthodoxy

Since the fall of Suharto in 1998, Indonesia has witnessed an intensified public role for religious authority alongside the consolidation of democratic institutions. Within this transformed political landscape, the Indonesian Ulama Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI) is tremendously influential, serving as a government advisory body. This article approaches the MUI through the continuum between buffet-style Islam and complete-package Islam. “Buffet-style” refers to approaches where believers selectively interpret and practice Islam according to their individual choices. In contrast, complete-package Islam emphasises a holistic understanding of Islam where religious doctrine functions as an integrated system under recognised religious authority. Rather than treating these tendencies as segregated extreme poles, the article argues that they exist along a continuum continuously negotiated within Indonesian Islam. Viewed within this framework, the MUI’s trajectory reveals a striking paradox. Fatwas against pluralism and Ahmadiyya reflected strong commitments to doctrinal orthodoxy and boundary-making authority. Simultaneously, the rise in religious moderation has increasingly positioned the MUI within state-sponsored discourses of tolerance and harmony. By situating the MUI within this continuum, the article examines how it negotiates the tensions between doctrinal authority and religious moderation and the extent to which this negotiation shapes the governance of pluralism in democratic Indonesia.