Aceh and State-supported Religion: The Case of Religious Minorities Under Qanun No. 4/2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22373/jsai.v6i3.8350Keywords:
Politics of Religion, State-Support, Religious Minorities, AcehAbstract
This article examines how Aceh’s Qanun No. 4/2016 functions as an instrument that legitimizes state-supported in restricting the rights of religious minority groups. While previous studies have addressed the broader institutionalization of interreligious relations in Aceh, few have analyzed how specific legal instruments control religious minorities. This study posted two questions: how does Qanun No. 4/2016 operate as a mechanism of state support for the majority religion, and what does this reveal about post-conflict religious politics in Aceh? Using qualitative policy analysis conducted from April to June 2025, it combines document analysis of Articles 13, 18, and 19 with interviews of minority representatives and religious freedom activists. The findings highlight a form of state-support that is formally legitimized through a sharia-based local legal framework, which has an impact on limiting the access and rights of non-Muslim groups to establish places of worship. In the context of the politics of religion, this qanun is part of a strategy to institutionalize certain religious identities by the local government, which not only creates inequality in relations between religious communities, but also strengthens the exclusivity of religious identities in the public sphere. The implication of this study is to highlight how legal provisions become a tool of majority group hegemony in the name of law and religious morality.
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