A model of tolerance

摘要

If you are trying to get to grips with Indo-nesian Islam, the village of Lingsar on the island of Lombok is a good place to start On the outskirts of the village stands a leafy religious compound consisting of three adjacent courtyards. The one in the middle houses a shrine sacred not only to the Wetu Telu, followers of Lombok's traditional brand of Islam, but also to the island's tiny Christian and Buddhist communities. The one on the left contains a Hindu temple, maintained by immigrants from the neighbouring island of Bali, who account for a fifth of Lombok's population. In the third courtyard, devotees of all four religions wash side by side in a fountain fed by four streams of holy water. The Muslim section of the compound bears no resemblance to a mosque. It is not aligned towards Mecca, has no minaret to summon the faithful to prayer, nor any space for them to pray. Instead, pilgrims make offering to sacred stones from Mount Rinjani, the volcano that dominates the island. The main difference between the rituals of local Hindus and Muslims, a guide helpfully explains, lies in the offerings they leave for the spirits of the rocks: Muslims tend to place incense and betel nuts on banana leaves, whereas Hindus wrap their gifts of rice and flowers in palm fronds.