The Ideology of Shari'a Implementation in Contemporary Aceh

Associate Professor, Michael Feener, NUS, will give a guest lecture at ToRS on 31 March. The topic he will be addressing is the articulation of the particular reformist re-conceptualizations of Islam underlying state projects for the implementation of Islamic law in Contemporary Aceh, Indonesia.

While a growing body of work exists on the development of legislation and formal legal institutions connected with this, far less attention has been paid to the important role of new understandings of Islam in this broader transformation of Acehnese society.

After an introductory overview to the process of Shari'a implementation in the province, this presentation will explore the genealogy and reception of the dominant ideology motivating these developments. 

Michael Feener is concurrently Associate Professor of History at the National University of Singapore and a Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute. His research focuses on the intellectual and cultural history of Islam in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. His books include Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives (2004), Muslim Legal Thought in Modern Indonesia (2007), and Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies of South and Southeast Asia in Interaction (2009).