MULTICULTURAL RELATIONS OF AHMADIYAH FOLLOWERS IN TAWANGMANGU, KARANGANYAR, CENTRAL JAVA
Abstract
The reformation in 1998 successfully has led the nation of Indonesia in democratization. Freedom of speech that was difficult in the New Order era became a phenomenon that is implicated in the post-New Order. Unfortunately, freedom of speech silenced in the New Order then exploded with the demise of the authoritarian government. Freedom of speech should be done politely, yet freedom of opinion in some cases was done by violence which ironically kill freedom of speech itself. Ahmadiyah religious sect founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad became a target of attacks by bigger Islamic groups,especially those who claim that Ahmadiyah is deviant stream of Islam and even no longer a part of Islam. In the name of freedom of speech, this majority group attacked the Ahmadis in various places in Indonesia. Culturally, Ahmadis have distinctive characteristics that make it easier to the attacker group to identify the presence of Ahmadis. The conflict between these two groups has even caused casualties among the minority of Ahmadiyah. A different phenomenon occurs in Tawangmangu, Karanganyar, Central Java. Initially, in 2011, Ahmadis in Tawangmangu panicked as a result of attacks on Ahmadis in various locations. At the years after the attack, Ahmadis were successful in establishing cultural relations with other residents (non - Ahmadis) in Tawangmangu harmoniously. The results of this study indicate that the citizens of Ahmadiyah were able to establish multicultural relationships in daily life by the cultural approach to mingle with the local people in an inclusive manner. It could be described as integration
acculturation , which is an interaction in a high intensity with the culture of the host (host culture), but at the same time they retained the original culture.