- Indonesia’s two biggest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, are in the spotlight for a new program under which they would operate large-scale mines.
- The controversy involves a recent uproar over a nickel mine in Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s premier diving destination; public criticism mounted as it came to light that a senior cleric in Nahdlatul Ulama sat on the board of PT Gag Nikel, the company operating the mine.
- Other religious organizations, such as the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference and the Indonesian Communion of Churches, are among those to reject management of mining concessions, citing sustainability reasons.
- Mongabay spoke to religious scholars to get their take on the mining controversy.
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s two biggest Islamic organizations usually seize the country’s attention twice a year, when they gather to determine when the religious holidays of Idul Fitri and Idul Adha will be celebrated.
But for the past year, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah have caught the spotlight for a different reason: their decision to operate large-scale mines in the Southeast Asian nation.
Indonesia, home to 270 million people, is a top producer of coal and nickel. In 2024, then-President Joko Widodo’s administration issued a regulation enabling religious organizations to manage mines, saying it would foster economic equality.
Jokowi, as he is popularly known, said at the time that “many [religious organizations] have complained to me, why is mining only delegated to big companies? We, too, would be ready to accept a concession if it were given.”
Observers in civil society criticized the policy, saying it looked like payback to the organizations for supporting Jokowi’s chosen successor, Prabowo Subianto, in the February 2024 election, and that it made no sense to put management of complex industrial enterprises in the hands of faith groups.
The controversy has continued with the recent uproar over a plan to mine nickel in Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s premier diving destination and coral reef hub. In a televised debate over the issue, Ulil Abshar Abdalla, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama’s central governing body, derisively labeled environmental groups like Greenpeace as “environmental wahhabists,” a reference to the Wahhabi sect of Islam seen as puritanical for its literal interpretation of scripture.
Public criticism continued to mount as it came to light that Ahmad Fahrur Rozi, a senior cleric in Nahdlatul Ulama, sat on the board of PT Gag Nikel, the company behind one of the Raja Ampat mines. PT Gag Nikel is a subsidiary of state-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam). NU has denied that it has received any money from the company through Ahmad’s board position.
For Iskandar Waworuntu, founder of the Bumi Langit Institute in Yogyakarta, which incorporates Islamic values into its teachings about permaculture and sustainability, the religious organizations’ defense of environmental exploitation is very concerning.
“When [exploitative practice] has been done structurally by permitting religious organizations to participate in exploitation, this is frightening as it gives a legitimation that Islam is allowing such practice,” Iskandar told Mongabay.
Iskandar warned that the excessive approach in this modern era that prioritizes financial gain has forced human beings to take what is not in their rights.
“Since the focus is on financial gain, [we are willing] to commit violations and not think that such thing is important. Because what is sought is monetary gain and not good deeds.
“Let’s not become the people often mentioned and reminded in the Quran: People who think they are doing good, but it turns out that they actually are doing harm. We consider what we call progress in this modern era, whether it’s in terms of economics or development, to be good. The fact is not at all,” he added.
If Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, which count tens of millions of followers between them, have accepted mining concessions, other religious groups have done the opposite. The Indonesian Bishops’ Conference and the Indonesian Communion of Churches are among those to reject management of mining concessions, citing sustainability reasons and a lack of expertise.
Hening Parlan, deputy chairwoman of Muhammadiyah’s environmental council, said the issue was not black and white and urged the public to dig deeper rather than jump to conclusions that the faith groups only want to enrich themselves by accepting the concessions.
“There’s many considerations — it’s not just about money,” she told Mongabay.
Muhammadiyah has cited several reasons behind its plan to enter the mining sector, from amplifying Islamic preaching in the business world to prioritizing environmental and social aspects in an industry that has caused pollution and deforestation across the archipelagic country.
Not everyone is on board. Muhammadiyah youth groups in Trenggalek, East Java province, have declared their opposition to the plan, saying it would put the organization at adds with local communities it was supposed to be fighting for.
Hening said Muhammadiyah’s decision to get into mining did not mean its members couldn’t keep working to protect the environment.
“That’s what I want to say to our members: Just because Muhammadiyah is accepting mining, doesn’t mean people like me and others can’t keep working to protect the Earth,” Hening said.
As an example of Muhammadiyah’s commitment to the environment, Hening cited the group’s One Thousand Lights (Seribu Cahaya) program, which is “dedicated to the energy transition from fossil fuels to better forms of energy.”
BBC Indonesia reported earlier this year that Muhammadiyah would manage a coal mine in South Kalimantan province that previously belonged to the Adaro conglomerate. But Hening told Mongabay the group was still waiting to hear from the government about which mine it would be assigned to manage.
Islamic scholar Fachruddin Mangunjaya likened the rush to mine with the famous story of the goose that laid the golden egg.
The groups’ decision to contribute to the exploitation of Indonesia’s national resources in sectors with a long record of damaging the environment, he said, resembles the shortsighted farmer who slaughtered his magical goose to get at the gold he thought it held inside its body.
“Because we want to get an instant benefit, it then no longer lays golden eggs. But it’s a disaster, because in the future there will be no more treasures that can be preserved for our children and grandchildren — it’s not sustainable,” said Fachruddin, who is both dean of biology and agriculture and chairman of the Center for Islamic Studies at National University in Jakarta.
“When we leave destruction and cannot bequeath that sustainability to future generations, it means we have broken God’s trust.”
He continued, “Religion has moral values and one of the main ideas is God’s message to humanity to not cause destruction on Earth — don’t make destruction on Earth after God has made it right.”
Religious but not spiritual
A 2024 Pew Research Center survey ranked Indonesia first in the world in terms of religious devotion. Despite treating religion as an important aspect in their lives, scholars interviewed by Mongabay said many Indonesians have failed to apply religious values in their relationship with God’s other creations, including nature.
Aleks, a Catholic priest who is concerned about environmental issues, said religious education in the country was limited to ritual practice, putting the formal aspect over spirituality.
“Religion is only connected to things related to the afterlife,” he told Mongabay. “So, it only aims towards heaven, heaven and heaven. When that’s the thing it aims for, it will only focus on rituals and rules,” said Aleks, who is stationed in Mungguk village, West Kalimantan province.
In line with Aleks, Hening, who is also the Indonesian organizer of GreenFaith, a multifaith climate and environmental movement, said what’s missing from religious education in the country is the spiritual connection between humans and the rest of life on Earth.
“If we have a connection with trees, for example, automatically we won’t cut trees,” she said.
“If we think of other creations as God’s creations, we will respect them as equals. [Unfortunately] not everyone willingly tries to interpret their faiths in terms of actions that protect the environment.”
On the other hand, Fachruddin expressed criticism of clerics for still focusing on old texts that have yet to compile sustainability issues and not trying to develop their understanding of modern problems. He referred to the Al-Mizan Covenant, an “Islamic charter based on concepts rooted in Islamic teachings that emphasize the balance, harmony, and stewardship of the Earth,” launched by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2024, which he thinks should be taught in pesantren and madrasah Islamic schools across the country.
Similarly, Iskandar, the permaculture teacher, said clerics were too busy in guiding religious practices and knowledge related with tradition of revelation, and forgot that there were also sustainability practices in the Islamic teachings that could be applied in everyday life.
“It’s not just about upholding the tradition of revelation in the form of memorizing the Quran, for example. Memorizing the Quran is important. But the Quran has been promised by Allah that he will be the one who will guard it until the end of time,” he said.
“We even force all our children to memorize the Quran, while we abandon all traditions of how to be a good Muslim in our daily life.”
Banner image: Heavy machinery operates at the nickel mining site of PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining on Kawe Island, Raja Ampat. Image © Nita / Greenpeace.
Indonesia reopens Raja Ampat nickel mine despite reef damage concerns
Credits
This story first appeared on Mongabay
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Mongabay, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
