Portal:Indonesia/AOTW/12, 2007

Muhammadiyah (full name: Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Muhammadiyah, literally means "followers of Muhammad" (from Arabic). The organization was founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan in the city of Yogyakarta. At the moment, Muhammadiyah is the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia with 29 million members.

The central doctrine of Muhammadiyah is Sunni Islam with the main focus is to heighten people's sense of moral responsibility, purifying their faith to true Islam. Muhammadiyah strongly opposes syncretism, where Islam in Indonesia has coalesced with animism (spirit worship) and with Hindu-Buddhist values that were spread among the villagers, including the upper classes, from the pre-Islamic period.

Although Muhammadiyah leaders and members are often actively involved in shaping the politics in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah is not a political party. It has devoted itself to social and educational activities. Muhammadiyah owns hundreds of modern Islamic schools, some of which are open to non-Muslim students, throughout the country aside from the traditional pesantren. (Read more...)