Aspiring to Prosperity: the Economic Theology of Urban Muslims in Contemporary Indonesia

This study examines the dissemination of economic theology among urban Muslims in contemporary Indonesia. This “economic theology” emphasises the performance of Islamic devotional acts with a strong expectation that such performance will result in material wealth as its reward. It is promoted by the celebrity preacher, Yusuf Mansur, in various ways including popular book publication, televised Islamic sermons and movies. This study aims to answer the question of why and how economic theology is becoming widespread in Indonesian Muslim business circles. This study draws on six months ethnographic fieldwork among Muslim small business people, business start-ups, and university students in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. It demonstrates that Muslim business people see economic theology as the best way to seek spiritual and material benefit. They adapt and promote this economic theology through business motivation seminars, book publication and social media. They suggest that economic theology encourages entrepreneurship, rather than a dependence of public sector employment as a future work preference. The widespread circulation of the economic theology among urban Muslims is associated with unemployment issues among university-educated Indonesian over the last decade. Most of university graduates in Indonesia have wished to work in the formal sectors, both government and non-government. However, the limited work opportunities in the formal sector have resulted in the growth of unemployment among the educated section of the Indonesian population. This study contributes to the growing scholarship on dissemination of Muslim religious authority in contemporary Indonesia and discussions of religion and secularisation. This study argues that the popularity of economic theology among the urbanites is due to its potentials to facilitate their aspirations for a prosperous life. Furthermore, this thesis has also shown that the circulation of economic theology is attributed to the activities of promoters on various levels. They include Muslim business people and their followers who promote economic theology through business motivation seminars, social media and publications.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Kailani, Najib

• Economic Theology
• Islam
• Prosperity

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/2872

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/55252