The Sunni-Shia Harmony and Conflict in Jepara (Central Java) and Sampang (Madura)

Shia Islam, in its early days, was a fringe and opposition movement in Sunni Islamic hegemony. In this century, the Wahhabi-Salafi group has been most aggressive in preaching that Shia are heretical, infidel, and outside Islam. Even though international ulema conferences have emphasized that Shia is the same as Sunni, both are Muslims. The Indonesian Muslim community adheres to Sunni Islam. But the Indonesian nation, with its primary basis of Javanese and Minang culture, is open and accepting of differences. As for Madura, it is more closed. The research aims to produce a model of Sunni-Shia relations in Bangsri Jepara District and Omben Sampang District—Expo facto research method. Sources of data are investigative reports of national media and scientific journals. The results of the research show that Sunni-Shia relations in Jepara are harmonious. The contributing factors were religious leaders and local community leaders accepting the presence of Shia, joint socio-religious activities, and the support of peace activists and Islamic organizations. Meanwhile Sunni-Shia relations in Sampang were terrible. Local Sunnis hinder Shia religious activities. They even burned mosques, Islamic boarding schools, and houses, thus driving the Shia people out of Madura. The causative factor was that the Ulama and local Islamic organizations rejected the presence of Shia, and the community obeyed the Ulama. Meanwhile, Shia residents are not accommodating to local cultures.