Playing with Scriptures

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the religious socialization among liberal Muslims in the post-Suharto era. Liberal Muslims want to inject values like individual autonomy, gender equality, and human rights into Islam, and do so by reading the Islamic scriptures through the lens of the Western human sciences. These activities occur in private study settings that permit insults, jokes, laughter, and play, which render religious doctrines vulnerable and thus ultimately changeable.