Most people think that the bulk of Muslims live in the Middle East.

Or Dearborn.

That would be factually false, however.  The greatest number of Muslims do not live in the Middle East, but Indonesia.

Statistically, Indonesia is the country with the world’s largest Muslim population (205 million). Roughly 88% of Indonesia’s population is Muslim, and the nation is home to about 13% of the world’s Muslims.  99% of Muslims in Indonesia identify as Sunni.  Shia is the minority.  Approximately 1 million Muslims in and around Jakarta are Shia.  Shias are occasionally persecuted in Indonesia.

Now, ISIS focuses on Indonesia.  From Breitbart.com:

Islamic State Hopes to Expand ‘Caliphate’ into Indonesia

by John Hayward

AFP relates a warning from Attorney-General George Brandis of Australia that the Islamic State has “ambitions to elevate its presence and level of activity in Indonesia, either directly or through surrogates.”

Brandis described this as part of the ISIS vision for a “distant caliphate,” establishing a presence far beyond the Islamic State’s home turf in Syria and Iraq.

“ISIS has a declared intention to establish caliphates beyond the Middle East, provincial caliphates in effect,” he explained. “It has identified Indonesia as a location of its ambitions.”

“The rise of ISIS in the Middle East is something that has destabilised the security of Australia, it’s destabilised the security of Indonesia and it’s destabilising the security of our friends and partners, particularly here in the region,” added Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan.

Some people state that Indonesia is the most tolerant of Muslim countries.  Already, however:

In recent years, media – both national and international – have often reported on attacks on minority religions in Indonesia (such as the Ahmadiyya and Christians). Some radical Muslim groups such as the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front) use violence (or the threat of violence) to achieve their ideals; also against the Muslim community itself, for example by attacking Muslims that sell food at daytime during the holy fasting month Ramadan. It is worrying that the Indonesian government and the Indonesian judiciary do not stand firm against such radical groups, indicating that the government has a weak monopoly on violence. But it should also be stressed, however, that – by far – the majority of the Indonesian Muslim community is highly supportive of a religious pluralist and harmonious society.

Is Indonesia truly the most tolerant Muslim country?  TheDiplomat.com writes:

Is Indonesia Really The World’s Most Tolerant Muslim Country?

by Prashanth Parameswaran

The country’s vice president claims it is. The evidence suggests otherwise.

Indonesia is the most tolerant Muslim-majority in the world, the country’s vice-president Jusuf Kalla recently claimed in a Christmas Day speech in Aceh.

While Indonesia has long been recognized as a relatively moderate Muslim country, available data point to a far darker picture of religious tolerance than the sunny one Kalla suggests. To take just one example, according to a cross-national study on religious restrictions published by Pew in September 2012, Indonesia was actually one of the world’s most religiously restrictive states. Specifically, Indonesia was one of only five out of the 49 Muslim-majority countries in the world to register “very high” ratings in both metrics used in the study – government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion. The other four countries were Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen – hardly good company in this respect.

Frankly, Indonesia is vulnerable.  Elements are in place and ready to move when the time is right for Islam to explode into domination and perhaps openly public violence.  The only consolation is that, to a point, ISIS in the ME considers Muslims from Indonesia to be something of “second-class” citizens.

However, when Indonesia becomes another Middle East hotbed of violent Islamism, Australia, Asia and North America are in the crosshairs next.

BZ