[4] Such trends advocated for a more substantive reading of the Quran and Hadith, instead of literalist approaches taken by the majority of ulamas (Islamic clerics).
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) was established in 1975 by the Suharto regime, aimed at monopolization of the Islamic orthodoxy in Indonesia at the direction of the government.
[2] Suharto, during his rule, heavily suppressed the political Islamic movements and forced them to align with the state ideology of Pancasila.
[7][8] The substantive reading was justified as accommodating the societal reality of Indonesia as a religiously plural and secular state.
[7] The ideas were controversial especially among the ulamas, and puritanical organizations such as Indonesian Islamic Dawah Council (DDII) had been consistently criticizing them.
Notable organizations include Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), and Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI).
MUI, in order to bolster its position as a religious authority, issued eleven fatwas in 2005, incorporating the demands by the puritanical and Islamist bloc of the Muslim society.
Notable critics include Abdurrahman Wahid and Hasyim Wahid of Nahdlatul Ulama, Ulil Abshar Abdalla of JIL, Azyumardi Azra of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Djohan Effendi of the International Centre for Religious Pluralism, M. Syafi'i Anwar of the International Center For Islam and Pluralism, as well as Dawam Rahardjo of the Institution of Religious and Philosophical Studies (LSAF).
The board of Nahdlatul Ulama also immediately made a statement to defend both pluralism and secularism of the Indonesian state.
From the religious perspective, critics questioned the methodology of ijtihad (independent reasoning) employed by MUI, and veracity of which categorizing all liberal Muslims who follow the Five Pillars of Islam as deviant.
[13][9] Din Syamsuddin, former chairman of Muhammadiyah who served the general secretary of MUI since 2000, as well as several authors including Adian Husaini and Abdusshomad Buchori responded to critics by reiterating the definition as valid.
[9] Martin van Bruinessen of Utrecht University marks the fatwa among incidents that catalyze "conservative turn" of the Muslim society in Indonesia.