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Protecting the Religious Belief: A Study on the Blasphemy Laws Across Jurisdictions and Religions

Contemporary Issues on Interfaith Law and Society · Vol. 4 No. 1 (2025) · pp. 45–86

DOI
10.15294/ciils.v4i1.25521
ISSN
2829-8624, 2829-8373
Published
2025-06-27
Publisher
Universitas Negeri Semarang
Language
eng
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examines legal and religious dimensions of blasphemy in the provisions of Penal Code of Indonesia, Kuwaiti law correspond to the established principles of Islamic, Christianity, and Hinduism. This is through employing a critical and comparative approach, the study compares the foundational of Penal Code of Indonesia and the Kuwaiti legislation as well as Islamic Sharia, Christianity and Hinduism, identifying areas of overlap in criminalizing offenses against religious belief. The paper found that the Penal Code of Indonesia criminalizes incitement or coercion aimed at making others abandon their religion or belief through violence or threats, while Kuwaiti law largely reflects the Sharia based prohibition of conduct deemed offensive to sacred values. The underlying philosophies behind the criminalization of blasphemy in Islamic Sharia, Penal Code Kuwaiti law, may differ in their foundational justifications, they join on a shared notion, to protect religious thoughts and prevent the incitement of discord and hatred under freedom of expression. From the Christianity perspective, Christians are taught not only to forgive, pray for, and bless the offender, but also, if needed, to pursue legal avenues as provided by national laws. Hinduism places greater importance on maintaining fraternal relationships among humans being than on defending the honour of the religion or its deities. If an act is deemed blasphemous according to the law of the state, the recommended course of action in Hinduism is to restore spiritual balance through a ritual of atonement known as Prayascitta.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

24 authors · 51 co-authorship links

Hover or tap a name to highlight its co-authors. Double-click to open the author's page.

  • Institut Agama Islam Negeri Kendari
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Different organisations
  • Same organisation
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Thicker line = more joint articles · bigger circle = more articles
Show as table
Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Anto KustantoAffiliation unknown2
Abdul KholiqAffiliation unknown1
Anugerah Tatema HarefaAffiliation unknown1
Oinike Natalia HarefaAffiliation unknown1
Nor Akhmal HasminAffiliation unknown1
Ida Bagus Alit Yoga MaheswaraAffiliation unknown1
Komang Indra ApsaridewiAffiliation unknown1
Poerwoko Hadi SasmitoAffiliation unknown1
Nurul HikmahInstitut Agama Islam Negeri Kendari1
EMMILIA RUSDIANAAffiliation unknown1
Syahid Akhmad FaisolAffiliation unknown1
Anisa Deny SetiawatiAffiliation unknown1
Zico Junius FernandoAffiliation unknown1
Kayus K LewolebaAffiliation unknown1
Rofi WahanisaAffiliation unknown1
Jaco BarkhuizenAffiliation unknown1
Papontee TeeraphanAffiliation unknown1
Dean Putri AmeliaAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ciils/oai, first harvested 5 Nov 2026, last seen 5 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
<oai_dc:dc xmlns="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/  http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
	<dc:title xml:lang="en">Protecting the Religious Belief: A Study on the Blasphemy Laws Across Jurisdictions and Religions</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Ali, Mahrus</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Al-Fahad, Hamad Faisal</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Prabowo, M Shidqon</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Wibawa, I Putu Sastra</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Harefa, Beniharmoni</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Sanjaya, Aditya Wiguna</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Blasphemy</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Penal Code</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Kuwaiti legal system</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Islamic jurisprudence</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Christianity</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">The purpose of this article is to examines legal and religious dimensions of blasphemy in the provisions of Penal Code of Indonesia, Kuwaiti law correspond to the established principles of Islamic, Christianity, and Hinduism. This is through employing a critical and comparative approach, the study compares the foundational of Penal Code of Indonesia and the Kuwaiti legislation as well as Islamic Sharia, Christianity and Hinduism, identifying areas of overlap in criminalizing offenses against religious belief. The paper found that the Penal Code of Indonesia criminalizes incitement or coercion aimed at making others abandon their religion or belief through violence or threats, while Kuwaiti law largely reflects the Sharia based prohibition of conduct deemed offensive to sacred values. The underlying philosophies behind the criminalization of blasphemy in Islamic Sharia, Penal Code Kuwaiti law, may differ in their foundational justifications, they join on a shared notion, to protect religious thoughts and prevent the incitement of discord and hatred under freedom of expression. From the Christianity perspective, Christians are taught not only to forgive, pray for, and bless the offender, but also, if needed, to pursue legal avenues as provided by national laws. Hinduism places greater importance on maintaining fraternal relationships among humans being than on defending the honour of the religion or its deities. If an act is deemed blasphemous according to the law of the state, the recommended course of action in Hinduism is to restore spiritual balance through a ritual of atonement known as Prayascitta.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Universitas Negeri Semarang</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2025-06-27</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ciils/article/view/25521</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.15294/ciils.v4i1.25521</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Contemporary Issues on Interfaith Law and Society; Vol. 4 No. 1 (2025): Intersections of Religious Diversity, Legal Frameworks, and Human Rights; 45-86</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2829-8624</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2829-8373</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ciils/article/view/25521/4819</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2025 Mahrus Ali, Hamad Faisal Al-Fahad, M Shidqon Prabowo, Doni Noviantama, I Putu Sastra Wibawa, Beniharmoni Harefa, Aditya Wiguna Sanjaya (Author)</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0</dc:rights>
</oai_dc:dc>