Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism once dominated the island, however Islam, gradually supplanted Hinduism in the 14th and 15th centuries (see the spread of Islam in Indonesia). The last nobles and loyalists of the fallen empire of Majapahit fled from this point to Bali. Islam spread from northern cities in Java where traders from Gujarat, India brought with them Islam. The eastern part of East Java, from Surabaya to Pasuruan, and the cities along the coast, and back to Banyuwangi to Jember, are known as the "horseshoe area" in context with earlier Muslim communities living there.
Pockets of Hinduism remain, and syncretic abangan streams of Islam and Hinduism remain strong (see Hinduism in Java).
Read more about this topic: East Java
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.”
—C.S. (Clive Staples)
“If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats, but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)