ISLAM IN INDONESIA PRIOR TO THE ADVANCE OF THE REFORM MOVEMENT
D. Retrospective
Based on the previous proposition it seems clear tbat in the eyes of Western scholars, Islamic developmentinIndonesia up to the turn of the last century was nol very promising. Although the process of Islamization bad taken place for a considerably long period, the effect of that proselytization did not produce any impressive change in the
Perbanding_" inTaufik Abdullah and Sharon Siddique(eds.), Tra/isitÜD KelMDgkit.ls/MD diAsi.
TC'D&f. .(Jakarta:LP3ES, 1989),esp. pp.87-93.
ST M.C. Ricldefs, "Six Centuries of Islamization," pp. lOO-lOS. Basical1y, for theJavanese, mysticism is muchmore elevaledthanthe sb';-• . Speculation and contemplationinrefiBioustruth,then:fore, hold • bigber meaning than performing UIlcoœtable rituals daily. Hinduism is CODSidered to bave a greal inJ1uence inimplanting this fonn of spiritual tendency. The mystieal contemplalionin its pantheistic strŒture was regarded as baving obliteratedailn:strietiou and thus belpcdthemystics to rediKoverthe whole reality of the UDiverse in the human nature. While Playinl with the meaoiD. of the
siJ.n-.
oCt"cI. andtbat of the coneeivable world n:ality, they claimed to bave come tothe notion tbat t:Vcry existent being would bear no meanin. exœpt the absolute unity of theReaLC. SnoŒk HtqrOIlje, ls/., diHiDdi.Bel._p. 43. For the rehxtlllÇe of thelavanese to paform their daily rcfiBious rituals, sec ibid.,p.29.
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Javanese worldview and way of life. It is not surprising, therefore, to find some disparaging comments made by scholars on that predicament. Mark Woodward, for instance, after citing Geertz's view conceming the quality of the Javanese 'ulam. whom he describes as those who were "lessthan fulIy Muslims, and were more concemed only with the form rather than the content of Islam," expresses bis judgement that Islam was Ua thin veneer of symbols attaehed to a solid core of animistic and/or Hindu-Buddhist meaning.,,58 It implies that undemeath the surface of Islamic symbols manifested in Javanese daily life there remained animistic and Hindu-Buddbist traditions. Similar to that idea is an old saying which, according to Peacock, retains some trutb for most Indonesians: "Scratch a Muslim Javanese and you fmd a Hindu, scratch a Hindu and you find a pagan.tt59Another image is advanced by van Leur when he says that, togetber with Hinduism, Islam is "only a thin, easily tlaking glaze on the massive body of indigenous civilization.,t60
AIl of the above impressions may be justified inlight of Hurgronje's considerat- ion that Islam in Indonesia had only a shon period of time to manage its intensive proselytization before it was forced to devote its energy to the problems of European encroachment. It had to counter the challenges of the Ponuguese inthe sixteenth century and those of the Dutch laler, just al the moment it fmally had succeeded in gaining political control with the defeat ofthe Majapabit kingdom. On the otherband,as has bcen previously discussed, Islam tended to be more interested in expanding its territories by
51Mark Woodward, Islllmin}tl1IQ,p.82.
59JamesL. Peacock.lndonesia:AnAnthropologiçalPen~clÏlle,p. 147.
• ISOI.e.vanLeur,lndonesù:Jn TITldeandSociety,p.169.SecaIsoSyedHusseinAJatas.'"On meNecd for an HistoricalStudy,"p.74.
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subjugating the neighboring non-monotheistic kingdoms rather than in intensifying its proselytization.61
In general9 it might he plausible to say that since the faIl of Pajang and the emergence of Mataram in the late sixteenth century9 Islam in Indonesi~ especiaUy in Jav~ could not maintain its poweras a dominating force. Although many attempts were made to promote the establishment of a porer Islam since the end of the nineteenth century9 the result was hardly noticeable. Islam did not emerge as an invincible force capable of subduing the begemony of the local culture. On the contrary, borrowing Gramscfs term, "at no point did a 'hegemonic' 1s1amic culture develop in Java.'t62 The reform movements wbich began to increase since the last decades of the nineteentb century were still irresolute9 and only formed some sporadic enclaves. They were not reaUy effective to found the general footing for thorough proselytization. However, sucb attempts cannot be regarded as stagnation. When an attempt was made in a certain region and grew in strength it rnigbt inspire another regjon to do the same. Meanwbile, when tbat attempt weakened or dwindled in a certain region, the other region would in tum supplant the former. Or, otberwise, there would he anotber group of Muslims willing to take over the movement or sustain the continuity of the effort, or to find anotber means to encourage reform. This feature is very significant in the progress of Islam al the end of the nineteentb century.
It is troe that Dot ail regjons of Indonesia experienced the same intensive proselytization. Thepesantrens, functioning asthefoci of proselytization, did Dot existin
61SyedHusseinAlalas9ibid.
62BeDCdictR.O'G. Anderson.'1bcIdeaof PowerinJavaneseCulture.99p.59.
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a1l parts ofIndonesi~and they fonned only exclusive enclaves in the Islamized areas.63 Yet it does Dot Mean that the spread of Islam was confmed to those exclusive spots. Some Western scholars frequently mention the existence of the so-called lc4uman complex in the urban areas, or the so-called putihan group in the rural region. Hurgronje, for instance, discusses the kauman as a specified complex surrounding the mosque in urban districts, where the mosque officials and theu co-religionists resided and sincerely devoted themselves to religious activities.64 In this complex, sorne elements of Javanese traditions, such as playinggamelan (a Javanese orchestra),wayang(sbadow puppet play), and ronggeng (a Javanese dance) performances were not allowed. The term putihan (literally means people of uthe white" class) represents tbose who perfonn their religious obligations wholeheartedly, and are the opposite of the abangan class.65 Putihan•
63 For further discussion on the growth and the development ofpesantren, sec Clifford Gec~ UThe Iavanese Kijaji: The Changing Role of a Cultural Braker." Comparative StudiesinSocietyandHutory: An International Quanerly.vol. 2 (1959-1960), pp. 231-239.
64A shan but interesting description of the /caUmtllland its position in the Javanese culture is provided by Ruth McVeyasfollows. The/caumont fromthe ward/caum[Ar.qawm,MusÜJDcommunity),isthe quarter of the capital inhabited by piousMuslims. most of them traders and artisans, typically nesded close tothe royal palace but was in appearance and atmosphere a very different world.1bedifference between the (wo was greatly intensified in the nineteenth century under colonial mie.Fromthis period,theDuu:h authorities deliberately set out to estrange the Javanese administrative elite. thepriyayi.&amstrict Islam inanattempt taremove that religionasa motivational force for theirresistaneeandtheir alliance withthe masses.TItus, a Javanese official who was too punctilious in bis religious observancewasIcss liIœly ta win a favorable postinl. and priyayi patronale of religious leaders was discouraged. Sec Ruth McVey. "Faith as the Outsider: Islam in Indonesian Politics," in James P. Piscatori (ed.),. Islam in tlte Political Process (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983). p. 201.
6.5 Hurgronje, Islam di Hindia BeÛlndll, p. 30. Hurgronje aIso discusscs theperdüum villages that were closelyassociatedwith the idea of bath thekaumanandputiJrml.Thesc vilJaFswere frecd.bythe decree of Ihe king.fromthe authority of the local chiefs. 50that theyhadno oblipliontapay landtu. Instead of payinl taxes, the inhabitants of theperdiluua villages wereincharge of supportingthepeMlltrenactivities available in their villages with ail possible facilities. However.vanBruiDCSSCn disagrees withthatidea. He says that not ail ofperdilalllswere meant to facilitate the pesantrera. Tbere were only four out of211 perdilumvillages tbroughout Javainthenineteenth century auaehed tathepeStllllRlU.Onthe other band, there wereaIsomanypesQntrensintheperdi/umvillages whicb were not facilitated bytbattuexemption.
Sec, Martin van Bruinessen. Kitllb KlUIÜIg~ Pemntrera dan Tarekat: Tradùi-tradïsi Is/lJm di IndoMna (Bandung: Mizan, 1995). p. 24. Gee~ in the above cited article, aIso disc:usscs Ille perdikJul villages wbich were originally based on pre-Islamic traditions.1beseperdüuuavillages wereMassiped by thekiDp
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therefore, are identical with the santri., whose daily life is fully regulated by the Islamic precepts.
The existence of the lcauman and putihan, in addition to pesantrens,accordingly, represents another feature illustrative of the intensive spread of Islam and its penetration into Javanese liCe. Hurgronje mentions that Islamic law was ostensibly in effect in those areas, as caohe observed., for instance, from the fact that the mosques were not only to fonction as prayer bouses but also to facilitate the Islamic judiciary. Here, the imam (the prayer leader) and the ldJa!ib (a staff member to deliver the Friday prayer sermons), in addition to their responsibilities as mosque functionaries, were also in charge of administering the religious com. The open spaceinthe front pan of the mosque, called serambi, was used for tbis purpose. Every Monday and Thursday the
imam
(also known as peDguJu), accompanied by several experts on bis staff, performed tbis judicial function. It is \Dlderstandable, therefore, that the administration of the religious court was directly attached to the mosque,66 and that in Java, religious courts were available inall district levels or kabupatens from about the sixteenth century.67 Further evidence of this relationship is seeninthat there are some fundamentallegal terms inIndonesian which are directly adopted from Arabie, and bave no precise equivalents in localto individual temples. shrines. and monasteries underthecontrol of prieslS or monts as sanctuarics and as fiscal supports for religious life." When Islam camelOJavaand theIdngs were convened10Ibis new faitb followed bymonasteries. '~batbadbeen Hindu-Buddbist now bccame Islamic., a newwine ina very old boule."SeeGeertz.,1beJavanese Kijaji.," p. 231.Geertz's remark.,bowever. impliestbatthe establishment ofperdUum villageshadaspecial associationwitb the JMSlIIIIren. ForthepenJüuuaassignedtasupportthe pesantren.sec Claude Guillot.,"Lerole historiquedesJMrdikanou"viUaaes francs": le casdeTegalsari."
A.rchipel.,vol.30 (198S).,pp. 137-162.
66C. Snouck Hurgronje. Islam di Hindia Be/anda.. pp. 20-21.
67 Daniel S. Lev.. Islllmic COlins in IndoMSÜl: A. Stlldy in lhe Political Btua 0/ugal IlISIilIUions (Berkeley:Univenity ofCalifomiaPress., 1972)., p. 10.
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Indonesian languages. The term bu1aJrD,which is the very word for law, for instance, is apparently borrowed from Arabie. Likewise several other words related to legal concepts, such as bak(rights), adi!Oust), tiom which the terms keadillllJ ijustice) and pe11gadi!an(com) are derived,bllldmOudge), and adat(custom) are loan words adopted
from Arabic.68
As previously discussed, Javanese literature also tlourished coincidentally in tbis particular period wben Islam began to make its advance into the Javanese courts. Most üterary productions after the seventeenth century were concemed with Javanese mysticism. Furthermore, much of the subject matter dealt with Islamic doctrines. [t retlected the Javanese interpretation of Islam and the worldview based on that interpretation. This Iiterature is obviously sYQcretic in terms of doctrine and practice.
However, there are also sorne works reflecting pure orthodox doctrines, sucb as The Admonitions ofSeh Bari,69 whicb is a classical work of the sixteenth century attributed to Sonan Bonang, one of the early Muslim saints of East Java. This work represents a class of Iiterature different from that circulated among the Javanese courtiers, because the Admonitions sougbt to preserve onhodox doctrines, and "contains lengthy wamings against various beresies.,,70
It is also important to point out that likewise, since the early eigbteenth century, pesantren literature grew enormously througb the works of Muslim scholars, most of whom had completed their educationinthe MiddleEasL To mention but a few examples,
61Ibid••pp.4-S.
69Themostreccnlstudyontbistreatisebasbcenmade by G.WJ. Dreweswho n:editedandtranslaled the text intoEnglisb.SeebisworltTheAdmonitions ofSeh BII,;: /",. CDltUryJlIWI1IUe MlUlûra Tat. Anrib-
",«1toStlÛII BolUlng(TheHague: Nijhoff. 1969).
10M.C. Ricklefs. "Six Centuries of Islamizarion." p. lOS.
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'Abdussamad al-Palimbani was among the fust graduates of Meccan and Medinan Islamic institutions of learning who specialized in sufism and theology. He became known as the author of numerous works, such as. Hidiyat al-Sililiin, Sayr al·Silikln, ZaJuat al-Murld, Tu1)fat al-RiglJibln, Ritib -Abd al·$amad al-PalimbiDi, and Zid al- Muttaqln 6 Tawl}1d Rabb 111--A/amln. The tirst two of these works are, according to Haris, mainly Malay-Indonesian adaptations of al-Ghazili's Bidiyat aJ-Hidiyab and bis brother's Lubab J1)yi' -Ulümal_Din.71Another scholar worthy of mention is Sayyid 'Uthman b. 'Abdullih b. 'Aqil b.
YaI)ya (1822-1913), of Arab descent and l:Ia~origine His works are mostly in the fonn of fatwai, Le., answers to questions directed tohim conceming reügious matters.
Among these works are: Tawifil} al-Adi//all -ali SbUTÜf SIJubiïd aJ-AlJi/Jab; A/.Qawinln
• al-SIJar1yab Ii-AllI aJ-MajiJis aJ-lfukmiyab wa1-IJti7yab, and Ta/pù Aqwi a/-Adi//all.
In West Smnatra, by the end of the nineteenth century. Many scholars were also known nom their prestigious works, such as Alpnad Khatlb of Minangkabau, who wrote qlJir ZaglJJ a/-KidlJibin 6 TaslJabbubihjm bi1-$idiqiJ4 and a/-Mdaj a/-MIISIuü-. The latter,
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71 Ahmad Haris. I6lnnovation and Tradition in Islam." p.72. For bath theBid.y., M-Hid.yd IDd LulMb l1}y.- ·UJÛID .J-Dù4see Maurice BO\IYges, Es.uide CbroIlologie des O#~ de .J·GlJaMi(AIg~1), editedbyMichel AIIard(Beirut: Imprimerie Cathoüque. 1959), pp. 47-48, 135-136. With reg.-d to the Bid.yd, BO\IYges mentions that the workis a preüminary lessons for thebegiDnen hefore they were aIlowed to proceed10a bigher degree of learningprovidcdbytheI!J"'~Therefole, the work serves asan introduction to theI!Jyi-. Withreference to Watt. BO\IYlesaIsomentions thatthe Bid.yddealswiththe guidance for thebegiDnersto undertake a spiritual cleansing (as prerequisite?),bywhich astudentmay he able to adüeveamoreadvancedspiritual trainingbystudyiDg"theIllier work for what üesbeyondthat."
TheBid.ydbasbeen translatedbyW. Montgomery Watt togetherwithal-Ghazili's .J-MœqidzIIJÎI1M- J;W"inbis TlJeFllit/J _dPnctice of.J-GlJ__(Chicaao:KaliPublicati~1982). Unlike theBitUyd whichis definitely attnDuted to al-Ghazili,theLuIMbl/Jyi· -U1Ü111.J-DiIIis not50cie. . _ to whom it mayhe attnDuted. Bouyges suigeststhatthe wodeisanabridsement of al-Gbazili's l/J"'~but il caanol beascertained whether or not ilwasa1-GbazïG whomadetbisabrigdaemeot. Bouygesquatbatthere
Ire SOlDe manusaipts of the LuIMb(We 99de BerIiD, Ah1wardt, t.
a
p. 313, no 1708),which do not mentionanyauthor. Yet, whileAJ.Uri positevely attnDutesthework to al-Gban'li(C"",l,p. 92), E.P.Pusey attributes it toAtun~al-Gbazilrs brother(C.IM.,
a
p.S78,S).SecEs.vi deC1JrotJoJogie,p. 136.•
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according to Haris, criticizes the matrilineal system prevalent in West Sumatra.72 In addition to the above mentioned treatises written by the Indonesian •u/1lD18 there were many other works by the classical Muslim scholars of the Middle East studied in the pesantrens. Van Bruinessent in bis Kitab Kuning. Pesantren dan Tarekat, bas discussed those books availableinthe Indonesian Islamic institutions of learning from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. In about 1600t some of these works, eitber in their original Arabie or translated into Malay or Javanese languages, were brought to Europe by the Dutch. Those works retleeted the ortbodox Islamic traditions of Shatrite jurisprudence, Ash'arite doctrineand Ghaziûan ethics.73
By considering the above exposition, il is plausible to say that in spite of some skeptical judgements of Western scholars in perceiving Indonesian Islamt in reality, there have been continuous efforts made by Muslims to develop their religious discourse. Their literary workst which caver law, fundamental beliefst ethicst Sufis~ and guidance to devotional ritest as noted above, strongly indicate that there have been arduous attempts to strengtben Muslims' religjous beliefs as weU as to deepen their understanding of religious doctrines. It goes without saying that the development of sucb a religious discourse was only predominant in specifie areas of the pesantren or Iwuman enclaves.
Nevenbeless, their role should nothe underestimated. It was from these enclaves that the further development of Indonesian Islaminthe fOnD of more institutionalized movements
n AhmadHaris, ibid, pp. 72-76.
13 Manin van Bruinessen, Kitab Kuning. Pestmtrencima Tarelcat, pp. 27-32. SecaIso bisarticle, "1Ci1ab Kuning: Books in Arabie Script Used in the Pesantretl Milieu, CommcnlS on a New CoUec:tion in the KnLVLibrary."BKlTLV, no. 146 (1990), pp. 226-269; Soebari, "Sanlri ReligiousElemenlSas ReOec:tcd in the Book of Tjentini."BKTrLV,vol. 127, pp. 339 ff.Soebari, ontheaubtorily ofDrewes, suggeststbat theI!Jp.-enümM-DlDofal-GhaziIi was aJready mown to theJav.eseas carlyISsixtecnthcenlury, and served as areferencewortinaJavaneseprimboD.
• in the early twentieth century originated. On the other han~ it was also with tbese religious literary products that Muslim scholars endeavored to bring Indoncsian Islam closer to a "purer" or 66more pristine" Islam, as dictated by the authoritative doctrinal sources. Tberefore, it would he lcss tban fair to consider Indonesian Islam byconfining oneself to examining merely Muslims' external aspects of their cultural life, wbile ignoring their inteUectual achievements, as manifested in their religious literary products.