Islam in Indonesia

Phillip Leavitt

HST 240 Introduction to Southeast Asia Dr. James Rush 6 December, 2009

To most people, when they hear the word Islam, or hear about those of the Muslim faith, many images come to mind. They may imagine a man, with his head covered with a checkered cloth with a band around his forehead to hold it in place, in some place like Saudi Arabia or Dubai. They may imagine a woman, clothed from head to toe in black, with only her eyes and maybe more of her face uncovered. Often, unfortunately, the image of a man, with a bomb strapped to his chest, in a crowd of people or on a bus, detonating himself, killing and maiming those around him. These are the images brought to mind of Islam. But this is not all there is. While seen as an Arab religion, Islam today is spread throughout the world, with adherents on all continents of the world. One, if not the largest, group of followers of Islam is in the country of Indonesia. The religion of Islam traces its roots back to the prophet Muhammad, who around 610 CE had his revelations written down as what is now called the Quran or Koran. Through various means, he and his followers united the various tribes of the Saudi desert into one group, which was both political and religious. It was called Islam, meaning submission or obedience. This obedience is to the one true God, Allah. This was, at the time, fairly revolutionary for the various tribes, in that previously they had worshipped and paid homage to several local gods, who had control over various parts of common life. Following the death of Muhammad in 630 CE, the religion was split between two schools, the Sunni and the Shia, with the Sunnis being the most populous. Through the centuries following the death of Muhammad, Islam spread out from Mecca, the holy city of Islam, west to Northern Africa and Spain, north into modern day Russia, and east into India. Islam was finally established in Southeast Asia in the late 13th to early 14th centuries, though there had been contact by Muslim traders since 10th century. There, Sufi missionaries translated Muslim texts from Arabic and Persian, into Malay. This led to three major centers of Islamic rule in Southeast Asia; at Aceh in Northern Sumatra, the Sultanate of

Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, and the Sultanate of Demak in Java. Although Islam had been a presence in Indonesia since the late 10th century, it was not until the early part of the 16th century that Islam was able to finally beat out Hinduism as the predominant religion. With over 86% of the population of Indonesia reporting to be Muslim, it is not surprising that much of the culture, even those not of the faith, to have acquired many traditional Muslim practices, especially in more recent years. Muslims make up the majority of inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, West Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, coastal areas of Kalimantan, and North Maluku. Many minority groups are found in Papua, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, parts of North Sumatra, most inland areas of Kalimantan, and North Sulawesi.1 Although some of the Muslim migrations to these areas were encouraged under Suharto, many of these were spontaneous. This has unfortunately led to strife and even armed conflict with the Christians in these areas. One of the more recent acts of violence took place in 2000 at a resort in Kuta, Bali, where bombs set by Islamic extremists and Al-Qaeda killed 202 people, with 164 of those being international tourists. The Indonesian government, with international cooperation, is working to end such acts. Among Indonesian Muslims themselves, there are several differing forms of Islam. One group that has conflicted quite a bit with Orthodox Islamic thought, or Santri, is Abangan, a combination of native and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, and Islamic practices in Java. A similar belief style is Kebatinan, to which Suharto was an adherent. In contrast to adherents of mainstream Islam, with their emphasis on strict monotheism and worship of Allah, practitioners of Kebatinan 1. See Islam in Indonesia Wikipedia 2009

tend to pay devotion, and even sacrifice to, local and ancestral spirits, which may inhabit people, buildings, trees, and even graves of Muslim saints. Many conflicts have also arisen between traditional and more modernist Muslims in the inclusion of secular topics in the madrasahs, or Islamic schools. Though many issues of what is proper still affect Indonesian Muslims, for the most part there has been a unification of the differing parties in the United Development Party. Even today, with the more or less willingness to cooperate and tolerate differing religious and cultural practices, there are still groups that adhere to a strict following of Muslim law and are willing to enforce it. This is exemplified by the Islamic Defenders Front, who regularly raid nightclubs, bars, and casinos, to punish those not adhering to correct Muslim practices. On the international stage, Islam in Indonesia has, for the most part, been taken for granted. Excepting the occurrences of violent acts carried out by extremists, with aid from Al-Qaeda, most of people in the world would not even notice the large group of Muslims in that country. In many cases, the Indonesian Muslims that one may meet tend to be more modernist, not adhering to all the behaviors and in many cases, wardrobe choices that a Muslim, say from Africa or any Arab state, would exhibit. Indonesia has been a member of ASEAN since 1967, when it was first established. Although most of the other member states of ASEAN tend to have higher adherence to either Buddhist beliefs, in the case of Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, and Laos, or Catholic beliefs, such as the Philippines, there are Islamic minorities in most of these countries. The government of Indonesia has, for the most part, been friendly with the United States. There have been many trade agreements between the two countries, and nominally, Indonesia has been on the side of the United States in opposition to Communism. That is not to say that there are not still hostile feelings towards the United States and its western practices, which many militant groups feel have corrupted the culture of the youth. Following the attacks on September 11th,

2001, many extremist groups praised the attacks. The Islamic Defenders Front even threatened to enter hotels and expel any British or American tourists they found. Despite attempts by the Indonesian government, extremism still has a hold on many of the nations Muslims. In conclusion, although Islam in the nation of Indonesia is for the most part peaceful, there are still many who adhere to the extremist views of Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic groups. Though relations with other Southeast Asian countries are civil, for the most part because of ASEAN, Indonesia has a conflicted relationship with most of the West, especially the United States. While trying to maintain trade and other economic relations with the West, and with many of the leading political leaders having received higher education in Western schools, as opposed to schools in Arab schools, Indonesia is at a crossroads. With the fall of Suhartos dictatorship more than a decade past, it is up to the current leaders of Indonesia to decide where they wish to place their trust. Islam is not and does not have to be militant, even towards the West and its predominant Christian roots. There can be peace and understanding.