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Expressing Muslim Diversity in Indonesia

Expressing Muslim Diversity in Indonesia. East-West Center July, 2012 Anna M. Gade ( amgade@wisc.edu ). Part One: Sources. Diversity of perspectives from authoritative materials and approaches shared globally Ronit Ricci, Islam Translated Islamic “cosmopolis”

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Expressing Muslim Diversity in Indonesia

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  1. Expressing Muslim Diversity in Indonesia East-West CenterJuly, 2012 Anna M. Gade (amgade@wisc.edu)

  2. Part One: Sources Diversity of perspectives from authoritative materials and approaches shared globally Ronit Ricci, Islam Translated Islamic “cosmopolis” For outstanding website with images, material, and curriculum on Islam in Southeast Asia, see link to Asia Society, “Islam in Southeast Asia”

  3. Dimensions of Qur’anic Message: Universal and Specific Frames: • Frame of the (historical) experience of the Prophet Muhammad and his community • Frame of the experience of all “Muslims” who follow the prophet (temporally and religiously) • Frame of all humanity and other created beings for all time For law (application and scope), historicity of revelation is a key consideration

  4. Ex. “Multifaceted” Dimensions:How was Qur’an revealed? Following the Qur’an itself, Muslims readers say: • It was “sent down” in the holy month of Ramadan (e.g., 97 Al-Qadr [next slides], 44 Al-Dukhan 1-4; 2 Al-Baqarah 185) • It was “sent down” “in stages” to the Prophet Muhammad (e.g., 17 Al-Isra 106; 25 Al-Furqan 32) • It also exists on a “preserved tablet” (85 Al-Buruj 21-22)

  5. “Major Theme” of Qur’an The Qur’an’s MAJOR THEME: tawhid Unity of Divinity This is the Message brought by Prophets Surah 112 Al-Ikhlas (Sells, one of 3 versions P. 136) “Say he is God, one God forever Not begetting, unbegotten, and having as an equal none”

  6. Qur’anic Divinity God is omnipotent and omniscient (for example, “Verse of the Throne,” 2 Al-Baqarah 255) God is transcendent (and, some ask, also immanent, such as closer than one’s veins or heart; or, “everywhere you turn, there is the face of God”?) Divinity is ineffable: “Verse of Light,” 24 Al-Nur 35

  7. “Readings” “Readings” (qira’at) here is a technical term Authoritative variant readings (vocalizations) are all based on the SAME text The “readings” have nothing to do with pitch variation, which is ALWAYS IMPROVISED

  8. Recommended Further Reading • Esack, The Qur’an: A User’s Guide • Gade, The Qur’an: An Introduction • George, Picturing Islam • Graham, Beyond the Written Word • Mattson, The Story of the Qur’an • Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’an • Sells, Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations

  9. Part Two Sufism and Traditions of Piety in the Malay Speaking World Modes of casting and encountering “otherness”religiously and historically Examples (readings and handout): Hamzah Fansuri (poet, 16th century) Sunan Ampel (wali songo, “Nine Saints”)

  10. Sufism or “tasawwuf” Experiential knowledge; esoteric piety Aspects of asceticism, gnosticism, devotionalism Controversial, but also mainstream for much of Islamic history Term for some structures of Sufism, “Tariqa” • Method of self-cultivation (a “spiritual path”) • Teaching of an authoritative guide (a “way”) • Lineages and networks (an “order”)

  11. Roots of Sufism • Qur’an, such as the Prophet’s ascent (17:1) and vision (53:1); verses on God’s immanence (50:16, closer than jugular vein; 2:115, everywhere is the face of God; 33:41 remembering God; 7:172, “Day of Alast”) • Hadith and model of the Prophet, such as reports collected on austerity of the Prophet’s experience; Hadith Qudsi (“divine sayings”) • Early pietists; for example, Hasan Basri (d. 720); tradition of asceticism known as zuhd

  12. Ideals on the way of Self-Cultivation • Tawakkul, “trust in God” Related stages along the beginning of the Path • Kashf, discovery; ma’rifa, knowing • Goal: fana’ (extinction) and baqa’ (residing) Problem of experience and expression Junaid (d. 910) and “Sober Sufism” of the “Baghdad circle” Al-Bistami (d. 848 or 875) and Al-Hallaj (d. 922): ecstatic utterances

  13. Systematizations • Baghdad School (Al-Junaid) “Unity is the separation of that which is Eternal from that which is created in time.” • Sufi manuals Al-Kalabadhi (d. 990 or 995), Al-Sarraj (d. 988), Al-Hujwiri (11th cent., South Asia), Al-Qushairi (d. 1075), Al-Ansari, et al.

  14. Micro- and Macrocosm: The “Perfect Man” • “Perfect Man” : Al-Insan Al-Kamil 5 essences; unity of essence/vision Al-Jili (d. ca. 1410) Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 1240) • Southeast Asian / Malay expressions of monist doctrine, Gift Addressed to the Spirit of the Prophet • EXAMPLE. POEMS OF HAMZAH FANSURI

  15. Poems of Hafiz and Hamzah Fansuri • Hafiz (Hafez-e Shiraz, 1315-1390), Green Sea of Heaven (trans. Gray), Ghazal 38: “It’s ‘id, there is the rose at last…” • Hamzah Fansuri (Malay, 16th century), The Poems of Hamzah Fansuri (trans. Drewes and Brakel), no. 32 (see link): “How strange that the whale…” Location in maritime Asia; pedagogy; controversy

  16. Early Institutional Formation • Sufi “brotherhoods” and futuwwa Byzantine Christianity • Master-students relationship; initiation and guidance • Silsilah: “chain” of spiritual lineage • Sufi masters: shaykh, pir Seen and unseen power

  17. Sufism and Institutionalization Role of saints and local politics: see work by Vincent Cornell, Carl Ernst, Bruce Lawrence, Richard Eaton, etc. However, “Sufism” popularized in Europe as apolitical, anti-hierarchical (much like Romanticism) Southeast Asia: Piety and the imagination of institutionalizing Islam EXAMPLE. SUNAN AMPEL’s HAGIOGRAPHY (see link) Transnational connection; Pedagogy; Institutional formation; relations with local rulers; cultural controversy; “miracles” and barakah; mysticism

  18. Part Three Part Three: Casting Diversity in Muslim Indonesia Islam and ideas of difference in the era of nation-states Examples: Popular Islamic Sound Recordings Biography of the Prophet Muhammad in 20th Century Indonesia (reading)

  19. Rise of Pesantren • Latter half of 19th century, growth in number of pesantren and Muslim scholars, ‘ulama • Era of harsh colonial policy, a possible reaction • These institutions seen as separate from local Muslim elite • Azra:between 1850 and 1900, pesantren in Java increased from 2,000 to 15,000 schools

  20. New Communities • At turn of 20th century, new social influences and structures • Voluntary associationsSarekat Islam (SI), 1915Muhammadiyya, 1912Nahdatul Ulama (NU), 1926 • Educational Institutions (especially Muhammadiyya) • Effect of Japanese occupation (Masyumi)

  21. Indonesia Merdeka,Nation-Building • Soekarno Proclamation of independence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JyKAFVBEIE • June, 1945: “Jakarta Charter” (Piagem Jakarta), preamble to Constitution • Pancasila and pluralism • Ministry of Religious Affairs (est. 1946) • 1965, attempted coup and its aftermathSuharto and the “New Order”

  22. Islamic “Renewalism” • Middle Class movements • “Cultural” approach instead of party politics after 1965 • Muslim intellectuals (e.g., Nurcholish Madjid) • NU, “traditionalism” and progressive reform • “Li’ta’arifu” (Qur. 49:13) and the pluralistic imagination

  23. Reformasi • May, 1998: end of Suharto regime and beginning of era of “reformasi” …

  24. Piety and Popular Expression in Indonesia Tradition and Transformation to convey social messages Role of “Sufism” (?) and longstanding practices of piety (especially veneration of the Prophet) Handouts: Opick and Emha Ainun Naguib (Watch Youtube clips)

  25. EXAMPLE. “Biography of the Prophet in Modern Indonesia” (see link to article) Tradition and Imagination of Pluralism through the exemplary model of the Prophet Muhammad

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