Sunday, October 28, 2012

Indonesian Muslims and Their Place in the Larger World of Islam

Martin van Bruinessen,
‘Indonesian Muslims and Their Place in the Larger World of Islam’,
Paper presented at the 29th Indonesia Update conference, Australian National
University, Canberra, September 30 – October 2, 2011.

With over 220 million Muslims, Indonesia has the largest community of Muslims in the world. Nevertheless, Indonesian Muslims do not play a role in global Muslim thought and action that is commensurate with their numbers. Indonesian Muslims have been eager to learn from Arab as well as Indian, Turkish and Persian thinkers, but do not seem to think they may have something valuable to offer in return. In Indonesian bookshops one finds the translated works of classical and modern Arabic authors, as well as studies of and by major Indian, Pakistani, Iranian and Turkish authors. But Malaysia is the only other country where one can find works by Indonesian Muslim authors, and there are virtually no serious studies of Indonesian Islam by scholars of other Muslim nations. The Arab world has shown a remarkable lack of interest in Asia in general, let alone in the social and cultural forms of Islam in Southeast Asia.1 Though more outward looking, other Muslim regions of Asia have not taken a serious interest in their Southeast Asian co-religionists either.


Retrieved from: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/th/2012-0210-200244/Bruinessen_Indonesian_Muslims_in_the_larger_world_of_Islam.pdf

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Indigenous Community Identity Within Muslim Societies in Indonesia: A Study of Katab Kebahan Dayak in West Borneo

Prasojo Z.H. 2011. "Indigenous community identity within muslim societies in Indonesia: A study of Katab Kebahan Dayak in West Borneo". Journal of Islamic Studies. 22 (1): 50-65.

Zaenuddin Hudi Prasojo
Pontianak State College for Islamic Studies West Borneo, Indonesia

Abstract

The discourse of locality versus globalization has become a topic of interest in the social sciences and cultural studies. Globalization representing the modern world has provoked the awakening of ‘the silent voice’ of local traditions, especially those of indigenous communities. This paper examines the contribution of globalization to the dynamics of religion, ethnicity, and identity in a local, Muslim indigenous community, the Katab Kebahan Dayak, in West Kalimantan. As the dynamics of society in West Borneo have come under increasing influence from the outside world, the Dayak identity has become more important to people living in the region. It is generally thought that the Dayak are affiliated either to local religious practices and/or to Christian churches, while the Malays are considered as Muslim. However, Katab Kebahan Dayak community members have kept their ethno-religious identity as Muslim Dayak. This paper explores the process of ethno-religious identity formulation in this community and the influences of globalization on inter-group relations within ethnic groups in Melawi District, West Kalimantan. It affirms that the Katab Kebahan Dayak community members consider themselves as historically of Dayak origin and are proud of that. They trace their Muslim ancestry to more than five generations ago and feel no need to switch their ethnic identity. The research shows that the interactions they have with both Malay Muslim and Dayak communities around the region have strengthened their Muslim identity. This paper contributes to the discourse on local traditions within Muslim societies, and argues in favour of the endurance of local indigenous traditions in response to modern globalization. 

http://jis.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/1/50.abstract

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Reaktualisasi Ajaran Samin

Suara Merdeka, 21 Oktober 2012 | 20:27 wib


Oleh Junaidi Abdul Munif

Samin, begitulah khalayak umum menyebut mereka. Mereka bermukim di sekitar Pegunungan Kendeng yang memanjang dari Pati hingga Tuban. Meski tak mengenyam pendidikan formal, warga Samin memiliki sikap hidup lebih santun daripada yang berpendidikan tinggi. Saminisme, ajaran hidup kaum Samin, selalu mengedepankan kejujuran dan kesahajaan.
BAGI mereka, gaya hidup orang modern sudah keluar dari koridor tujuan penciptaan manusia di bumi. Egoisme, hedonisme, kebohongan, dan kerakusan kekuasaan adalah gaya hidup manusia modern. Korupsi (mencuri), debat kusir, dan saling fitnah tampaknya bukan sesuatu yang aneh dalam kehidupan saat ini. Dan, kaum Samin meyakini itulah yang memicu kerusakan di dunia.

Harmonisasi, bagi mereka, adalah tujuan utama menjalani hidup. Samin Surosentiko, pelopor ajaran saminisme, menyatakan tugas manusia di dunia adalah sebagai utusan Tuhan. "Yang dinamakan sifat wisesa adiluhung) adalah bertindak sebagai wakil Allah," tutur Samin.

Alam dan jiwa masyarakat Samin seolah-olah sudah menyatu. Alam ibarat ibu mereka, karena alam menghidangkan kekayaan melimpah untuk dinikmati kapan pun. Karena itu mereka begitu mencintai dan menjaga alam. Wajar ketika investor asing (semen) datang dan hendak mengeksploitasi Pegunungan Kendeng, mereka berada di garda terdepan: melawan!

Orang Samin juga tidak kenal istilah berdagang. Karena berdagang, bagi mereka, selalu melahirkan unsur 'ketidakjujuran'. Mereka memilih sistem barter karena berlandaskan kejujuran dan tidak merugikan pihak lain. Bagi orang Samin, bohong adalah tabu. Mereka juga tidak menerima bantuan dalam bentuk uang.

Tabu Berbohong 
Raden Kohar atau Samin Surosentiko adalah otak intelektual paham saminisme. Samin lahir 1859 di Desa Plosokediren, Randublatung, Kabupaten Blora. Sang ayah bernama Raden Surowijaya atau lebih dikenal sebagai Samin Sepuh. Samin Surosentiko memiliki pertalian darah dengan Kiai Keti di Rajegwesi, Bojonegoro, dan Pangeran Kusumoningayu yang berkuasa di Kabupaten Sumoroto (kini menjadi daerah kecil di Kabupaten Tulungagung) tahun 1802-1826.

Sastroatmodjo (2003) mengemukakan, saminisme muncul sebagai reaksi terhadap pemerintah kolonial Hindia-Belanda yang sewenang-wenang. Mereka tidak melawan secara fisik, tetapi berwujud penentangan terhadap segala peraturan dan kewajiban yang harus dilakukan rakyat terhadap Belanda.

Misalnya, tidak mau membayar pajak. Resistensi itu akhirnya membuat mereka memiliki tatanan, adat istiadat, dan kebiasaan tersendiri. Samin Surosentiko juga melawan kekuasaan kolonial lewat ekspansi gagasan dan pengetahuan. Samin Surosentiko mentransformasikan gagasan melalui ceramah di pendapa-pendapa pemerintahan desa. Inti ceramahnya seolah olah ingin membangun Kerajaan Amartapura.

Artinya, Samin menghendaki masyarakat bersifat jatmika (bijaksana) dalam kehendak, ibadah, mawas diri, mengatasi bencana alam, dan jatmika selalu berpegangan pada budi pekerti. Dianggap penghasut masyarakat, tahun 1907 Samin Surosentiko ditangkap Belanda. Dia dibuang ke Sawahlunto, Sumatera barat, dan di sanalah maut menjemput tahun 1914.

Samin Surosentiko mewariskan sebuah kitab sastra adiluhung sebagai falsafah hidup orang Samin, yakni Serat Jamus Kalimasada. Saat ini, orang Samin sering disebut sebagai Wong Sikep yang berarti, jujur, dan baik. Kini, krisis moralitas melanda bangsa ini. Hedonisme dan pragmatisme bak dewa yang selalu disembah- sembah manusia. Rakus, tamak, dan perbuatan keji lain menjadi efek pasti kedua dewa itu.

Arus globalisasi sering dijadikan kambing hitam sebagai pemicu. Kendati demikian, masyarakat Samin bergeming dan tetap memegang prinsip hidup mereka. Karena itulah, saminisme sangat layak dijadikan cerminan hidup. Keharmonisan, keselarasan, dan keseimbangan adalah representasi masyarakat Samin.

Seolah-olah tak dijumpai celah dalam kehidupan mereka untuk berbuat iri, dengki, rakus, dan perbuatan negatif lain. Sikap Mulia Ada sebuah kisah menarik sebagai ilustrasi. Suatu ketika ada orang asing tersesat di desa masyarakat Samin. Karena kelaparan dan melihat buah pisang yang masak, orang asing itu pun memetik. Namun sang pemilik memergoki. Sang pemilik sama sekali tidak marah, bahkan berkata, "Kenapa mencuri, jika meminta saja diberi?"
Sungguh, suatu sikap yang mulia. Dalam Serat Jamus Kalimasada, Samin Surosentiko mengatakan, "Aja dengki srei, tukar padu, dahpen kemeren, aja kutil jumput, mbedog colong." Ya, masyarakat Samin dilarang berhati jahat, berperang mulut, iri hati kepada orang lain, dan mengambil milik orang (mencuri). Sebab, semua tindakan itu merupakan awal kerusakan di bumi.

Ketika ditanya soal kejujuran, Hardjo Kardi, 'kepala adat' Samin, mengatakan, "Kejujuran adalah segalanya. Kejujuran harus menjadi dasar dan pegangan bagi manusia untuk mendapatkan kekuatan. Jangan pernah dengki dan iri hati. Semua manusia sama. Membedabedakan manusia tabu dalam mayarakat kami."

Secara eksplisit, ucapan indah itu mengindikasikan mereka senantiasa menerapkan sikap toleransi dan pluralitas. Bandingkan dengan fenomena yang acap menghinggapi manusia saat ini. Hampir setiap hari kita disuguhi tindakan amoral dari berbagai pihak. Sungguh ironis.

Bangsa yang tersohor dengan kesantunan dan kesopanan sudah bermetamofosis menjadi bangsa kurang beradab, jika tidak boleh dikatakan bangsa amoral dan biadab.

- Abdullah Hanif, pemerhati budaya asal Blora, kini mukim di Bantul
(RED/CN27)

Retrieved from: http://www.suaramerdeka.com/v1/index.php/read/kejawen/2012/10/21/610/Reaktualisasi-Ajaran-Samin

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Agama Jawa Sunda

Hisyam, Muhamad. 2004. "Agama Jawa Sunda." In Isma'il, Ibnu Qoyim. Religi lokal & pandangan hidup: kajian tentang masyarakat penganut religi Tolotang dan Patuntung, Sipelebegu (Permalim), Samimisme, dan agama Jawa Sunda. Jakarta: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Pusat Penelitian Kemasyarakatan dan Kebudayaan. pp. 137-74.

Available online

The Samin movement

Benda, Harry Jindrich, and Lance Castles. 1969. The Samin movement. New Haven, Conn: Yale University, Southeast Asia Studies.

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 125 (1969), no: 2, Leiden, 207-240

 

The Samin and Samat movements in Java

The, Siauw Giap. 1967. "The Samin and Samat movements in Java: two examples of peasant resistance". Revue Du Sud-Est Asiatique Et De L'Extrême-Orient. (2): 303-310.

The, Siauw Giap. 1968. The Samin movements in Java: complementary remarks

The Siauw Giap. 1969. The Samin and Samat movements in Java: two examples of peasant resistance. Bruxelles: Université Libre.

Raka, Anak Agung Gde. 1972. The Samin movement and Bantam uprising of 1926: two cases of social unrest in Java during the colonial period. S.l: s.n.]. 

Robert Cribb. 2010. Samin Movement.
Encyclopedia article : English
Database:World History: The Modern Era
Summary:
The Samin Movement was a peasant movement founded around 1890 in the Blora area of Central Java by Surontiko Samin.

The Samin movement and millenarism

Korver, A. Pieter E. 1976. "The Samin movement and millenarism." Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 132 (1976), no: 2/3, Leiden, 249-266. Igitur. Igitur. http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/btlv/article/view/2205. 

Feeding the dead: reformulating Sasak mortuary practices

Telle, Kari G. 2000. "Feeding the dead: reformulating Sasak mortuary practices". Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde. 156 (4): 771-805.

Telle, Kari. 2011. "Spirited warriors: conspiracy and protection on Lombok". Engaging the Spirit World : Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia. 42-61.

Telle, Kari G. 2007. "Nurturance the spectre of neglect: Sasak ways of dealing with the dead". Kinship and Food in South East Asia. 121-148.

Telle, Kari. 2009. "Spiritual places and ritual dynamics among Sasak Muslims on Lombok". Anthropological Forum : an International Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Sociology. 19 (3): 289-306. 

Telle, Kari G. 2003. "The smell of death: theft, disgust and ritual practice in Central Lombok, Indonesia". Beyond Rationalism : Rethinking Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery. 75-103.

Telle, Kari G. 2003. Place, heart and ritual: contested practices in a Muslim community in central Lombok. PhD Thesis. Bergen: University of Bergen, Dept. of Social Anthropology. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Millenarianism and the Saminist movement


Anderson, Benedict R. O'G. 1977. "Millenarianism and the Saminist movement." In Benedict R. O’G. Anderson, Mitsuo Nakamura, and Mohammad Slamet. Religion and social ethos in Indonesia. Victoria: Monash University, pp. 48- ?.

Delimited Pluralisme: Kajian Sikap Pemerintah dan Masyarakat terhadap Agama Lokal di Indonesia

Delimited Pluralisme: Kajian Sikap Pemerintah dan Masyarakat terhadap Agama Lokal di Indonesia (Jurnal Character Building, Vol. 2, No. 1, Juli 2005)


Kebebasan beragama merupakan hak setiap orang. Namun dalam konteks negara Indonesia pada beberapa era lampau, kebebasan itu memiliki batas-batas. Penduduk negeri ini boleh memeluk agama apapun senyampang masih dalam koridor agama yang mendapat pengakuan dari negara. Jumlah agama yang diakui sebagai “resmi” oleh negara selalu berubah sesuai dengan kepentingan negara.

Agama memang tidak kalis dari interfensi politik. Para intelektual, misalnya, bisa mendefinisikan agama dari yang paling minimal (loose) hingga paling ketat. Untuk kepentingannya, negara pun bisa menetapkan kapan suatu agama diberi kebebasan dan kapan dilarang; mana agama yang diakui dan mana yang tidak diakui; apa agama yang resmi dan yang tidak resmi. Khong Hu Cu, misalnya, yang pada masa presiden Soekarno diakui sebagai salah satu agama resmi di Indonesia, hanya dianggap sebagai kebudayaan setelah peristiwa G 30 S PKI. Contoh lain, Agama  Hindu dan Budha harus mengikuti persyaratan pemerintah untuk bisa diakui sebagai agama resmi. Selain itu, pandangan hidup (Weltanschauung) seseorang juga menentukan bagaimana ia mempersepsikan keyakinan orang lain. Keyakinan “Victorian” pada orang-orang Inggris, misalnya, menjadikan mereka memiliki anggapan bahwa suku-suku primitif pastilah tidak memiliki agama.

Dampak dari persoalan politik tersebut, sikap pluralis seseorang seringkali terperangkap dalam frame yang telah didisain oleh negara. Para pemeluk agama-agama resmi bisa bersikap toleran dan tidak saling mendakwahi satu sama lain. Namun mereka tidak bisa toleran terhadap para pemeluk agama lokal. Bahkan, umat agama-agama kecil ini senantiasa menjadi target misi. Berbagai persepsi keliru pun sering muncul terhadap tradisi dan budaya dari agama-agama marginal tersebut. Misalnya, mereka dianggap sebagai sempalan dari agama besar, bentuk tidak sempurna dari ajaran tertentu, atau bahkan dianggap maladaptive terhadap alam semesta.

Daftar Pustaka
  
Bowie, Fiona. The Anthropology of Religion, Oxford: Blackwell Publisher, 2001.

Evans-Pritchard, E. E.  Theories of Primitive Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972.

Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures, London: Fontana, 1993.

Howell, Julia D. Islam, the New Age, and Marginal Religions in Indonesia: Changing Meanings of Religious Pluralism, A paper presented at the CESNUR 2003 Conference, Vilnius, Lithuania, April 9-12 2003.

Morris, Brian. Anthropological Studies of Religion An Introductory Text, Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Qoyim, Ibnu. (ed.), Agama Lokal dan Pandangan Hidup: Agama Kaharingan Masyarakat Dayak di Kalimantan dan Agama Sunda Wiwitan Masyarakat Baduy di Banten, PMB-LIPI, 2003.

Qoyim, Ibnu. (ed.), Religi Lokal dan Pandangan Hidup: Kajian tentang Masyarakat Penganut Religi Tolotang dan Patuntung, Sipelebegu (Permalim), Saminisme dan Agama Jawa Sunda,  Agama Sunda, PMB-LIPI, 2004.

Rita Smith Kipp and Rogers, Susan (eds.), Indonesian Religious in Transition, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press, 1987.

Smart, Ninian. Dimensions of the Sacred, An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs, London: HarperCollinPublishers, 1996.

Syir’ah No. 40/IV?Maret 2005

Tanja,Viktor I.,  Pluralisme Agama dan Problem Sosial : Diskursus Teologi  Tentang Isu-Isu Kontemporer, Jakarta: Cides,  1998.

Thompson (ed.),Norman H., Religious Pluralism and Religious Education, Alabama: Religious Education Press, 1988.
 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Is Indonesian Islam tolerant?

Achmad Munjid, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Opinion | Fri, September 14 2012, 9:18 AM

Paper Edition | Page: 7
Both in scholarly works and in popular discourse, many people argue that Islam in Indonesia is inclusive and tolerant, unlike that of, say, Pakistan or Afghanistan.

A combination of the strong mystical dimension of Islam in Indonesia and its peaceful penetration in the early period are among the most cited explanations to justify the argument.

Theodor Friend (2011), for instance, divides the modern Muslim world into five different “cultures” where Indonesia represents the smiling face of Islam in contrast to the angry radical and literalist Saudi Wahabis. Amid the rise of global Islamic radicalism, therefore, Indonesian Islam is just the right answer. Many Indonesian Muslims would proudly agree.

This kind of perspective, however, has a fundamental problem.

Is Indonesian Islam better? In what way? If it is tolerant and inclusive because of its strong Sufi dimension, whereas some orientalists argue that Sufism is not originally Islamic, does it mean that Islam basically is intolerant and Indonesian Islam is less Islamic? How would we explain the recent increasing intolerance of Muslims in Indonesia, as reflected in the recent acts of terrorism in the name of religion, the Sampang Shiite tragedy, the rise of extremism among young Indonesian Muslims and the negative evaluation by the US Department of State in its 2011 International Religious Freedom Report? If this intolerance is seen as foreign influence, wasn’t Islam itself a foreign religion in the beginning?

Islam has never been a monolithic body since the time of Prophet Muhammad in Arabia until today in Indonesia, Western Europe or elsewhere.

Therefore, comparison between Islam in Indonesia and Morocco as conducted by Clifford Geertz (1968) is epistemologically problematic.

Geertz, to follow Daniel Varisco (2005), is entrapped in the Weberian “ideal type” and his own symbol minded definition of religion. Both Friend and Geertz slip into essentialization and totalization of a particular Muslim culture.

How would we justify that if there were only one unchanging type of Islam in Indonesia, Morocco, Iran,
Turkey, etc.?

Historically speaking, it is acceptable to argue that mainstream Islam in Indonesia has been characterized by inclusiveness and tolerance.

However, it does not mean that there is no intolerant form of Islam in Indonesia. Firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir-like individuals have been around in Indonesia for centuries.

Great inclusivist figures such as Ibn Rushd, Ibn ‘Arabi, Rumi and others emerge from every corner of the Muslim world. In different degrees and levels of power, both the inclusive and exclusive, tolerant and intolerant Islam coexists throughout Islamic history.

We cannot argue that any act of violence committed by an Indonesian Muslim is an anomaly, an exception, or due to foreign influence. That would be dishonest and would only prevent us from properly digesting and eventually overcoming the real problems.

The rigid Wahabism in Saudi Arabia today is not the same face of Islam there during the time of Imam Malik in the eighth century. The violent character of Muslims in Baghdad today is completely in contrast to that of their fellow Baghdadi Muslims when the city was a center of civilization under the Abbashid caliphate. We always find differences of Islam across time and geographical location, just like the case with other religions.

In Indonesia, from the very beginning, different strands of Islam have been vying with each other for dominance. Imam Bonjol’s radicalism in the 19th century cannot be explained as the mere foreign influence of Arabs. It is more accurate to say that Wahabism he found in Mecca further shaped his militant potential. We cannot just make a scapegoat of anything bad as a foreign influence while claiming our own as always good and right.

Intolerance and Islamic radicalism should be rejected, not because it comes from the outside world but because it is against the very essence of the Islamic faith. It may come from outside, it may result from an interpretation by Muslims. We should not cover up anything bad but aim to get rid of it. Other religious communities encounter the same problem.

In this relation, the claim of tolerant and inclusive Islam in Indonesia is correct when understood especially as a performative instead of informative statement. Since Islam in Indonesia is always plural, only when those who promote tolerant Islam consistently fight for their ideals will tolerant and inclusive Islam in Indonesia remain the mainstream.

Indonesian Muslims are tolerant as long as they are able to prove, rather than just be informed. Otherwise, intolerant Indonesian Muslims will take the lead.

Furthermore, the promotion of tolerant Islam to the wider world would be more effective when it is not geo-culturally constrained to a particular society. Besides, it also might lead to chauvinism.

Inclusive and tolerant Indonesian Islam has been part of the right interpretation of Islam throughout history and location. It is against all forms of intolerance, either in the name of Islam or otherwise.

In the past, many Indonesian Muslim scholars gained global recognition exactly because they were part of global Muslim umma and not confined by geo-cultural location. As recorded in the Hijaz Charter drafted by Hasyim Asy’ari and others, Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia, for instance, was born as a local product, among other things, to respond to the aggressive rigid Wahabism and its global consequences for the Muslim world.

Only when we can present the cosmopolitanism, not parochialism, of tolerant Islam in Indonesia, may we once again a make significant contribution to the Muslim umma and to the global community at large.

The writer is former president of Nahdlatul Ulama Community in North America.

Retrieved from: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/14/is-indonesian-islam-tolerant.html

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Swingers’ Guide to Islam

Culture
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
Gunung Kemukus, seen from across the water

The Swingers’ Guide To Islam

On a hill in the centre of Java, thousands of Muslims regularly turn up to a religious ritual with a surprising stipulation: to seek their fortunes, they abandon spouses, find strangers, and have sex with them.

Every 35 days, the Friday of the Gregorian calendar intersects with Pon, one of the five days of the ancient Javanese lunar calendar. Its eve is an auspicious date at Gunung Kemukus, a hilltop Islamic shrine in the centre of Java, Indonesia’s main island.
If she happens to be feeling down on her luck, it’s also the date when Sarimah, a thickset, 63-year-old widowed grandmother, makes her pilgrimage from the city of Solo. Finishing work at her small cart selling soup in one of the town’s markets, she powders her face, applies a shock of red lipstick, slips on a headscarf, and makes the hour-long journey to Gunung Kemukus.
Sarimah arrives at dusk, ascending a path of stone steps that passes under a scattered canopy of trees in Java’s hyper-real green, to the single grave believed to hold the legendary prince Pangeran Samodro and his stepmother, Nyai Ontrowulan. In the cramped room, Sarimah drops aromatic leaves in a brazier and moves over to the grave, sprinkling it with flowers. She kneels down, raises her hands in supplication and mutters to herself surahs from the holy Quran.
Sarimah gets up, and plants herself by the yellow stucco wall by the shrine’s entrance, and waits to complete the next part of the ritual.
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
Sarimah waiting for a ritual sex partner
It’s just before maghrib, the fourth of the five daily prayers required of all Muslims.
It’s time to find a stranger — and have sex with them.
This is when I run across Sarimah. I’ve been standing at the top of the stairs, trying in vain to find someone to talk to among the waves of pilgrims who ascend the hill, dump their shoes, and enter the shrine. Sarimah spots me, and waves me over.
“I’ll talk to you. It’s better to be honest,” she says, as I sit cross-legged on the floor across from her. “Being a hypocrite just makes it worse. I’m already sinning, why add another sin?”
Like the of thousands of pilgrims that have turned up this night to Gunung Kemukus, Sarimah is here to seek her fortune. According to local belief, the ritual here can guarantee success in business, usually for those at or near the bottom of the ladder – bus drivers, rice farmers, market stall traders and the like. Pilgrims mostly come from Indonesia’s Javanese-speaking core, but some travel days across the massive archipelago to get here.
It’s just before maghrib, the fourth of the five daily prayers required of all Muslims. It’s time to find someone and have sex with them.
But the ritual needs to be done right. First, prayers and offerings must be made at the grave of Pangeran Samodro and Nyai Ontrowulan. At some stage, pilgrims must wash themselves at either one or two of the sacred springs on the hill. Then they must find a sex partner who meets two conditions. First, your mate for the night must be of the opposite sex; and second, they cannot be your spouse. Many people believe the ritual only works if you return at seven consecutive, 35-day intervals, either the night before Friday intersects with Pon, or when it crosses with another Javanese day, Kliwon.
The way Sarimah puts it, life became hard when her husband died back in 2001, leaving her to support two daughters by moving from her hometown, Semarang, to Solo. Each time she comes here, she finds a new man by about midnight. Often, the men will hand her money afterwards. She doesn’t ask for it upfront, or haggle over the price – sometimes up to 200,000 rupiah, or about AUD20 – but she accepts it gladly, she says, even though accepting money might detract a little from the ritual’s spiritual power. At about 2am she heads home after bathing at one of the springs, bringing the water home in a plastic bottle to sprinkle over her stall, which buys her about three weeks of good business.
This time, Sarimah has arrived with three friends, all middle-aged women. One of them, a woman in a headscarf, had declined to talk to me earlier. I tell Sarimah, of her friend, “Dia masih malu” – meaning, “She’s still shy.” Sarimah corrects me. “Dia masih mau,” Sarimah says, laughing at her own wordplay. “She still wants it.”
I ask Sarimah if she’s found a partner. Not yet, she says, but she agrees to an interview later, after she’s found someone. She hands over her mobile phone number, so we can meet in a couple of hours.
Unless, she adds, I want to be the lucky guy.
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
A palm reader waits for customers
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING that there is a glaring contradiction in the fact that Gunung Kemukus, a mass ritual of adultery and sex, is going on in the middle of Java, the demographic heart of the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Of course, the ritual isn’t Islam as most would recognise it. Instead, it’s emblematic of Indonesia’s – and especially Java’s – syncretic mix of Islam with earlier Hindu, Buddhist and animist beliefs. But what is truly surprising is that even while Indonesia undergoes a steady shift towards more orthodox Islam, the ritual on Gunung Kemukus is exploding in popularity. It’s a quintessentially Indonesian contradiction.
Tracing the roots of the ritual at Gunung Kemukus involves dipping into the confused story of the fall of Majapahit, the last great Hindu-Buddhist empire of Java. At its height, Majapahit ruled vassals as far away as southern Thailand. But by the start of the 16th century, it had fallen apart and was being eclipsed by a plethora of small courts that were steadily adopting the new religion of Islam. The remainder of Majapahit’s court fled to the volcanic hills of eastern Java and Bali, where the old religion has carried on and evolved to today. Across Java, Islam spread unevenly. In some areas, a more orthodox form of the religion took hold; in other areas, a more pragmatic fusion was made with Java’s traditional beliefs, which are collectively known as kejawen.
It’s the kind of culture that will allow a ritual of adultery to exist alongside a moral code imported from the sparse deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Nothing is black and white here.
All cultures are a blend of influences. But for the Javanese, a very cornerstone of their identity has been the ability to blend together contradictory ideas and belief systems that would leave other peoples hopelessly divided. It’s the kind of culture that will allow a ritual of adultery to exist alongside a moral code imported from the sparse deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Nothing is black and white here.
According to one version of the local legend, Pangeran Samodro was a child born at the fall of Majapahit and raised in the court of Demak, a Muslim sultanate on Java’s north coast, says Floribertus Rahardi, an Indonesian writer who has studied the ritual. The young prince struck up an affair with his stepmother, Nyai Ontrowulan, and the two were forced to flee. They were staying on Gunung Kemukus when they were found out. “People believe that they committed incest in that place, but before that had finished having sex they were chased by the soldiers of Demak, killed, and buried together in the one hole,” Rahardi says. “From there, the word emerged that whoever can finish off their sex act will receive blessings from Nyai Ontrowulan.”
There’s no historical evidence that the two lovers ever existed, or if there are in fact bodies in the grave, Rahardi says. There are also radically differing accounts of the legend. Some believe Pangeran Samodro and Nyai Ontrowulan were Hindu, and not Muslim. In Sragen, the sleepy rural district that is home to Gunung Kemukus, the local government and religious authorities promote a G-rated version of the story, with the prince cast as a devoted proselytiser of Islam.
But what no one is doing is trying to shut the ritual down.
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
A karaoke hostess sings and dances with customers
As recently as the 1980s, Gunung Kemukus was an almost entirely undeveloped hill marked by sacred dewadaru trees and the twisting roots of massive figs. At night, small groups of pilgrims would arrive and have sex mostly in the open, their anonymity protected by the dark. These days, electric lamps light up the hill, which is plied by scores of traders selling aphrodisiacs, food, novelties, miracle cures and kitchen appliances. The dewadaru are still there, but the trees are unhealthy, and share space with shacks offering drinks, karaoke, prostitutes and rooms for sex. There are multiple tolls to get in, and businesses are levied a daily charge. With between 6,000 and 8,000 pilgrims arriving on the busiest nights, according to official figures, it’s a big money spinner for the local community and the Sragen government.
At his house in Yogyakarta, about two hours away, Keontjoro Soeparno, a social psychologist from the city’s Gadjah Mada University, says he misses the old days. “It’s not as porn, as vulgar, as before,” he says, sitting in his garage with a neighbour, Wahyudi Herlan.
“They’re getting payments, they’re clearly profiting from all of this. They’re hypocrites. Look at the entry fee. They won’t admit there’s a sex ritual, but then they’re charging people to get in.”
These days, prostitution is taking an increasing role in the ritual. By Koentjoro’s own reckoning, about half of the women who show up are commercial sex workers. Another 25 percent are “part-timers,” people like Sarimah who carry out the ritual but will accept money if it’s on offer.
The 1980s was when commercial sex workers, as well as other businesses, started moving into the area, Koentjoro says. It’s also when the local government decided to spread its own cleaned-up version of the ritual — while at the same time profiting from sex-seeking pilgrims.
“They’re getting payments, they’re clearly profiting from all of this. They’re hypocrites. Look at the entry fee,” he says. “They won’t admit there’s a sex ritual, but then they’re charging people to get in.”
Since the 1998 fall of the Suharto regime, religiously-minded authorities have cracked down on many legal red-light districts. Gunung Kemukus, on the other hand, has come to be seen as a safe place.
“There used to be no water in the rooms. So if I was to have sex in one of the rooms, there’s no water, no handkerchief, so it depends on what you bring. If you bring a tissue, use a tissue,” Koentjoro recalls of the old days, before Wahyudi cuts in, cackling.
“Bring a newspaper! Use a newspaper!”
Another neighbour, Abdul Hamid Sudrajat, drives his motorbike by, stops and joins in.
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
Throngs of pilgrims ascending the stairs to the grave of Pangeran Samodro
“You don’t mind if my story is filthy, right?” he asks, as he takes his place on a stool.
Abdul tells us of a visit back in 1987. Standing on one terraced level of the hill with a friend, he decided to relieve himself into the dark on the next level below.
“It turned out was pissing on the back of someone who was having sex,” he says. “He had no idea it was piss, I think. He just thought it was somebody pouring out some water.”
ENTERING GUNUNG KEMUKUS in the early afternoon, it is clear just how lucrative the shrine has become. From a main road, local villagers levy a charge on every vehicle entering, and ojek – motorcycle taxis – wait for those without vehicles of their own. During the wet season, when water fills up the Kedung Ombo dam, boats ferry pilgrims across to the hill, which rises symmetrically over the water like an upturned cup of rice.
At the other side of the dam, pilgrims pay another 5,000 rupiah at a post belonging to the Sragen government’s tourism department, before ascending a road of banana trees and shacks that loops around to the top of the hill.
“If their intention isn’t good, then they’re just here to seduce you. It’s only the genuine ones that are good for your business.”
Here, the man in charge of collecting the money, Suyono, hands over a government pamphlet that describes what he says is the real legend of Pangeran Samodro. According to him, Pangeran Samodro was a prince and disciple of Sunan Kalijaga, one of the Wali Songo, or nine saints, credited with spreading Islam throughout the archipelago. The prince travelled Java preaching, before falling ill and dying near Gunung Kemukus.
When Pangeran Samodro’s stepmother – with whom he most emphatically was not having sex – heard of his death, she rushed to grave. As reached the base of the hill she received a vision from the prince, telling her to wash in one of the springs. As she ascended the hills, flowers began falling from her hair, and sprouted into rare dewadaru trees behind her. Reaching the grave, she fell down dead. Her body then disappeared – whether it was into the air, or absorbed into the grave, nobody knows.
Suyono is adamant that few people turn up at Gunung Kemukus for ritual adultery. Ninety percent are chaste pilgrims, he says. “The rooms are for people to rest in if they’ve been on long journeys,” he says. “These are places for staying the night, not at all for prostitution or people having affairs.”
The official concedes that the sex that does go on at the mountain offends some conservative Muslims in the big towns, but says the site is well protected. When word got out recently that a radical vigilante group, the Islamic Defenders Front, was going to conduct a raid from Solo, the police showed up in force to protect the hill. The shrine is too valuable to shut down, he says. “This is tourism. Every component, every element, every layer of society gets something out of tourism.”
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
Wagiyo, left, and Sarimah after meeting
All over the hill, the nod and wink of officialdom is blatant. At the grave, Hasto Pratomo works as the juru kunci, or ceremonial head. He is the eighth generation of his family to hold the job (there is also a separate juru kunci for each of the two springs). His version of the myth is similar to the government’s, although he concedes the prince and his stepmother may have been sleeping together. “Maybe there was a sexual relationship – I don’t know,” he says. “But what’s important was that her love for him was extraordinary.”
Hasto also admits most pilgrims come here for sex, and that this is a misinterpretation of the ritual. If they come to talk to him about the ritual, he sets them straight. But he takes a laissez faire attitude to the couples meeting each other just metres away from where he sits, or the dozens of prostitutes that lean against the wall of the shrine waiting for customers.
Even when Hasto does correct the pilgrims, he does it pretty gently. He recounts a story of a meeting with one man who got rich from having sex at Gunung Kemukus. “He tells me, ‘I came here with nothing, but I found a partner. I was a bus driver. The woman I was with was a vegetable seller. We came here for five years and I’ve had success. If you don’t believe me, come to my house. I have more than 20 minibuses. I got these with my lover – not my wife, but the wife of someone else. That’s the reality.’
Hasto also admits most pilgrims come here for sex, and that this is a misinterpretation of the ritual.
“I replied to him: ‘Everything you got was because of yourself. If you’re convinced it’s because you had a lover here, go ahead. I won’t forbid it. If that’s what you believe, by all means.’”
Further up the hill, Trihardjatmo, the owner of one karaoke shack — where customers drink beer and ginseng spirits while singing with sex workers — cracks up when I mention a sign by the door from the local police that says alcohol and prostitution are forbidden. Trihardjatmo explains he’s a retired cop, and introduces me to one of his customers, Erry, a police intelligence sergeant in the city of Semarang. All the customers in the next room, it turns out, are police.
IN THE RITUAL ADULTERY of Gunung Kemukus, there are many ways to reach your goal. Some people arrive with the blessing of their spouses; others do it secretly. For some, paying for sex invalidates the ritual; for others, it’s just a shortcut. Everyone has a different idea of just how Islamic the whole thing is.
Mohammed Saputra, a 43-year-old clothing trader from Mantingan in East Java, is something of a purist. “I’m looking for the ladies” – he uses the English word – “with good intentions, not the ones looking for money,” he explains. “If their intention isn’t good, then they’re just here to seduce you. It’s only the genuine ones that are good for your business.”
Saputra says his wife doesn’t know he’s here, and that in two visits he hasn’t yet found a woman he fully trusts. This might be a self-serving statement; during a break in our interview I see him try, and fail, to pick up a younger woman beside us. But already he says he’s seen benefits from coming here: he recently bought a new house, a garden and some rice paddies.
<p>Ali Lutfi</p>
Ali Lutfi
Pilgrims praying and spreading flowers over the grave of Pangeran Samodro
“This is all Islam. There are those here who are only Muslims on their identity cards, but there are also people here who have been on the pilgrimage to Mecca, who come here to help out their business. Sure, adultery is against Islam but it’s no big deal if it’s to benefit your business.”
Near one food stall further down the hill, I come across Murni, who is clicking along in heels, a headscarf and a blue leopard skin dress. She looks drunk, or wasted on something at least. Murni is 46 and from the town of Jepara, as is her partner, Rosidi, 50. Both have been meeting each other here for a year. Rosidi has been coming behind his wife’s back, but Murni has the full blessing of her husband – although the two men still haven’t met.
Even though they’ve already completed the mandated seven consecutive meetings, they’re still meeting up, and seem to have formed some sort of attachment. Rosidi says he has gotten richer, but still wants more. “I haven’t reached my goals,” he says, before correcting himself. “Well, I have, but there’s still temptation.
“It’s always this isn’t enough, this isn’t enough. There’s no limit to it.”
Finally, on a bit of concrete wall near the shrine, I run into Sarimah again. I don’t recognise her at first – she’s changed her clothes.
“I just finished!” she exclaims gleefully.
It turns out Sarimah had already found herself a partner, Wagiyo, a rice farmer from Purwodadi, not so far away, who estimates he’s in his mid-sixties. Wagiyo isn’t very keen to meet at first, but he also seems a little smitten and, after some goading from Sarimah, he comes and sits down to talk. He opens up fairly quickly.
Wagiyo says this is his first visit to Gunung Kemukus. His wife died in 2007, and his joint business with family and friends selling rice and beans was flailing. “I heard from a friend that if you came here you’d get your fortune, so I thought I’d try it out,” he says.
Wagiyo was approached by two younger women who offered themselves in exchange for money before he spotted Sarimah. “He sat down and then he came over closer to me,” Sarimah recalls. “He asked me where I was from. ‘Semarang,’ I said.”
“He said: ‘Purwodadi.’ Yeah, that’s it, it was on.”
The two went together to one of the small rooms for rent on the hill. Afterwards, Wagiyo slipped Sarimah 100,000 rupiah and bought her a cup of tea. He asked her to come back home and live with him on his farm. Sarimah’s not so sure about this. In a moment when Wagiyo isn’t paying attention, she says she doubts his wife is really dead, and, miming her own throat being slit, says she’s afraid of the fracas that would take place if the two ever met.
Whether the two will meet again or not seems to be an open question.
Since he seems taken with Sarimah, I ask Wagiyo if he’ll be back in 35 days.
Insha’Allah.”
It all depends if God wills it, he says, and if Sarimah is keen to meet again, too.

Retrieved from: http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/the-swingers-guide-to-islam/419/

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal Kuningan

Oleh Bambang Aroengbinang . Kuningan . 28 July, 2012

Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal adalah sebuah cagar budaya nasional di daerah Kecamatan Cigugur, Kabupaten Kuningan, yang menyerupai sebuah padepokan dan tempat menimba ilmu budi dan kebatinan serta seni budaya, yang didirikan oleh Pangeran Sadewa Madrais Alibasa, pewaris tahta Kepangeranan Gebang, Cirebon Timur, pada tahun 1840.

Adalah karena berkali-kali melawan kehendak VOC, maka pada awal abad ke-18 Kepangeranan Gebang diserbu dan dibumihanguskan oleh VOC, gelar kepangeranan pun dicabut, dan wilayah Gebang yang mencakup daerah Ciawi sampai ke perbatasan Cilacap akhirnya dibagi-bagi untuk Keraton Kanoman, Kacirebonan dan Kasepuhan.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Bangunan gedung Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal, dengan atap bertingkat dan di puncaknya terdapat tonggak ulir berujung kelopak dan bulir bunga berbentuk bulat gemuk lonjong yang menyerupai roket terbalik. Bangunan Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal ini telah mengalami renovasi pada 1971 dan 2007.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Foto di atas adalah ruangan bagian depan sebelah kiri yang disebut Pendopo, dengan payung kerajaan di sebelah kanan. Di tengah terdapat lambang burung Garuda yang tengah mengepak sayap, berdiri di atas lingkaran bertuliskan huruf Sunda “Purwa Wisada”, yang disangga oleh sepasang naga bermahkota yang ekornya saling mengait. Di tengah lingkaran terdapat sebuah simbol, yang tampaknya merupakan lambang Tri Panca Tunggal.

Tidak lama setelah kami masuk ke dalam gedung Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal, seorang wanita muda berparas ayu menemui kami, dan memperkenalkan diri bernama Juwita Jati, dengan nama panggilan Tati. Pangeran atau Kyai Madrais, adalah kakek buyut Tati. Ayah Tati, Pangeran Jati Kusumah, adalah yang sekarang memimpin Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal.

Menurut penuturan Tati, Pendopo menggambarkan keadaan ketika manusia sudah lahir di alam dunia. Karenanya tangga pada pendopo Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal ini aslinya ada 5 buah, melambangkan panca indera yang harus menjadi saringan bagi manusia, baik yang bersumber dari dalam ke luar atau pun dari luar ke dalam.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Ruang pendopo Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal ini ditopang oleh 11 pilar, dengan dasar tiang berbentuk lingkaran. Ruangan lain di Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal adalah Ruang Jinem, Pasengetan, Pagelaran, Sri Manganti, Mega Mendung (ruang kerja Pangeran Jatikusumah), dan Dapur Ageng. Di Dapur Ageng yang saat itu masih direnovasi, terdapat tungku perapian berhias naga di keempat sudutnya dan di atasnya terdapat hiasan mahkota.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Di sebelah belakang pendopo Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal terdapat ruang Sri Manganti yang digunakan sebagai tempat pertemuan, seperti persiapan upacara Seren Taun yang diselenggarakan setahun sekali. Ruang Sri Manganti Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal juga dipergunakan sebagai tempat untuk menerima tamu, dan upacara pernikahan. Tati bertutur bahwa ruang Sri Manganti di Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal adalah ruang rasa di mana manusia harus menemukan sebuah kebijakan dalam hidup.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Relief Resi Wisesa Sukmana Tunggal yang berada di ruang Jinem. Setelah Kepangeranan Gebang dibumihanguskan oleh VOC, satu-satunya putra mahkota yang masih hidup adalah Pangeran Sadewa Madrais Alibasa, yang ketika itu masih kanak-kanak.

Pangeran Madrais kemudian dititipkan pada Ki Sastrawardhana yang tinggal di Cigugur, dengan pertimbangan keamanan dan karena Cigugur pernah pula digunakan oleh Tentara Mataram sebagai basis ketika menyerang VOC di Batavia. Di usia 18 tahun, di tahun 1840, Pangeran Madrasi membangun gedung Paseban ini.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Dua gadis remaja yang masih menggunakan seragam sekolah menengah pertama tampak tengah belajar menari, dibimbing oleh seorang pelatih di Ruang Jinem. Ruang Jinem, menurut Tati, menggambarkan proses penciptaan, dimana ada karakter dan pengaruh 4 unsur, yaitu tanah, air, angin, dan api. Ruangan Jinem ini cukup luas dengan empat buah soko guru berukuran besar terbuat dari beton dengan umpak berukir, dan beberapa pilar kayu yang juga berukir halus di beberapa bagiannya.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Seperangkat gamelan yang berada di ruang Jinem Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal. Pada tahun 1978, Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal ditetapkan oleh pemerintah sebagai Cadar Budaya Nasional, dan uniknya Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal mendapatkan dana renovasi dari Dinas Pekerjaan Umum, bukan dari dinas yang lain.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Sebuah ukiran kayu unik yang berada di bagian sebelah kanan ruang Jinem Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal. Menurut penuturan Tati, nama Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal berasal dari kata Paseban yang berarti tempat pertemuan, Tri yang terdiri rasa – budi – pikir, Panca adalah panca indera, dan Tunggal adalah yg Maha Tunggal.

Arti filosofisnya, ketika manusia bisa mengharmoniskan, menyelaraskan atau menyeimbangkan rasa – budi – pikir, lalu menerjemahkannnya melalui panca indera ketika mendengar, melihat, berbicara, bersikap, bertindak, melangkah, maka itulah yg akan memanunggalkan manusia dengan Yang Maha Tunggal.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Sisi pandang lain dari ruang Jinem. Semasa hidupnya Pangeran yang lebih dikenal sebagai Kyai Madrais itu memberi ajar kerohanian dan agama, namun sempat bermasalah karena adanya perbedaan dengan ajaran baku, dan setelah identitasnya diketahui oleh Belanda ia pun difitnah dan diasingkan ke Merauke pada tahun 1901-1908.
Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal
Ukiran di atas pintu masuk Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal. Konon pada 1936, ketika Gunung Ceremai sedang aktif-aktifnya, Kyai Madrais naik ke puncak gunung bersama 200 pengikutnya untuk meredakannya secara mistik. Kyai Madrais meninggal tahun 1939, dan dimakamkan di Pemakaman Pasir, Cigugur. Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal kemudian dipimpin oleh Pangeran Tedjabuwana Alibasa sampai tahun 1964, dan dilanjutkan Pangeran Djati Kusumah, sampai akhirnya diserahkan ke Pangeran Gumirat Barna Alam, satu-satunya saudara laki-laki Tati.

Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal

Kampung Wage, Kelurahan Cigugur,
Kecamatan Cigugur, Kabupaten Kuningan
GPS: -6.96929, 108.45660

Retrieved from: http://thearoengbinangproject.com/2010/12/paseban-tri-panca-tunggal-kuningan/