Looking At The Religious Expression In Indonesia Theology Religion Essay

Although the bulk of the Indonesian public are Muslims, Indonesia is non an Muslim province. Indonesias stated political orientation is non Islam but Pancasila or the Five Principles. The first rule of Pancasila is “ Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa ” ( Belief in One Supreme God ) .[ 1 ]In this respect, Indonesia ‘s establishing male parents agreed that Indonesia is neither a secular nor a theocratic province. Consequently, the Indonesian fundamental law, Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 ( The 1945 Constitution ) , is non to be based on SharA«’ah. History besides shows that earlier efforts at enforcing SharA«’ah within the province fundamental law had failed since Indonesian independency in 1945 and the subsequent old ages.[ 2 ]

The autumn of the New Order government in 1998 with its resulting euphoric debut of democracy has given fresh air to the argument of the compatibility of Islam and democracy in Indonesia. The outgrowth of many patriot and spiritual parties has someway surprised foreign perceivers that Indonesia, at least at the surface degree, appeared to hold been able to eventually set itself to the kineticss of democracy. This has besides been marked by the vivacious imperativeness freedom which saw how high-level functionaries have been distressingly seting themselves to the new ambiance where answerability is a cant.[ 3 ]

One of import phenomenon originating from this development was the outgrowth of religious-based motions. The two singular spiritual groups that emerged during this epoch were the Radical Conservative Islamist group ( RCI ) and Liberal Islamist group ( LIG ) . RCI is extremely inclined to the religio-political ideas of the Middle East, particularly the political orientation of extremist Salafism. This can be observed in the political orientation of such organisations as Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia, Hizbut Tahrir, Lasykar Hizbullah, Lasykar Jundullah, Darul Islam, Lasykar Jihad, Ikhwanul Muslimin Hammas and the similar. These groups have pushed for the infliction of SharA«’ah to work out Indonesia ‘s multi-dimensional jobs. Some bookmans believe that RCI groups adopt actual readings of SharA«’ah which are really rigorous and sole.[ 4 ]

On the other manus, the constitution of LIG was to counter balance the spread of RCI thoughts and motions which tend to advance a rigorous legal-exclusivist attack to Islam in society. Contrary to RCI, the LIG is committed to develop liberal-inclusivist attack to Islam. In this context, the outgrowth of LIG is sometimes seen as a resurgence of the new coevals of Muslim intellectuals in the station 1970s decennary.[ 5 ]

The differences of reading between Liberal Islamist and Fundamental Islamist ideas have created opposing arguments on many facets in the discourse on Islam. One illustration of this can be represented by the legal opinion or fatwA? of the Indonesian ‘UlamA? Council ( MUI ) on Ahmadiyah motion in 2005 forbiding its operation in Indonesia. In other words, MUI was against the instructions of the minority Ahmadiyah religious order deemed aberrant by the spiritual governments of the state. Despite the fatwA? , members of the Ahmadiyah motion continued to prophesy and pattern their beliefs.

The Ahmadiyah religious order was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in the nineteenth century in the Indian province of Punjab. It is now estimated to hold more than 10 million followings worldwide.[ 6 ]Unlike the mainstream Islam, Ahmadiyah harmonizing to MUI, teaches that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908 in India is another prophesier of Islam whose mission is to set up a motion that would regenerate the faith.

As a consequence of this prohibition, Ahmadiyah religious order was condemned and attacked by Muslim hardliners in Parung, Bogor on July 15, 2005 followed by farther assaults on the other Ahmadiyah subdivisions in Jakarta, Cirebon, Kuningan, Garut and Tasikmalaya. In Parung, 1000s of people, in the name of Gerakan Ummat Islam Indonesia or the Indonesian Islamic Community Movement ( GUUI ) staged a presentation at the Al Mubarok campus reprobating the motion. Led by Habib Abdurrahman Assegaf, the GUUI members used sticks and rocks to assail the Al Mubarok and demanded the closing of the campus and immediate ejection of the Ahmadis from the campus. Shouting AllA?hu Akbar, GUII members, raided the campus and threatened the Ahmadists.[ 7 ]Other onslaughts that took topographic point include the 1s on December 11, 2007, in the small town of Sumbawa Besar where rocks were thrown at the belongingss owned by the Ahmadiyah members and so in the small town of Pangauban where the Mosque of the Ahmadiyah Community was burned down.

Around midnight of December 22, 2007, about 50 individuals have oning masks attacked the Ahmadiyah mosque at Sadasari Village in the West Java Province of Indonesia. During the onslaught, the roofs were destroyed, Windowss shattered, doors burned and five Ahmadists ‘ houses were destroyed.

In the forenoon of April 28, 2008, a mosque and a school in an Ahmadiyah composite in Sukabumi, West Java, were torched by a 300-strong rabble, which were whipped into craze by a group that called itself the Jamaah Al MubA?ligh in Communication Forum. It was reported that as they attacked they shouted: “ Kill! Kill! Kill! ” while firing down a mosque belonging to the motion. The Ahmadiyah followings had to resign the complex and although none was hurt, a member of the constabulary force, who arrived late and short-handed, was injured. The constabulary made a figure of apprehensions and had charged five people in relation to the incendiarism.[ 8 ]

With this series of onslaughts, members of the Ahmadiyah motions were forced to go forth their places. For the last few months the state of affairs in Indonesia has been acquiring worse due to anti-Ahmadiyah sentiment. Thousands of extremist and conservative Moslems have organized a mass meeting in Jakarta for several yearss to coerce the authorities to censor Ahmadiyah motion in Indonesia.

On Sunday, June 1, 2008, about 75 members of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion ( AKKBB ) who were beat uping in support of Jamaah Ahmadiyah were injured after being attacked by Komando Laskar Islam which consisted of several groups including Islamic Defenders Front ( FPI ) , Laskar Mujahidin and Brigade Hizbullah. The Jakarta constabularies arrested more than 30 members of the FPI for their alleged engagement in the force toward AKKBB peaceful assembly at the National Monument in Central Jakarta. FPI has been pressing the authorities to censor Ahmadiyah motion due to its divergence from the mainstream Islamic instructions particularly for believing that its laminitis, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophesier.[ 9 ]

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Againts the above background, it can be said that one of the most of import developments associating to Islam in modern-day Indonesia is the power of the MUI, the state ‘s highest authorization on Islam and the influence of its fatwA? on people ‘s sentiment. One of the 11 new fatA?wA? issued on 28 July 2005 by MUI relates to the prohibition of Ahmadiyah religious order. Harmonizing to this fatwA? , the Ahmadiyah instructions are against Islam particularly due to its instruction that its laminitis, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophesier and the Tadhkirah is a holy book next to the Qur’A?n. In fact in 1980, MUI already issued a fatwA? on Ahmadiyah. Soon after the issue of the fatwA? , a series of onslaughts on the compounds, edifices and belongingss of Ahmadiyah Centres have been taking topographic point. The onslaughts seemed to propose that to the ordinary people the fatwA? is important and they are responsible to implement it. From the beginning, Jemaat Ahmadiyah excessively seems to believe that kalimah shahadat is taught by the Prophet Muhammad. They besides believe that Muhammad is khA?tam al-anbiyA? ‘ or the concluding prophesier. However, they at the same clip besides believe that Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a instructor, a murshid, a carrier of good intelligence and warnings, a carrier of mubashshirat, a laminitis and a leader of Ahmadiyah whose mission is to beef up dawah and propagate Islam brought before by the Prophet Muhammad.

They besides declared that there is no book other than the Qur’A?n. The Qur’A?n and the Sunnah of Muhammad are their beginnings of Islamic instructions. Book of Tadhkirah which is used by Ahmadiyah followings is non a holy book similar to the Qur’A?n, but it is a record of religious experiences of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad compiled into a book and called Tadhkirah by his followings in 1935, that was 27 old ages after his decease.[ 10 ]

Despite these evident claims, MUI still regarded Ahmadiyah motion as a aberrant religious order. MUI said that the above claims by Ahmadiyah followings were made merely to camouflage their existent pervert beliefs. In response, nevertheless, the Religious Minister Maftuh Basyuni said that censoring Ahmadiyah was “ non a solution ” .[ 11 ]Meanwhile, the broad Islamic groups argued that followings of Ahmadiyah should be protected under Indonesia ‘s fundamental law because it guarantees the right to spiritual freedom. While broad Islamic groups have urged the province to protect the Ahmadiyah members, the conservative insisted on the authorities to censor the motion every bit shortly as possible claiming that their beliefs are contradictory to the basic dogmas of Islam.

It is against this background that this research is proposed i.e. to try to look into the assorted issues related to the phenomenon of spiritual look in modern-day Indonesian society with peculiar focal point on the survey of Ahmadiyah motion at Parung and its impact on the society. The allegation of its divergence will non merely be examined against the original instructions of Islam as taught by the Qur’A?n and the Sunnah, but besides against the mainstream spiritual laterality as defined by the prevailing Sunni school of idea in the state every bit good as against the socio-cultural norms, values and ethos considered acceptable to the Indonesia ‘s general Muslim public.

The complex interplay between MUI ‘s fatwA? on Ahmadiyah on the one manus and broad Islam ‘s more tolerating base has besides put the authorities in quandary as to the most appropriate move to take in covering with the affair. In this context, it is pertinent to look into in greater item the cardinal issue in inquiry i.e. the instruction of Ahmadiyah itself, how make its followings understand Islam and how such an apprehension is seen by the above ‘authorities ‘ and ‘powers ‘ within the context of Indonesian socio-cultural surroundings every bit good as the deductions of such spiritual state of affairs on people.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Therefore, the chief aims of the survey are:

to derive an apprehension of the “ significance of Islam ” harmonizing to members of Ahmadiyah religious order.

to understand the procedures involved in developing the significance of Islam by Ahmadiyah laminitis and his adherents and to analyse local socio-cultural factors that might hold further influenced their apprehension and pattern of Islam.

to analyze the impact of Ahmadiyah motion on Indonesian society.

to analyse related issues from sociological and Islamic positions and to bring forth a research study on the topic under survey that might be utile for developing relevant public policies.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To accomplish the above aims, the undermentioned research inquiries have been set to be answered:

How did Ahmadiyah motion semen to and distribute in Indonesia?

How was the apprehension of Islam developed by Ahmadiyah ‘s laminitis and to what extent such an apprehension was influenced by the local socio-cultural elements?

How do members of the Ahmadiyah religious order understand and pattern Islam?

What are the deductions of Ahmadiyah presence on the Indonesian political, societal and spiritual life particularly in West Java part?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the classical epoch, Islamic instructions have been the topic of assorted readings. After the Prophet passed off, Muslims were merely left with the Qur’A?n and the Sunnah as counsel for their life. In the absence of the Prophet, the reading of both beginnings became more divergent. E. D. Hirsch Jr. argued that reading by the reader of the text will non be similar to that intended by the original writer. This is due partially to the different societal background and degree of cognition between the writer and the translators.[ 12 ]Umberto Eco in add-on said that the readers have an of import function in the manner to construe the text. In add-on to the socio-cultural environments and experience, Eco said that the nature of linguistic communication besides opens for multiple readings.[ 13 ]Some like Robert Hefner therefore believe that the thought of one Islam is non possible, hence it is non vexing to happen different labels of Islam like fundamentalist Islam, moderate Islam, evangelist Islam, modernist Islam, broad Islam being given to Islam today.[ 14 ]

In this sense, Ahmadiyah instructions at the beginning may be seen as one of the many readings of the original instructions brought by Prophet Muhammad. But socially and culturally talking, Ahmadiyah motion in Indonesia emerged in contrast to the mainstream Islam which is practiced by the bulk of Indonesian Muslims. For illustration, Ahmadiyah followings believe that prophethood is non a monopoly of any peculiar people. The footing of their belief is said to be among others, a Qur’A?nic poetry which reads “ a courier was sent to all states ”[ 15 ]and besides a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad which states that “ 124,000 Prophetss were sent by God prior to my coming ”[ 16 ]. In this respect, how is this spiritual phenomenon to be understood? This research tries to research and look into a figure of issues related to this phenomenon guided by a reappraisal of the old related plants in order to cognize what are the differences between old and the present surveies.

There are merely a few plants on Ahmadiyah ( Qadian and Lahore ) in Indonesia chiefly in the signifier of books. The plants were produced chiefly by persons or research workers from local organisations, authorities establishments and Ahmadiyah members themselves. However, these plants merely focused on spiritual argument or history of Ahmadiyah motion until it came to Indonesia. One of the books written by Ahmadiyah members is the work of Susmojo Djojosugito entitled Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Bukanlah Nabi ( Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is Not a Prophet ) and Peran dari Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ( The Roles of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ) . These two books explain the place and functions of Mirza Ghulam in Ahmadiyah religious order. Djojosugito said that Mirza Ghulam was non a prophesier, instead he was a renewer or mujaddid. On the other manus, he besides implies that Mirza Ghulam is nabi ummati or nabi lughawi.

Another book by Ahmadiyah members was written by Syafe’i Batuah entitled Ahmadiyah Apa dan Mengapa? ( What and Why is Ahmadiyah? ) . This book has similar contents that emphasize the place of Mirza Ghulam. Batuah said that Mirza Ghulam is non a new Prophet who brings new SharA«’ah, instead he is a renewer of Islam.

Non Ahmadiyah authors include Fawzy Sa’id Thaha who wrote Ahmadiyah Dalam Persoalan ( Ahmadiyah in Question ) which tried to analyse why Mirza Ghulam has a sacred place among Ahmadiyah members and Abdullah Hasan Alhadar who wrote Ahmadiyah Telanjang Bulat di Panggung Sejarah ( The True Colour of Ahmadiyah in History ) by giving a critical analysis of the place of Mirza Ghulam as al-Masih and The Messiah. It is the most interesting book which describes that Ahmadiyah was born from the mixted religious orders in India.

Another work was by Maskur Hakim titled Mengapa Ahmadiyah Dihujat? ( Why Ahmadiyah is Condemned? ) . This book discusses the philosophies of Ahmadiyah Qadian such as rukun iman, khilA?fah and jihA?d. The book besides criticizes the political matter between Ahmadiyah religious order and England authorities in India.

In 1978, Hamka Haq produced a work titled Koreksi Total Terhadap Ahmadiyah ( Entire Correction of Ahmadiyah ) . This book besides discusses some philosophies of Ahmadiyah particularly the khilA?fah, tasawwuf or mysticism and prophethood issues. Hamka concludes that Ahmadiyah is a sect exterior of Islam. He even explicitly calls it a new faith. Another book entitled Paham Mahdi Syi’ah dan Ahmadiyah Dalam Perspektif ( The View of Mahdi Shi’ah and Perspective of Ahmadiyah ) was written by Muslim Fathoni. The book explains the Indian background of these two religious orders but does non explicate it in the context of Indonesia. The latest book is titled Gerakan Ahmadiyah di Indonesia 1920-1942 ( Ahmadiyah Movement in Indonesia 1920-1942 ) written by Iskandar Zulkarnaen. The book explained the function and place of Ahmadiyah in the context of overall Islamic motion in Indonesia. It emphasized more on the history of Ahmadiyah motion in Indonesia, particularly on the development of Ahmadiyah today.

The above reappraisal has shown that most plants are chiefly on the history and arguments on the philosophies of Ahmadiyah without specific empirical survey on peculiar Ahmadiyah motion in any peculiar portion of Indonesia. This survey will therefore look into through empirical observation the motion ‘s apprehension and pattern of Islam every bit good as other facets as defined by the above research aims and inquiries with peculiar focal point on its religious order in Parung, Bogor, Indonesia.

Methodology

Research Orientation and Instruments

This survey adopts a qualitative research attack affecting both fieldwork and library research. For the former, it uses chiefly interview and observation as tools for bring forthing primary informations from the research site viz. Parung subdivision of Ahmadiyah motion and the latter involves audience of and mention to chief paperss and written stuffs. Qualitative research by and large involves interpretative, realistic scrutiny of things in their natural scenes in order to do sense of and understand the phenomena based on the topics ‘ ain apprehension and experiences[ 17 ]. Interviews were conducted chiefly with the respondents from among the selected leaders and followings of the motion at the selected subdivision.

Subjects, Data Collection and Data Analysis

Due to the sensitiveness of the topic under probe, the pick of respondents is based chiefly on their willingness and convenience to take part. Some respondents occupied structural place in the subdivision ‘s organisation and are of different age groups, socio-economic backgrounds and professions. The information collected is transcribed and analyzed along with other relevant stuffs such as observation and conversation notes, exposure and memo in order to bring forth direct and indirect representations of what was investigated. In other words, the research tries to place the forms of ‘ideas ‘ and ‘realities ‘ from the analysis of interview transcripts and observations notes.

The information and information collected in this survey are so analyzed and commented upon utilizing selected sociological positions such as theory of experience, symbolic interactionist and other relevant theories. By utilizing theory of experience, for case, the research worker is able to understand the type of state of affairss that might hold most likely explained the nature of the influence of assorted societal and cultural factors on the motion ‘s spiritual significances, looks and penchants.

Meanwhile, library research among others is used for developing theoretical model, bring forthing sociological penetrations on societal and spiritual phenomena every bit good as analyzing secondary informations related to Ahmadiyah motion.

Description of the Research Site

The research site viz. Ahmadiyah subdivision in Parung consists of several edifices on an eight-hectare land with its ain mosque, 23 houses for lectors, lajnah inailah, ansA?rullah, qudam Ahmadiyah, residence hall and canteen. The entire figure of Ahmadiyah members in Parung is about 700. Interviews were conducted with 9 individuals from among its cardinal individuals and followings. To obtain reliable responses, most interviews were conducted in informal conditions and natural scenes. Interviews were conducted by assignments, visit to the office, mosque, houses and categories every bit good as meeting at Parung.

General Research Outcome

While the survey provides utile information and facts about Ahmadiyah motion in Parung, it would non be used to do conclusive generalisations about the motion in Indonesia other than possibly to cast some visible radiations or supply general penetrations on it.