Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals of the Twentieth Century

2. Early Twentieth Century Development

9 Chapter฀2 Early฀Twentieth฀Century฀ Development It฀is฀important฀to฀understand฀the฀context฀of฀Islamic฀belief฀and฀ practice฀in฀the฀area฀now฀known฀as฀Indonesia฀at฀the฀beginning฀ of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀in฀order฀to฀perceive฀the฀ intellectual฀ currents฀that฀occurred฀afterwards.฀At฀the฀time฀there฀were฀three฀ major฀ manifestations฀ of฀ Islamic฀ religious฀ activity.฀ The฀ first฀ current฀was฀widely฀popular฀in฀society,฀crossing฀the฀spectrum฀of฀ commitment฀to฀Islam฀between฀nominal฀and฀committed฀Muslims.฀ It฀consisted฀of฀visitations฀to฀the฀tombs฀of฀holy฀men฀to฀ask฀for฀ blessings฀ and฀ intercession,฀ involved฀ the฀ use฀ of฀ charms฀ and฀ amulets฀to฀ward฀off฀evil,฀and฀promoted฀belief฀in฀good฀and฀bad฀ spirits,฀which฀could฀be฀controlled฀by฀use฀of฀special฀prayers฀and฀ incantations.฀The฀second฀current฀was฀concerned฀with฀mysticism,฀ i.e.,฀spiritual฀searching฀in฀which฀trances฀were฀attained฀through฀ esoteric฀ exercises,฀ usually฀ reciting฀ the฀ names฀ of฀ God฀ or฀ some฀ pious฀phrase,฀such฀as฀the฀zikir.฀The฀esoteric฀exercises,฀particularly฀ the฀ratib,฀in฀which฀several฀worshippers฀would฀sit฀close฀to฀one฀ another฀and฀rock฀their฀bodies฀back฀and฀forth฀in฀unison฀while฀ chanting฀the฀zikir,฀were฀frequently฀used฀in฀some฀sectors฀of฀society฀ where฀they฀constituted฀a฀common฀form฀of฀participatory฀worship฀ and/or฀entertainment.฀This฀current฀was฀strong฀in฀the฀committed฀ community฀and฀among฀some฀nominal฀Muslim฀groups.฀The฀third฀ 01฀IndoMuslim฀p9-26.indd฀฀฀9 2/20/06฀฀฀9:53:48฀AM 10฀ Indonesian฀Muslim฀Intellectuals฀of฀the฀Twentieth฀Century current฀was฀connected฀with฀the฀general฀themes฀of฀worship฀and฀ behaviour฀as฀described฀in฀the฀Qur’an฀and฀interpreted฀by฀the฀legal฀ scholars฀of฀Islam.฀The฀emphasis฀on฀formal฀worship฀was฀lightly฀ used฀by฀the฀general฀population,฀but฀highly฀regarded฀by฀those฀ trained฀to฀be฀scholars฀in฀Islam.฀In฀general,฀reform฀movements฀in฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Islam฀attempted฀to฀diminish฀the฀impact฀of฀the฀ first฀two฀trends฀and฀raise฀the฀importance฀of฀the฀third. JUSTIFICATION฀OF฀THE฀HOLY฀WAR In฀the฀first฀quarter฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century฀the฀territory฀known฀ now฀as฀Indonesia฀was฀mostly฀under฀the฀direct฀or฀indirect฀control฀ of฀the฀Netherlands฀and฀was฀called฀the฀Netherlands฀East฀Indies.฀ It฀had฀been฀the฀policy฀of฀the฀Indies฀administration฀during฀the฀ nineteenth฀ century฀ to฀ bring฀ all฀ of฀ the฀ territories฀ and฀ ethnic฀ groups฀in฀the฀archipelago฀under฀its฀control.฀That฀goal฀had฀been฀ attained฀ through฀ diplomatic฀ effort,฀ economic฀ activity,฀ and฀ military฀action.฀At฀the฀turn฀of฀the฀century฀the฀territory฀of฀Aceh฀ was฀ still฀being฀pacified.฀ The฀Acehnese฀defence,฀ led฀ mostly฀ by฀ religious฀teachers฀and฀some฀local฀government฀leaders,฀identified฀ strongly฀ with฀ Islam,฀ which฀ fortified฀ popular฀ desire฀ to฀ remain฀ independent฀of฀any฀outside฀political฀power.฀Acehnese฀resistance฀ utilized฀“irregular”฀warfare,฀in฀which฀Dutch฀patrols฀and฀outposts฀ were฀attacked฀by฀small฀bands฀of฀roving฀marauders.฀Ultimately฀ the฀Dutch฀were฀successful฀in฀removing฀most฀hostile฀resistance฀ and฀ winning฀ the฀ cooperation฀ of฀ the฀ local฀ territorial฀ leaders,฀ long-time฀rivals฀to฀the฀religious฀scholars฀for฀leadership฀in฀the฀ general฀population. The฀first฀example฀of฀Indonesian฀Islamic฀intellectual฀thought฀ for฀the฀twentieth฀century฀arose฀from฀this฀struggle฀between฀the฀ Dutch฀and฀the฀Acehnese.฀Oral฀communication฀was฀strong฀at฀this฀ time฀and฀sagas,฀tales,฀and฀sermons฀were฀used฀to฀invigorate฀the฀ 01 IndoMuslim p9-26.indd 10 2/14/06 7:24:57 PM Early฀Twentieth฀Century฀Development฀ 11 response฀against฀the฀Dutch.฀Sagas฀about฀the฀use฀of฀the฀ perang฀ sabil฀(holy฀war)฀in฀earlier฀times฀were฀especially฀popular,฀which฀ were฀fortified฀by฀sermons฀by฀religious฀leaders฀proclaiming฀that฀ action฀against฀the฀Dutch฀constituted฀a฀“just”฀war.฀There฀was฀also฀ a฀report฀spread฀throughout฀the฀countryside฀that฀a฀vast฀uprising฀of฀ Muslims฀throughout฀of฀the฀world฀against฀Europeans฀would฀occur฀ that฀ would฀ be฀ the฀ salvation฀ of฀ the฀ Acehnese.฀ About฀ the฀ turn฀ of฀the฀century฀several฀pamphlets฀were฀distributed,฀apparently฀ as฀propaganda฀to฀reinvigorate฀those฀who฀were฀wavering฀in฀the฀ struggle฀ against฀ the฀ Dutch.฀ Since฀ literacy฀ was฀ low฀ it฀ is฀ likely฀ that฀the฀pamphlets฀were฀meant฀to฀be฀read฀by฀those฀who฀could฀ read,฀who฀would฀then฀pass฀the฀message฀on฀orally฀to฀groups฀of฀ supporters.฀ Acehnese฀ religious฀ clerics,฀ like฀ the฀ ones฀ who฀ wrote฀ the฀ pamphlets,฀were฀mostly฀trained฀in-country฀by฀foreign฀Muslims,฀ often฀Arabs฀from฀the฀Hadramaut฀or฀their฀descendants฀on฀the฀ islands฀of฀the฀Indian฀Ocean฀or฀coastal฀India.฀These฀Arab฀scholars฀ taught฀traditional฀Islamic฀sciences฀—฀jurisprudence,฀mysticism,฀ Qur’anic฀Arabic,฀and฀philosophy.฀Some฀students,฀after฀studying฀ under฀several฀travelling฀scholars,฀went฀on฀to฀Mecca฀for฀further฀ study.฀Hence...