If the Prophet Muhammad was Javanese...
\nJP\/6\/MIRZA<\/p>\n
Part 1 of 2<\/p>\n
If the Prophet Muhammad was Javanese ...<\/p>\n
Mirza Tirta Kusuma
\nChicago<\/p>\n
Java is well known for its combination of a variety of
\ncultural forms and religious beliefs. Indeed, it was once a
\nHindu-Buddhist land until the mid-16th century, when Islam
\narrived in the region. Java converted to, or more precisely
\nadopted, Islam quite late. The process started around 1500 by the
\nChristian calendar.<\/p>\n
Conversion to Islam has never meant that one has to leave all
\nhe formerly believed in and practiced behind. Elements from
\nprevious religions remain present in the beliefs and rituals of
\nordinary people all over the Muslim world.<\/p>\n
This is also the case with Javanese Muslims. Indeed, Islam as
\nactually practiced in the local context is often rather different
\nfrom what we would expect from a study of Islamic scripture.
\nRobert Redfield's distinction between \"great\" and \"little\"
\ntradition seems well represented here. The beliefs and practices
\nof Javanese Muslim communities can be designated as folk Islam or
\npopular Islam, to distinguish them from \"high Islam\", which is
\nscripturalist and sharia-oriented.<\/p>\n
In such a situation, in order for Islam to make sense to the
\nJavanese and for the Javanese to grasp the deeper meaning of
\nIslam, it seems that syncretism is inevitable (here I agree with
\nLeonardo Boff, in Church: Charism, and Power, that syncretism is
\nsomething positive and a normal process). It is an ongoing
\nprocess of the development of Islamic life, practice, and
\ndoctrine. The arrival of Islam in Mecca, not disregarding the
\nArabic tradition, is an example. It is also said in the Hadiths
\nthat when Muadz ibn Jabal went to a new area, the Prophet asked
\nto him: \"what would you do if you could not find a reference from
\nthe Koran and the Sunna (or Hadiths) for your judgment?\" He
\nreplied: I will use ijtihad (individual judgement). It can be
\ninferred from the above Hadith that contextualization is a must.
\nFurthermore, there is another saying: al-adah muhakkamah, what is
\nproven by custom (culture) is also proven by sharia.<\/p>\n
Syncretism, it should be noted, is viewed negatively by some
\nresearchers, and has been rejected by the leaders of some groups
\nand their followers. The idea of syncretism is considered by many
\ntoday to \"pollute\" an assumed Islamic \"purity.\" The term itself,
\naccording to Rosalind Shaw and Charles Stewart in
\nSyncretism\/Anti-Syncretism, The Politics of Religious Synthesis
\nis often taken to imply \"inauthenticity\" or \"contamination\" --
\nthe infiltration of a supposedly \"pure\" tradition by symbols and
\nmeanings seen as belonging to other, incompatible traditions.
\nThis idea must be rejected; we see that syncretism is to be found
\nde facto in the everyday rituals, beliefs and practices of the
\nmajority of Javanese, including the most orthodox group.<\/p>\n
Based on the above, this article will concentrate on
\nattempting to explain and analyze the relationship between the
\nJavanese and Islamic aspects of beliefs and rituals in Javanese
\nlife, specifically the use of the local language in rituals, and
\nconclude that the syncretism of Javanese and Islamic traditions,
\nand elements from other traditions, does not deviate from the
\ntradition of Islam as a whole, and thus should not be disdained.<\/p>\n
This article is grounded theoretically in the affirmation of
\nthe basic Javanese characteristic of promoting harmony. For
\nJavanese, such \"synthesizing\" is the central element of the
\ndominant Javanese ideology. Referring the work of Stewart,
\nRelocating Syncretism in Social Science Discourse, the term
\nsyncretism is used to refer to a systematic interrelation of
\nelements from diverse traditions, an ordered response to
\npluralism and cultural difference. It does not imply a
\nsubstantial merging of types, with a loss of their separate
\nidentities, something that cannot be presumed in the Javanese
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Syncretism, in this sense, refers to a dynamic, recursive
\nprocess, a constant factor in cultural reproduction, rather than
\nto a settled outcome. As Stewart suggest, seen in this light it
\nis a concept that directs our attention toward \"issues of
\naccommodation, contest, appropriation, indigenization and a host
\nof other dynamic intercultural processes\".<\/p>\n
Many researchers have tended to regard syncretism with
\ndisdain. Influenced by them, most religious leaders in turn
\nregard syncretism as a decadent fusion that pollutes the purity
\nof religious tradition. This perspective fails to acknowledge the
\nfact that there is no religion that is entirely pure or free from
\nsyncretism, whether as regards its origin or its subsequent
\nhistory, as already mentioned above.<\/p>\n
Religious syncretism is manifest in almost every aspect of the
\nmajority of Javanese rites. It is a product of the historical
\nprocess of Islamization. In Java, it is widely known that Islam
\nwas propagated by nine wali (saint). According to some accounts,
\none of the nine wali, Sunan Kalijaga, spread Islam in Java by
\nusing a syncretic approach. He modified the elements of pre-
\nIslamic culture by introducing Islamic elements into them.<\/p>\n
The Koran, in fact, does not help us very much when it comes
\nto Java as this part of the world was not part of the context of
\nearly Islam. As some scholars argue, the study of the Koran, as a
\nnon-local text, is, however, an essential element of any analysis
\nof Javanese religion for several reasons.<\/p>\n
The first is that many Javanese read the Koran, memorize it,
\nand believe that it is the word of God. Possibly, the most
\nimportant aspect is the fact that non-local texts, including the
\nKoran, served as part the foundations upon which local oral and
\nwritten traditions are constructed. Non-local texts are
\ninterpreted and acted upon. It is through this process of
\ninterpretation that the foreign text is localized and
\nincorporated into local cultural and religious knowledge.<\/p>\n
The writer, an alumni of the Pabelan Muntilan Islamic Boarding
\nSchool, Magelang, Central Java, is studying for a Ph.D and D. Min
\nat the Divinity School U of Chicagolic Theological Union and the
\nLutheran School of Technology in Chicago. She can be reached at
\nmirzatk@yahoo.com.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/if-the-prophet-muhammad-was-javanese-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}