Islamic band Debu sticks to its principles<\/p>\n
David Kennedy, Contributor, Jakarta, d_kenn@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
Is the holy month of Ramadhan too commercial? Some people
\ncertainly think so. In fact, one group of Muslims would be pretty
\nclose to being annoyed about it were it not for its members'
\nZen-like serenity and poise.<\/p>\n
Debu -- an American Sufi band living in Jakarta -- has
\nreceived much acclaim over the last two years for its unique
\nbrand of Islamic and world music.<\/p>\n
The Sufis, who live strictly according to Islamic principles,
\nhave made numerous television appearances, played concerts to
\nthousands of Indonesians and even performed for Vice President
\nHamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
AlQuran Seluler, the mobile phone service which allows almost
\n90,000 subscribers to listen to sermons from famous preachers,
\nalso features the group's tunes as background music.<\/p>\n
The songs Debu sings -- in Indonesian, English and Arabic --
\nare mostly about love and peace, and the band members exude
\ngoodwill and equanimity. They clearly revel in the opportunity to
\nreach more and more people through their music.<\/p>\n
Since the start of Ramadhan, sales of their album Mabuk Cinta
\n(Drunk with Love), released last April, have steadily increased
\nto over 50,000 copies, and the band has been inundated with
\nrequests for concerts and interviews.<\/p>\n
So what is it about the festive season that bothers them?<\/p>\n
"There's too much focus on Ramadhan. That's when all the
\nIslamic artists perform and release their albums. Everything is
\ncommercialized during Ramadhan and then after it's back to the
\nusual," said Najib Ali, a 31-year-old band member from California
\nand also Debu's manager.<\/p>\n
"Yeah, when Ramadhan comes you get people becoming real
\nreligious and then afterwards, they forget all about it," added
\nhis 22-year-old brother in law, Mustafa, lead singer of Debu.<\/p>\n
Mustafa believes their music appeals to a wide audience,
\nincluding non-Muslims, nonpracticing Muslims and heavy metal rock
\nmusic fans. The name of the band, which means "dust" in
\nIndonesian, came from a rock band in the U.S. called Dust on the
\nRoad, but is also a reference to all living things eventually
\nturning to dust.<\/p>\n
"I had this guy who is a rocker come up after one of our
\nconcerts to say he loved our music and that our lyrics are deep
\nand meaningful," Mustafa said.<\/p>\n
"Often religious music is about praying five times a day and
\nwell, you have to do that but it usually does not go into any
\nmore depth."<\/p>\n
The band is resolutely Islamic but the members don't want to
\nbe dubbed exclusively so -- hence the difficulty in accepting
\ntheir increased popularity during Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
Still, it's hard not to classify them as such. Although the
\nmusic has a rounded world music feel to it -- their panoply of
\ninstruments evoke Egyptian, Irish and Turkish sounds -- the
\nband's traditional Muslim clothes tend to give the game away.<\/p>\n
But are Debu about entertainment or preaching? A little of
\nboth, perhaps, though the emphasis is more toward having fun and
\nallowing people to take what they want from the music rather than
\nproselytizing.<\/p>\n
"One thing Sufis try to bring out is that the essence of Islam
\nis about beauty and love. That's what we do with the music,"
\nexplains Najib Ali.<\/p>\n
"I mean, who would want to become Muslim if Islam is just the
\nharsh everyday subjugation of everything enjoyable? It's only
\nnatural that humans want to enjoy life and be happy."<\/p>\n
Indonesia is not unaccustomed to Sufis, who seek to live
\naccording to the essence of Islam and often have mystical
\npractices. The Wali Songo, the nine religious teachers who
\ndisseminated Islam in Java in the 15th and 16th centuries, were
\nSufi teachers, and indigenous Sufi orders still exist today.<\/p>\n
Debu's members are part of a 58-strong Sufi "family" living in
\nSouth Jakarta and led by Sheikh Fatah, a Sufi teacher from Texas
\nwho received "permission" to teach in 1982. According to
\ntradition, new Sufi teachers are chosen and have a lineage which
\nis said to stretch back to the first teachers appointed by the
\nProphet Muhammad.<\/p>\n
The Sheikh, father to Mustafa and 12 other children in the
\ngroup, writes all the lyrics to Debu's own songs and is both a
\nspiritual leader and teacher to his "family" -- almost everyone
\nis related either by blood or marriage, so it is also a family
\ngrouping in a real sense.<\/p>\n
It was while teaching at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school)
\nin South Sulawesi when they arrived in the country four years ago
\nthat Sheik Fatah and his group discovered the power of music to
\nreach people.<\/p>\n
"We were teaching students entering Universitas Muslim
\nIndonesia," said Mustafa. "We sang with them and had Dzikir
\n(meditation and chanting) and their reaction to us was great."<\/p>\n
Deciding to bring their music to a wider audience, they moved
\nto Jakarta in 2001 and began learning to play instruments and
\nthinking seriously about arranging their songs for performances.<\/p>\n
It is not surprising that this Sufi group is musically
\ninclined as they have been singing together for some years. Sufis
\nuse different methods, including song and dance, to explore
\ndeeper levels of Islam.<\/p>\n
"Sheikh Fatah uses language poetry and music while others use
\nmedicine or miracles but the essence is the same -- to teach
\npeople how to fulfill their potential, to become human beings,"
\nsaid Najib Ali.<\/p>\n
"I know Sufis who, as part of their tradition, use knives and
\nstick themselves. It's like a secret or a gift they've been given
\nto do this."<\/p>\n
Sufis seek enlightenment, or Fana, through annihilating all
\nsense of self. To do this they must first control the destructive
\ndesires of what they call the lower or conditioned self -- the
\nNafs. When the Nafs are in check, the Sufi is on the right path.<\/p>\n
"If you're not in control then you don't know how your
\nrelationships are going to turn out with people. You've no way of
\nknowing when you're going to interject yourself into a situation
\nthat's improper."<\/p>\n
Self realization is central to Sufism. This is where the
\nSheikh comes in, as he gives each student a personalized
\nspiritual practice to follow. They may be required to spend time
\nalone or do various tasks separate from the group in order to
\nconquer their personal demons.<\/p>\n
The fact that the group lives communally, chants and sings,
\nand has had up to 90 members at times, many of them children, has
\nmeant that, at times, they attract less than positive reactions
\nfrom the public.<\/p>\n
"Because we have all these kids and live together -- it can be
\nquite difficult in a non-Islamic society. When you're trying to
\nbring them up in a situation like that, there is constant
\npressure," said Mustafa, himself the father of two.<\/p>\n
He says people tend to be afraid of what they don't
\nunderstand. The group moved around America and the Dominican
\nRepublic before coming to Indonesia in search of a better life.<\/p>\n
"We lived as a community (in America) and basically wanted to
\nbe left alone. When we came here that is what happened even
\nthough other things have happened since. We didn't at all plan to
\nbecome stars!"<\/p>\n
Jakarta's American Sufis are financially supported by family
\nmembers in the U.S. and say they are a long way off making a
\nliving from Debu. The band's manager is not opposed to making a
\nprofit but not at any price; Debu refuses to accept money from
\ncigarette companies who sponsor most major concerts in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"Some people look at us and say Debu will never go anywhere
\nbecause they'll never get the big concerts. But I think with
\npatience and sticking to real principles it will pay off," Najib
\nAli said.<\/p>\n
"But if we were offered a big concert in Ramadhan, I would
\nturn it down."<\/p>",
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