Gus Dur hides behind myths

Gus Dur hides behind myths

By M. Ishom Hadzik

JOMBANG, East Java (JP): When President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid returned from the haj pilgrimage earlier last month, he most probably brought home "spiritual support" that lent to his resolution to keep his post until 2004.

Apparently, during his visit to the tomb of Prophet Muhammad in Medina, the President and a number of influential elders of Nahdlatul Ulama (kyai khos) in his entourage performed a prayer gathering, or istighotsah.

It is said that at the end of the rite, the group received "signs from the skies," a mental image of the President as sitting down on a plump and comfortable cushion while people around him jostled to get at the seat. In the "signs", Gus Dur remained unperturbed.

The fanatical followers of Gus Dur have taken the "signs" as a divine inspiration, or wahyu, that the President has been blessed by Allah to remain president and should therefore be supported.

More than anything, the belief of the President's followers is indicative of the strength of the political myth that Gus Dur has built to bolster his political legitimacy -- much as Sukarno and Soeharto had once done. The fact that the three leaders are Javanese helps explain why the Javanese political culture -- which is marked by the strong use of myths -- is part of their administration.

This is why Gus Dur is to his supporters not only the descendant of the legendary Jaka Tingkir, the sultan of Pajang (near Solo, Central Java) but more a representative of Allah (waliyullah) who has spiritual superiority over them.

The presence of these myths around Gus Dur indicates at least two important things. Firstly, it shows that the members of Nahdlatul Ulama, which by some calculations number up to 40 million, have yet to advance from their traditional culture. This proves the thesis of the researcher Ernest Gellner that the traditional Muslim or those in the margin, tend to be surrounded by the phenomenon of holy men and mystics.

For the educated NU members, this is an irony. For the three decades that he led the organization, Gus Dur, an intellectual, had not developed a culture of critical thinking among his followers. Rather, what has grown is the mystical side and myths that ultimately turn an individual -- Gus Dur, in this case -- into a cult.

This is despite the fact that the founding fathers of NU, including the President's grandfather Kyai Hasyim Asy'ari, were purists. The late Hasyim Asy'ari is remembered for his fight against anything that violates the faith, in the oneness of Allah (aqidah) and Islamic law.

This is not to say that Kyai Hasyim had been familiar with the world of sufism. But he was careful and would not easily speak out about mystical concepts that reason might not always find easy to digest. Even without resorting to myths, there was never any doubt about the degree of loyalty that the NU members showed to the late Hasyim Asy'ari.

This raises questions about the emergence among the NU members of the term kyai khos, which attributes the designated owners of the name supernatural powers. Next, the community speaks about how people who dissent among them will be cursed.

Consequently, NU finds its followers now to be "overly" fanatical and irrational. No wonder they have become militant and ready to shed blood in support of their leaders. For these individuals, Gus Dur can do no wrong, and to defend him means to embark on a holy war to defend the truth. Should they die, they would die happily for they believe they would go into heaven.

Secondly, the myths that have been created around him only indicate how fragile Gus Dur's power actually is. He needs those myths to solidify support, especially because now he is under considerable political pressure.

It is the usual practice of the power holders to cultivate myths about them in order to intimidate their enemies. The late Shah of Iran Reza Pahlevi did that -- he claimed to have met the fourth leader (kalifah) of the first Islamic community, Imam Ali bin Abi Thalib, when he was only five years old.

Reza Pahlevi claimed the "encounter" was God's word that he should be the ruler of Iran.

Then, using his absolute authority, he oppressed the people of Iran. He was deposed, in the revolution of Iran, by Ayatollah Khomeini -- who acted as the messiah of the Iranian people. With this myth as a savior, Khomeini mobilized the support of the masses against the Shah of Iran.

Among the myths of the Javanese culture of political power is one about the messiah, the ratu adil (literally, the king of justice -- Ed.). The supporters of Gus Dur, finding grounds for their adulation of him, referred to the President as "the knight and savior" (satria piningit) -- that has been sent down to earth to solve the crisis in Indonesia.

Some skeptics may rightly point out that the prophecy has missed the mark by far given the worsening of the crisis, but that is another matter. Even Nostradamus has been shown to be inaccurate from time to time.

Political myths should no longer be employed in this reform era. What people need is political education and enlightenment, as they work to build a civil society. They do not need myths that only take them back to the primitive world.

Power is not something that is dropped just like that from the sky, but a mandate of the people. Morality, transparency and accountability should become the attributes of all rulers -- without which they should not stay in power a minute longer.

The writer runs the Pesantren Al Masruriyah Tebuireng, a boarding school of the Nahdlatul Ulama, in Jombang, East Java.