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.