Haj pilgrimage on Mt. Bawakaraeng
Haj pilgrimage on Mt. Bawakaraeng
By Hasanuddin Hamid
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Some Muslims believe they
do not have to go all the way to Mecca for the haj. They believe
they can do it, instead, at the top of the Bawakaraeng mountain.
When the day of wukuf (haj pilgrims gathering on the Arafah
plain, Saudi Arabia) approaches, Bawakaraeng residents set up
makeshift tents at the foot of the mountain for their own wukuf
ritual.
In 1987, 13 such "haj pilgrims" were killed in a cold snap
that swept through the Bawakaraeng mountaintop. However, the
incident has not affected the people's determination to proceed
with the ritual.
The Bawakaraeng peak is 2,871 meters above sea level in Gowa
regency. It is local mountain climbers' favorite destination; the
temperature there in mid-March is between two degrees Celsius and
three degrees Celsius.
In early February, two students climbing the mountains died at
the top due to cold weather and a lack of supplies.
According to Daeng Djallo Makkadare, 53, a resident of
Parabingtolo village, Gowa, pilgrims will spend the night in
tents and try to reach the peaks a day ahead of Idul Adha, the
day of sacrifice, which they will celebrate on the mountaintop.
Together with dozens of Muslims from various areas around the
mountain, Djallo departed for the mountaintop on March 25 for the
Idul Adha celebration which fell on March 28 this year.
"A number of families and I go on pilgrimage to the
mountaintop nearly every haj season although we are aware of the
death risk due to the difficult route to the top," said Djallo.
For Djallo and a number of other syncretists, the death of 13
fellow pilgrims at the top of Bawakaraeng in 1987 was not
ordinary. They believe that the deaths occurred because of the
interference of nature and God's messengers there.
According to people living around Bawakaraeng, the pilgrimage
here started at the end of the Dutch occupation in the 1940s when
the colonial administration restricted haj pilgrimage. Therefore,
local residents looked for a substitute for Mecca.
The journey to the mountaintop starts at Parabingtolo village,
Tompobulu subdistrict. Believers in the Bawakaraeng pilgrimage
have 14 points that they have to pass by during the "haj". The
points symbolize acts of worship that pilgrims must carry out in
Mecca, including performing thawaf (circumambulating the Kaaba
seven times), jumrah (stoning the devil), acknowledging the Black
Stone embedded in the wall of the Kaaba (this was done by Prophet
Muhammad) while doing thawaf and drinking from the zamzam well
near the Kaaba.
A rocky outcrop at the top is considered a replica of the
Kaaba, while a well on the slope is equated with zamzam water.
For a sacrifice, they slaughter a chicken that is presented at
a place close to the thawaf site.
The pilgrimage starts at station four at an altitude of 2,393
meters above sea level. The pilgrims refer to this station as
Babussalam.
At this place, the pilgrims say their prayers and read a
mantra for the spirit of Karaeng, the ruler of Bawakaraeng. The
pilgrims then form a procession through the rest of the stations
as symbolization of the haj pilgrimage.
They celebrate Idul Adha at the top of Bawakaraeng, which they
call Kobang'E.
The tradition of Idul Adha prayers and the haj pilgrimage to
the top of Bawakaraeng mountain has been handed down for
generations by people living in the vicinity of Bawakaraeng and
Lompobattang. They are convinced that a pilgrimage here has the
same value as a haj in Mecca.
Djallo could not explain the basis of the teaching that allows
performing the haj at the top of the mountain.
Harifuddin Cawidu, a teacher of a postgraduate program of
Islamic Theology at the Allaudin State Institute of Islamic
Studies in Ujungpandang, said the practice is a deviation from
the standard Islamic dogma.
He said in Islam, the haj pilgrimage is allowed only in
Baitullah, Mecca.
Harifuddin said that in the course of history every religion
has its deviations. It is caused by the influence of ancestral
beliefs, e.g. animism, dynamism, etc.
The influence is often so strong it is able to bend the
standard teaching of a religion. Harifuddin says the extent of
the influence varies -- moderate, strong and extremely strong.
A moderate deviation may be acceptable with some reservations
but the Bawakaraeng case is unacceptable because the followers
acknowledge polytheism, he argued.
Harifuddin said that the Koran does make mention of belief in
Al'Aba (ancestors) and that is why some tarekat (orders of
mystics) allow the Bawakaraeng sect.
Harifuddin said deviations from the mainstream teaching of a
religion are common in villages. In this case, the Indonesian
Ulemas Council can do nothing but call on Muslims to stick to the
standard teachings.
Neither can the council take action against people who perform
their haj on the Bawakaraeng mountain because the authority lies
with the prosecutors' office.
Herifuddin rejected theories that the Bawakaraeng pilgrimage
is a legacy of Syech Yusuf, the great ulama of Gowa kingdom who
lived in the 17th century and died in Capetown, South Africa,
while disseminating Islam there.