'Puritan' Muhammadiyah and indigenous culture

'Puritan' Muhammadiyah and indigenous culture

Ahmad Najib Burhani, Jakarta

Muhammadiyah held a national meeting from Thursday to Sunday
in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. One of the most important issues
discussed during the meeting was the organization's stance toward
indigenous culture.

Muhammadiyah has for a long time been associated with the
"puritan" Islamic movement. This is a style of religiosity based
on the view that the Koran and the hadith (the collection of
narratives describing the actions and sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad) are the only proper basis of any religious authority.
These purists are against any acculturation or inclusion in the
religion of external elements such as local culture.

Muhammadiyah, in its early years after its establishment in
the 1920s, was known for its ambiguous attitude toward politics.
Despite the fact its political sentiments were as anti-Dutch as
those of other nationalist movements, the Dutch colonial
government regarded the group as safe.

In the cultural field, the Muhammadiyah also wrestled with a
similar ambiguous attitude toward Javanese culture. No attempt
was made to deny that almost all of the founding fathers of this
movement were servants of the kraton (Javanese royal palace).
Moreover, the leaders of the movement preserved an intimate
relationship with the kraton.

Yet, this organization proclaimed that its objective was to
rationalize traditional practices and to modernize the social
system. Logically, this would imply that Muhammadiyah had an
agenda for reforming syncretic customs and making inroads into
the feudal, aristocratic social structure that prevailed in
Javanese society and that had the kraton squarely as its axis.

Ahmad Dahlan, the founder of the movement, provides the best
portrait of the ambiguity of this movement toward Javanese
culture. He remained an obedient and loyal servant of the kraton
of Yogyakarta until his death.

Ahmad decision to maintain this ambiguity was apparently
aimed at ensuring the growth and survival of his new
organization.

Another factor that caused the Muhammadiyah to appear to
entertain an ambiguous attitude toward Javanese culture was the
history behind its establishment. Among the main supporters for
the founding of Muhammadiyah were devout Muslim priyayi (Javanese
aristocracy) and non-devout priyayi. The other main supporters
were traders.

Cogently, in line with the interests of its main supporters
and its dominant members, the Muhammadiyah paid serious attention
to social welfare and educational activities by founding schools
and hospitals. The agenda for modernizing and rationalizing
religious beliefs was regarded as a secondary project.

Why then did Muhammadiyah change and become a puritanical
movement? Why did Muhammadiyah change its cultural character? The
influence of several prominent members from Sumatra and the
victory of Wahhabism for control of Mecca and Medina in 1924
forced Muhammadiyah to pay more attention to religious beliefs
and behavior than it had done before.

The Sumatrans, especially West Sumatrans, were more
puritanical than the members from Java. Although the official
objectives of the foundation of the Majlis Tarjih (law making
council) in 1927 were to protect the unity of the movement and to
resolve any disputes over religious and legal questions, it
cannot be denied that the council also marked the beginning of
the shift in the Muhammadiyah's attitude toward Javanese culture.
Certainly, after the creation of the council, Muhammadiyah was
more concerned with religious matters and the behavior of its
members.

In politics, in the 1930s Muhammadiyah also tended to
associate itself with other religious movements. One of the
effects of these new trends in Muhammadiyah was the decline in
its attraction for non-devout priyayi. Their interests no longer
tallied with the programs of Muhammadiyah.

The more dominant devout-priyayi and traders became in
Muhammadiyah, the greater the loss of interest of the non-devout
priyayi, and finally the Muhammadiyah was less inclined to
Javanese-ness.

This marked one sequence in the story of the development of
Muhammadiyah. After this, Muhammadiyah became a purely Islamic
movement. The non-devout priyayi preferred to leave Muhammadiyah
and attach themselves to nationalist or cultural movements.
Furthermore, after the 1930s, Muhammadiyah's role as a puritan
movement was more obvious than before. In this period,
Muhammadiyah theology was systematized and codified.

On the eve of the 21st century, two contrasting trends emerged
in Muhammadiyah. There were several groups within Muhammadiyah
who regarded the group's move toward puritanism to be
inconsequential and superficial, making it too slow and soft in
forcing a puritan agenda. They demanded the movement strengthen
the puritan agenda in its activities. In the opposing camp were
Muhammadiyah members who regarded the movement as showing extreme
rightist tendencies. They believed Muhammadiyah was too
puritanical.

Over the last several years, the tug-of-war between these two
opposing groups became a serious problem in Muhammadiyah. Each
group tried to drag Muhammadiyah in opposite directions,
reflecting their own interests; the liberal-cultural versus
puritan.

The struggle between the liberal-cultural group, led by
current Muhamamdiyah chairman Syafii Maarif, Amin Abdullah and
Munir Mulkhan, and the puritan group, Muhammadiyah Members Who
Care About Sharia, was intense from 1999 to 2003. Their conflict
spread to Muhammadiyah universities and its supporting
organizations.

The spread and growth in the numbers of kaum berjenggot
(people who wear beards as a symbol of religiosity) and radical
Muslims at some Muhammadiyah universities was countered by the
Muhammadiyah Student Association with the introduction of Sufism,
pluralism and liberalism.

Fortunately, the face of Muhammadiyah today is still dominated
by moderate and pluralistic Muslims, such as Syafii Maarif. This
is the reason why the movement is considered moderate, modern and
pluralistic.

Of course, it would be counterproductive for the organization
if the radical and puritanical wing took the lead and
disseminated their teachings. This would change the face of
Muhammadiyah and Islam in Indonesia from the smiling and tolerant
Islam to a more puritanical Islam. The national meeting in
Mataram was a very important moment for determining the future of
Muhammadiyah and Islam in Indonesia.

The writer is a lecturer at Paramadina University in Jakarta
and a Pemuda Muhammadiyah activist.