The rise of Islamic protestantism in Indonesia

The rise of Islamic protestantism in Indonesia

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, The Jakarta Post

This goes beyond a simple case of an "oddball" preacher in Malang
leading prayers in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia. The controversy
over the preacher from East Java performing prayers in two
languages is, unwittingly, part of the growing enlightenment that
rejects the traditional dogma of state-sponsored religion.

It is not a challenge toward religion per say, but
protestantism in response to the hegemony of organized religion
in Indonesia and the state's monopoly over religious
righteousness.

For over three decades the state ruled by proxy over the
masses through state institutions and conservative clerics whose
words and fatwa defined what was or what was not considered
virtuous. Dissenters were branded heretic.

Thirty years of totalitarianism reduced people's capacity to
think, producing a society in love with its own enslavement. If
everything was so perfectly defined, what need is there for
reason?

Reformasi is still wanting in its goal of creating a just,
democratic society, but at the very least it provides a window
for free thought.

This window has brought about revisionism in all areas of life
once decreed sacrosanct. Authority over religion is quietly
raging a battle that is becoming 'bloodier' by the day.

A group of young "liberal" Islamic thinkers like Ulil Abshar
Abdala were condemned to death, by fatwa, for challenging
traditional conservatism.

A draft Islamic Code of Law which included articles redressing
the rights of women was struck down under pressure from theocons
and fear of "inciting public unrest".

Most recently, Muhammad Yusman Roy of the Islamic boarding
school Pondok I'tikaf Jama'ah Ngaji Lelaku was arrested for
leading prayers in Arabic and Indonesian.

After the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict
saying prayers can only be conducted in Arabic, Roy had thus
allegedly violated Article 156 (a) of the Criminal Code on
despoiling an organized religion. The crime carries a maximum
punishment of five years imprisonment.

Strangely, the exclusive use of Arabic in Islamic liturgy has
been a matter of debate for centuries.

Over a millennium ago two acclaimed Islamic philosophers --
Abu Hanifah (a Persian) and Syafi'i (an Arab) -- were already
arguing this very point. The latter, not surprisingly, contending
Arabic was the sole permissible language in prayers.

In the 1930s, Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal (Kemal
Ataturk) instructed that the adzan -- the call to prayer -- be
read in Turkish.

Repeated cases in Indonesia have also shown, there is an
inability to differentiate between Islam and Arabic tradition.

The "grand old man of the republic", Haji Agus Salim, demanded
the shroud between men and women participants in a 1927 Islamic
youth conference in Yogyakarta be removed saying the separation
of the sexes in such a manner was not an Islamic, but rather an
Arab tradition.

Cleric Roy himself before he was arrested was not contesting
the core tenets of Islam -- the belief in one God and fate, the
Prophet Muhammad, shalat, and faith in the hereafter. His purpose
seemed simply to make religious text more accessible. To engage
in a more "tender" dialog with God.

Under political duress Roy has apologized but remains adamant
about continuing his prayers in the two languages, albeit only
with his immediate family.

Even the most conservative clerics would agree that Islam is a
religion that encourages scientific and cognitive thought. Hence
it is ironic that militancy, not rationale and debate, prevails.

As Salim has shown, debate was part of the healthy Indonesian
Islamic culture in the pre-New Order days. In the 1950s there
were articles on the opposing views of Persis and Muhammadiyah
(two prominent Islamic organizations) on religious issues.

The analogy of Martin Luther and his excommunication by Pope
Leo X in the 16th Century may be offensive to some Muslims, but
the historical parallel is worth studying.

No one here is hammering a list of demands on a church door.
Nevertheless the social environment which permits free and
rational thought is challenging the parochialism of organized
religion. It is neither an organized nor a conscious movement. It
is trend which stems naturally from humanity's desire to find
sequential truth based on reason, not doctrine.

It is no threat to religion, especially Islam. It is however
intimidating to those who exploit religion as a means of mind
control.

Maybe Muslims in this country are undergoing their own initial
phase of religious enlightenment and reformation. A welcome end
result would be a rational approach to religion which would
eliminate religion from politics -- An end to clerics who forget
that in Islam there is no such thing as a priesthood which has
structural control over a congregation; an end to religious
claims that women cannot become leaders; an end to politicians
who can claim probity because they show themselves to be pious by
using Islamic (Arabic) symbolism.

"Without doubt there can be no faith, for it only leads to
blind faith."