Page 283 - INDONESIA ISLAMIC CULTURE
P. 283

in some regions, occasionally might     commemoration of the dead on the                      even into public schools like SMP (Junior   of certain Qur’anic verses. What the
                                   incite violence. The conflicts generally   3 , 7 , 40 , 100 , and 1,000  days, as             High School) and SMA (Senior High      Muhammadiyah and the NU particularly
                                                                            rd
                                                                               th
                                                                                   th
                                                                                                    th
                                                                                         th
                                   centered on the dissimilarities in some   well as annual commemorations (haul).               School) within the pesantrens. The fact   cannot accept is the Salafi ideology
                                   subsidiary rituals of worship. The      Modernists avoid excessive accolades to               that the Muslim younger generations    about the nature of God. The Salafis
                                   commonly prevailing characteristic of   religious teachers, clerics and scholars,             massively entered modern education     believe that the manifestation of God is
                                   the Muhammadiyah is that the call for   sheikhs of mystical orders, and tawasul,              also gradually reduced the differences.   really anthropomorphic (tajsim), and that
                                   prayer (azan) for the Friday congregation   but traditionalists continue to do so.            Since the 1980s, the dichotomy between   He can be located in a specific place,
                                   (jumatan) is done only once, while the   Similarly, Sufism and certain vocations              traditionalists and modernists had been   namely on the Throne. The NU and the
                                   Nahdlatul Ulama usually does it twice.   of the mystical orders, which the                    fading and the distinctive characteristics   Muhammadiyah are strongly opposed
                                   The Muhammadiyah used to practice       modernists rejected, were all practiced               discussed above became less useful     to this anthropomorphic view. What the
                                   the Tarawih prayer (at night during the   by traditionalists.                                 to differentiate between modernist and   NU and the Muhammadiyah also share
                                   month Ramadan) as much as 8 raka’at                                                           traditionalist groups. Entering the 3 rd   is their opposition against the attitude
                                   (lit. bows), plus 3 raka’at of Witir (the   The differences are not limited to                millennium, the Muhammadiyah and       of the Salafis who feel that they are the
                                   Vigil prayer). The Nahdlatul Ulama in its   religious rituals, but also in ways of            the NU were no longer hostile towards   most correct and that they categorize
                                   turn, runs 23 raka’at, which include the   dress and speaking, and educational                each other, but started to collaborate.   those who dissent as ahlul bid’ah
                                   Witir. The modernists do not pronounce   orientation. If traditionalists chose                The leaders of both groups are closer to   (heretics), which also means infidels.
                                   their intention before every ritual     boarding schools as ideal places to                   each other and work together to generate   In the process of approaching each other
                                   worship, while according to the NU the   educate their children, modernists chose             welfare for all the people.            to achieve the “unification” of modernists
                                   pronouncement (talafuz) of the intention   public schools, instead. Traditionalists           This “unification” process was perhaps   and traditionalists, the differences
                                   has to be made. These differences are   chose agriculture as their livelihood,                caused by the common challenges        between their religious practices were no
                                   the sources of the conflicts and are used   whereas the modernists chose modern               they, namely the Wahhabi Salafi group   longer as striking as before. Mysticism,
                                   to tease each other.                    vocations as employees, employers, or                 that had begun to blossom since the    for example, which the modernists
                                                                           traders. In the field of art, traditionalists
                                   Traditionalists used to perform various   preferred to engage in samroh, barzanji,            end of the 20  century and became      originally opposed, is now beginning to
                                                                                                                                             th
                                   rituals associated with the events of a   rodad and salawatan while modernists                much larger by the last decade. The    be appreciated. Sufism has long suffered
                                   person’s life cycle and they indulged in   rather developed the art of orchestras,            Salafis were actually puritan like the   from marginalization the emerging
                                   commemorations of the dead, which the   music bands, and drama.                               Muhammadiyah, but they were also       modernist orientation which assumed
                                   modernists considered heretical. The                                                          radical and confrontational in facing   Sufism was not original Islamic teaching.
                                   modernists only performed life cycle    Nevertheless, over time these differences             what they call heresies. Although      Modernists among the inhabitants of
                                   rituals that accord with Islamic guidance   gradually become in significant. Entering         puritan, the Muhammadiyah still        urban areas strongly objected to the
                                   like akikah (a feast 7  days after the birth   the 1970s, many traditionalist began to        accommodates to local culture.         practice of Sufism in the form of a long
                                                     th
                                   of a baby), circumcision and wedding.   apply for enrolment in public schools.                Moreover, there are some fundamental   series of repetitive recitations (wird)
                                   Traditionalist also perform rituals on   Boarding schools started to adopt school             differences between the two in their   following certain pronouncements and
                                   the 4 and 7 months of pregnancy,        systems and turned into madrasahs, or                 views on heresy and the interpretation   their unique invocation techniques
                                       th
                                              th

          274  Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives                                                                                                                    Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives  275
   278   279   280   281   282   283   284   285   286   287   288