The Muhammadiyah Movement and Its Controversy With Christian Movement
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F O R M IV

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE BOARD

Title o f Dissertation:

THE MUHAMMADIYAH MOVEMENT

AND ITS CONTROVERSY WITH CHRISTIAN MISSION IN INDONESIA

Author:

Alwi Shihab

ry\. Read and Approved by:

Date submitted to Graduate Board: ............

Accepted by the Graduate Board o f Temple University in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree o f Doctor o f Philosophy. Dati (Dean o f Graduate School)

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THE MUHAMMADIYAH MOVEMENT AND ITS CONTROVERSY WITH CHRISTIAN MISSION IN INDONESIA

A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

by Alwi Shihab August 1995

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UMI Number: 9600080

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My first contact with Temple University, Department of Religion dates back to early 1991, when I, as a visiting scholar at the Philosophy Department of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, had the opportunity to discuss with Professor Mahmoud Ayoub my plans to pursue advance studies at Temple. He encouraged me to undertake the study of comparative religion with an emphasis on Christian-Muslim relations. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Ayoub, who has been my principle advisor since I began my studies at Temple. It was due to his suggestion to write on the Muhammadiyah that I began to formulate the topic of this dissertation. Without his continuous guidance and invaluable help, the completion of this dissertation would be unthinkable. I must also record my deep gratitude to Professor John Raines

who, despite his heavy engagements has found time to

read, correct and give his insightful suggestions, which will

always be appreciated. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to Professor

Khalid Blankinship, whose corrections and valuable advice made this dissertation possible. Similarly, I would like to thank Prof. William Liddle for graciously agreeing to be a iii

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member of my committee and for having given of his time, guidance and moral support. To all my former professors, the faculty members and the staff at the Department of Religion, whose names are too many to be mentioned here, hearty thanks. My study at Temple would have been unthinkable had it not been for the financial assistance offered by the Department of Religion. In this connection I wish to express my deep appreciation to Professor Vasiliki Limberis, chair of the committee, and other Scholarship Award Committee members for their kind consideration. In preparation of this dissertation I have been very ably helped in different ways by many persons, including my Indonesian friends. My wholehearted thanks are due to all of them. I would like, however, to single out The Rev. Judith Buck-Glenn, who lent her helping hand in editing and proofreading this dissertation. I wish also to thank the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, and the Muhammadiyah office in Jakarta, which provided me with some valuable materials related to this dissertation. Last but certainly not least, to Ashraf Shahab, my wife, and to my children who lived with me through often difficult circumstances, heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation are due to them for their constant love and support. iv

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Dedicated to: my parents whose spirit will never be pulled out from its essence; my wife and children for whom my love and affection can never dim

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................... INTRODUCTION

.....................................

iii viii

Chapter I:

INDONESIA: AN HISTORICALOVERVIEW .........

1

Animism ................................. The Hindu-BuddhistInfluence .............. I s l a m ................................... Christianity .............................

4 7 18 28

THE CONSOLIDATION OF CHRISTIANITY........

36

The Introduction of Christianity and Its Growth in J a v a ................. Samuel Eliza Harthoom (1831-1883) Carel Poensen (1836-1919)......... Lion Cachet (1835-1899) Baron Van Boetzelaer (1873-1956) .........

54 65 68 70 71

III: THE DUTCH COLONIAL P O L I C Y ...............

77

II:

The The The The IV:

Structure of the Colonial Government . . Rust en Orde P o l i c y ................. Policy of Guardianship............... Dutch Islamic Policy .................

99 104 112 121

THE MUHAMMADIYAH M O V E M E N T ...............

138

The Cultural M i l i e u ..................... The Political Movement ................... The Religious Movement ................... Sarekat Dagang Islamiyah ................. The Muhammadiyah Movement ............... Ahmad Dahlan, the F o u n d e r ............... The Muhammadiyah Movement During Dahlan's T i m e ...........................

140 147 151 153 162 170

vi

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183

V:

VI:

THE MAIN REASONS FOR THE BIRTH OF THE MUHAMMADIYAH...................

205

The Middle East Reformist Ideas ......... The Factor of Abduh's Reform ........... The Factor of Internal Antagonism in the Javanese S o c i e t y ............. The Factor of the Christian Penetration . . Guru Ordonnantie (the Teacher of Ordinance). The Ducth Infringement on the Local Culture. The Foundation of Freemasonry ...........

227 242 253 261 267

THE ENCOUNTER OF THE MUHAMMADIYAH WITH THE CHRISTIAN MISSION .............

272

The The The The

Formative Stage of the Muhammadiyah . Soekarno E r a ....................... "New Order" E r a ................... Cause of Muslim-Christian Controversy.

208 217

. 277 291 304 . 332

VII: CONCLUSION.................................. 338 BIBLIOGRAPHY

.........

343

vii

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INTRODUCTION

Six thousand inhabited islands, with over 190 million inhabitants, the world's largest archipelago, comprises the nation of Indonesia. This country has always been receptive to foreign ideas and has proved itself hospitable to foreign civilizations. To judge from scattered information, the religious pattern of Indonesia in the pre-Islamic era, before 600 C.E, was essentially animistic. During the early centuries, owing to sea travel by Indonesians to the ports of India, Hindu culture influenced Indonesia. The spread of the Hindu religion was associated with the florescence of great empires in Java.

This period of hinduized empires lasted

until the demise of the Javanese kingdom of Madjapahit in the wake of a newly Islamized Mataram that arose during the seventeenth century C.E. After almost a millennium of Hindu-Buddhist dominance, the Islamic culture spread over almost the whole of Indonesia. Islam penetrated Southeast Asia as early as the eleventh century C.E., then flourished for the next half a millennium until the arrival of Western culture. However, the process of Islamization in the great diversity of local culture brought about different degrees of conformity to what is viewed as the "authentic" Islam of the Middle-East. viii

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As a result, two groups of different degrees of attachment to Islam emerged. The santri. or committed Muslims, generally belonged to a maritime culture where Islam penetrated deeply, and the abanaan. the nominally Muslim group of the interior regions which had a more enclosed agrarian culture. The Dutch pulled ashore at Banten, Java, in 1596, and proceeded to join the Portuguese, the English, and the Spanish in a quest for profit in the tropical waters. Ultimately, the Dutch triumphed in the battle for dominance in Indonesia. In the eighteenth century, the Dutch forces won a major victory over the Muslim kingdom of Mataram. In its aim to provide services in education and social welfare, the Dutch colonial government recruited many Indonesians to acquire Western education. Westernization, along with Christianization, evoked in Indonesia, as elsewhere, feelings of alienation and confusion. Most of the major movements of twentieth century colonial Indonesia can be traced to these problems as well as to economic and political colonial interests. On the other hand, the important position of Makkah as the source of Islamic dynamic impulses, especially in cunjuction with the haii pilgrimage, attracted a large number of scholars and students from all over the Muslim world. There were sincere efforts among those scholars to revitalize the teachings of Islam. As a result, the spirit ix

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Muslim world. Although Indonesia was situated on the periphery of the Muslim world, it was able to reap the benefits of this reform spirit'. In the nineteenth century, after acquiring Islamic knowledge in Makkah, some of the more astute Indonesian students

founded religious schools

when they returned home. Thus they were able to spread reform ideas which were transformed into active movements that stimulated the great awakening of the Indonesian Muslims. The earliest indigenous movements under colonial Indonesia were cultural rather than political. They divided along religious and secular lines. One of the most important educational and cultural movements among the santri. or religious group, was the Muhammadiyah, founded in 1912 in central Java by Ahmad Dahlan. The significance of this movement in the development of modern Islamic thought in Indonesia cannot be appreciated without some knowledge of the social and religious life of the Indonesian people. Such knowledge is important, particularly during the first decade of the twentieth century prior to the rise of the Muhammadiyah movement. During the course of its history, the Muhammadiyah has presented a unique phenomenon in Indonesian religious life. As an organization it has proven itself over time to be not only an educational and socio-religious reformist movement, x

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but also as an active movement that has stimulated a yreat awakening among the Indonesian Muslims. Apart from its impressive social, political and educational contributions, the Muhammadiyah's woman branch, Aisyiah, is probably the most dynamic women's movement in the Muslim world. Basically, the Muhammadiyah played four interrelated roles: as a religious reform movement; as an agent of social change; as a political force and, foremost, as an active opponent of the Christian missions. As a religious reform organization, Muhammadiyah aimed at purifying the Islamic faith by seeking to eradicate superstitious practices and traditional admixtures. As an agent of social change, it aimed at modernizing the Indonesian Muslim community in order to lift it up from its backwardness to a place of respectability in the modern world. As a political force, it became a major interest group in Indonesian politics. As an opponent to Christian missions the Muhammadiyah openly sought to cope with the rising tide of Christian missionary activity in a variety of ways, sometimes directly, but most often under the guise of providing and promoting Islamic educational and health facilities as an alternative to those established by the Christian evangelization institutions. In contemporary studies on Indonesian Modernist movements, it has generally been held that the Muhammadiyah as a reformist movement aimed at adapting Islam to modern xi

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Indonesia,- and was chiefly inspired by the Middle East reform movement led by men like Shaykh Mohammad 'Abduh of Egypt. Occasionally the movement is also lauded as the most dominant force in Indonesian Islam and the most effective organization ever to exist in the region of South East Asia, or, to borrow Peacok's expression, "perhaps in the world."1 The Muhammadiyah movement is also regarded as a dynamic force in the renewal of the "orthodox" current of thought that struggled against the mystical and syncretistic tendencies which marked the early development of Indonesian Islam. As a corollary to the above, the Muhammadiyah is usually thought of as a reformist/salafi movement, which stressed the exclusive authority of the Qur'an and the Sunnah in determining what truly constitutes Islamic beliefs and practices. Thus it has been cast in the mold of the Wahhabi movement of Saudi Arabia. As a result, the Muhammadiyah is placed among the reform movements that strongly opposed Sufism. In our opinion a more careful analysis is required to explore additional information and will enable us to discover the true character and purpose of the Muhammadiyah. Such an analysis would show that the Muhammadiyah, in fact, had set its sights well beyond these reformist goals. Aside from the Muhammadiyah's role as an agent of religious reform 1James L. Peacock, Muslim Puritans. Reformist Psychology in Southeast Asian Islam (Berkely: University of California Press, 1978), 19. xii

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and modernism aiming at purging Islamic practices of superstitious accretions, there is still another equally important goal, if not the most important one. It is, moreover, a goal which scholars have placed on the periphery and, therefore, subjected it to analytical neglect. It is the active resistance to the Christian missions in their deep penetration into the fabric of Indonesian Islamic culture. This important goal is discernable not only during the time of the movement's birth but it continues to manifest itself over the course of its development up to the present time. In our view, the importance of this goal can be best assessed by going behind the ostensible purpose of the establishment of the Muhammadiyah. This also calls for measuring the pulse, so to speak, of the Indonesian Muslims as grievances mounted against what they considered as the Christian threat to their religion. The missionary problem will, therefore, be the main focus of this study.

Significance of the Study In recent years Islam has played an increasingly central role in world affairs. With a population of nearly two hundred millions, eighty-seven percent of which is Muslims, Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, outnumbering all Muslims of the entire Arab world. Thus Indonesia can avail itself of an excellent oppoi' ’nity xiii

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to play an influential role not only in the region of Southeast Asia, but in the Islamic world at large. Any study pertinent to the role of Islam and its institutions in Indonesia therefore is naturally of utmost importance. Amid the Islamic revivalism which prevails in many Muslim countries today, including Indonesia, any work on the contribution of any such Islamic revival institutions is noteworthy. The Muhammadiyah movement certainly falls into this category. The study of the Muhammadiyah is, therefore, not only of a great value to those who wish to learn about it and trace its far-reaching influence, but also to those who are interested in the development of Islamic resurgence in Indonesia and its religio-cultural environment. The Muhammadiyah, as one of the most influential reformist movements in Indonesia, has been and will most likely continue to be a force in Indonesian politics. This is all the more evident when we take a closer look at the contemporary development of Indonesian politics. For the first fifteen years of the "New Order" period,2 President Suharto carefully squeezed the political life out of Islam. In the early 1990s, however, Suharto appeared to change course. He encouraged the formation of the "Indonesian

2The "New Order" here is meant the Suharto regime. Suharto, the second President of Inonesia has been re-elected to his sixth term in 1993. For further discussion on the "New Order" Indonesia, see, Hal Hill, Indonesia's New Order: The Dynamics of Socio-Economic Transformation. (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1993) . See also, page 303-330 of this dissertation. xiv

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Muslim intellectual society”, and in 1991 he went on his first pilgrimage to Makkah. In addition to that, Suharto, for the first time in the history of "New Order" Indonesia, officially inaugurated the opening ceremony of H.M.I. (Muslim Students' Association), the largest and most influential youth organization in Indonesia. Furthermore, changes are beginning to be made in certain laws to accommodate Islamic sentiment. In this favorable political climate for Islam, the Muhammadiyah can by no means be ignored. Its dynamic influence in shaping Indonesian life in the immediate future is unquestionable. Moreover, because Indonesia has a diversity of ethnic groups and religious persuasions it is important for her to create constructive and harmonious interactions in order to maintain its stability. Consequently a study of MuslimChristian relations in Indonesia is, to say the least, important. The study of the Muhammadiyah and its controversy with the Christian missions, therefore, can be used as a means to work out problems between religious communities in order to promote peace and cooperation. It is hoped that the present study will contribute to the realization of this goal. This study will also bring to light patterns of relationship that exist between religions, especially the more pathological aspects, with the hope of attracting the attention of those who strive to prevent the emergence of xv

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hostile feelings toward any religious belief or faithcommunity. It is also hoped that this work will stimulate other Indonesian students to embark on the scientific study of various religions in order to be able to overcome irrational prejudices and to discover the connections which O exist among the various religions. Considering the dearth of scholarly attention to the underlying factors related to the birth of the Muhammadiyah, let alone those related to its controversy with the Christian missions, this study will hopefully be of some significance to Christian-Muslim understanding in Indonesia's pluralistic and multi-religious society.

Scope of the Study

This study is mainly concerned with the birth of the Muhammadiyah movement and the milieu in which it operated; its founder as well as its main objectives. In the course of this analysis, we shall attempt to shed some light on a number of contemporary social movements. A primary concern of this work, however, is to elucidate the underlying factors that prompted the emergence of the Muhammadiyah. In contrast to the widely-held view among scholars that the reason for the birth of the Muhammadiyah is a result either of the spread of Islamic reformist ideas from the Middle East, or of the long ideological antagonism within Javanese Society, namely between the abanaan and the santri xv i

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groups, this dissertation will seek to underscore the importance of the deep Christian penetration into the country and the great influence it exerted. In discussing this issue the present work will place a special emphasis on the Muhammadiyah's manner of dealing with Christian missionary activities. In order to adequately assess the Muhammadiyah'S effectiveness in this regard, this study will examine the movement's encounter with Christian missions beginning with the first generation of the movement, passing through the Sukarno era and moving up to the present time. We shall also examine briefly some pertinent causes of controversy between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia. In concrete terms, this dissertation will seek to answer the question concerning the main determining factor leading to the birth of the Muhammadiyah Movement. In offering a response to this question the prtesent study seeks to substantiate its thesis by investigating both the manifest and latent reasons which arose prior to and after the birth of the movement.

Review of Related Studies

Many works have been written and much ink has been spilt on Muhammadiyah, both by Indonesian and Western scholars. Among the most important works are the following; 1.

James L. Peacock, Purifying Faith: The Muhammadiiah Movement in Indonesian Islam (1978), xvii

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is mainly concerned with the educational and social activities of the Muhammadiyah as a mass organization. In this book the author describes the cultural conditions on which the Muhammadiyah came to life and developed. 2.

Alfian, Muhammadiyah; The Political Behavior of a Muslim Modernist Organization Under Dutch Colonialism (1969) lays its emphasis on the political role and behavior exhibited by the Muhammadiyah from its birth up to the end of Dutch colonial rule. It is by far the most detailed work on the Muhammadiyah focusing on politics.

3.

Syamsuddin, M Siradjuddin, Religion And Politics In Islam: The case of Muhammadiyah In Indonesia/s New Order (1991). This study puts significant weight on the Muhammadiyah's view of the concept of state and the relationship between religion and politics in Islam. The author examines the Muhammadiyah's political role and places it as a case study in relation to political Islam. His study also addresses the role of the Muhammadiyah in Indonesian politics in the "New Order" period beginning with the ascendancy of Suharto up to the present time.

4.

Deliar Noer, The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia 1900-1942. (1963). This work mainly xviii

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describes the historical roots of the prominent modernist movements in Indonesia, their roles and contributions, as well as their achievements in Indonesian Islam, Muhammadiyah being one of them. Although this work covers other aspects besides the politics of the various reformist movements, it is limited to the Dutch colonial era. 5.

In addition to the above works, Mukti Ali (the former Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia) also wrote in 1957 a useful bibliographical work on the pre-war period of the Muhammadiyah: The Muhammadiiah Movement: A Bibliographical Introduction. It is an informative historical account of the movement, its founder and goals.

6.

Mitsuo Nakamura, in his book The Crescent Arises Over the Banvan Tree: A Study of The Muhammadiiah Movement in a Central Javanese Town, observes the development of the Muhammadiyah by focusing upon local realities facing the movement in the small town of Kotagede. In his study he seeks to prove that the Muhammadiyah represents the process of religious change developing from interactions among various elements internal to Javanese Society.

In addition to the above, there are several works which are mostly in the form of essays or books which are xix

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biographical in nature. The more outstanding of these works which contain accounts of the struggle and the ideas of Dahlan include those written by Abdullah Puar, Periuangan dan Penaabdian Muhammadiyah (The Struggle and Dedication of the Muhammadiyah), 1949; Solichin Salam, K.H. Ahmad Dahlan. Reformer Indonesia (Ahmad Dahlan, The Islamic Reformer of Indonesia), 1963; Syamsi Sumardjo, Pengetahuan Muhammadiyah dan Tokoh-tokohnva (Understanding the Muhammadiyah and its leadership), 1967; (Djarnawi Hadikusuma, Matahari-Matahari Muhammadivah (The Light of the Muhammadiyah); Yunus Salam, Riwavat K.H. Dahlan dan Amal Periuangannva (The Biography, Dedication and Struggle of Ahmad Dahlan), 1968; M. Rusli Karim, Muhammadiyah Dalam Kritik dan Komentar (The Muhammadiyah in Critique and Comment), 1968. Beside the above works, there are many monoghraphs written in the Indonesian language, most of which, however, do not provide additional information worthy of special attention. In all that has been written about the Muhammadiyah, to the best of my knowledge, there is no single work that focuses on the study of the underlying factors in the emergence of this movement, much less one attributing to the Christian factor major importance. Up to now, scholars of Indonesian Islamic movements have not taken the initiative to study seriously and exhaustively the manifest, and, more importantly, the latent reasons for the birth of the Muhammadiyah. The reason for the absence of such a study xx

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appears to be political. The Indonesian government has been, and still is, of the firm view that any work that could evoke any religious Polemics, especially between Christians and Muslims, should be strongly avoided. This is no doubt due to the fact that the apparently harmonious ChristianMuslim relations in Indonesia are pregnant with latent tension and hostility. Therefore any such work might unintentionally contribute to exacerbating of tensions.

Sources and Methodology of the Study

The present study will employ a number of approaches. Firstly it will endeavor to undertake a historical survey and analysis of the Muhammadiyah movement as a necessary step to answer the question posed. The prevailing mood of the Indonesian Muslims prior to and during the advent of the Muhammadiyah is carefully scrutinized. The analysis of the political and socio-religious environment of that time serves as a significant backdrop to the study. The historical record of the colonial policies and the works of various experts in Dutch colonial policy have been used as one of the main sources. In its effort to achieve its aim this study will conduct its investigation by tracing the important events that preceded and accompanied the birth of the Muhammadiyah in order to find out what roles seem to have been played by the Muhammadiyah during its formative period. After having xxi

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established these roles, the next step will be to assess and analyze them carefully by examining the attitudes of the Muhammadiyah leadership in the formative period and by interpreting the primary texts written by Muhammadiyans and others. For this purpose the study will gather the best available information, then extract and analyze them. In the section concerned with the role of the Christian missions in Indonesia and their relationship to the colonial rule, as well as the threat it posed to Islam, the study will rely on works of Indonesian and Western scholars, including those Dutch works which have been translated into the English and Indonesian languages. The works of Christian scholars and missionaries will also be used. In determining the motivating factors that served to arouse Dahlan to found the Muhammadiyah, biographical materials written by both Indonesian and foreign scholars will be utilized. In addition, both official and non­ official publications of the Muhammadiyah, which constitute a rich and useful source for this part of the study, will be employed. Additionally, important books, treatises, reports of Muhammadiyah Congresses and the works of Muhammadiyah functionaries will be used as primary sources in determining the concerns, objectives, and aspirations of the movement. Equally important is the approach of interpreting and understanding the key statements of Dahlan so as to determine their relevance to the thesis of the dissertation. xxii

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In order for the study to discern the underlying motives of Dahlan, these statements will be interpreted in light of Dahlan's actions, concerns and grievances. The method which will be used to interpret these texts, therefore is, to a certain degree, hermeneutical in nature. This method, in its broader sense follows that proposed by Hans-George Gadamar in Truth and Method.3 in that a dialogue between the text and the interpreter is established. By using this method, the study will be able to bring together and interpret the various dimensions of Dahlan's life, particularly the psychological and religious ones most pertinent to the birth of the Muhammadiyah. Finally with this assessment and analysis, it is hoped that this study will offer a better understanding and explanation of the entire phenomenon of the Muhammadiyah movement. It is important to note that although this study will focus on one of the most important underlying missions of the Muhammadiyah, i.e. countering the Christian missionary activities, this study is by no means intended to play down the significance of the Muhammadiyah's other missions, which are overtly stated. They are: to uphold and uplift the teaching of Islam so as to create a truly Islamic society.

3Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method. trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1989). xxiii

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Synopsis of the Dissertation This dissertation begins with a preliminary discussion of the history of religious persuasions adhered to by the people of Indonesia. This will provide the background needed for an appropriate understanding of the ensuing issues. The discussion of the religious history starts with Animism, the belief held by the ancient Indonesians. Following this early period, the first chapter will briefly discuss the penetration of four different strains of religious faith, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Each of these religions will be evaluated in the context of its influence on the Indonesian people. Chapter two examines the early introduction of Christianity during the Portuguese occupation of some parts of Indonesia. This is followed by an exposition of the process of Christian growth and consolidation up to the final years of the Dutch colonial rule. This chapter also includes a number of concrete examples of the process of the consolidation of Christianity. The history of the early Christian missions along with the role of important figures who participated in spreading the Christian Faith in Indonesia, will help explain the process of Christian consolidation. This treatment is followed by the exposition of Dutch colonial Policy in chapter three. The point to be argued in this chapter is that the Dutch policy was largely xx iv

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responsible for both enhancing the position of Christianity and stimulating the emergence of many nationalist movements, including the Muhammadiyah. In this chapter the role and views of Snouck Hurgronje, the chief architect of the Dutch Islamic Policy are also elaborated. According to him, to create durable and harmonious relations with the largely Muslim population of Indonesia, the Dutch ought to domesticate Indonesian leaders and attract them to the benefits of Western civilization. It was hoped that through this process the Indonesian leaders would be dissuaded from the Islamic system and adapt instead a system based on Western values. Chapter four is devoted to examining the rise of several social movements in the early years of twentieth century Indonesia. In its treatment of these diverse movements, this chapter puts a special emphasis on the Muhammadiyah movement. The birth of the Muhammadiyah, its cultural, political, religious context and the biography of its founder, as well as its main objectives, are extensively discussed. Chapter five, which constitutes the core chapter of the dissertation, seeks to review the main factors that contributed to the emergence of the Muhammadiyah. The first section of this chapter begins with the presentation of different theories and points of view on the issue in question. The two commonly held views concerning the reason xxv

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for the emergence of the Muhammadiyah are presented prior to the discussion of the main thesis of the dissertation. In enhancing the dissertation's thesis, namely the Christian penetration factor, three other variables that subsume under this factor are also discussed. These are the impact of the Guru Ordonnantie (Teachers Ordinance ; the Dutch infringement on local custom; and the establishment of Freemasonry in Indonesia. In order to substantiate the primary thesis of this dissertation, an account of the Muhammadiyah's encounter with Christian missions is presented in the last chapter. The account of this encounter covers almost a century. This encounter took place in three stages. The first stage was during the formative period of the Muhammadiyah up to the final days of colonial rule; the second was during the Sukarno era; and the third encompasses the contemporary period. In each stage the encounter between the Muhammadiyah and the Christians is treated extensively. Toward the end of this chapter, the causes of the currently existing antagonism between the Muhammadiyah and the Christians is addressed. Finally a conclusion follows which summarizes the findings of the study. Some recommendations are suggested as possibilities to help mitigate somewhat this antagonism which lies just beneath the surface of Indonesia's apparent social harmony. xxvi

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CHAPTER I INDONESIA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Indonesia, formerly called the Netherlands' Indies, lies where the Indian Ocean merges with the tropical Pacific. It comprises around three thousand inhabited islands stretching over three thousand miles along the equator. These islands, along with others, around ten thousand islets in all, make up the fourth largest nation by population, and the sixth by area in the world. The country's population exceeds one hundred ninety million.1 Sixty percent live on the island of Java which contains less than seven percent of the nation's territory. Furthermore, and according to the best available archeological evidence, one of the earliest races of humankind made its home in what is now Indonesia.2 Geographical factors such as extended coastlines and tropical forests have deeply affected the country's history. These geographical variations have given rise to three

According to the 1995 Encyclopaedia Britanica world data, the population of Indonesia in 1994 is 191,340,000. See, Encyclopedia Britanica. 1995 Book of the Year, 630. 2Eleven skulls found in central Java near the city of Solo (Homo Solensis) were judged to be some 40,000 years old. See Bernard H.M. Vlekke, Nusantara: a History of Indonesia (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1943), 3-4. However, it is extremely doubtful that modern Indonesians descend from these prehistoric races.

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different types of Indonesian societies. The seas that surround the islands played a crucial role in the establishment of the first type, namely, the trade-oriented strongly Islamic coastal people. The sea trade routes enabled this area to have an easier access to the outside world and alien cultures as compared with the interior areas. The second type are animistic tribal groups who inhabit the isolated mountainous areas. The third group is generally Hinduized, closely attached to the court elite, and mostly live in the accessible interiors of the country.3 From almost any standpoint — and cultural —

geological, historical

Indonesia is complex. Hence it was not

without reason that the country's official motto, "Bhineka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity"), was devised by the founding fathers of Indonesia to emphasize its ethnic heterogeneity and unity. In spite of its ethnic diversity, including more than two hundred and fifty regional languages, the people of Indonesia are united in using primarily the national language, Bahasa Indonesia.4

3Hildred Geertz, "Indonesian Cultures and Communities," in Indonesia, ed. Ruth T. Mcvey (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963), 25-30. 4Bahasa Indonesia is a Malay language which has been known for more than a thousand years as the commercial language in the coastal areas of the archipelago. It originated from the peoples living around the straits of Malacca and was spread to other islands. It has contributed, more than any other factor, to the unity of the country.

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There are a multitude of religious persuasions adhered to by the people of Indonesia. These religions include most of the present world religions. Around eighty-five percent of the population embrace Islam, and the remaining fifteen percent is shared by the Hindu, Buddhist and Christian religions. Before we embark upon a discussion of the history of ancient Indonesian religious beliefs, it is important to note that such a task is by no means easy, one of the reasons being the insufficient attention that has been given by scholars to the circumstances surrounding the lives of the

early Indonesians. This lack of concern mainly is due

to the scarcity of written records and documentation. Consequently, and to the great regret of the Indonesian people, Indonesia has one of the least-known histories of the major states. Until the end of World War II, virtually the only outsiders with an interest in the area were the Dutch. It was only in the last two decades that Englishspeaking countries

trainedspecialists on Indonesia. Very

few, however, have

made an attempt to deal with Indonesia,

let alone its religious history. As the Dutch historian J.C. van Leur rightly puts it, "Whoever approaches the history of Indonesia enters into the unknown."5

5J.C. van Leur, Indonesian Trade and Society (Bandung: Sumur, 1960), 10.

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Animism

To judge from scattered archaeological and ethnological information, scholars seem to suggest that the Indonesian people have been civilized for many centuries, since they practiced techniques of rice cultivation and had developed forms of social organization. In religion, they were believed to be animists, believing that inanimate objects and possessed spirits, trees and living creatures were alive. Moreover, they also practiced ancestor and spirit worship. These early Indonesians also believed that spirits, such as mountain, tree, and ancestral spirits could evoke fear, cause sickness and bring death. Such spirits could also bring about health, fertility and prosperity. To honor the good spirits and placate the bad ones, a number of rites were instituted and performed during harvest time and at birth, at marriage and at death. The remains of of several stone figures and places of worship in antiquity have been found in East Java and South Sumatra. Furthermore, the ancient Indonesians also believed that the universe was conceived as a structure of spiritual forces that directs the daily life of the people. These spiritual forces were sometimes divided into female and male forces. Each force had its distinctive role and function.6 6For an excellent introduction on several aspects of Indonesian history written by Indonesian scholars, see, Haryati Soebadio and C. A. du Marchie Sarvaas, eds. Dynamics of Indonesian History (Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company, 1978).

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In general, the most fundamental basis of the Indonesian tribal religion is expressed in the myths of origin and the relation between deity and creation in such myths. The main themes in the myths concern the sacred war between the Upper World and the Lower World or the sacred wedding of Heaven and Earth; the result in both myths was separation.7 However, evidence regarding prehistoric Indonesia is scanty and even clouded with mystery. No one knows with any certainty what the way of life was then. But one can be fairly certain that at times animism was prevalent. In fact, certain animistic aspects of the ancient Indonesian worlview are still apparent today. Following the early period of animistic belief, Indonesia was penetrated by four different strains of religious faith: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Each of these has added its particular and varied influences to the early beliefs. Not everywhere, however, did each influence reach the same depth, nor did each of them exercise its influence everywhere. Nevertheless, Islam has retained the greatest share in both the domains of influence and population. In the first and second centuries C.E., Indian traders brought Hinduism to the region. The Hindu religion and culture developed during the sixth to the fourteenth

7M.P.M. Muskens, The Catholic Church in Indonesia (Aachen: Missio Actuell Verlag, 1979), 17.

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centuries into a powerful kingdom. In the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries, Hinduism became overlapped by Buddhism.8 Then in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Islam appeared on the scene and gained its first foothold in Aceh. Lastly, Christianity found its way there with the arrival of Portuguese traders on the Indonesian shores in the early sixteenth century. From the early periods of Indonesian history and continuing over 1500 years until the fourth wave of cultural penetration took place, the Indonesian people had shown the ability to create syntheses of these different ingredients, accepting the new without discarding the old, absorbing and accommodating rather than rejecting. This characteristic aspect of Indonesian history clearly mirrors the predominant attitude of its people in seeking consensus rather than confrontation. In what follows, I will try to examine the degree of cultural perceptivity and religious creativity the Indonesians demostrated when dealing with the incoming cultures.

80n the role of Indian influence in Indonesia and of the character of Indonesian history during that period of influence, see 0. W. Wolters, Earlv Indonesian Commerce (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967); B.R. Anderson, Mythology and the Tolerance of the Javanese (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965).

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The Hindu-Buddhist Influence

The long coastal area of Indonesia has allowed the country to be in contact with alien cultures. The seas that separate and link Indonesia's numerous islands, and which cover more than two-thirds of its territory, have made it accessible to foreign cultures and forces. In addition to the importance of the seas for economic and cultural penetration, Indonesia's natural resources were also appealing to foreigners. Thanks to this distinct geographical setting, Indonesia became a highly commercial center, linking it to other centers of world trade. Later, from the bases of her harbors there developed political powers. The Buddhist empire of the seventh to the thirteenth century, Sriwijaya, in southern Sumatra, was one of the greatest.9 The Muslim empires of the Melacca and Aceh, which followed in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries respectively, were equally strong political powers. Although the exact manner and date in which Indian influence reached Indonesia is disputed,10 most authorities agree that the penetration of Hinduism was peaceful and non­

90. W. Wolters, The Fall of Sriviiava in Malay History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970), 1X-5. 10F.D.K.Bosch, Selected Studies in Indonesian Archaeology (The Hague: Martinus Nighoff, 1951), 11.

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political.11 The early contact of Indonesia with the Hindus was apparently due to sea travel by Hindus to the ports of Indonesia. The interaction of the two peoples

may have been

started during the early centuries when Indian traders may have come to the early Indonesian kingdoms. Early on, Indian merchants migrated to Indonesia and intermarried with the local people and, thereby, transmitted Indian culture. Communities influenced by these merchants sought Brahmin priests to serve in performing their religious rites. Over time, intermarriage and the teaching of the Brahman priests brought about the merger of Hindu religion with the local cults. It is highly probable that during this process of cultural interaction, the Indonesian side acted as more of a passive recipient of the new culture, rather than an imposing force. Both Van Leur12 and Wertheim13 contend that the Indian influence penetrated through a number of influential Indian Brahmans who lent political support to Indonesian rulers by providing them with genealogical confirmation of being in the highest caste. During this period, it was also believed that certain rulers were characterized as the incarnation of

11John F. Cady, South East Asia; Its Historical Development (New York: Me Graw-Hill Book Company, 1964), 41. 12Jacob C. Van Leur "Indonesian Trade and Society", Asian Social and Economic History (Van Hoeve, 1933), 98-103. 13W. F. Wertheim, Indonesian Society in Transition (Bandung: Sumur, 1956), 237-238.

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Hindu gods such as Vishnu or Shiva, while the minor rulers became great god-kings. The propagation of such beliefs, which served as a solid legitimization of the living rulers may have been the central motive for Hinduization. As for Buddhism, it is believed that it may have entered Indonesia through a more popular interaction. Buddhist missionaries visited Indonesian courts, preached their laws and converted the rulers and their families. Through this form of preaching, they were able to establish an order of monks. Furthermore, the Indian preachers also managed to send groups of Indonesian converts to visit Buddhist monasteries in India. These Indonesian Buddhists, upon their return, promoted Buddhist teachings and philosophy. Interestingly enough, soon after these missionary activities took place, Buddhism practically vanished from its homeland, but not before it was introduced, preached and took roots in many other lands, including Indonesia. Indianization, both Hindu and Buddhist, was basically added to the existing Indonesian culture. As in India, Indonesian societies, particularly the Javanese society, were stratified. They also resembled India in its Hinduized culture of mystical tradition: in remote forest schools, pupils learned ascetic techniques from a guru whom they respected more than their own biological fathers.

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Despite these similarities to their Indian models, some aspects of Indian teachings were not as important in Indonesian society as they were in India. The Indonesians sifted the teachings and shaped certain cultural dimensions to fit the Indonesian model. Chief among the de-emphasized teachings were the caste system and the concepts of purity and pollution which were not rigorously enforced. One of the most striking features of the Hindu-Buddhist influence found its expression in the emergence of Indonesian political powers. These temporal powers were given both political and religious foundations upon which to stand firmly. The Hindu influence was clearly evident in the early empires of Indonesia. When the Chinese Funan Empire began to decline around 500 C.E., the first great Hinduized Indonesian empire, the Sriwijaya, appeared on the scene in the area of modern Paiembang, the southern part of Sumatra.14 By 670 C.E., the Sriwijaya Empire had become an important center of Manayana Buddhist learning. And within less then a decade, it had extended its rule over most of Sumatra, the western part of Java, a small section of Borneo and portions of the Malay Peninsula. Sriwijaya eventually was able to establish its control over the harbors of its potential competitors in the region.

14D.G.E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia (London: Macmillian Company, 1964), 41.

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In this way, it became virtually the dominant power in the area. This empire persisted almost unchallenged for six centuries. Only in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was the final chapter of its history concluded when Pasai, the first Muslim kingdom, established itself in the region. Unfortunately, Sriwijaya left no material evidences of its civilization to compare with the roughly contemporary Borobudur, the sacred monument of Central Java.15 The second Indonesian empire, the Sailendra, established itself in central Java around 732 C.E. The language of the empire was Sanskrit and the religion was Shaivism, a type of Brahmanism. This Buddhist empire erected a sacred place, Borobudur, which was the greatest religious monument ever built in the entire history of Indonesia. This eighth and ninth centuries edifice marked a high point in Javanese architectural and artistic achievement.16 Following this empire there were several Hindu-Buddhist empires which ruled Indonesia. Chief among them were the

15Unlike many other religious monuments, Borobudur is not a tomb, nor is it a temple with an interior. Rather it is a stupa built around the summit of a hill and rising in nine layers up to the top. The monument symbolizes the individual stage of growth to perfection. Starting from the base at the earthly level, the structure goes up one layer after the other until the uppermost level of empty stupa which symbolizes the ultimate reality. It is a huge monument; the galleries around its terraces are almost five kilometers in length. 16Indonesian leaders often refer to Borobudur as proof that Indonesia had a high civilization long before those who branded Indonesia as an underdeveloped country.

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Mataram and the Majapahit. In 930 C.E., after the decline of the Sailendra kingdom, the King of Mataram moved the center of Hindu-Buddhist religion to East Java. During the reign of Dharmawangsa (985-1006), Sriwijaya was attacked by Mataram. Sriwijaya then mounted a counter-attack that reduced the Kingdom of Mataram to chaos. In 1293, Wijaya founded the Majapahit kingdom, the last Hinduized empire before the revival of the Islamized Mataram. During the Majapahit kingdom, in the fourteenth century, Indonesia witnessed the rise of power of one of its greatest statesmen, Gajah Mada, chief minister of King Hayam. Under Gajah Mada, the kingdom claimed suzerainty over the whole archipelago, and Gajah Mada almost attained his goal of ruling all of Indonesia. He succeeded in establishing a considerable empire extending beyond Java. Even the mighty Sriwijaya had not enjoyed such unchallenged authority. Thus Majapahit is, for modern Indonesians, one of the greatest glories of the past. With respect to religion, the Kingdom of Majapahit leaned more toward reviving the indigenous Javanese standard; hence it represented the climax of Hindu-Javanese civilization. With the death of Gajah Mada in 1364 C.E., the period of Indianization and the great empires was coming to an end. During that time, a new factor was added to the gradual disintegration of the kingdom; the penetration of

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Islam. During that time Islam was already reaching the shores of northern Sumatra. It is worth noting that the Indian period saw considerable change within the religious history of Indonesia. Theravada Buddhism reached the region first, but was replaced by Mahayana Buddhism both in Sumatra and Java. Sumatra remained primarily Buddhist, but Hinduism eventually prevailed on the island of Java as it did in India. Toward the end of the Indian period, Hinduism was represented by the last Hinduized kingdom, that of Majapahit. The kingdom remained an enclave of Hindu-Javanese culture until the early part of the Islamic period. During the years 1513-1528, the kingdom was attacked by Javanese states that had newly turned Muslim, and its rulers fled to the island of Bali. Bali has remained Hindu up to the present time and represents the only survival of the early Hindu community. The extent to which Indian culture has exerted its influence on Indonesia is evident. One could not deny the fact that the wealth of architectural remains, along with the remnant of the mystical dimension of Javanese life, testify effectively to the power of that influence. Apart from material remains, the Indian cultural impact is also to be seen in the concept of kingship in the Javanese kingdoms and in the survival of the privavi aristocratic layer of the

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Javanese society.17 In rural society the popularity of the shadow play on Indian epic themes, before it was transformed into Islamic themes, the Javanese and Balinese dances, the use of Indian motifs in the traditional batik design,18 the Sanskrit loan words, all combine to present and reveal the powerful Indian influence. Voicing the same opinion, Sir R. Winstedt, a British official in Malaya during the colonial period, contended that India had influenced the spiritual and material life of the people of the archipelago to such an extent that they owed nearly everything to her: alphabet, religion, a political system, law and literature.19 In the realm of religious belief, Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism, including Shaivism and Vaishnavism, were regarded as dominating the spiritual practices of the people. Despite having a mutual conflict of interest, both Hinduism and Buddhism had gone through a process of syncretization. The syncretism of Shiva-Buddha is clearly observable in the Javanese sacred writing Smaradahana Kvanq Kamahavanikan.

17Central to the Hindu-Javanese political system was the Brahmanic concept of the God-king, whose powers underlay the whole system of authority. The earthly order was regarded as a reflection of the heavenly order. See, I. W. Mabbett, "Devaraja," Journal of Southeast Asian History (September 1969) Vol. 10, No. 2. 18See Fritz A. Wagner, "Indonesia", Art of the World Series (London: 1959) vol II. See also, Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967). 19Richard Winstedt, Malay and Its History (London: Hutchinson's University Library, n.d.), 47.

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which attempts to syncretize the Hinduism's Trimurti and the Mahayana Buddhism's deities. In this connection, R.C. Majumdar asserts that the association between Shiva and Buddha was a characteristic feature of Javanese religion; even in modern Hindu Balinese theology, Buddha is regarded as a younger brother of Shiva.20 It is highly probable that the process of the diffusion of the Hindu and Buddhist religions and their socio­ political culture among the indigenous people evolved through cultural absorption and acculturation.21 Through this process much of Indian culture, which has a belief system similar to that of the prevailing early Indonesians, was accepted and practiced. Some examples are

the

veneration of particular physical objects such as trees, stones and hills, along with the general acceptance of the existence of spirits who must be propitiated in everyday life.

This strong Indian cultural influence covers a span

of time of well over a thousand years, starting from the early sixth century up through the 15th century, until Islam's penetration, which assumed the role of a newly influential culture.

20R.C. Majundar, Hindu Colonies in the Far East (Calcutta; Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1963), 99. 210n the historical records of the Buddhist religion as practiced in the Indonesian Archipelago, see, I-Tsing, A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practiced in India and the Malay Archipelago, tr. J. Takakusu (Oxford: Clarendom Press, 1896), 1-20.

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Before we look at the following period, namely the Islamic period, one important observation must be made. After almost a millennium of domination in almost every aspect of the religious, social and political life of the people of the region, one is inclined to raise the question: Why did this culture fail to maintain its powerful grip on the region in the ensuing period?

Why was the newly

introduced Islamic culture able to overshadow the prevailing one? Many speculations have been offered, and I believe many are still yet to follow. On this issue, Al-Attas is of the opinion that Hinduism had remained only an exclusive cult of the priests and princes throughout most of its domination. It was a superstructure maintained mostly by the ruling group. The majority of the people never really grasped

Hindu-Buddhist

philosophical and theological thought. The people were more concerned with its aesthetic aspect. The intellectual speculation and its metaphysical dimensions had never been popular. To borrow Legge's remark, the Hindus, though they may have settled in the cities, "remained separate from the surrounding societies." 22 This view is also substantiated by the fact that the Buddhist clergy in Sumatra did not make themselves felt in the realm of metaphysics and philosophy, but only in art. Therefore, during this long period of

22J.D. Legge, Indonesia (Sydney: Prientice-Hall of Australia, 3rd ed. 1980), 40.

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domination, Hindu-Buddhist culture did not produce renowned thinkers and reformers in the region.23 Indeed, seldom does one cultural period pass quickly into the next one peacefully. However, in the history of Indonesia, the shifty from Hindu-Buddhist culture into Islam was an exception to this general rule. While the former seems to have continued unchallenged for a millennium, the latter appeared with great strength and terminated the former. Islam came and dominated almost the whole region, leaving no space for Hindu-Buddhism to maneuver except in the tiny area of Bali.24 It is, perhaps, not out of place to point out that there have been several theories put forth by scholars to explain people's shift from one religion to another.25 To explain the overwhelming conversion of the people of Indonesia to Islam, Nock's catagories of "conversion" and "adhesion" might be useful to start our discussion. Based on Nock's definition, "conversion" refers to an act of adhering 23Muhammad Naguib Al-Attas, Preliminary Statement on a General Theory of the Islamization of the Malav-Indonesian Archipelago (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1968), 2-5. 24In this respect, W.F. Wertheim suggested that Islam gave lay persons a sense of individual worth and equality irrespective of their social status, unlike the Hindu caste system. See, Wertheim, Indonesian Society in Transition. 196. 25See, for instance, A.D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and the New Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933); A.I. Gordon, The Nature of Conversion (Boston: Beacon Press, 1967).

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to a prophetic religion, while "adhesion" denotes an act of embracing a non-prophetic religion. Hence the process of Islamization of the people of Indonesia falls under the catagory of "conversion", because Islam is a prophetic religion that demands unqualified commitment to attain salvation. In other words, in their whole-hearted acceptance to Islam, the people of Indonesia have "converted" to a new prophetic religion. Unlike "conversion", "adhesion" refers to a process of people's adhering to a non-prophetic religion out of a desire to satisfy their natural needs. In this process, the adherents do not necessarily have to discard their old religious doctrines and practices.26 Considering the nature of the Indonesian Muslim, who in many instances, continue to retain their previous religious practices, Nock's theory does not seem to fit the Islamization process in Indonesia. On this issue, we concur with Khurshid Ahmad who asserts that "Islam has been an absorbing religion rather than a converting religion.1,27

Islam As with Hinduism and Buddhism centuries earlier, Islam was accepted peacefully. The

most widely accepted notion

suggests that it was through the teaching of Sufi Islam that 26A.D. Nock, Conversion. 7-9. 27Ali Muhsin Barwani, "Christian Mission in the Muslim World" in International Review of Mission, vol 65 (1976), 426.

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this religion successfully obtained a hold over eighty-five percent of the present Indonesian population. Sufism is said to have played a more dominant role in the spread of Islam when compared to other branches of Islamic discipline. However, the history of the Islamization of the Indonesian archipelago is still a much-neglected field, particularly the period of large-scale conversion around the fifteenth century. G.E. Marrison complains that works on Islam in Indonesia are almost non-existent. The reason for this, as has been earlier indicated, is the poor archeological evidence, coupled with a lack of interest on the part of Western scholars, who were too absorbed in Middle-Eastern Islam. Scholars dealing with the history of Islam in the area suggest that Islam was brought to the region by traders from Arabia, Persia and India. They also point out that ever since the pre-Islamic period there had been a trade relationship between the Indonesian archipelago and Arabia. By the eighth and ninth centuries, several ports in the region, presumably during the peak era of the Sriwijaya Empire, had been known to traders. The region had become

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virtually a cultural melting pot of Arab, Indian, Persian and Chinese.28 According to a reference of Ibn Battutah's fourteenth century account of his travels in South-East Asia, even then there existed an Islamic community in the region. Arnold wrote that "long before Ibn Battutah's travel, merchants from the Deccan had lived in large numbers in the region and sowed the seed of Islam."29 In spite of this early contact, only a relatively small proportion of the Indonesian people then embraced Islam. It was only in the thirteenth to the sixteenth century that intense Islamization occurred. Many theories have been put forward with regard to the reason for this large-scale conversion. It is, however, not necessary, to go into detail on these different theories here, since they have been exhaustively discussed

28G.R. Tibbets, "Pre-Islamic Arabia and Southeast Asia," JMBRAS (March 1956), 207. See also, G.F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring (New Jersey: Princeton University, 1951). The two authors quote statements of Hamzah Isfahani and alBaladhuri and al-Tabari respectively, about the earliest intercourse between Arab and Chinese traders. 29Arnold T.W., The Preaching of Islam (London: Constable & Company, 1913), 364-365. See also the seminar resolutions held respectively in 1963, 1978 and 1980 on the coming of Islam to Indonesia which stated that Islam had already been known in the region since the Umayyad period of the early Hijrah.

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elsewhere.30 Different factors such as trade and politics, as well as the Muslim-Portuguese antagonism, inter-marriage, and Sufism — all have played their role and contributed their part to the Islamization of the region. Of all these variables, scholars agree that the Sufi factor was the predominant one in prompting the Indonesian people to accept and embrace Islam.31 Most scholars, Indonesian and Western alike, contend that the Sufis' success in turning the archipelago to Islam was primarily because their interpretation of Islam was very well suited to the Hindu-Buddhist mystical background. The interplay between Hindu-Buddhist mysticism and Islamic mysticism set the stage for the people of the region to accept Islam wholeheartedly. Because the Sufis skillfully interpreted the existing Hindu-Buddhist culture so as to fit

30Syed Farid al-Attas, "Notes on Various Theories Regarding the Islamization of the Malay Archipelago," The Muslim World. (1986), 164. See also, S.Q.Fatimi, Islam Comes to Malaysia (Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute Ltd., 1963). 31For a good survey of the literature relating to the coming of Islam to Indonesia, see A. Hasjmi ed., Seiarah Masuk dan Berkembananva Islam di Indonesia (The History of the Coming of Islam and its Spread in Indonesia) (Bandung: al-Ma'Srif, 1989): S.M.N. al-Attas, Islam dalam Seiarah dan Kebudavaan Melavu (Islam within the Malay History and Civilization) (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa fit Pustaka, 1969); G.W.J. Drewes, "New Light on the Coming of Islam to Indonesia?", BKI, 124 (1968); S.Q. Fatimi, Islam Comes to Malaysia (Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Institute, 1963) ; R.O. Winstedt, "The Advent of Muhammadanism in the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago", JMBRAS. 77 (1917), 171-3; G.E. Marrison, "The Coming of Islam to the East Indies", JMBRAS. 24 I (1951), 31-7.

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into the Islamic framework and the basic teachings of Islam, Islam took a solid root in the region.

This successful

accommodative attitude on the part of the Sufis toward the existing culture has provoked a great deal of comment. Many western scholars of Indonesia have maintained that Indonesian Islam is no more than a thin layer over the mass of inherited pre-Islamic beliefs and a product of the syntheses of Islam and Hindu-Buddhist culture.32 Certain Indonesian Islamic modernist movements have also been critical of the way in which the Sufis dealt with the existing culture. Both Western scholars and Indonesian Muslim modernists suggest that those Sufis, by accomodating Hindu-Buddhist culture, departed from the doctrinal core of Islam. As this issue lies beyond the scope of this chapter, I will confine myself to the history of Islam in the region. The first region in which Islam took hold was northern Sumatra. Spice traders from the west coast of India (Gujarat) stopped there on their way to the Moluccas (Maluku). The Moluccas, which were commonly called "the Spice Islands," lie in the eastern part of what is now Indonesia.33 To this end, a community of Arab traders was present in northern Sumatra as early as the seventh century.

32Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc. 1961), 38. 33This region was called the Spice Islands because it was the main pepper-producing region in the world.

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In 1292, Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller and author, and the first European to visit the region, noted that the inhabitants of the town of Perlak on the northern tip of Sumatra had been converted to Islam. This was probably Pasai where the Muslim traveller Ibn Battutah spent two weeks in 1345. Battutah reported that the ruler of Pasai was a Muslim convert with great interest in Islamic learning. The tombstone of Malik al-SSleh. the first Muslim ruler of that kingdom, who died in 1297, has been discovered in the area. Also, in 1281 China sent two Muslims, Sulayman and Shams alDin, to Melayu (Jambi), suggesting Muslim influence there. Fourteenth century Indonesia witnessed the arrival of more Arabs than ever before. These new arrivals resulted from the Muslims in India being blocked from the west by the Mongols. They had no choice but to turn their attention toward eastern trade. The coming of those Arabs in fairly large numbers, along with the teaching of Islam, heralded the end of Indonesia's Indian period and the beginning of the Islamic era. Another port affected by this spice trade was Malacca, on the Malayan Peninsula. Its rulers accepted Islam in the fifteenth century, and by the sixteenth century it had become the principle port of the region.34 From there Islam

^A European traveller to Malacca in the sixteenth century guessed that more ships harbored there than any port in Europe. See, Bruce Grant, Indonesia (Parkville: Melbourne University Press, 1964), 8.

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spread outward and made its way steadily to almost the entire archipelago. By the time of Majapahit's final days in the early sixteenth century, many of its old principalities had declared themselves independent Muslim states. In Java, along the northern coast, a number of independent kingdoms had begun to develop commercially

as a

result of participation in the spice trade. Chief among them were the kingdoms of Demak and Cirebon. As they were drawn into the commercial center of Muslim Malacca, they found themselves drawn simultaneously into her religion. In subsequent developments, a new Muslim kingdom arose in central Java, calling itself Mataram after the earlier great Hindu state. Furthermore, in Celebes, the present day Sulawesi, the twin principalities of Makassar and Goa” followed suit and also embraced Islam in the early seventeeth century. The Australian historian C.M.H. Clark says that if there had not been the coming of the colonial forces to the region to stop the spread of Islam, "the kingdom would have moved further to New Guinea and from there across to the north coast of

35Not to be confused with "Goa" which is located north of Bombay across the gulf of Cambay on India's west coast. Goa remained the principal Portugese administrative base in the East, while Malacca became the center of its power in the more remote areas until the Dutch conquered it in 1614. See J.M. Richards, Goa (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1982), 24-28.

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Australia.1,36 In due course, various of the Indonesian kingdoms were converted to Islam, and indeed the faith spread all over the archipelago, with the exception of Bali, which to this day has resisted Islam and stayed with its Hindu tradition. The story of the gradual Islamization of Indonesia, or to borrow Al-Attas' term, the "two phases of the Islamization,"37 raises a number of questions regarding Islam's role in the archipelago. Today, nearly ninety percent of the Indonesian people are classified as Muslims, but the observance of Islamic teachings has clearly been a matter of degree, varying widely both from group to group and from area to area. There are those who accept the absolute requirements of the faith, and there are others who, while insisting on calling themselves Muslims, have little devotion to Islam. On the one hand, there are those who would, if they could, establish their society to fit the most extreme Islamic image and create the Islamic state; on the other hand, there are those who are strongly attached to

36See, C.M.H. Clark in the first volume of his A History of Australia, as quoted by Bruce Grant, Indonesia. 8.

37By phase I, he means the early period of the introduction of Islam into the region which extended to the thirteenth century. As for phase II, which constitutes the continuation of the previous phase, it proceeded from the fourteenth century onward, when large-scale conversion took place. See, Al-Attas, Preliminary Statements. 27-29.

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the cultures of the past, and are no more than nominal Muslims. In Java, where Islam took almost six centuries to permeate the whole social fabric, the observance of Islamic teachings is less rigorous than that of the main centers of the faith such as Aceh, West Sumatra and South Sulawesi. However, although Islam in other areas has undeniably played, and continues to play, a leading role while preserving the "purer" Islam, it is in Java that Islam has found its most important organizational expression. It is there, also, that Islamic groups, traditional as well as reformist, have been involved in the shaping of Indonesian politics in general. As the Dutch colonial rule consolidated itself in Java in the second half of the nineteenth century and began to penetrate more deeply into the outer islands, Islam came to offer a symbol of resistance to foreign domination. That it could do so is in part the result of the increasing depth of Islamic religious influence throughout Indonesia. At that particular juncture, Indonesian Muslims felt deeply called by their religious sentiment to counter the colonial rule which came, morally and materially, to support Christianity. The Muhammadiyah, a leading social and religious movement by virtue of its mission, took upon itself the task of resisting

the colonial cultural and religious invasion.

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Indonesia today has rejected the idea of being an Islamic state, but in many respects appears, nonetheless, to be an Islamic country. However, a great deal of blending with the local culture has taken place. This blending is particularly apparent in the particular segment of society closely associated with the local patterns of custom and belief. Geertz's formulation, which distinguishes three religious outlooks within Javanese society, stems from this reality. These three social groups are the spirit-worshiping and custom-oriented abanoan village-folks, the Hinduoriented privavi of the aristocratic classes, and the purer Islamic outlook of the santri.38 As this issue lies beyond our present focus, we will come to treat it separately as we discuss the origin of the santri movement of the Muhammadiyah.

“ it should be stressed, however, that this formulation is a suggestive classification which needs to be handled with care. It represents only a Javanese model and needs the additional recognition of other Indonesian ethnic groups. It is also important to mention that Geertz's catagorization has drawn critical attention from many scholars. Some scholars voice their objections based on the fact that the terms santri, abancran. and privavi are not precise in their usage in Indonesia and may mean different things to different people. For critical analysis of such catagorization, see Harsja W. Bachtiar, "The Religion of Java: A Commentary,” Maialah Ilmu-ilmu Sastra Indonesia. 5 (1973), 85-118; Mark R. Woodward, "The Sharl'ah and the Doctrine: Muslim Law and Mystical Doctrine in Central Java," unpubl. Ph.D. diss., (Urbana- Champaign: University of Illionois, 1985).

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Christianity Some Christian scholars argue that the first messengers of Jesus to arrive in what is now Indonesia may have come during the period of the early Christian fathers.39 Muller Kruger, in his book Church History in Indonesia, asserts that, according to an ancient Arab source, in the second half of the seventh century a community of Christians lived in Sibolga, Sumatra, and established churches. Meanwhile the trade routes by land and by sea from Central Asia to East Asia had been travelled by Europeans, among whom there were also missionaries.40 After this early period, however, Christianity remained in obscurity for a long time in the region.41 Following the era of Columbus' voyage, the Portuguese discovered a route to Asia via South Africa, which marked a 39Dr. Kurt Koch points out that it is not unlikely that the apostle Thomas, who worked in India, crossed over to Indonesia with the Indian traders. Kurt Koch, The Revival in Indonesia (Michigan: Kregel Publication, 1972), 13. 40According to Cosmas (Indicopleustes), an Egyptian monk, writing around 547 C.E. in The Christian Topography, tr. by J.W. Me Crindle (London: The Hakluyt Soceity, 1897), around the fifth century C.E. there was a church of Persian Christians in "Sielediba" (Cylon) with a Presbyter appointed from Persia. This account strengthens the hypothesis that it was a probable that some Christians had arrived in the Indonesian archipelago from Cylon in the early centuries of Christianity. See Wolter B. Sidjabat, Religious Tolerance and The Christian Faith (Jakarta: Badan Penerbit Kristen, 1965) , 30. 41For a detailed account on the early coming of Christianity to Indonesia, see Theodor Muller Kruger, Seiarah Geredia di Indonesia (The History of the Church in Indonesia) (Jakarta: Badan Penerbitan Kristen, 1959), 7-21.

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new era of missionary activity in the region. At the same time, the seafaring nations were competing to seek new avenues to increase their trade. Two important economic centers for South-East Asia, namely Malacca in the northern part of the archipelago and the Moluccas, now Maluku (the Spice Islands) in the eastern part, were points of struggle for domination. In 1511, the Portuguese conquered Malacca and by the end of the same year, they reached Maluku and expanded their influence to the surrounding areas. Christianity then entered the region and its spread followed the path of the Portuguese conquerors. As in Latin America, the cross was planted wherever the ships of the Christians found harbor. The first Catholic church in the region of Maluju was founded in 1522. Not long after, a number of missionaries came over from India to preach the Gospel.

Most of the

missionaries working in the region during that period belonged to the Society of Jesus. Among those early missionaries was Francis Xavier (1506-1552), who ever since has borne the appellation "Apostle to the Indonesians." The success of the missionaries was often bound up with the stability of Portuguese power. Therefore, remarkable growth is seen in the first period of the church's life. In 1546, Xavier wrote " (If) only a dozen priest's helpers would come here from Europe each year, it would not be long before the

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Moslem movement ended and all in these islands would become Christians.1,42 Owing to the gradual diminution of Portuguese power in the area, there was a sharp decline in church membership after 1560. During that period the Muslim sultan led a social revolt against the Portuguese, aimed at expelling them from the region. Then in 1605, the Portuguese were driven out of Maluku by the Vereeniqde Post -Indische Compaqnie (VOC), the Dutch East India Company. But a year later, the Spaniards, coming from Manila, took over control. The struggle which the Dutch carried on in the Far East against the English, the Spaniards, and the Portuguese, from 1605 to 1623, resulted in the loss of Spanish and Portuguese colonies in what is now Indonesia. At the end of this period, the Anglo-Dutch rivalry for commerce and sea power ended with the victory of the Dutch. The operations of the VOC, which was the greatest corporation of the seventeenth century, led to the founding of a permanent colony in Indonesia that was maintained into the twentieth century.43 42Arthur R. McGratty, Fire of Francis Xavier: the Story of an Apostle (New York: Bruce Publishers, 1952), 179. 43The Dutch during the seventeenth century were the world leaders in most sciences and arts and the greatest center of commerce in the Western world. Interestingly enough, the southern provinces of the Netherlands where commerce and industry prospered, were inhabited by more than eighty percent Roman Catholics. This phenomenon suggests a refutation to Max Weber's thesis that links Protestantism to the spirit of capitalism. See Albert Hyma, The Dutch in the Far East: a History of the Dutch Commercial and Colonial Empire (Michigan: George Wahr Publisher, 1942), 1-10.

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In 1677, the VOC, cooperating with the local Sultan of Ternate, drove away the Spaniards along with the Jesuits. The Calvinist Dutch then forced the Catholics they encountered to become Protestants which marked the demise of the Catholic Church of East Indonesia. With the rise of Dutch power, the story of the Protestant advance begins in the region. Under the VOC, Christianity was dominated by the Reformed Church. They took over the Portuguese Catholic congregations and commissioned pastors to serve churches. The Dutch were thoroughly opposed to, and intent on destroying, what the Roman Catholics had built up. This coincides with the change in the whole international situation when Catholic Spain and Portugal were no longer the leading powers in the world. The Pope's decree dividing the world between them became a worthless piece of paper. From 1600 onwards, the Protestant powers began to replace the Roman Catholic. The VOC declared that no Christian religion would be practiced in the region except that of the Dutch Reformed Church. It is, however, the case that in the islands dominated by the VOC, which was only seeking commercial gain, the growth of Christianity was not spectacular. Little real attention was given to the Indonesian Christians, or the expansion of the Church's domain of influence. The VOC Church was primarily aimed at serving their employees and the residents of the European traders in their religious

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life. They were more interested in securing commercial gain than in converting Indonesians.44 The policy of the VOC in Java was even more disappointing to the Christians. For two hundred years, the Dutch Church existed solely to serve the European Christians. There were no efforts of any magnitude to reach the Javanese in order to convert them. In fact, such efforts were avoided by the VOC for fear of negative economic consequences.45 However, the VOC deserves credit by Christians for one achievement. It was through its efforts that the publication of the New Testament in the Indonesian language came to be. It was probably inspired by the first principle of Protestant missions, which was to urge

44H ow much the VOC and its profit-minded stockholders were interested, not in proselytizing, but in commercial gain, is reflected by several moves taken by Jan Pieterson Coen, who was made the Governor-General of VOC in 1618. He imposed "forced delivery" and "contingent" systems under which the islands would be exploited agriculturally. The islanders, through the local rulers, would be forced to turn out certain items and fixed quantitities of tropical produce to provide the VOC's export commodities. To generate more profits, Coen also turned his attention to the Chinese and granted them a variety of commercial tasks. Coen had been the first Dutchman to urge the importation of Chinese into Indonesia. Coen even advocated the kidnapping of Chinese if they would not voluntarily settle in Indonesia. Ever since, they have formed the "middle class" between the rulers and the people. See, Wilfred T. Neil, Twentieth Century Indonesia (New York: Columbia University Press, 1973), 284285. 45David Bentley Taylor, The Weathercock/s Reward (London: Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1967) 16-17.

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Christians to have the Bible in their hands in their own language and at the earliest possible time.46 In general, one can safely say that the efforts of the missionaries were weaker in the earlier stage than in the ensuing period. This is because, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religion in The Netherlands was under the control of the government. Since the function of the government in the East Indies (Indonesia) was given to the VOC, it, therefore, regarded the Church as one branch of its activities. It employed clergymen of the Reformed Church to serve the interests of religion in the same way that it employed other agents to serve the interests of trade. Missions, in other words, were looked upon as a government enterprise. As the VOC had little, if any, spirit for missions, it made no appeal to the Christians in Holland to obtain clergymen. In 1795, the French conquered Holland. The new Dutch government was organized according to the policies of Napoleon.47 Accordingly, Church and State in Holland were 46Stephen Niel, A History of Christian Missions (New York: Penguin Book Library, 1986), 177. 47During the Coen administration, the Dutch succeeded in depriving the English, their long-time rivals, of all but a minimal share in the archipelago trade activities. The English, however, regained their former trade privileges in the area when, for a brief period (1811-1816), they occupied and held the East Indies. The Dutch domination by the French, the enemy of Great Britain, was the justification for the British conquest of the East Indies. During this time, under the British Governor in Java, Stanford Raffles, the first British Baptist Church was established, and a

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completely separated, and three years later the East India Company (VOC) was abolished. By that time the VOC had no more than seven ministers on its payroll, and only the native preachers saved the missions from complete collapse/8 After the central government assumed direct responsibility for the region in place of the VOC and took control of the church, a new Christian spirit emerged in the region. The era of Christian consolidation began with the formation of the Netherlands Missionary Society, which was the oldest, and for a long time the only, mission organization of its kind in Holland. Not long after, its first fruits appeared. All the Protestant churches in the region were united under the name of "The Indian Church" (The Indonesian Church). Thanks to the profound efforts and sincere work of Christian missionaries, a new era of Christianity began to rise in Indonesia. Since then, Christianity has recouped its losses and has gradually

number of English missionaries arrived in Batavia, which is now Jakarta. This first Baptist Church of England still exists and functions, though under a different name. See, T. M. Kruger, Seiarah Geredia. 135-6. On Pieterszoon Coen's administration, see John David Legge, Indonesia (Sydney: Prentice-Hall of Australia, 1980), 79-80; M.C. Ricklefs, A History of Modern Indonesia, c. 1300 to the Present (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981), 27-28. 48See, James Thayer Addison. The Christian Approach to the Moslem: a Historical Study (New York: Columbia University Press, 1966), 244.

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started to prosper. Eventually, it regained its early strength and maintains its presence to this day.

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CHAPTER II THE CONSOLIDATION OF CHRISTIANITY In the final days of the VOC, whose rule once extended from the Cape of Good Hope to Ceylon and Indonesia, it was still by no means certain whether Christianity would be successful in turning itself into an accepted religion in the area dominated by Muslims. Nonetheless, there were two great changes which made possible a new era for Christianity in the region: the conquest of Holland by the French in 1795 and the shift of control in the Dutch Indies from the VOC to the Dutch government in 1799. The annexation of the Netherlands by France encouraged the British to invade Java and establish their brief interlude of rule within the Dutch period. This interlude lasted from 1811 to 1816. Under the British governor appointed in Indonesia, Thomas Stanford Raffles, the "contingents and the forced delivery system"1 of the VOC were abolished in their entirety. From the time of the British occupation, Christianity, particularly

1Both contingents and forced deliveries were supplies of products exacted annually from the native governments of Java in recognition of the supremacy of the VOC. In theory the contingents were fixed amounts of products for a small return or for nothing, while the forced deliveries varied in amount, and were sold to the company for a price agreed upon. See, Clive Day, The Policy and Administration of The Dutch in Java (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 63.

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Protestantism, began to breathe a freer air.2 The British Christians played a leading part in missionary work, and the London Missionary Society established in Batavia (now Jakarta) the first British Baptist Church.3 As the Napoleonic Wars ended, Indonesia was returned to the Dutch. This transition carried with it many blessings for Christianity. It did, indeed, represent a turning point in the history of Christianity in Indonesia. From this time onward, Christianity

gradually took root in the Indonesian

soil and established itself as a recognized religion. Indeed, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, extraordinary power and confidence were being shown by the Western world both in the church and state. The day of colonialism had come as the whole world was open to Western commerce and exploitation. Reflecting this situation, in 1825 the Dutch government took a firm stance and instituted a new approach in Indonesia called the "Cultural System."

2A1though Catholics preceded Protestants, their mission activities were restricted by the Colonial government regulations. While Catholic power was dominant only in the small regions (Flores, Wetar and Timor), Protestant Christianity had been planted in almost every section of the islands. See, Frank L. Cooley, Indonesia; Church and Society (New York; Friendship Press, 1968), 43. 3It is recorded in the history of the Church in Indonesia that the initial liturgical services at the Batavia Church were held in the English tongue. See, A.T. Keen, A History of The British Church of Batavia (Weltevreden: G. Kolfs and Company, n.d.) 8. This has been the case almost everywhere. After a mission's church gets established and builds a local infrastucture, it adopts the local language and in time becomes a national church.

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The Dutch designed the "Cultural system" to help overcome their financial crisis at home by imposing a more rigorous exploitation of the Indies. This system aimed to turn Indonesia into a vast, state-owned plantation in which certain agricultural commodities would be cultivated by forced labor, and stated quotas of every crop would have to be delivered. Encouraged by the initial success of the "Cultural System" in Java, the Dutch slowly extended their effective control to the rest of the Indonesian islands. Soon after, around the initiation of the Liberal Policy in 1870, the Dutch government adopted a Colonial Constitution regulating the life of the people, including their religious life. During this time, the history of Christian missions had also undergone a tremendous development. A long list of missionary societies, groups and organizations came into being. As a result, the Christian missions entered a large number of countries and showed that they were ready to take up responsibility for preaching the gospel. In many cases voluntary societies, dependent on the initiative of consecrated individuals and relying for financial support on interested Christians, were established. By the middle of the 19th century the Catholic and Protestant missions in Indonesia were still in the initial stages of the great missionary movement. Thus, the 19th century is sometimes called the Age of Missions. Motivated

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by Christian idealism and a sense of adventure, a group of Dutch people decided to travel to the colonies. Like many others, this group, longing to perform heroic deeds for Christ, which they despaired of performing at home, felt prompted to leave for Indonesia.4 In general they were remarkably successful in their effort to preach the gospel in Indonesia.5 In 1847, the Dutch Mission Society was founded in Holland. The small group of Dutch Mennonites who established this Mission Society represented a breakthrough of mission consciousness and a revival of a spirit of evangelization in Holland. The Mennonite Society, whose name was subsequently changed to Mennonite Sending (Mission), now began to put more emphasis on the outward mission instead of the inward mission, which had so far dominated their concern. Their first priority in evangelism was directed to the Netherlands7 overseas possessions. They thus arranged to 4During that period the trauma of industrialization, rationalism and secularism clouded the sense of religiosity at home. Many people were suffering from spiritual impoverishment and the church was suffering a period of what William Carey, the British Baptist, describes as "a period of dearth and decay." See, Rita Smith Kipp, The Earlv Years of a Dutch Colonial Mission: The Karo Field (Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1990), 26. According to the Government Almanac for the Dutch Indies, there were only seventeen Protestant ministers, twenty-seven missionaries and only nine Roman Catholic priests in 1850. These numbers had increased in 1900 to seventy-seven, seventy-three, and forty-nine respectively. These numbers continued to rise in subsequent years. See, Karel Steenbrink, Dutch Colonialism and Indonesian Islam (Amsterdam: Rodopi B.V., 1993), 98.

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send a group of missionaries to convey the gospel message to Indonesia.6 For Indonesia, a country of friendly people, the entry of the Gospel has proved difficult. A region in which the dominant religion was Islam has always proved highly resistant to the Christian message. Hence, in areas where Islam prevails, Christian progress has been slow, difficult and costly.7 6The first group of missionaries was not officially registered as missionaries. P. Jansz was appointed as a private teacher, Klinkert worked as a land surveyor, Doyer as an architect. The only official missionary with governmental permission was Schurman. See, Kruger, Sediarah Geredia di Indonesia. 163-165. 7It is worth digressing for a moment to touch upon the issue of scarcity of converts from Islam. In the colonial period, in Java and Sumatra there were no less than forty five thousand converts from Islam, and yet the Dutch and the German missionaries did not regard their efforts as being successful because the number of animist converts in less than a century reached almost nine hundred thousand. Many reasons were put forth as to the scarcity of converts among the Muslims. Some put the cause on the quality of the missionaries, others on the poor method of preaching, and still others to the Islamic teaching as such. Paul F. Knitter says: "(W)hen confronted by living religions, especially if they are undergirded by some kind of intellectual system, Christian missionaries have had practically no success at conversion." Another interesting justification came from Samuel M. Zwemer, who believed