Orthodox Muslim Research Articles

Dialectics Between Islam and Local Culture in Wetu Telu Lombok Muslims’ Merariq Tradition: An ‘Urf Perspective

This article discusses dialectical teachings between Islam and local culture among Wetu Telu Muslims, a local community in Lombok, which is often accused of developing a prototype of Islamic teachings mixed with deviant, heterodox, and heretical traditions. The discussion focuses on one form of their traditions that reflects the dialectics, namely the merariq in wedding tradition. By applying a qualitative approach, this study specifically portrayed relevant views of Wetu Telu Muslims which are relatively different from that of orthodox Muslims in Lombok. Based on the results of participatory observation and unstructured in-depth interviews, the study findings reveal that the traditions of the Wetu Telu Muslims, especially in merariq, reflect a dialectical teaching between Islam and local culture so that it can be named as an Islamic tradition. It is also clear that Wetu Telu's teachings are extremely tolerant to the local culture and this is proven, among others, through their wedding tradition. From the ‘Urf perspective, merariq wedding tradition is legitimate for recognition as an Islamic culture or Islamic legal practice even though some aspects of the tradition differ from the general principles of Islamic orthodoxy in Indonesia.

Reevaluating the Religio-Political Policies of Aurangzeb Alamgir: A Critical Insight from Indian Historians

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir ruled the Indian Sub-Continent for the best part of five decades. The Mughal Empire flourished under his rule, particularly in the spheres of economy, administration and territorial extension, by maintaining exemplary religio-political harmony, unmatched political stability, and cultural development. He was a devout Sunni Muslim and a disciple of the Naqshbandī order. With such an affiliation, he sought to rule his Empire In accordance with the injunctions of Islam. Resultantly, the Hindus felt deprived of the religious freedom which they had enjoyed during the reigns of his predecessors Akbar (r.1556-1605), Jahangir (r.1605-28), and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58). After the demise of Alamgir in 1707, the Mughal Empire started declining gradually. Many Indian historians have criticized the policies of Alamgir and attributed them as the primary cause of the gradual disintegration of Mughal rule. This research focuses on three major policies of Aurangzeb, namely, temple destruction, re-imposition of jizya, and dismissal of Hindus from the state services. After content analysis of selected Indian historians who mainly focused on the religious outlook of Aurangzeb, this research has made an attempt to counterbalance the allegations leveled against him by Indian historians. Aurangzeb had nothing to do with his non-Muslim subjects concerning his religious zeal but merely pretended to rule the state administration with the injunctions of Islam, aiming to draw military support from the orthodox Muslims against the Shias and the Marathas with the Deccan. He did not deprive them of state services or religious freedom because of his Islamic approach to governance. . His religious policies are not responsible for the gradual decline of the Mughal Empire. He was not as much of a religious bigot as depicted by the Indian historians. 

The Dakwah Communication Model of the Post-Persecution Muslim Minority: The Case of the Restoration of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Congregation (JAI)

Ahmadiyya is a Muslim minority with distinctive teachings contradictory to mainstream Islam that has been entrenched in Indonesia since the Dutch colonial era. After independence, the sect enjoyed the freedom of religion and belief under the law's guarantee and the state's power during the reign of the first two presidents (1945-1998). However, the power of orthodox Muslims strengthened during the Reformation Order, and in 2005, a fatwa regarding the heresy of the Ahmadiyya was issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). This was followed by the Joint Decree of the Three High State Institutions, which limited the movement of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Congregation (JAI). Regional regulations emerged, followed by a violent crusade against this sect. Consequently, this research examined the communication model used by the Ahmadiyya Muslim minority to preach post-persecution. The qualitative methods employed for data collection were observation, interviews, and documentation, which intensively occurred in October-December 2019 and August 2022. The respondents were six JAI central/branch managers and three missionaries. The research results show that the Ahmadiyya teachings naming Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (MGA) as a prophet are the trigger for persecution. Although orthodox Muslims allow the unhindered performance of activities, providing Ahmadiyya is labeled a religion and not a part of Islam, JAI refused because it believes MGA is the non-shari'at Prophet. After the persecution, JAI proposed four models of dakwah communication that internally strengthen Ahmadi beliefs and invite sympathy and new converts.
 
 Received: 24 January 2023 / Accepted: 12 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023

Is Ibn al-‘Arabī a Feminist?

Muhyiddīn Ibn al-‘Arabī is a very significant figure from 7th/13th-century Andalusia who made a paradigm shift in Sufism. He constructed a metaphysical doctrine and wrote about many issues including femininity and gender. His thoughts about the metaphysical state of women and femininity caused his approach to be interpreted as a source for Islamic feminism. He advocates for spiritual equality between men and women because of sharing “humanity” and asserts that women can attain the highest level of sainthood (qutbiyya). For his views on women’s imamate, testimony, and veiling, he is portrayed as a pro-woman thinker by some contemporary scholars. On the other hand, calling a great master “feminist” or at least “pro-feminist” is unacceptable for orthodox Muslims because of the pejorative connotations of feminism in mainstream Islamic thought. By explaining feminism through main feminist texts, and critically analyzing Ibn al-‘Arabī’s approach to gender through his works and books about gender issues in his philosophy, this paper attempts to introduce Ibn al-‘Arabī to gender scholars and feminism to Islamic scholars, and discuss his approach to women and gender.

Last Prophet and Last Day: Shaykhī, Bābī and Bahā’ī Exegesis of the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40)

The appearance of post-Islamic religions, the Bābī and Bahā’ī Faiths, is a theoretical impossibility from an orthodox Muslim perspective, since the Qur’ān designates the Prophet Muḥammad as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40), widely understood as meaning the “Last of the Prophets”. To overcome this problem, the respective prophet-founders, the Bāb (1819–1850) and Bahā’u’llāh (1817–1892), each presented novel approaches which this article will explore. In short, the Bāb revealed a “new” Qur’ān, i.e., the Qayyūm al-Asmā’ (1844), and Bahā’u’llāh wrote the Kitāb-i Īqān (Book of Certitude) in January 1861. While acknowledging Muḥammad as the last prophet in the “Prophetic Cycle”, the Bāb and Bahā’u’llāh inaugurated the advent of the “Cycle of Fulfillment”. This new era was foretold in the Qur’ān by way of a symbolic code, understood metaphorically and spiritually. A key concept is that of the “divine presence” (liqā’ Allāh), i.e., the encounter/“meeting” with God, whereby Q. 33:44, Q. 83:6, Q. 7:35 (and their respective parallels) effectively transcend Q. 33:40. Recognizing that the Bāb and Bahā’u’llāh each manifests the “divine presence” thereby constitutes a “realized eschatology”. This paper represents the first time that a wide-ranging survey and analysis of the Shaykhī, Bābī, and Bahā’ī viewpoints on the subject of the “Seal of the Prophets” has been made and is the result of a collaboration between two scholars working in the United States and Russia.

Islamic Press in Surakarta (914-1926): A Study of Medan Moeslimin and Islam Bergerak

This study describes the changing function of two Islamic presses, namely Medan Moeslimin and Islam Bergerak, in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, in the transition of the 19th and 20th centuries. By historical methods through newspaper archival sources, the study produced conclusions; first, these two media were initially used as a means to “defend Islam” from some articles in the media that blasphemed Islam and, at the same time, straightened it out. In addition, the two Islamic media became an alternative source of Islamic scholarship, especially among reformist-modernist Muslims. Second, the two media were loaded with ideological interests. In their development, they had shifted their orientation from “defenders of Islam” to defenders of the spirit of nationality and universal humanity. Third, the change in orientation was inseparable from the critical role of Hadji Mohammad Misbach (1876-1926), the owner and manager of the two media, who experienced an ideological shift from orthodox Muslim towards socialist and nationalist one at once.

Intra-Sectarian Tensions in the Muslim Community in Nandom in the Upper West Region of Ghana: Dynamics and Actors

This paper explored the dynamics and actors in the Imamship conflict in Nandom Zongo community. The study was approached qualitatively using a case study design. The researchers interacted with ten (10) participants. Data was drawn through in-depth interviews and observation and analyzed using thematic template analysis. The study unearthed that the ill-health of the Imam and his vice which created a vacancy of the office of Imam is the remote cause of the conflict. The conflict degenerated into fierce struggle over the Imamship and disagreement over a choice of replacement. A ‘minority’ and ‘majority’ rhetoric was introduced into the Imamship contest among the orthodox Muslims in the Nandom Zongo community. The study revealed that the conflict has strong socio-political, economic, security and religious implications on the Zongo community. Apart from the primary conflict parties, there were state actors, traditional actors, group actors and independent actors in the conflict. The dynamics of the conflict were informed by the grievances of the conflict parties, actor interaction and conflict parties’ commitment to the conflict. The study contributes to the understanding of conflict dynamics and actor interaction in conflict processes. Keywords: Conflict Dynamics, Actors, Nandom Zongo, Imamship, Upper West Region, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/55-06 Publication date: November 31 st 2022

CADAR DALAM PERSPEKTIF HUKUM ISLAM DAN HUKUM POSITIF

In this regard, the veil has become a very controversial issue in Islam. Some Muslims regard it as a command of Allah contained in the Qur'an, while other Muslims and non-Muslims, especially Westerners, the veil is identified as clothing that comes from Arab culture, many people assume that the wearing of the veil judged as excessive clothing and people who wear it are considered to shut themselves off from social interaction, and it is feared that there will be misuse of the veil for bad interests. Many Muslims argue that whatever the justification for the purdah (ie, veil) in the past, it has no relevance at all to modern times. The orthodox Muslim community, especially the ulama, on the other hand considers the veil for women as an absolute necessity, with its use becoming a habit.

Komparasi Pemikiran Orientalis Tentang Perkembangan Hukum Islam (Goldziher, Joseph Schacht, Dan James Norman)

This study aims to reveal the history of the development of Islamic law according to the orientalists. This study uses the Library Research method with a juridical analysis approach to obtain accurate results from various books written by oreantists. The results of this study indicate that Schacht and Goldziher stated that from the time of the Prophet until the first century of hijrah, Islamic law as we know it today has not been formed. Although the Qur'an has laid the foundations of family law, inheritance and ritual worship, so that in many cases, legal practice in early Islam has deviated from the literal provisions of the Qur'an. But what distinguishes the two originalist thinking. Goldziher prefers to compare the methods of hadith criticism used by orthodox Muslim hadith experts with the "modern" hadith criticism method, where a hadith that is said to be authentic by classical Muslim methods, its authenticity is doubted by the "modern" hadith criticism method, while Schacth considers that the classical schools focuses more on the study of hadith as a source of law and tends to ignore the Koran as the main source in the study of Islamic law, in contrast to the two orientalists James Norman argues that human reason is the most authoritative source of law to regulate social life, not sourced from the Koran. and hadith as in the concept of Islamic law, the concept of Islamic law according to Norman James is no longer relevant to be applied to modern society.

Analyzing Portrayal of Orthodox Muslim Women in Leila Aboulela's Minaret

Analyzing Portrayal of Orthodox Muslim Women in Leila Aboulela's Minaret

Breaching Boundaries in Muslim and Christian Tourism from Indonesia to Israel and Palestine

AbstractStudies on tourism and pilgrimage show that spatial mobility, including transregional travel, mostly confirms and strengthens tourists’ and pilgrims’ social identities and symbolic boundaries between Self and Other. However, in guided religious package tours from Indonesia to Israel and Palestine, experiences with spatial boundaries do affect the Muslim and Christian pilgrims, adding more nuances to socio-cultural boundary-making. This complex making and breaching of boundaries relates to inner-Indonesian religious dynamics. Among both Muslim and Christian Indonesians, references to the Middle East express not only transregional solidarity but also multifarious orientations in inter and intra-religious relations within Indonesia. Among Indonesian Muslims, some orthodox Muslims’ orientations towards the Middle East as the birthplace of Islam are contested but also combined with indigenous Islamic traditions. Similar to these intra-Muslim frictions, members of Indonesia's Christian minority experience fissures in the expressions of local and global Christian identities. This article analyses how symbolic, social, and spatial boundaries are maintained and breached in transregional tourism from Indonesia to the Middle East.

Value-dense indexes and the escalation of a Muslim–Christian conflict

ABSTRACT This article discusses an episode of open antagonism and violence that erupted between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Gondar Ethiopia in 2009. In Gondar, a perceived symbolic attack on the Ark, a holy object with the qualities of the Ark of the Covenant, created an intersubjectively legible and affectively resonant impetus for escalating action. Conventions of Muslim–Christian coexistence appeared to be overturned, resulting in an alternative social (dis)order of open antagonism. I argue that a focus on values, in many cases, can sharpen our understanding of how quantitative change transforms into qualitative change, because such a focus trains our attention on continuous, and changing, fields of affective and conceptual import that frame collective action. Not that values determine action, or that escalations are predictable, but that novel articulations between different values that create new imaginative horizons of action that change the grounds of change. In such periods of escalation, novel courses of action can be framed within, and justified by, conservative value structures. The value relevance of some escalations enables these events to have a lasting, transformative impact.

Kritik terhadap Pemikiran Kontroversial Bercorak Panteistik di Tengah Umat Islam dalam Karya Syaikh Abdus Shamad Al-Palimbani Abad ke-18

Sufism is a philosophy that emerged among Muslims in 9th. Century A.D. It emphasises on the concept of bathiniya (esoteric) in the practicing of Islam. Among several figures propagating Sufism, two of them were Al-Hallaj in Middle East and Sheikh Siti Jenar in Indonesian Archipelago. Both were accused of spreading ideas of Panhteism (i.e. belief in Allah and his creations as one entity), which consequently resulted in Sufism being considered ‘Heresy’ and a ‘Stray idea’ by the orthodox Muslims. Sheikh Abdus Shamad Al-Palimbani, a Sufi Ulema born in Palembang (1737 AD) wrote critiques for Sufism in his three writings. The first book called ‘Kitab Hidayatus Shalikin’ in which he said that Allah is different with his creation. The second book, ‘Kitab Tuhfah Ar-Raghibin’ in which he rejected the concept of ‘Hulul’ (i.e. the belief that Allah is in creation), and lastly the ‘Kitab Siyarus Salikin’ that explored human’s awarness of their ‘lust’ which he believed is a gateway to understand the distinction between Allah’s divine reality and human existence.

Southeast Asia's Forgotten Female Muslim Rulers

The Malay world, while united by a common language, a collective commitment to Islam and a shared history, also preserves a variously expressed but mutually held set of customary traditions (adat). Muslim scholars, both past and present, have long debated the Islamic legitimacy of adat. In reality, however, many adat practices complement the ideals of Islam ideals often overlooked by more orthodox Muslim practitioners. This is particularly so regarding the treatment of women. A perception exists that Islam encourages the seclusion of women. While modern feminist readings of the Quran are celebrated for challenging this, it is worth noting that Malay adat has permitted Muslim women to attain public positions of power and influence for centuries.

Islam Nusantara – Against Radicalism and Extremism

Recently, the concept of Islam Nusantara appeared in the Islamic social thought of Indonesia. This term was officially put into circulation by the religious and educational organization Nahdatul Ulama (Revival of the Ulema) in 2015. Islam Nusantara respects cultural and religious differences as manifestations of the will of Allah, believes that love and compassion are integral features of the Muslim religion. Islam Nusantara organically does not accept the authoritarian and pretending to be the truth in the last instance interpretations of Islam, imposed by extremists. Islam Nusantara is the reinterpretation of the basic theological principles of the NU, which combines classical Islamic theology (aqeedah), jurisprudence (fiqh) and local traditions. This approach suggests that Indonesian Muslims do not need to give up their national and local identity. On the contrary, traditional values can coexist harmoniously with Islamic identity, and an orthodox Muslim can simultaneously be an Indonesian nationalist. Supporters of the concept emphasize that this is not some new trend in Islamic social thought or another interpretation of Islam. Islam Nusantara is an Indonesian version of Muslim religious practice, historically developed in the process of its dissemination on the archipelago. Islam Nusantara provokes sharp rejection and condemnation of representatives of radical Muslim movements, especially Wahhabism and Salafism and their like, who seek to purify Islam from local traditions.

EAT, PRAY, REGULATE: THE INDONESIAN ULAMA COUNCIL AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ISLAMIC AFFAIRS

AbstractIndonesia's national ulama council, the Majelis Ulama Indonesia, or MUI, has successfully transformed itself during the reform era reversing its earlier relationship with government. It is the MUI that now sets the agenda on appropriate ways to recognize, protect, and promote the majority faith. However it does not operate entirely separate to the state, indeed, there are numerous points of contact and mutual dependence between this group of Islamic scholars and state agencies.This article offers two case studies on religious freedom demonstrating different aspects of the MUI's self-appointed role of national mufti. The first case study demonstrates how the MUI has taken control of the high ground of religious doctrine. Through its response to blasphemy cases and deviant Muslim activities the MUI defines appropriate, orthodox Muslim conduct. The second case study deals with the revised regime of halal food certification. Here the state has sought to bring the MUI back into its embrace, partly as a result of corruption scandals. In doing so, however, Islam continues to be further entrenched in state law and regulation.Indonesian Islam was said to be deconfessionalized, reflecting the nature of the former authoritarian and bureaucratic state's engagement with various Islamic institutions. The changing role of the MUI demonstrates that the state and law are becoming increasingly confessionalized. This change has significant implications for Indonesia's democratic constitutional framework, evident in what these cases say about the enjoyment of the fundamental right of citizenship.

Everyday lived Islam: religiosities and identities of Muslim women in the Republic of Macedonia

In the Republic of Macedonia, most Muslim women belong to the Albanian minority. Particularly due to the current fractured nature of the Macedonian societal body and the diverse historical developments that have led to this, the importance of ethnic identities is emphasised and religious identities, especially Orthodox Christian and Muslim identities, fortify them. Everyday lived religion, its active enacting, and the values Islam represents can be important to Muslim women in the Republic of Macedonia and manifest themselves, for instance, in the human relationships within Muslim communities. Everyday lived Islam may also be an important factor when women’s roles in the larger societal context are examined. The 19 Albanian women whom I interviewed during the period 2008–2009 described in a relatively detailed manner their everyday lived Islam and religiosities, how these affected their lives and how these were localised in everyday situations. This also gave an insight into the way the Muslim women negotiated their identities in different contexts. In this article I examine, drawing on the concepts of everyday lived religion, religiosity, and identity, how Islamic values and traditions could be localised through women’s narratives in relationships within the Muslim communities, between men and women, between different Muslim communities, and in the wider societal context.

“Message to the Black man”: Islam in 1990s Black male narrative films

In the 1990s, the genre of New Black Realism emerged, seeking to realistically portray the experiences of young Black men in urban environments. The themes of these Black male narratives were fused with several facets of Black youth culture influenced by hip-hop, politics, religion, and societal conditions. Similar to the movement of conscious hip-hop and the Blaxploitation genre of the early 1970s, New Black Realism films consisted of themes and solutions popularized during the Black Power Movement. While Islam became an increasingly visible feature of urban environments in the mid-twentieth century, through Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam and several orthodox Muslim groups, various Islamic undertones entered the themes of 1990s conscious hip-hop and Black male-centered films. This study critically examines the influence of Black Islamic groups on the themes and approaches to storytelling in narrative films with Black male protagonists throughout the 1990s. While the films approached Black masculinity and combating the troubles of the inner cities in a manner characteristic of many popular Black male Islamic redemption narratives, Islam was established as a highly influential Black subculture, possibly rivaling the influence of the traditional Black church.

INTER-RELIGIOUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HINDUS AND MUSLIMS IN LOMBOK

Despite its heterogeneous population, Lombok is well known for its reputation as Pulau Seribu Mesjid (island of thousand mosques).The idea of thousand mosques reflects the strong notion of Islam as the main identity marker. This, however, often brings uneasiness for both conflict between Muslim and non-Muslim, and between Muslims groups living in the island.This paper, aims at mapping out the triangular relationships between Hindus, Wetutelu Muslims, and Waktu Lima Muslims in Lombok, an island where a significant number of Balinese Hindus live as religious minority among SasakMuslims majority. In this paper, I argue that inter-religious relationship between Hindus and WetuteluMuslims is harmonious, while that between Hindus and Waktu Lima orthodox Muslims is marked by hostility. However, the inter-religious relationship between Hindus and the less orthodox Waktu Lima Muslims represent a number of uncertainties.

Two Traditions, One Space: Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Dialogue, edited by Papademetriou, George C.

Two Traditions, One Space: Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Dialogue, edited by Papademetriou, George C.