A Journey to Understanding:
Reflections from Indonesia
By Dr. Amineh Ahmed Hoti
Society for Dialogue and Action
At Lucy Cavendish College
Cambridge University, UK
The
author (fourth from left) is seen with Dr Akbar Ahmed
(second from left), Hailey Woldt
(extreme right) and a group of Indonesian artists
|
Today we live in a world that
is struggling hard to maintain its natural as well as its
socio-religious balance. Polemics and academic debates never
fail to raise the alarm about the ever-growing threat of
the clash of civilizations. A few contend that the recent
series of natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunami, and earthquakes)
that have wiped out human lives in such large numbers are
the signs of the wrath of God.
As a Muslim woman on my journey through this particularly
imbalanced world I am grappling with debates and current
questions of identity: what does my religion say about other
people, other religions, and humanity as a whole; what does
Islam say about the sanctity of life in the face of so much
human loss?
The quest for understanding has drawn me to a part of the
Muslim world that is not fully appreciated and included
in debates about Islam. This is Indonesia.
I have come to Indonesia to join “the world’s
leading authority on contemporary Islam”, Professor
Akbar Ahmed, according to the BBC, on his last stop of his
journey to ten Muslim countries. His journey is being filmed
for Sky’s Raj TV (Channel 187). This journey is part
of a project, which is in partnership with Brookings Institute,
and PEW Forum, and is called “Islam in the age of
globalization”.
Sharing a parallel anthropological passion as Professor
Ahmed’s, and joining him while he was inducted into
Anthropologys Hall Of Fame at King’s College Cambridge
by Professor Alan Macfarlane (see the Anthropological Ancestors
website), and now in the field with him, I seek to gain
insight into this part of the Muslim world, so little known
in the West. Consider some facts: Indonesia is located in
South-Eastern Asia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans
and neighbors East Timor, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea.
With a population of 245,452,739, Indonesia has an 88% Muslim
population, 5% Protestant, 3% Roman Catholic, 2% Hindu,
and 1% Buddhist and others. Indonesia is a polyglot nation
with people speaking many languages. Unemployment, corruption,
an inadequate infrastructure, unequal resource distribution,
poor level of foreign investment, and a fragile banking
sector characterize the economic nature of the country.
In December 2005, the Indian Ocean tsunami took 131,000
lives causing an estimated $4.5 billion dollars in damages
and losses. Terrorist incidents, in Bali for instance, where
we made our last stop and where the project came to an end,
have been a major blow to tourism. Such a climate is fertile
for the conversion of angry unemployed and frustrated individuals
into hard-line suicidal extremists according to a moderate
Muslim academic Dr. Syafi’i Anwar whom we met in Jakartha.
Dr. Anwar has been threatened with his life by extremists
for talking about inter-faith dialogue and for running an
organization promoting understanding and dialogue. Dr. Anwar,
like other middle-path believers (the moderates) across
the Muslim world, maintains that dialogue is the essence
of Islam and the message of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
and it is the only way forward to avoid the clash of civilizations.
Indeed, let us set the likes
of Dr. Anwar in a wider context. It may be argued that there
are three general models of contemporary Muslim thought
and expression: the extremist, the middle-path believers
(or the ‘moderates’), and those inclined towards
the West (sometimes labeled as ‘the Westernized’).
Drawing upon Professor Ahmed’s conclusions of his
journey across the Muslim world and after discussions with
his American students, I gathered that they had identified
three Muslim models from South Asia. I will explore my argument
in the context of these models. The first model is Deoband
– this is hard-line extremist and its expression is
often in the form of confrontation or clash. Yet on a closer
look even with this model there is a range and some here
may be persuaded to engage in some form of dialogue. This
model has come to drive the common Muslim all around the
world (examples of organizational expressions of this model
are Hamas, The Taliban, Hizbut Tahrir, etc.). This is also
the only model that the West and the media in general talk
about and therefore are engaged with, albeit in a negative
way, through war, with little or no dialogue.
The second, little known model, is Ajmer which emphasizes
synthesis or the Islamic notion of Sulh-e-Kul, Peace With
All: as in multi-faith India the shrine of the saint at
Ajmer Sharif draws crowds from not only the Muslim community
but also the Hindu and others – all are welcome; all
are heard; and all are at peace, in an ideal world. The
third model is Aligarh based on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s
University: it is progressive Islamic yet willing to engage
with, learn, and adopt from the West. It is the modern Muslim
metaphor and Pakistan is the consequence of those who believed
in this model.
The fact of the matter is that both the latter models that
practice inclusiveness and acceptance have become marginalized
with the first model — the hard-liners — in
a characteristic confrontational manner taking the spotlight.
As a result we have the hardliners in the forefront bringing
to the world-stage their own stringent interpretation of
Islam. Leaving people like Dr. Anwar who talk about inter-faith
dialogue at the periphery.
The situation may not be helped if some Western governments
and the media allow the spotlight to fall only on the hardliners.
To expand on Dr. Anwar’s point, frustrated, unemployed,
and angry viewers watching extremists on television may
mimic their pattern of behavior causing a snow-ball effect
of extremism. The other middle-path groups must especially
be brought to the fore – there should be more dialogue
with those willing to engage in dialogue. Positive contact
between the Muslim and outside world should also be highlighted.
There are plenty of examples here that can be explored.3
In this very trip to Indonesia, for example, I saw how one
of Professor Ahmed’s 19 year-old female American students,
Hailey Woldt, who we considered like a valued member of
our family, had shifted ground. She told me how she had
“changed and become a better person” after her
journey to the Muslim world. She also told me that she realized
how little Americans generally know about the Muslim world.
This journey had allowed her to understand Muslims better
and to see Islam in a more sophisticated light. The point
is that a balanced, more complex view of the world, especially
the Muslim world, is what is needed; not just shades of
black and white.
The dwindling moderates and growing extremists is a dangerous
and challenging development that lies not only on the Muslim
side, ordinary people in the West I have spoken with hold
many negative and often false perceptions of Islam, Muslims,
and Muslim women. Being Arab for example is immediately
associated with being Muslim and Muslim with being Arab.
Yet the present Bishop of Jerusalem in a fascinating talk
at Cambridge pointed out that he was an Arab Palestinian
Israeli Christian and that Jesus himself was not a blonde
blued-eyed Hollywood looking figure but that he originated
from the Middle East.
Similarly, Dr. Anwar in Indonesia pointed out that Indonesian
Muslims are a diverse community. Indeed, I would agree with
him: Islam is inclusive and accepting of others and it shares
many common beliefs with Christians, Jews and other monotheistic
faiths; Islam gave human rights to men and women as early
as the 7th century; all life is sacred in Islam and suicide
or murder is haram (absolutely forbidden); Muslims have
many colors, faces, and behaviors; women are given many
benefits, sometimes more than men. This is what needs to
be recognized. Not accepting to recognize the positive side
of Islam and the diversity of Muslims only fan the flames
of the rising population of the extremists who also need
to recognize and respect their connectedness to their fellow
citizens of this world. The important point is that Muslim
Indonesia – about the length of Europe with almost
as many people as the United States — is “a
sleeping giant” in Professor Ahmed’s words that,
I believe, should not be stirred or provoked towards any
clash of civilizations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
