Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
151. Indonesia – Struggle for Independence - 4
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
Towards the end of the 18 th century, Napoleon Bonaparte burst out of France, riding on the waves of the French Revolution, with slogans of liberty, equality and fraternity that were heard around the world. His Republican ideas were a direct challenge not just to the British but to all the monarchies of Europe. In the Napoleonic wars that ensued (1798-1812), Holland was occupied by the French. The British moved to protect their colonial interests by taking over the Dutch colonies in the Indian Ocean. Java was occupied by a British Indian expeditionary force in 1811.
The Napoleonic wars ended in 1812. In 1816, Britain handed back the East Indies colonies to the Dutch. However, Colombo and the Cape of Good Hope remained in British hands. Protracted negotiations ensued between Amsterdam and London. By the Treaty of 1824 Holland formally gave up its claims to its colonies in India, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Malay Peninsula in return for British recognition of its rights in the East Indies. In essence, the Dutch empire became a satellite of the British Empire, deriving its power from the British power in India and Southeast Asia. The treaty of 1824 split the Malay world along the Straits of Malacca. The division of the Malay world into Indonesia and Malaysia follows roughly the boundaries fixed by Britain and Holland in the year 1824.
Resistance to Dutch colonial rule continued unabated. The VOC had made the Malay population of Batavia virtual slaves in their own land. In 1825 Javanese anger erupted like a volcano under the leadership of Prince Dipanagara. Resentment against Dutch colonial rule was only one element in the uprising. There were positive elements in it as well. The ulema saw the Dutch as unbelievers who were bent on subjugating Islam. Peasants and noblemen alike saw this as an opportunity to assert their independence. Dipanagara proclaimed himself the Ratu Adil, the just ruler, who would bring peace and justice to the island. He was immensely successful at first and his forces laid siege to Batavia which lasted until 1828. But the Dutch had the advantage at sea. They brought in reinforcements from Colombo, Cape Town, and the Netherlands. The siege of Batavia was lifted. Dipanagara retreated to the mountains and continued a protracted guerilla war that lasted two years. In a shameless violation of all norms of civilized warfare, the Dutch enticed the prince to enter their camp under the pretext of negotiating a peace treaty, captured and exiled him to the island of Sulawesi in 1830. The Java War of 1825-30 was bloody. Over 100,000 Javanese and 10,000 Dutch were killed in the hostilities.
After their victory in the Java War (1825-30) the Dutch abandoned any pretext of dealing with the Indonesian sultans on the basis of treaties and moved outright into a colonial posture. The history of the 19 th century was one of unabated and wanton exploitation of the Indies to industrialize and enrich the Netherlands. In 1831 a system of forced cultivation was introduced by the colonial administration in Java. The peasants were coerced into cultivating cash crops like coffee, sugarcane, spices and indigo at the expense of traditional crops such as rice needed for food and were compelled to sell the cash crops to a government owned monopoly Nederlandse Handel-Maatschappij, in which the king of Holland owned a substantial number of shares. The exploitation was so intense that Java, a land of plenty, experienced a series of famines in 1845-47. Political events in Europe added to the misery of the Indonesian peasants. In the decade after the Java war, Belgium waged a successful war for its independence from the Netherlands (1830-39). The war took such a heavy toll on resources that Holland went nearly bankrupt. The Dutch shifted the burden of recovering the cost of war on the Indies and it was on the backs of the wretched peasants of the archipelago that Holland got back on its feet. This pattern of exploitation lasted well into the 20 th century.
Rivalries, feuds, wars and treaties between European powers had a direct impact on the fortunes of the colonies. The colonial fray reached West Africa and the Gold Coast in the second half of the 19 th century. While France was busy swallowing up Western Sahara, Cameroon and Niger, Britain focused on the Gold Coast. Pushing inland from the Atlantic sea board, Britain gradually consolidated its position in Ghana and Nigeria (1850-1906). The lure of Ghana was gold and ivory while that of Nigeria was timber and oil. The borders between colonies were often no more than lines on maps drawn by colonial negotiators in London and Paris. The British entered into similar agreements with the Dutch. By the Treaty of 1873, the Dutch surrendered their forts on the Gold Coast in return for a free hand in the East Indies. This treaty removed the last British objections to a Dutch colonization of Sumatra which had hitherto resisted the European onslaught.
The large and strategic island of Sumatra jets deep into the Indian Ocean. The northern tip of the island lies Aceh, a fine harbor and a natural stop off point for voyagers between India and China. From ancient times the area played host to Arab traders, Chinese seamen and Javanese sailors plying the waters of the Indian Ocean. The voyagers brought their culture and their ideas with them and Aceh became a cauldron of Asian civilizations. Until the 4 th century Hinduism was the religion of the land. In the fifth and 6 th centuries Buddhism reigned supreme. Islam entered this Hindu-Buddhist matrix in the 9 th century. The well-known historian Al-Idrisi (d1165) mentions Islamic communities in Aceh, Malacca and Canton. In the 14 th century, the celebrated world traveler Ibn Batuta (d 1377) stopped here on his way to China.
In 1508 the Portuguese occupied Goa in India and followed it up with the occupation of Malacca in Malaysia in 1511. The inquisition against the Jews and Muslims was in full swing on the Iberian Peninsula. The Portuguese brought the inquisition with them into the new lands. This drove many a Muslim scholar from the west coast of India and Malaya. These scholars found a welcome home in Aceh which was blessed by the able sultans Ali Shah (d 1530) and Alauddin Shah (d 1571). It was during this period that the Khilafat passed from the Mamlukes in Egypt to the Ottomans in Turkey (1519). In 1526, Suleiman the Magnificent became the Ottoman sultan. He built a powerful navy and challenged the marauding Portuguese in the Indian Ocean. With the help of the Ottomans, the sultans of Aceh successfully defended western Sumatra and Joho located across the Malaccan Straits from the Portuguese during the 16 th century.
The 17 th century was the golden period for Acehnese history. In the year 1607 sultan Iskandar Muda ascended the throne of Aceh. Through skillful diplomacy he kept the Europeans at bay. With a centralized, efficient administration he built up Aceh into the most prosperous state in the Malacca Straits. He established his sway on western Sumatra and Johor and controlled the lucrative trade flowing through the Straits. Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, tin, sulphur and nuts were exported from Sumatra. The sultan used the tax revenue to build a strong navy. He was also an avid collector of jewels. Aceh became a center of Islamic learning. Schools and academies thrived. Scholarship was valued and rewarded and learned men thronged to its madrassas from as far away as Gujarat and Madina.
One of the most influential scholars of the period was Shaikh Abdur Raoof al Sinkli (1615-1693). Born in Sumatra, he studied in the local schools and proceeded to Hejaz in 1644. In Mecca and Madina he studied kalam, hadith, fiqh, tasawwuf and eloquence under the most renowned ulema of the age. Returning to his homeland in 1661, he established a school (dayah) in Aceh. His scholarship attracted students from far and wide and Aceh became a magnet for scholars from all over the archipelago.
Shaikh Sinkli’s teachings became a spark for intense intellectual activity in Sumatra. The writings of Ibn Arabi (d 1240) were available in the islands and his ideas of wahdat al wajud (unity of existence) had trigged widespread debates among Sumatran scholars. Trade had knit together the scholar communities of the Indian Ocean littoral states and ideas travelled with the traders. India was at this time at the zenith of Mogul empire and Indian scholars influenced the intellectual activity in faraway lands. For instance, the writings of Indian scholar Shaikh Fadlullah al Hindi al Burhanpuri added to the intensity of debates about wahdat al wajud in Sumatra. One such debate took place in the year 1638 in the court of Sultan Iskander Thani (1637-41) between Shaikh al Raniri and Shaikh al-Sumatrani. Shaikh Sinkli stayed above the fray and tried reconciliation. The proponents of wahdat al wajud maintained that God was immanent in His creation. Those opposed to this concept maintained that this belief was contrary to the injunctions of the Shariah. Al Sinkli was trained both in Shariah and tasawwuf and was able to moderate these debates. He adhered to his belief in wahdat al wajud but he tried to preserve the transcendence of God by stating that the world (alam) was tasbih (a simile) and was a reflection of the essence (dhat) of al haqq (the truth). Al Haqq is one of the Asma ul Husna (beautiful Names of God). Al Sinkli maintained that the oneness of al haqq cannot be compromised. Truth flows from the essence of God. There is nothing that surrounds Him but He surrounds everything. Wahdat al wajud was an experience reserved for the most spiritual of Shaikhs.
The scholarship of al Sinkli was recognized by the ruling elite. Sultana Safiatuddin appointed him the chief Kadi of Aceh and from this position he influenced the development of both fiqh and tasawwuf in the region.
The most famous of al Sinkli’s students was Shaikh Burhanuddin. Shaikh Burhanuddin established his zawiya in Western Java. Learned men, peasants and sufis alike flocked to hear him and learn from him. His students established zawiyas all over Java and Sumatra where young scholars stayed and learned the discipline of a tareeqa. Shaikh Burhanuddin combined in himself the teachings of both the Shattariya and the Naqshbandi silsilah. In a silsilah a Shaikh is connected to the Prophet through an unbroken chain of transmission. His legitimacy derives from this connection and hence his teachings are accepted by students and ulema alike. Shaikh Burhanuddin removed wahdat al wajud from his lectures. Instead he emphasized adherence to the Shariah in his tareeqa While the goal of dhikr (remembrance of the name of God) in the teachings of Shaikh al Sinkli was fana (annihilation), the goal of dhikr in the teachings of Shaikh Burhanuddin was simply tazkiyiatun nafs (cleansing of the soul).
(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)
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