Islam and
Christianity in Indonesia:
A Fifty Year
Search For Understanding
Tolerance and Respect[1]
James Veitch
Victoria University of Wellington
I
want to begin with some autobiographical comments to set the scene and give a
context for what I want to say.
My
family and I lived in Indonesia, in the city of Makassar, on the Island of
Sulawesi, from January 1970 until April 1975. I lectured in Indonesian
language, at the Sekolah Tinggi Theologi untuk bagian Indonesia Timur. When we
arrived, there were about 200 students at the college. They came from seventeen
different parts of Indonesia, from as far apart as the Island of Nias to West
Papua, from Kalimantan, and Tomohon in the north of Sulawesi, to Java, Sumba,
West Timor and many places in between. There was a large group from Ambon and a
number of the Indonesian staff came from the same region. The college was in
microcosm a picture of Indonesia
itself.
In
the college students from Papua meet in the same classroom with Batak students,
students from Sumba met and developed friendships with students from the
eastern side of Sulawesi and students from Ambon met students from Nias. When a
student from West Timor met and fell in love with a fellow student from Tomohon
and they announced their decision to marry it created a stir: both sets of
parents and the families lived half an Indonesian world away and knew very
little about the exchange of emotions. When the young woman’s parents heard
about the developments her mother was dispatched to visit her daughter in
Makassar. By that stage the young couple were talking about marrying sooner
rather than later.
When
the Batak students purchased a dog at the market to BBQ on a Saturday evening,
other students protested, including the children of one of the Dutch lecturers,
arguments raged and a fight was narrowly averted when a staff member
intervened. The dog escaped with its life when the Dutch lecturer bought it.
The Batak students were highly amused-for them dog meat was a delicacy.
Crossing
cultural boundaries was as difficult for Indonesian students as it was for me.
I had to cope with different Indonesian cultures as well as Dutch. A New
Zealander was a mystery to everyone-it was simply better to talk a lot about
Australia for the Australians had been the liberators of this part of Indonesia
towards the end of the Second World War. Being a mystery as it were did have an
important spin off. I became Academic Dean after a year and remained in that
position until I shifted to Singapore. I learned the art of standing in the
middle, and listening. I learned to laugh when embarrassed or when I made a
mistake.
Some
of the students were taking a six - year course and others the four year. A few
never went home at all during their training-there simply was no money to make
that possible. They grew into adulthood apart from their own families and
cultures in the artificial environment of a Theological College.
It
was a challenging and rich experience to learn the art of lecturing in such an
environment. I began by teaching biblical studies but soon branched out to
include teaching about Asian religions and primal or tribal religion. I put
together a course in the Philosophy of Religion and used a textbook that drew
on Islam as well as Christianity.
The
first day on the campus I met the senior Dutch lecturer. He was on the point of
leaving to return to the Netherlands after more than twenty years of living in
Indonesia, including some years working in what now call West Papua. He was
blunt in the way of the Dutch.
I hope you have not come
here thinking that you will evangelise the local people, he began. Our job is to teach here, in this college,
and to help in the local churches when asked and to forget about evangelizing
the local Muslims-that is the prerogative of the local Indonesian Christian
community, he remarked.
And let me tell you, he said in memorable
words, they will do it in their way and
it will be none of your business. You can go back to New Zealand no matter what
happens but they live here and have no where else to go. Never forget that.
This is a strong Islamic area and the situation between Christian and Muslim is
always fragile, don’t even think of becoming involved outside of the college. If
you see something and think it is an injustice leave it alone, the Indonesians
have to work things out for themselves.
I
had never for one minute thought of being involved in evangelism or in social
justice and human rights concerns but I was impressed with what he said.
If someone converts from
Islam to Christian, he went on, that person will be
baptized un announced and in private –the doors of the church will be shut- No
Christian will antagonize their Muslim neighbors. There is a history here in this
country of Christian –Muslim relations and while Christians enjoy respect far
above their percentage in the population and you will find Catholic and
Protestant in Government and in the military in senior positions, no one will
set out to antagonize the other. To do so would be to risk all the careful work
that has been done since independence in building a new country. The motto of
the nation is unity in diversity-that unity is hard won and always fragile.
Many
of the Dutch lecturers I discovered held views like this and had been clearly
influenced by one of the most influential missionary thinkers in Europe who had
spent half his life working in Indonesia. Hendrick Kraemer worked with the
Indonesian church before and during the transition to independence. He was the
architect of the transition and had written a book entitled, From Mission Field to Independent Church.
It was the blue print used by Dutch and Indonesian churches and was widely
influential beyond in other Asian and African situations.
Initial encounters with
Islam
I
can still remember the advice we received from other Dutch colleagues as
Ramadan approached that first year. Don’t,
they said, smoke in public that month-I
smoked a pipe in those days- and don’t
eat or drink anything in public even in the cab of the landrover during the
day. If you are travelling out of town and need to eat, go to the back door of
a Chinese restaurant: maybe they will be open, but don’t count on it, and don’t
draw attention to yourself. Dress circumspectly; no shorts and make sure your
wife covers herself up, behave with restraint. Think of what the local people
must feel in the heat of the day: most will be doing what you are doing if they
are not keeping the fast. But think of
those who are keeping Ramadan: its costly in this heat.
I was to discover just what was meant with those words when Ramadan arrived. We were awake before dawn with the sound of people walking to the local mosque before the loud call of the minaret sounded. Our neighbours had already stirred us in their kitchen banging pots and pans. By the time night fell we were exhausted. When the sirens sounded city- wide announcing the end of the daily fast we too were as happy as our Muslim neighbours who surrounded our house on three sides. Ramadan fell in that year at a time when the heat seems worse than normal and the rain was far away: eight or nine months of hot dry weather sucks every bit of moisture out of the ground. Even the well was struggling to fill enough in twenty - four hours to provide half a tank of water for the house and the kitchen.
We lived Ramadan that year as a family with a small child less than one year old and we were meticulous about our behavior for one whole month-I even gave up smoking. At the end we were glad to celebrate a significant achievement. We may not have given up our midday meal or eaten our breakfast before dawn but we had honored Ramadan in our own way and consciously worked at giving no offence to our Muslim neighbors. We were glad to join their celebrations at the end, for they were our celebration as well.
Ramadan
was important that year for something else. My colleagues encouraged us to go
into the center of the city at the time of evening prayer. They said we needed
to see a special sight. One night we did just that in our landrover. The padang
was a large grassed area-may be the size of two rugby fields-and when we turned
the corner prayers had begun. But an amazing sight greeted us. The area was
completely covered by men, and women with children, dressed all in white,
praying in unison under flood lights. It was the most awesome sight I had ever
encountered. White clothes sparkled in the light and gave off an effervescent
glow. The sound of the praying was unusual-and it was the sound that impressed,
it rose and fell and the audible sighs seems to linger in the night air. It was
a numinous experience for us observers. As we moved away quietly before the
prayers concluded we drove along deserted streets and passed mosques packed to
the gates of the courtyard: the sight has lingered in our imagination and
memory. The incident took place more than thirty years ago, yet I can still see
it.
I
was glad that during the three years of my doctoral studies in Birmingham
England I had taken every course offered on Islam. I hasten to add that taking
these courses over a three-year period was an optional extra: the topic of my
thesis was entirely different. To satisfy my keen interest in Islam I took
courses in the various stages of the history of Islam, Islamic theology, the
exegesis of the Qu’ran, The study of the hadith, the life of Muhammad, Muslim
Christian relations, Islam in the Middle East. I was able to study the thinking
of leading Islamic figures of the past and the present. I participated in my
first weekend dialogue near the end of the time we spent in England-an equal
number of Muslims and an equal number of Christian met to talk about their
faith over a weekend. What did we share in common; where did we differ and why;
what could we do together to express our commonalties; how could we help each
other respect our differences. We watched each other worship.
I
enjoyed the company of a Muslim fellow student from Pakistan who used the same
library. He was writing an MA thesis with the supervision of the University’s
Muslim scholar, an Englishman with a fine appreciation, understanding and
respect for Islam. We would have morning and afternoon tea together over
eighteen months or there abouts. We explored each other’s faith over tea and
coffee during the week. We tackled the hard questions. We occasionally took
meals together in the weekends-Musamil did the cooking-He took time out for
prayers. He was a committed Muslim: gentle and sensitive, understanding of my
western thinking and open to let me learn about his faith.
He
had learned much about Christianity and had taken courses to fill out his
knowledge; he had visited church with other Christians: he wondered aloud with
me why his Christian friends always seem to want to convert him. But he was
tolerant and understanding. Before coming to Birmingham he had taken the hajj
to Makkah a number of times and had studied at the University of Medina.
Musamil brought Islam alive. I was able to see it at work in his life. His
sincerity and piety left a deep impression on my life and his kind of Islam
became my model of how Islam is lived in paractice.
I
took this background to Indonesia-the theoretical from the University of
Birmingham and the practical from Musamil. In the city of Makassar (population
around 600,000) my family and I absorbed the experience of living among Muslims
in a suburb at the edge of the city. It is far from easy to survive when you
are one of around twenty or so Europeans in a city of that size: that was the
situation that greeted us at the beginning of 1970. There is no where to hide.
Belonging to a minority, being white and Christian, and living in a different
culture and using a new language led to huge adjustments. At times the experience
and the challenges were overwhelming in spite of the support and the
encouragement of good friends. I was very fortunate when an Indonesian
colleague took me under his wing and taught me how to be Indonesian in my
thinking.
When
we shifted to Singapore (with a daughter born in Makassar) for a three-year
teaching period in another culture we had become different sort of people. In
Makassar I had learned to move easily in both the Christian and the Muslim
communities. I had more Muslim friends than Christian. I had gotten to know
Islam from the inside. I knew the call to prayer off by heart: that was the
only way I could sleep through the early morning call. More importantly I had come to recognize
both intellectually and in practice that Christianity and Islam are related
faiths. In spite of the tortured history that constantly corrupts the
relationship and undermines respect and acceptance of difference, the God of
Christianity and the God of Islam melt into each other especially in families
where spouses coming from Christianity and Islam bring them together
But
there was something that put pressure on the relationship between Islam and
Christianity. It was the widespread perception amongst Muslims (certainly the
ones I met at all social levels in Makassar, Jakarta, Bandung and Denpassar),
that the alliance between Christianity and Western culture had created a major
political, economic, and military superiority that is in some way directed against
Islam.
The
reality I came to know and appreciate was that Muslim and Christian sat, in
some parts of the country, cheek by jowl in a fragile relationship. I also came
to recognize that Muslims regarded Christians as privileged through the former
colonial relation with the Netherlands, a relationship that had lasted in some
areas like Batak land, Toradja, Ambon and the Minahassa for two to three
hundred years. The colleges founded by Dutch churches like the one where I had
taught provided in the view of outsiders, a superior education with scholarship
support for students who then returned to regional churches to become the best
educated people in villages and towns. What irked some of my Muslim friends was
the strong continuing relationship between Dutch churches and the Indonesian
church, Catholic and Protestant. Because of this they regarded the Indonesian
Churches as foreign. It was an image hard to dissolve even with the passage of
time.
I
always thought that it was a little unfair as most of my Indonesian colleagues
were not as well qualified as I, and my Dutch colleagues worked hard at raising
money for scholarships to enable their upgrading to take place. We wanted to be
replaced and marked out the best students for further studies in Jakarta or Singapore.
We wanted that training to take place within Asia. We were advocates of an
Asian Christian theology.
But
there were things to be said on the other side.
Large
amounts of money came into Indonesia, as part of Government to Government
development aid and this was huge compared to what the Indonesian churches
received. Then there was money from the wider Muslim world to help build
mosques and some money also went into education. So it wasn’t as if the
Churches alone had a privileged position.
Moreover
both Christian and Muslim were and still are foreigners in Indonesia for both
faiths originate outside the archipelago. Islam spread along the trade routes
displacing the great Hindu-Buddhist Empire that had covered South and South
East Asia absorbing the earlier primal religion into its generous system of
beliefs and rituals.[2]
Islam may have preceded Christianity but there is no disguising that Islam too
originates in the Middle East.
Over
the years since the 1970s the Indonesian churches have worked hard to try and
overcome the perception that they are more foreign than Indonesian and hold a
privileged relationship with the Western world. They have sought to play their
part in the development of Indonesia and are proud of their Christian Indonesian
histories.
But
it is not surprising that four of the five areas of Indonesia that are under
pressure today have a strong Christian element: East Timor, West Papua, Ambon
and Helmahera, and central Sulawesi. The fifth area, Acheh has a distinctive
Muslim history and lies outside the scope of what I want to say.[3]
These areas have however witnessed some of the worst violence in recent
Indonesian history.
Thousands
have died in bloody clashes in Catholic East Timor over more than twenty-five
years. The picture that is slowly emerging from United Nations sources paints a
sad portrait of an occupation that should have resulted in Timor being absorbed
into Indonesia with dignity and honour. For Timor like Indonesia has been a
colony of a distant European power and deserved to be liberated into a new era
of history. Alas that was not going to be the case. More of the story of this
period will become public in the judicial processes both Indonesia and the
United Nations have begun[4].
The
relationship between Indonesia and Catholic West Papua[5]
has been peppered with violence with much of it hidden from view in the jungle.
It too is a story that will become
Widely
known in the world. West Papua is geographically and ethnically a part of
Melanesia and this was acknowledged under Dutch administration[6].
Over
the last three years in Ambon, Halmahera and Central Sulawesi the figure of
those killed as Muslim and Christian have clashed has been estimated in the
thousands[7].
The anger and the bitterness has been astonishing for those of us who have
often spoken of the unity in diversity that we have admired in Independent
Indonesia. These were areas where Christians and Muslims lived cheek by jowl in
an uneasy peace[8].
But
I need to remind myself that times do change and that nothing involving humans
ever stands still and remains the same. So much in recent Indonesian history
has been positive. To govern such a large country with so many different ethnic
groups and to bring the whole region into the modern world requires knowledge,
skills, wisdom, vision and enormous financial capital.
To
move from dependence on the Netherlands to independence with Sukarno was a
major step forward. To move from Suharto through Habibi and Wahid to Megawati
Sukarnoputri without major blood shed and military intervention has been a
major achievement. To move from a tribal based society to a feudal system
dominated by patronage, was one giant step forward. To move to a broader
community created by a colonial power, and then to move slowly forward beyond
patronage towards rule by technocrat, commerce and business is an astonishing
accomplishment.
To move from a benign dictatorship to a form of guided democracy with strong military input was one thing. To move forward and to work with a form of parliamentary democracy, and to strive for an independent judiciary, and a military subordinate to civilian government, all in the space of just over fifty years, has been an admirable achievement.
But
something major has been happening over the last thirty years that threatens to
derail these recent developments. Perhaps not just in Indonesia but these
developments are affecting her regional neighbours as well: Malaysia,
Singapore, and the Philippines in particular.
Indonesia
is the largest Muslim country in the world today: around 85% of more around 220
million people adhere to a variety of strands and traditions of the Sunni
Muslim religious tradition. Malaysia has a clear Muslim majority and both
countries support a degree of Muslim rule that runs in parallel with secular
systems. Both Singapore and the Philippines have Muslim minorities, 15% and 4%
respectively[9].
So Islam is not an insignificant religious,
cultural, and political force in the region.
Since
the mid 1970s Islam has been stirring world - wide. No one noticed at first
until Western scholars began to write about fundamentalism not only in
Christianity but also in Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. Fundamentalism in the
West is however associated with the religious and political right especially in
the United States. The so-called
fundamentalism of Islam is unlike its counterpart in Christianity; or Judaism
and Hinduism for that matter[10].
It
should be more properly and appropriately described as Islamisation: a recovery
of Muslim spirituality. For more than
thirty years Muslims wherever they lived began to seek not only a revival of an
inner spirit, a reconnection with their religious roots but for more affective
ways of expressing their faith in social, economic and political structures.
This Islamisation has expressed itself in a recovery of Muslim aspirations and
confidence. A feeling that Islam had something to offer the world that is an alternative
to what the West set out to create economically and politically from about the
same time.
The
revolution in Iran in 1979 startled and shocked the West in its suddenness and
with its ferocity. But within a few years the world of the Ayatollah Komeini
had been isolated and contained not only by the West but also by Muslim
neighbours. However, that revolution had also inspired thousands of young
Muslims living across the world to feel proud about being Muslim. Here was one
model to consider if not to emulate.
More
than twenty years later the reverberations from that revolution are still felt
through out the world as the young who were impressed with the Ayatollah have
assumed leadership roles in their own countries.
The
emergence of Al Qaeda is one sign of the continuing affect of these
reverberations. Here is a sophisticated organization stretching from Europe to
the far edges of Asia, and from Africa to America. It has economic power, a sophisticated
but simple communications network, access to modern weapons and is driven by a
vision of a united Muslim world. At its center and perhaps the secret of its
current success is the small unit of three or four committed members who share
the core vision and who operate on their own or with other cells against
profile targets. Some strike without warning, never say who they are, and
disappear as quickly as they have come. Others have formed organizations and
gather funds from across the world, plan their work meticulously, and take
clear responsibility for their actions.
Osama
bin Laden is a hero for many Muslims throughout the world especially the young
world - wide and the poor.
The
influence of groups like Al Qaeda has been present in South East Asia for some
time as the Philippines connections (Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front) suggest. But it was not until December last year that the extent of this
influence came to the attention of the Governments of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia
in a fresh way.
Between
December 9 and 24, 15 men were arrested in Singapore for involvement in
terrorist activities. Thirteen (the remaining two were subsequently released
when it appeared they had no connections) came from Jemaah Islamiah, an
organization with cells in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and with alleged
links to Al Qaeda. In a parallel operation the Malaysian government arrested 37
who belong to a militant organization with links to Jemaah Islamiah[11].
However the two governments particularly the Singapore Government were
reportedly stunned by the discovery.
Jemaah
Islamiah emerged from obscurity and spread into the region from Indonesia
following the end of the Suharto era in 1998. Its followers are committed to
establishing an Islamic state embracing Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern
Philippines. The inspiration for this plan is rooted in the nineteenth century
Islamic philosophy of Mohammed Abdu and Rahid Rida. The movement has wahhabi
influence in the mix from thinkers like Mohamed Abdul Wahab and Ibn Saud.
In
a report in Singapore’s Sunday Times
in January 2002 a source informed the newspaper that over the previous four
years the group had received about 1.35 billion rupiah (around NZ$239 million)
from Al-Qaeda. Indonesian intelligence sources believe that the actual figure
is much higher.
Indonesian
sources also reported discovering in Solo, Central Java, a document with
detailed plans to bomb US facilities and embassies in Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore: an Asian jihad ordered so it seems by Osama bin Laden.
In
Singapore the ministry of defence and the Changi naval base were targets and
areas used by US naval personnel whilst ashore. Apparently the Australian High
Commission was also on the target list. The group denied any connection with Al
Qaeda but says the jihad was its own initiative. It is now known that this plan
was delivered for approval on a computer hard disk together with a video of the
planed targeted areas to the Al Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan. Though the
leadership was impressed for some reason no action was taken to authorize its
use[12].
The video was released by the Singapore authorities on March 1, this year, and
was found by US army personnel during the search of an Al Qaeda’s leaders house
in Afghanistan[13].
Abu
Bakar Baasyir an Indonesian Muslim cleric has been identified as the
ideological leader of Jemaah Islamiah. According to A Straits Times report (March 8) the Malaysian Government recently
passed to the Indonesian police, evidence that proved Baasyir founded Jemaah
Islamiah) He denies any knowledge of the Al Qaeda connection but does admit to
being involved in a jihad to establish an Islamic state[14].
In
Indonesia the group has been suspected of being behind the bombing of at least
18 churches and of mobilizing Muslims to fight in Eastern Indonesia against the
Christian population. Baasyir supports such targeting because of what he says
is the suffering and oppression by the West
of Muslims in other countries.
According
to Singapore and Malaysian authorities two other leaders of Jemaah Islamiah,
Riduan Isamuddin an Indonesian cleric better known as Hambali and Faiz bin Abu
Bakar Bafana a naturalised Malaysian from Singapore, are the masterminds of the
terror. Both have apparently been involved in the deaths of others in earlier
bombings. Faiz was arrested and detained by the Singapore police but Hambali is
still at large[15]. It is
believed that Hanbali played a pivotal role in a number of Al-Qaida related
events including the abortive plan to bomb 12 airliners and kill Pope John Paul
II in 1995. He had earlier met and hosted two of the September 11 hijackers. He
has also been connected-as the puppeteer
behind the scenes- by Indonesian police with 13 of the 24 bomb explosions
that occurred across Indonesia especially in the vacinity of churches on
December 24, 2000, killing 19 and injuring more than 100[16].
On
January 25 this year the Indonesian police and again a few days later questioned
Baasyir. He is the founder of a boy’s boarding school, according to a New York
Times report[17], a
pesantran or Qur’anic school. By all accounts Al Mukmin, as it is called, is a
very popular school where according to the posters on classroom walls Osama bin laden is a hero[18].
The school has according to various reports an enrollment of about 2000
students. Baasyir has considerable influence.
One
of the graduates of his school, Fathur Rohan al-Ghozi, apparently the son of an
Indonesian MP [19] was arrested
on January 15 in the Philippines. He was charged with being the chief bomb
maker planning the attack against the US embassy in Singapore[20]
A number of those arrested in Malaysia were also graduates of this school.
However,
Mr Baasyir late in January issued a statement which read in part I am not a member of Al-Qaeda but I really
respect the struggle of Osama bin laden who has bravely represented the world’s
Muslims in their fight against the arrogant United States of America and their
allies.[21] He has, on
March 7, filed a libel lawsuit (for US $100 million) against the Singapore
Government in a Jakarta court for an alleged smear against his name-ostensibly
over remarks of senior minister Lee Kuan Yew at a Chinese New Year dinner[22].
To
sustain its goals and renew its support from among the Muslim to whom it
appeals Jemaah Islamiah has often resorted to Christian targets. Within
Indonesia as we have seen such targets are symbols of the wealth and the
influence of the West.[23]The
ambition of Jemaah Islamiah to form an Islamic state in Southeast Asia is
understandable, as it is an alternative way of dividing the territory[24].
The
struggle in Eastern Indonesia between Christian and Muslim has put the
spotlight on another figure, a Muslim cleric Jaffar Umar Thalib, the commander
of Laskar Jihad[25], and
according to reports, a friend of senior members of the current government.
It
is difficult to put a number on the forces he commands[26]
but they are well trained and committed. Jaffar fought alongside the
anti-soviet mujahadeen in Afghanistan in the late 1980s after spending two
years in a madrassa in Pakistan. In 1987 he met Osama bin Laden in Peshawar,
Pakistan. According to Jaffar, bin Laden was a spiritually empty man…an
arrogant fellow who poured scorn on Saudi Arabia which Jaffar regards as a
model Islamic state.[27]
Today Jaffar denies any connection with bin Laden and regards him as a
lightweight even although his policies run in parallel. In a comment to Tempo
Magazine he said. To equate me with Osama
is an insult.[28] But in an interview published in Al-Hayat of
London he commented. As Muslims we
certainly support Osama, who has strongly resisted US political propaganda.[29]
But the claim that Laskar Jihad has links with Al Qaeda simply does not go
away.[30]
Jaffar
coordinates work in a number of Quranic schools (pesantren) and is a strong
advocate of Indonesia becoming a Muslim state ruled by Sharia’h (Qur’anic law).
He himself lives a strict Muslim life and expects the same from his students
and associates. It is his cadres who are believed to be behind the unrest in
Ambon and Halmahera (from January 1999) and more recently in central Sulawesi.
Jaffar
applauded the attack on the world trade center. When we see the global impact of the attack, of course we support it…in
fact we offer our applause…Economic facilities like the world trade center are
legitimate targets according to the Koran and the hadith[31].
In the light of such a comment it would be natural for Jaffar to turn his
attention to the task of creating a Muslim state in Indonesia and of targeting
Christians in the process[32].
He apparently feared that Christians in the area were intent on creating a
breakaway state comprised of West Papua Ambon, Halmahera and central-north
Sulawesi and believed that Christians would ethnically cleanse the area of
Muslims. He was also afraid that the government was not going to act to prevent
this from happening.[33] In the face of the government’s weakness[34]
the FKAWJ declared Christians in the Muluccas kafir harbi-belligerent infidels - a category in Islam that obliges
Muslims to go to war. Perhaps as many as 4-6000 answered that call. By the time
the situation in central Sulawesi had deteriorated there may have been as many
as 10,000 Laskar Jihad fighters in the area and a large number of these moved
to Poso.
Support
for action in Ambon came from various quarters. In January 2000 thousands of Indonesian Muslims marched through Jakarta
chanting “Jihad! Jihad”! in a protest against minority Christians.[35]
The
conflicts in North Maluku began in October 1999 and in less than a year 3,000
were dead and over 100,000 had become refugees[36].A
major ingredient in this conflict was the anger local people felt towards
central government for the transmigration program that had settled mainly
Muslims in the area thus upsetting delicate ethnic and religious balances.[37]
In
a program on the Christian celebration of Christmas in central Sulawesi,
broadcast by Dateline on January 30 this year, viewers were taken to a village,
Sanginora which along with five others, was allegedly destroyed by Laskar Jihad
in late November 2001.The violence lasted for almost three days[38].
Hundreds fled from the villages and for a month lived in the forest. By
Christmas they were starting to return to rebuild their villages and re
establish their homes but it was an uncertain future that they faced.
Poso,
the centre for this region, is now home to around 5,000 Muslims (it did have a
population of around 40,000)-the larger Christian population has moved out and
has dispersed into the surrounding area.
The
conflict began three years ago in December 1998 when two young men- one Muslim
and one Christian-got into a drunken fight in which the Muslim was killed[39].
In the resulting flare up almost 10,000 Christian homes were destroyed and
churches burnt[40].
In
May 2000 the Christian retaliation (they say it was a preemptive strike) began
in a massacre at Ilham now known as the kilometer nine attack and this opened
the way for Laskar Jihad cadres[41]
to move from the Muluku islands to Sulawesi.[42]
According
to a former student of mine, a distinguished Christian leader in north Sulawesi
and well known in the Churches of Indonesia and beyond in the wider world
community[43], Laskar
Jihad had the support of the government at all levels as well as the army[44].
It is not known how many people Muslim or Christian have died as a result of
these conflicts. Pressure from United Nations may have contributed to the
intervention from the central government to bring the warring parties together
to seek a resolution of the conflict[45].
Many
Christians of central Sulawesi in order to protect themselves had by Christmas
last year moved to the resort town of Tentena on the shores of Lake Poso.
Mysteriously five key villages within a 50-kilometer radius of the lake came
under Laskar Jihad control.
A
peace deal was however struck-the fifth attempt so far-and Christmas passed
peacefully. At New Year four bombs exploded outside Churches in the provincial
capital Palu and an uneasy peace has followed with only minor infringements[46]until
in late march a huge bomb explosion shattered the peace in Poso.
In
the case of Laskar Jihad an internal Islamization movement the attack on
Christianity is more narrowly focused. The Church as a physical symbol of the
Western world and Christians who are perceived to represent a foreign influence
in Indonesia and who are, as a result connected with the supposed arrogance of
that foreign influence, the western world, becomes a popular target of Muslim
anger.
In
the case of Jemaah Islamiah the attack on Christianity comes in order to help
focus attention on the plan to establish a regional Muslim state but the
perceptions about Christianity and the West that support and drive this agenda
are the same as Laskar Jihad[47].
In
a recent report a catholic nun commented. From
the Japanese occupation during World War II, to the battle against Dutch
colonialism, the Marxism of Sukarno to the right wing anti-communist government
of Suharto, the people of Indonesia have endured much suffering. Yet the greatest fight in the history of
Indonesia is being waged today-it is the battle between Christianity and Islam.
The Muslims in Indonesia claim to be moderate and want to cooperate with the
west, but you would not know it from the bloodshed they have wreaked upon the
Christians in Indonesia.[48]
Writing
in the January edition of Janes
Intelligence Review, Rohan Gunaratna a highly respected western terrorist
expert at St Andrew’s University Scotland drew attention to Al Qaeda’s
infrastructure in Asia particularly in South East Asia. These links had,
according to Gunaratna been fostered since the early1990s. He reported that two
key bin Laden associates visited the Muluku and West Papua in 2000[49]
at the time when conflict was prominent between Christian and Muslim and the
organisation had a permanent representative in Malaysia with responsibility for
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. He also repeated the rumour that an
Al-Qaeda camp existed in Indonesia,
though
he added, the security forces and the
intelligence community have failed to indentify the cam.
Time
Asia reported on March 18 that according to an Indonesian Intelligence report
that they had obtained there is an Al Qaeda training camp 10 kilometers outside
of Poso. According to the report the document gave a breakdown of the location
and staffing of the camp. New arrivals are issued with pistols and kalashnikov
automatic rifles and asked to show their commitment by joining in the
Muslim-Christian clashes. According to the TimeAsia report Hendropriyono senior
intelligence officer at first acknowledged the existence of camp Mujahidin and
then denied it.[50] In a more
recent report the Minister for Political and Security Affiars Soesilo Bambang
Yudhoyono has pointed out that a search of a deserted camp in central Sulwesi
(presumably the one mentioned in the earlier report) allegedly connected with
Al-Qaeda turned up no conclusive evidence.[51]
In
an interview on Dateline on January 30 Gunaratna indicated that he believed the
organization of Al Qaeda in Indonesia remained intact following the arrests in
Malaysia and Singapore.[52]
But the head of the American FBI was recently less certain. Speaking in
Singapore he said we do not know the extent
of the support for Al Qaeda in South-east Asia[53].
Whatever the reality may be the introduction into the Indonesian parliament on
March 12 of the long awaited anti terrorism bill will be viewed with relief by
all Indonesia’s neighbours.
What
is stirring in the region are not only movements to strengthen Islam as the
religious tradition of the majority within Indonesia and Malaysia, but
movements aimed at drawing together Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei[54]
and the Southern Philippines into a regional Muslim state.
This
expression of Islamisation is a mini pan Islamic movement in Southeast Asia: a
movement that seeks to build on the rise of Islamic consciousness, of the last
thirty years in order to create a political entity in which Islam may be
practiced in accordance with Quranic principles, the guidance of the hadith and
the provisions of the shariah.
The
city state of Singapore and the remainder of the Philippines that are both seen
as satellite states of the West will become increasingly isolated if this
movement gathers strength and is supported by the people.
This
may seem an impossible dream at the moment but without a vision the people
perish. What the Ayatollah Komeini and Osama bin Laden have given ordinary
Muslims is a vision of what they might accomplish with committed religious and
political leadership.
The affect of Islamisation
on Muslim-Christian Relationships Worldwide.
Inhibiting
the growth of this possibility into reality is a widespread view held by
powerless ordinary Muslim people that what stands in the way is the Christian
West with its economic and military superiority that in their view is
responsible for their poverty and oppression. They also blame the Christian
West for forcing their own leadership into compromises, especially economic,
that are often humiliating and undermining of national pride.
At
the present time the initiative lies with political movements inspired by and
empowered by Islam for reasons set out by Samuel P. Huntingdon in his book[55],
This initiative comes at a time when the West for the most part has privatized
religion and become increasingly dismissive of Christianity. Western political,
economic, and military leadership constantly overlooks the dynamic role played
by Islam in the lives of around 20% of the world’s population and is puzzled
why people want to put their trust in religion and to die in the name of God to
try and achieve political goals. The extent of the Islamization and the impact
it has in place will dominate the scene for the next half century if
Huntingdon’s figures and his analysis turns out to be even half correct.
Quite
suddenly we have become aware of our vulnerability in the West as the event of
September 11 and its impact on the morale and the economy of America and her
partners has demonstrated over the last six months. A war against terrorism
world- wide is the reaction of the West to this vulnerability.
That
war has brought the west to Southeast Asia. Tracing connections between
September 11 and Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia is throwing
new light on existing political and economic relationships and is suggesting
that we need to understand each other better.
Indonesian
Vice President Hamzah Haz in a report dated March 15 released on the eve of the
US FBI director’s visit to Indonesia rejected claims that Indonesia is a haven for terrorists. The presence of radicals he said is merely a reflection of freedom of expression that has flourished
over the past three years as a result of the nation’s reform movement. He
stressed however, that Indonesian Muslims should work to improve their image as
agents of universal peace not only in Indonesia but all over the world. This is
a very positive way of asserting Indonesian leadership within the region and
signals the way Indonesia will build its future. Islamization should not be
identified or confused with the world’s current interest in global terrorism.
I
have written about a crisis in Islamization that has threatened to derail the
progress made by recent Indonesian governments. What I experienced at the most
formative time of my teaching life was a relatively peaceful Islam co-existing
harmoniously with other faiths especially Christianity (though with difficulty
in some parts of the country) and moving slowly and cautiously towards
modernity.
But
as we have seen the crux of the problem
lies in the contest within the Islamic world for the soul of faith: between
those who seek to modernize its ideological, political and souci-economic
interpretations in order to keep abreast of the changes and challenges brought
by modernity, and those who seek refuge in the rituals and traditions of a
feudal past[56]. Indeed
the issues posed by Islamization are complex as Muslims world wide strive to
reverse the impact of poverty and seek to express their identity and their
deepest hopes in economic and political terms. In such circumstances both the
West and the Muslim world need to discover a new respect for each other and
find new approaches to understanding each other’s aspirations. Only then can the war for hearts and minds
be swung in favor of a less confrontational and more harmonious and more
peaceful world for Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.[57]
But
as the Christian-Muslim clashes in the Moluccas and in central Sulawesi remind
us there are seldom long term winners when relationships break down, respect is
lost and violence becomes the only option. As the traditional saying expresses
it, in peace children bury their parents
in war parents bury their children. Conflict and war removes the next
generation.
The
only hope to come out of bloody religious clashes, no matter what the political
motivation may be, is the resilience of the human spirit. With time ordinary
people do find new ways of living with each other and can, when life itself is
threatened by extinction, rise above their circumstances to treat each other
differently. That is the hope to which we all cling. To adopt another
traditional saying-it is peace not war
that knows how important the future is.[58]
For all who wish to have a future and to gift that future to a new generation
war is never the final solution.
Military
solutions do not offer permanent solutions as the case of East Timor reminds
us. Solutions do not lie with the politicians for they can only legislate when
the situation allows them to act. Solutions lie with an educated local and
national leadership that understands the value of religious and ethnic
tolerance and can harness differences to enrich and empower the lives of
everyone in the community. Dialogue at grass roots led by those who know how
religion can function positively in society and in people’s lives is where the
process begins. To succeed such a process requires warm hearts, cool heads,
rational thinking and a willingness to seek
and to develop friendships with
wouldbe partners in the dialogue.
I
finish where I began with my Makassar experience. We set out to educate young
Christians training to be ministers of religion and teachers. Not only in the
breadth and depth of the Christian tradition but also in the context of
Indonesia-its history, its cultures, its primal religious traditions and above
all in the setting of the various expressions of Islam found in that country.
That was one side of the dialogue. The other side needs to be developed in Muslim
communities with a similar kind of openness so that when the two meet there are
alternatives to violence and where the emphasis can be upon nation building and
not conflict. Such a possibility assumes urgency in a post September 11 (2001)
world.
[1] This text is a revised version of a lecture given at the New Zealand Asian Studies Institute the University of Auckland, Tuesday March 19, 2002.The revisions were completed by April12. Unless otherwise stated all references to news sources are to on-line editions.
[2] Early in the Common Era Indonesia came under the influence of Indian civilization. Indian traders brought in their wake Buddhist and Hindu monks. From the 7 century until well into the 14 century Indian civilization was predominant. A gradual filtration from Arab traders began in the 14 century so by the end of the 16-century Islam had replaced Buddhism and Hinduism as the major religion. In place of the larger Indian kingdoms came smaller Muslim principalities who fought amongst themselves. The Portuguese entered early in the 16 century, followed by the Dutch in 1596 and the English in 1600. The Dutch became the dominant European power in Indonesia after a series of conflicts with the British (1610-23) although between 1811-1814 the British briefly occupied the Islands. By a treaty signed in 1816 the formal division of Southeast Asia as we know it today came into existence. Indonesia came under Dutch influence except for East Timor. Malaysia, Brunei (to give them their modern names) and Singapore came under British rule. After the Second World War the Dutch were reluctant to grant independence to Indonesia but were forced to do so in an agreement reached with the Indonesian independence movement in November 1949. The Dutch held onto West Irian until forced to hand it over to the UN in May 1963 pending a referendum on union with Indonesia. The referendum was held in August 1969 and Indonesia formally annexed the area shortly afterwards. In 1975-76 Indonesia annexed East Timor. The Christian influence began with the colonial period in the early 16-century but was more directly connected with Dutch rule from 1596.Independence movements in West Papua have existed since it joined with Indonesia. Independence movements existed in Acheh from Dutch times. Independence movements have existed in East Timor since the Second World War. Movements for independence have existed in the Moluccas since shortly after the formation of Indonesia in 1949.
[3] But see an excellent article written by Andrew Tan of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore entitled, Armed Muslim Separatist Rebellion in Southeast Asia: Persistence, Prospects, and Implications. The article is an analysis of ongoing rebellions in Mindanao and Acheh and has been published in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 23:267-288,2000
[4] I hasten to add that I along with other New Zealand colleagues working at the time the Portuguese abandoned East Timor thought it was right and proper that it became part of Indonesia. We could not see how an independent Island community could exist and thrive in the modern world. All of us were to subsequently change our minds.
[5] The area is mainly Catholic although being tribal primal religion is the prevalent religious tradition. There is a small Protestant church
[6] For a recent account of the situation in West Papua see Inside Indonesia, July-August 2001 for an article by Nic Maclellan entitled Self-determination or Territorial Integrity? Also Carmel Budiardjo, State Terror in Indonesia, Past and Present, a paper distributed by Tapol, and presented at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence St Andrews University Scotland November 20,2001 pp7-8
[7] According the Jakarta Post March 12 2001, between six to eight thousand have died in the clashes in Ambon alone with more than half a million people driven from their homes by the violence. According to the Maranatha Christian Journal June 19, 2000 John Barr Secretary for Indonesia of the Uniting Church in Australia the death toll may be well beyond 10,000. He based his estimate on contacts with church leaders in Ambon.
[8] After three years of violence the Malino Accord was signed on February 12 by both Christian and Muslim representatives. The negotiations and the signing took place in the resort hill town of Malino in the hills 37 kilometers above Makassar in South Sulawesi. The conflict in central Sulawesi was brought to an end in a peace pact signed on December 21,2001 also in Malino. Jakarta Post March 26,2002
[9] 15% in Singapore is a more significant percentage than the 4% in the Philippines.
[10] The fundamentalist debate seemed settled with the publication of Bruce Lawrence’s’ Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt against the Modern Age (1989),and the Marty and Appleby edited volumes Fundamentalisms Observed (1991) but the number of books that continue the discussion have not declined. In 1997 Johnannes J.G. Jansen wrote when..it became known that in Arabic the terms usuli and usuliyya (meaning respectively fundamentalist and fundamentalism, two derivatives from usul, origins) had become common place, this scholarly debate on terminology came to a quiet end. The Dual nature of Islamic Fundamentalism p15. Jansen’s comments are premature. See Bruce Lawrence’s more recent study, Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence (1998) especially chapter 4, p51ff and Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder (1998).
[11] There is some question about the total number of those detained-the figure was put at 23 in an article by Tim Dodd entitled Jakarta: the odd man out in the war on Terror which appeared in the Financial Review February 20. According to a Reuters report January 23, the figure is 47.
[12] The Los Angeles Times February 6 2002
[13] See a CSCAP paper presented at the Kuala Lumpur meeting on 4-5 February 2002 by Mushahid Ali of the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University Singapore.
[14] He was arrested in the early 1980s under the Suharto government for advocating the establishing of an Islamic state in Indonesia. He served three out of a nine-year sentence and went to Malaysia upon his release. He returned after the fall of Suharto to the school he had earlier founded.
[15] According to Reuters Jakarta March 20 an Indonesian National police spokesperson (Saleh Saaf) reported that Malaysian authorities had indicated that Hanbali was in Pakistan.
[16] Los Angeles Times. March 3, 2002
[17] New York Times. January 25
[18] New York Times. February 3)
[19] NewsBreak. 31 January 2002,Vol2.4
[20] New York Times. February 3 He was known to the Singapore members of Jemaah Islamiah as Mike the bomb maker. Quoted in a report (March 20 2002) from the CNN Jakarta Bureau chief (Maria Ressa) entitled Indonesia: A haven for al Qaeda?
[21] NewsBreak op cit
[22] The matter went to court in Jakarta on March 21 but the hearing was adjourned after ten minutes because the Singapore Government was not represented. The latter have indicated that they will attend
[23] See my article, Terrorism and Religion, Stimulus. Vol. 10/1 2002 pp 26-37
[24] The separation of Indonesia from Malaysia was the result of a treaty signed in 1815.See footnote 1.
[25] Laskar Jihad was founded on January 30 2000 in Yogyakarta in response to what Jaffar called the deliberate persecution of Muslims by Christians in Ambon and the inability of central government to control the situation. It is the paramilitary wing of the Forum Komunikasi Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah (FKAWJ) which was formed to promote true Islamic values at the end of the Suharto era in 1998.
[26] A figure of between 3000 and 10000 has been suggested in an article in the New York Times. March 11
[27] Andrew Marshall reporting on an interview with Jaffar-conducted in late December last year- in the New York Times. March 11, 2002. See also the report of the interview of Greg Fealy published in Inside Indonesia Jan-Mar.2001(online edition).
[28] As quoted in Laksamana.net March 20 2002-the Tempo Magazine is dated March 18-25 2002.
[29] Ibid. The edition of Al-Hayat an Arabic newspaper published in London is 19 March 2002.
[30] US Today 19 march 2002 an article by
Jonathan Weisman entitled Pentagon wants
to send troops to Indonesia writes Intelligence
sources say dozens of al-Qaeda operatives have found safe haven in the world’s
most populous Muslim nation.. Indonesia is an excellent hiding place for
al-Qaeda. The government has weak control over its far- flung islands. Al-Qaeda
had a presence in the country before September 11.It trained a local Islamic
militant group called Laskar Jihad.
[31] As reported in Andrew Marshall’s interview. ibid.
[32] In addition to serving in the Moluccas and central Sulawesi Laskar Jihad has also appeared in (predominantly catholic) West Papua-for a mass prayer meeting- and in Acheh. A team arrived in February 2002 but was not received with enthusiasm by any of the parties in the conflict. See Laksamana.net March 20, 2002.
[33] There has been an independence movement in the Muluccas since the Dutch left Indonesia but it has been small and largely ineffectual
[34] See the Tapol Bulletin 156 Jan/Feb 2000 pp5-6 for a similar point.
[35] A CNN report to which Associated Press representatives and Reuters contributed. The report continued The nearly 5,000 protesters, most wearing traditional white Muslim clothes, slaughtered a goat, smeared the blood on a wooden cross and demanded a holy war against Christians in the Moluccas.
[36] Smith Alhadar Inside Indonesia Jul/Sep 2000,The Forgotten War in North Maluku provides an excellent insight into the extension of the conflict.
[37] Eriko Uchido. More Deaths in Continued Violence in Indonesia’s Maluku Province. Octber 29 1999
[38] Dateline. January 30 2002. Transcript online.
[39] The area was at the time the conflict broke out around 60% Christian.
[40] Transcript. ibid.
[41] Upwards of 7,000 cadres may have become involved in the conflict according to a UN source.
[42] See the report on the situation by Radio Netherlands December 3 2001.Maurice Bloem the director of Christian World Service was quoted as saying the latest upsurge of violence cannot be explained by religious tensions only but should be seen in a wider perspective. He went on to speak of weak local institutions, a weak civil society and a weak justice system plus large scale migration pushed through without the consultation of local people. Perhaps as many as 7,000 cadres from Jemaah Islamiah became involved in the region.
[43] For her story see Margaret Kirk. Let Justice Flow 1997
[44] Transcript.
Pp 3-4. See Tapol Bulletin 156 op
cit p4. Political analysts in Jakarta see
the Maluku tragedy as being an extension of the power struggle in the
centre…The military (TNI) has never been in worse shape than now. The
humiliating defeat in East Timor and the army’s inability to cope with the
military situation in Acheh has greatly affected the morale of the TNI…The
Maluku tragedy is being deliberately used by some TNI hardliners to turn the
clock back and gain military dominance again.
[45] See the press release from the World Council of Churches to UNHCHR dated December 11 2001
[46] Transcript.op.cit.
[47] There is another perspective. Speaking to
the press in Wellington following a conference on Religious Harmony, Tarmizi
Taher a former Minister of Religious Affairs and his country’s ambassador to
Indonesia spoke amongst other things about the deaths resulting from the
clashes in the Moluccas. He was quoted as saying that the deaths were an
aberration, resulting primarily from the nation’s economic crisis. In 1997 I was warned by a Christian leader
there was potential for conflict because of the economic conditions of young
Christians, most of whom were unemployed or low paid. Evening Post March 23 2002. See also an article by Gerry van
Klinken written for Inside Indonesia
Oct/Dec 1999 entitled What caused the
Ambon Violence? which pins at least some of the causes to a corrupt civil
service.
[48] WorldNetDaily.com Quoted from an article by Anthony C.LoBaido entitled Indonesia’s 50 year storm-Island nation long-time home to Christian persecution. March 19 2002. The Indonesian Christian Communication Forum has documented a gradual increase in the destruction of churches from 1990. See Paul Tahalele. The Church and Human Rights in Indonesia 1998.
[49] The date was 2001 according to a report from the Center for Defense Information dated March 8 2002 and entitled In the Spotlight: Laskar Jihad. The two operatives approached Jaffar (according to his own words) in the summer of 2001 at his headquarters in Ambon…promising funding and training in return for Laskar Jihad’s cooperation. Jaffar rejected the offer and told them not to return to Indonesia.
[50] Time Magazine also ran the same story.
The claim that Arabic was the language used in the camp seems doubtful given
that the same story reported that those trained in July last year came from
South East Asia with an equal number of Europeans and four Australians.
Hendropriyono apparently made the comment on December 12 2001 when he linked
the violence on Sulawesi was the direct
result of cooperation between international terrorists and domestic radical
groups. He went on to link Laskar Jihad to Al Qaeda which he claimed had bases
in Sulawesi. The next day the Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil
confirmed the link. What was said by the
head of intelligence yesterday was based on fact and data.
[51] Business Week March 25 2002. See the article by Michael Shari, Jakarta correspondent.
[52] Transcript p 2.
[53] The Straits Times. March 16 2002.
[54] I have not mentioned Brunei until now and this state is another part of the mix which is often overlooked
[55] The Clash of Civilizations (1997).
[56] CSCAP paper by Mushahid Ali op cit p 2 adapted.
[57] Ibid p 3 adapted
[58] Tempo Magazine Vol. 27.11 March 12-18 2002 for the source of both traditional sayings