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The Plural Imperative: How Can Indonesian Museums Advance Pluralism?

BeritaHeadlineNewsWednesday Forum News Thursday, 26 January 2017



Abstract:
In this discussion, Jonathan Zilberg will discuss problems fracing Indonesian museum in terms of performance, accountability and transparency. He will discuss the Goverment of Indonesia’s 2010-2014 museum revitalization program, the transformations that have been taking place in Indonesia museum over the last decade and the challenges posed for the future. He will look at museums as democracy machines and as postcolonial centers for advacing the ideology of pluralism in civil society. In particular he will address the integrated importance of museums, adchives and libraris for advacing the state of education at all levels including for countinuing adult education.
Speaker:
Jonathan Zilberg is a cultural anthropologist specializing in art and religion and in museum ethnography. He has been studying Indonesian museums for a decade and is particularly interested in museums as democracy machines and as post-colonial centers for advancing the ideology of pluralism in civil society. His immediate interests focus on Hindu-Buddhist heritage including the function of archaeological sites as open air museums as well as of museum collections and government depositories in terms of being under-utilized academic resources. For comparative purposes, he has studied museums in Aceh, Jambi, Jakarta and to a lesser extent observed select museums elsewhere in Indonesia. Currently he is CRCS UGM Visiting Scholar.

Millah Ibrahim dalam Tafsir Al-Mizan

ArticlesHeadlineNews Monday, 23 January 2017

A. S. Sudjatna | CRCS | Event Report

Bedah buku di Convention Hall UIN Sunan Kalijaga. Sumber gambar: uin-suka.ac.id

Secara  historis dan genealogis, Yahudi, Kristen, dan Islam mengklaim memiliki hulu yang sama, yakni dari Ibrahim atau Abraham. Ketiga agama ini kerap mendaku dirinya masing-masing sebagai agama penerus dari tradisi Ibrahimiah, Abrahamic religion, atau millah Ibrahim. Karenanya, tak heran jika sampai saat ini, ketiga agama ini kerap bersaing dalam klaim kebenaran sebagai yang paling Abrahamic, atau sebagai pewaris paling sah atas millah Ibrahim yang mendakwahkan monoteisme sebagai inti ajarannya.
Di Indonesia sendiri, para pemeluk Islam dan Kristen tak jarang terlibat konflik, baik secara terbuka maupun tertutup. Gesekan demi gesekan, kasus demi kasus dalam perebutan pengaruh dan klaim terus berlanjut hingga saat ini dengan tren fluktuatif. Faktor kekhawatiran atas kondisi semacam inilah yang kemudian menggerakkan Dr. H. Waryono Abdul Ghafur, Wakil Rektor Bidang Kemahasiswaan dan Kerjasama UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, menulis sebuah buku berjudul Persaudaraan Agama-Agama: Millah Ibrahim dalam Tafsir al-Mizan. Harapannya, dengan memahami substansi dari millah Ibrahim sebagai hulu dari Islam dan Kristen serta Yahudi, setiap pemeluk agama-agama ini dapat menangkap kesan persaudaraan yang hadir di dalamnya.
Untuk tiba pada pemahaman akan hadirnya garis persaudaraan di antara agama-agama penerus millah Ibrahim ini, ada tiga terma penting yang harus dipahami terlebih dahulu, yakni millah, din dan syariat. Ketiga terma ini biasanya diterjemahkan dengan agama saja di dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Padahal ketiganya memiliki makna yang berbeda. Secara ringkas, din dapat dipahami sebagai agama secara umum; sedangkan millah dimaknai sebagai tradisi; dan syariat adalah cara atau jalan tertentu yang khusus bagi suatu umat atau dapat juga dipahami sebagai cara atau ajaran nabi tertentu terhadap umatnya yang akan berbeda dengan cara nabi lainnya, misalnya syariat shalat dan puasa umat Nabi Muhammad yang berbeda dengan syariat puasa dan shalatnya umat nabi-nabi terdahulu. Dalam hal ini, millah Ibrahim dapat dipahami sebagai tradisi Ibrahim di dalam beragama yang memiliki seperangkat cara/syariat tertentu.
Menanggapi buku setebal 274 halaman yang diterbitkan oleh penerbit Mizan ini, Dr. Abdul Mustaqim, Ketua Program Studi Ilmu Al-Quran dan Tafsir UIN Sunan Kalijaga, yang menjadi pembedah pertama buku tersebut, mengatakan bahwa konsep millah Ibrahim ini dapat menjadi basis teologis dan epistemologis kerukunan beragama, terutama tiga agama besar dunia, yakni Islam, Kristen dan Yahudi.
Secara lebih lanjut, ia lalu menjelaskan karakter dari millah Ibrahim yang telah dikonseptualisasikan oleh Dr. Waryono di dalam buku tersebut berdasarkan analisisnya terhadap tafsir al-Mizan, yakni fitrah, tauhid, hanif, islam dan iman. Fitrah berarti ajarannya itu sejalan dengan naluri kemanusiaan. Tauhid berarti mengesakan Tuhan. Hanif berarti condong kepada kebenaran atau lurus. Islam—dalam hal ini bukan Islam yang menjadi proper name agama—bermakna, di antaranya, kepasrahan sikap atau kepasrahan total terhadap Tuhan. Iman berarti konsistensi antara pengetahuan dan perbuatan, atau pembenaran terhadap sesuatu disertai dengan melakukan konsekuensinya. Dalam hal ini, suatu din atau agama dapat dikategorikan sebagai penerus millah Ibrahim jika memenuhi kriteria-kriteria tersebut.
Dr. Abdul Mustaqim juga menyoroti pembahasan mengenai Yahudi dan Nasrani yang dikategorikan sebagai ahli kitab di dalam pembahasan buku tersebut, termasuk pembagian Yahudi dan Nasrani yang dikategorisasi ke dalam dua bagian, yakni mukmin dan kafir. Ahli kitab yang kafir dicirikan dengan karakter thugyan (durjana/melampaui batas),  ghuluw (ekstrem), melakukan penentangan, berbuat zalim dan nifaq. Menurutnya, ketika melakukan kategorisasi ini, Dr.Waryono sedang melakukan kajian tematik terma sekaligus tokoh. Disebut tematik terma karena Dr. Waryono banyak membahas soal terma-terma tertentu; disebut tematik tokoh karena ia memilih salah satu karya tokoh sebagai subjek bahasannya, yakni Thabathaba’i. Dalam hal ini, Dr. Abdul Mustaqim kemudian menyarankan bahwa karakter-karakter yang membuat ahli kitab dikategorikan sebagai kafir juga seharusnya direfleksikan terhadap muslim, sehingga ini dapat menjadi peringatan bagi umat Islam dalam beragama.  
Memungkasi pembedahannya atas buku tersebut, Dr. Abdul Mustaqim mengatakan bahwa konsep millah Ibrahim ini dapat menjadi otokritik bagi klaim kebenaran yang tertutup terhadap para penganut abrahamic religion, yakni para penganut Islam, Kristen dan Yahudi, sebab semua agama secara historis memiliki potensi menyimpang. Dengan  memahami ini, kita nantinya tak akan terjerumus kepada keberagamaan yang semu, melainkan akan memiliki keberagamaan yang otentik, yang menjadikan agama ini bukan untuk Tuhan, namun untuk kemaslahatan manusia. Selain itu, ia juga menegaskan bahwa fenomena perbedaan agama tidak semestinya dijadikan penghalang untuk merajut persaudaraan, sebab secara genealogis kita memiliki akar payung yang sama, yakni millah Ibrahim.
Pembedah kedua, Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir dari CRCS, Sekolah Pascasarjana UGM, menyoroti soal signifikansi Ibrahim di dalam Islam. Menurutnya, kelekatan Islam terhadap Nabi Ibrahim sangat kentara. Selain dalam salat, sejatinya ibadah haji dapat pula disebut sebagi napak tilas Ibrahim. Ini sangat menarik, sebab Islam sebagai ajaran yang dibawa oleh Nabi Muhammad tidak melakukan napak tilas Muhammad, namun justru menapaktilasi Ibrahim di dalam salah satu ibadahnya. 
Menyoroti terma-terma yang dibahas secara panjang lebar di dalam buku tersebut, terutama dengan istilah-istilah tauhid, kafir, iman, ihsan dan sebagainya, Dr. Zaenal Abidin Bagir mempertanyakan pemahaman mengenai terma-terma tersebut: apakah secara teologis ataukah etis. Menurutnya, jika dilihat dari maknanya, terma-terma semacam fitri, hanif, iman, islam, dan sejenisnya lebih dekat dengan persoalan etis ketimbang teologis. Di samping itu, dengan meletakkan terma-terma tersebut ke dalam landasan etis, maka nilai-nilai universal yang dapat hadir dan dimiliki bersama oleh ketiga agama yang mengklaim sebagai penerus millah Ibrahim ini lebih dapat mungkin untuk ditemukan dan dipertemukan, sehingga titik temu dan garis persaudaraan yang dimaksudkan dapat terlihat dengan lebih jelas. Selain itu, hal ini juga dikarenakan di dalam agama, menurutnya, aspek-aspek etis ini lebih ditekankan daripada teologis. Dalam hal ini, Dr. Zaenal Abidin Bagir mengingatkan penulis akan kalimatun sawa yang dideklarasikan di Jordan beberapa tahun lalu.
Menegaskan apa yang diajukan oleh Dr. Zaenal Abidin Bagir, di penghujung acara Dr. Abdul Mustaqim mengingatkan bahwa inti ajaran agama itu ada pada akhlak, atau persoalan etis, di mana Nabi Muhammad Saw. menegaskan di dalam haditsnya mengenai tujuan diutusnya, yakni untuk menyempurnakan akhlak, bukan melulu menegakkan aqidah, meski hal tersebut termasuk salah satu tugas kenabian. Ia kemudian menyampaikan bahwa sudah seharusnya kita mengubah paradigma dalam berteologi dari permusuhan menuju persaudaraan, dari kekerasan menuju kasih sayang, dari konflik menuju rukun, dari yang tercerai-berai menjadi bersatu, dari ekstremisme menuju moderasi, serta dari agama yang suka melaknat ke agama yang menebar rahmat.

Green Santri Network: An Indonesian Muslim Movement for Living Eco-Sustainability

BeritaHeadlineNewsWednesday Forum News Thursday, 19 January 2017


Abstract:
The Green Santri Network aims to be a socio-ecological movement by Indonesian Muslim groups, using Muslims’ own sensibility and ‘thought language’ to effectively disseminate messages about Islamic ecological values for survival and sustainability and to advance the idea of relocalization, or returning to a smaller scale, as self-reliant communities with simpler ways of living and with self-local governance.  It comes out of my research into how Indonesian Muslim groups, including both the large-scale Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama and two examples of green intentional communities, Hidayatullah and An-Nadzir, can contribute toliving knowledge transmission or murabbias a way to make sustainability education relevant in the Islamic symbolic universe in the Indonesian context,based on the understanding that more than intellectual ability is needed to comprehend this knowledge; it must be made personal by living it.
Speaker:
Wardah Alkitiri earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2016. Her dissertation was entitled “Muhammad’s Nation is called “The Potential for Endogenous Relocalisation in Muslim Communities in Indonesia”. She is founder of AMANI, a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote ecological sustainability through entrepreneurial creativity in Jabodetabek and Central Java.

Discovering the Story of Lia Eden: Prophethood as a Living Tradition in Indonesian Society

ArticlesBeritaHeadlineNewsOpinionsWednesday Forum Report Tuesday, 17 January 2017

Meta Ose Ginting | CRCS | Wednesday Forum Report


Al’Makin spoke about Lia Eden’s prophethood

Al Makin, a lecturer from ICRS and Ushuluddin Faculty in UIN Sunan Kalijaga, gave a fascinating presentation about his newest book Challenging Islamic Orthodoxy (Springer, 2016). He began his presentation by commenting that his research on prophethood in Indonesia may not be very new to the ICRS and CRCS community, but discussion of the polemics of prophethood is interesting as Indonesia is home for both the largest Muslim population of any country in the world and to many movements led by self-proclaimed prophets after the Prophet Muhammad. In Al Makin’s perspective, we should see this phenomenon from a different perspective, as part of the creativity of Indonesian Muslim society.
In 1993, the Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a selection of characters of what constitutes religion, include the definition of the prophet, a requirement of recognized religions. According to the Ministry of Religious Affair, prophets are those who receive revelation from God and are acknowledged by the scripture. However, following Islamic teaching, Muhamad is the seal. God no longer directly communicates with humankind. In Al Makin’s definition, prophets are those who, first, have received God’s voice and, second, establish a community and attract followers. He also reported that the Indonesian government has listed 600 banned prophets that fit these criteria. Interestingly, Indonesian prophets tend to come from “modernist” backgrounds connected to Muhammadiyah, which rejects other kinds of traditional and prophetic religious leadership, like wali and kyai.
Prophethood map in Indonesia

After two years of trying, Al Makin gained complete trust from one well-known prophet in Jakarta, Lia Eden, and her community of followers. The wife of a university professor, Lia Eden was famous as a flower arranger and close to members of President Suharto’s circle. She quit her career when she was visited by bright light she later identified as Habibul Huda, the archangel Gibril. After that, she became prolific in her prophecies. She found many skills that she had not had before, like healing therapy. Her circle become a movement called Salamullah, meaning “peace from God” but also referring to salam or bay leaves, used in her healing treatment.
In orthodox Islam, there are no women prophets and no prophets after the Prophet himself. The ulama declared her and her followers heretics. Lia Eden returned the criticism, accusing the ulama of being conservative and criticizing Islam as an institution, especially how the ulama council uses its political power and authority.
Al Makin closed his presentation by showing the way public has responded to Lia Eden. This movement can be considered a New Religious Movement sparks controversy because of how they attract followers. In Indonesia it is more about theology than political or economic interest like it is elsewhere. Ultimately, Al Makin argues that Indonesia’s prophets should be recognized as unstoppable—they usually become more active when in prison—but should be seen as part of the wealth of Indonesia pluralism.
Al Makin responded to a question from Mark Woodward about why Lia Eden’s community with only 30 members would become such a big problem for the government by citing Arjun Appadurai, who has argued that a small number becomes a threat to the majority in terms of its purity. It is true that she has a very small number of followers but she is also very bold and outspoken in deliver her messages constantly sending letters to many political leaders, including the ambassadors from other countries and issuing very public condemnations. Greg, another lecturer from CRCS, also asked why she is called bunda and whether she is making a gender-based critique. Al Makin answered that there have been a few other women prophets besides Lia Eden in Indonesia and that Lia Eden’s closest associates are women.

From Religion and Globalization Class

ArticlesBeritaHeadlineNewsOpinions Thursday, 12 January 2017

Anang G. Alfian | CRCS | Class Journal 
1-IMG_0540One of the exciting courses at CRCS is “Religion and Globalization”. Dr. Gregory Vanderbilt, the lecturer, has approached the study in an active and critical manner involving all the students in class activities. According to him, throughout the class students are expected to increase their capability to raise questions concerning the relation between religion and globalization as he himself prefer framing the class in series of discussions with world-wide ranges of topic.
As an American lecturer who has been working with CRCS since 2014 through Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, he is a very well-experienced educator as he previously spent some years teaching in Japan. Moreover, his interest in following up the up-dated global issues including religious nuances, made him familiar with framing the methods of studying religion and globalization.
Global ethics is one of the topics we discussed in the class, the last material before the end of the class. Previously, we talked a lot about globalization as a phenomenon affecting religions as well as several religious responses toward globalization. Despite the supporters of globalization, many religions seem to fearfully reject it, some even proclaiming their resistance and becoming more radical.
Given the case of the famous forgery the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an issue which is widely spread even in Japan (as well as Indonesia) is that Jews are the scary ghost behind a world conspiracy that can eventually make Japan as its next target. At least, this is what had affected Aum Shinrikyo, a radical religious sect, to declare war on Jews conspiracy and blaming them for brain-washing Japanese people. In 1995, this sect even became more radical and went wild killing tens of people in the Tokyo subway by poisoning them with deadly gas and injuring thousands of victims. Their resistance is, in fact, affected by global issues brought by high velocity of information through media and technology which successfully landed in the minds of traditional society.   In this case, Aum Shinrikyo shows the same fundamentality as that of the terrible bombing of 9/11 in New York City by international terrorist network, Osama Bin Laden. In Rethinking Fundamentalism, a book we discussed in the class, we could see the influences of globalization toward religious community attitudes caused apparently by their fear, and their will for religious purification from distortion they see as brought by globalization.
Therefore, to foster the stabilization of the world order from war and disputes, it is necessary to rethink globalization in ways that are more ethical and friendly to the world. On the topic discussion of global ethics, we learned about attempts by world organizations like the United Nations in generating international agreements including the UN Declaration on Human Rights. Besides, other agreements such as the Cairo and Bangkok Declarations represent local voices which to some points define human rights differently.
The difference in worldviews among international actors is interesting because each organization tries to define a global value within their own relativities. Moreover, some theories think that UN Declaration on Human Right is a Western domination over other cultures without considering cultural relativities, including religions, each of which inherits different theological and structures while at the same time sharing common values like peace, humanity, equality, and justice.
World issues indeed became valuable perspective in this class. Students are meant to not only understand theories but also keep updating their knowledge on what is happening in the recent international world. While negative influences of globalization such as war, religious radicalization, and other world disputes were discussed in the class, there is also a hope for a global agreement and bright future by sharing noble values like cooperation, justice, human dignity, and peace on global scale. The existence of world organizations and religious representatives in fostering global ethics proves the progress made towards creating world peace. The duty of students, in this case, is to contribute academically to spreading such values without neglecting the variety of cultural and religious perspectives.
*The writer is CRCS’s student of the 2016 batch.

Ekologi Adat Kendeng: Bergerak untuk Keadilan Ibu Bumi

News Tuesday, 10 January 2017

Samsul Maarif | CRCS | Perspektif

Ibu Bumi wis maringi (Ibu Bumi sudah memberi)
Ibu Bumi dilarani (Ibu Bumi disakiti)
Ibu Bumi kang ngadili (Ibu Bumi yang mengadili)
La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun rasulullah (3x)

Pada 20 Mei 2016, “Doa Nusantara” ini dilantunkan oleh ribuan warga Pati sebelum dan saat melakukan aksi jalan kaki (long march) sepanjang 20 kilometer dari Petilasan Nyai Ageng Ngerang di Kecamatan Tambakromo menuju alun-alun Kota Pati untuk mengajak semua pihak melestarikan pegunungan Kendeng. Lantunan doa itu kembali menggema pada aksi long march berikutnya yang menempuh 150 kilometer dari Rembang ke Semarang pada 5-8 Desember 2016.
Mereka datang menuntut Gubernur Jawa Tengah Ganjar Pranowo untuk mematuhi putusan Mahkamah Agung yang pada 5 Oktober 2016 telah mengabulkan Peninjuan Kembali (PK) gugatan mereka atas izin lingkungan kepada PT Semen Gresik (kemudian menjadi PT Semen Indonesia). Doa itu terlantun kembali oleh Gunretno, koordinator Jaringan Masyarakat Peduli Pegunungan Kendeng (JMPPK), pada acara MetroTV, “Mata Najwa: Bergerak Demi Hak”, 21 Desember 2016. Sebelumnya, pada 11-13 April 2016, sembilan “Kartini Kendeng” menyemen kakinya di depan Istana Negara.
Rangkaian unjuk rasa yang tidak biasa itu adalah bukti bahwa para petani sungguh merasa terancam oleh pembangunan pabrik semen di wilayah tempat mereka tinggal di sekitar pergunungan Kendeng—dan mereka sudah menolak pembangunan pabrik semen sejak 2006. Kesungguhan itu lahir dari tradisi yang mengakar di masyarakat lokal, yang di dunia akademik biasa disebut “ekologi adat”.
Praktik Ekologi Adat Kendeng
Ekologi adat adalah rangkaian praktik dan pengetahuan adat yang menekankan kesatuan dan kesaling-tergantungan manusia dan lingkungan, yang mencakup berbagai wujud seperti tanah, hutan, batu, air, gunung, binatang, dan lain-lain. Dalam ekologi adat, eksistensi dan jati diri manusia bergantung dan hanya dapat dipahami dalam konteks relasinya dengan lingkungannya. Keberlanjutan hidup manusia identik dengan kelestarian lingkungan, dan kerusakan lingkungan adalah kehancuran manusia.
Ekologi adat adalah penyesuaian dengan istilah-istilah yang sudah berkembang dalam literatur akademis, seperti indigenous ecology, local ecology, traditional ecology, dan seterusnya. Salah satu inti dari bangunan pengetahuan tersebut adalah bahwa ekologi bukan hanya rangkaian pengetahuan (body of knowledge), melainkan juga cara hidup (way of life) (McGregor 2004). Wajar saja jika Komisi Dunia untuk Lingkungan dan Pembangunan (World Commission on Environment and Development/WCED) sejak 30 tahun lalu menegaskan pentingnya masyarakat modern belajar dari pengetahuan dan pengalaman masyarakat lokal/adat terkait pengelolaan lingkungan (WCED 1987).