FATWA SHEIKH AḤMAD KHAṬĪB AL-MINANGKABĀWĪ (DS 0003 00018): A Jāwī Ulama’s Response to the Heterodoxy of Sufism

This article discusses the fatwa of a Jāwī or Malay-Indonesian archipelago ulama who taught in Mecca in the early twentieth century, Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Minangkabau (1860-1916). He was issuing fatwa on heterodox sufism in the archipelago. His fatwa is written in a manuscript from Ogan Komering Ilir entitled Fatwa Sheikh Aḥmad Khaṭīb al-Minangkabāwī (DS 0003 00018). The manuscript has been digitized by DREAMSEA in 2019. This manuscript was probably written when he became a lecturer in Mecca between 1887-1914. It contains questions and answers about the existence of the name Muhammad and rūḥ al-quds (holy spirit) in the human heart that commands the body. Using a social history approach, this study shows that the Fatwa manuscript shows the response of Jāwī ulama who were increasingly influenced by the teachings of Islamic reformism. Ahmad Khatib stated that it was impossible for the spirit of Muhammad and rūḥ al-quds to exist in the body. For him, Muhammad is a human being and the holy spirit is Gabriel, an angel. He stated that whoever believes that both Muhammad and Gabriel are in his/her body is wrong and misguided, and if he/she believes that they are eternal, then he/she is a disbeliever. Ahmad Khatib’s fatwa indicate an attempt to purge the heterodoxy of sufism continually by Sunnī ulama in the early twentieth century

Print Culture and Local Islamic Identity in West Java: Qur’ānic Commentaries In Sundanese Islamic Magazines (1930-2015)

This article focuses on the construction of Islam- Sunda identity in West Java which is reflected in the rubric of the qur’ānic commentary or tafsīr in the Sundanese print media. Our object matter is six Sundanese Islamic magazines published between 1930 and 2015, i.e. Tjahja Islam, Al-Imtisal, Al-Mawa’idz, Almoechtar, Iber and Bina Da’wah using the analysis of identity construction. Although Sundanese Muslims are divided into traditionalist and modernist, we confirm that all Sundanese Islamic magazines show the local Islamic identity which is called as Islam-Sunda. The identity of Islam-Sunda in the magazine rubric of qur’ānic commentary can be seen at following aspects: the interpretation of surah which have an important role in Sundanese daily life, the interpretation of Islamic stories, the use of Sundanese phrases that touch their hearts, the formation of a pious Sundanese personality and the involvement of Islamic scholars or ajengan as an exegete of the Qur’ān. This study asserts that the magazine rubric of qur’ān commentary does not only have a lot of Islamic messages, but also is an expression of Islamic identity in Sundanese print media

To preserve the glory of the scripture: Four fatwas of the council of Indonesian ulama on the Qur’an

This study focuses on the attitude of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI) in order to preserve the glory of the Qur'an in Indonesia. It is a study of four MUI’s fatwas relating to the Qur'an between 1975-2017 using the critical discourse analysis. This study states that there is political change influence towards opened up a space for MUI religious attitudes in establishing relationships with government and society. This can be seen, for instance, in the use of the sentence of the MUI’s fatwa. In the New Order era, MUI used a normative, suggestive and infirm language in its three fatwas. This is different from the fatwa in the period of “Reformation” which shows much more firmly with the phrase “obligatory to preserve the glory of the Qur'an” and placed on the part of the dictum or the content of its fatwa. It is a change in the use of language of fatwa decisions that indicate the turn of the MUI fatwa along with changes in its increasing position in society and tend to keep the distance from the government

The Future of Sundanese Commentaries on the Qur’an in Indonesia Archipelago

This study highlights the opportunities and challenges of Qur'anic commentaries or tafsir in Sundanese. I will show that the position of Sundanese tafsir cannot be separated from cultural background and politics of regional languages in Indonesia, as well as shift of global information technology and literacy. The rise of publication of Sundanese tafsir would not only be influenced by the reformist Muslim commentary on the Qur'an in the Middle East at the beginning of the twentieth century but also the Dutch colonial policy on regional language that enhanced the print publication of Sundanese. Now, however, the publication of Sundanese tafsir is beginning to decline. There are many factors contributed to the decreasing publication of Sundanese tafsir, such as the assumptions of more complex rules of regional language, the government policy of national language and the invasion of global television networks and the evolution of the internet and social media. I worried about these factors could make the identity of Sundanese tafsir began to disappear. The identity of Sundanese tafsir related to its uniqueness in the richness of the language and locality of the tafsir issues. Its locality of the tafsir issues in Indonesia related to the transmission of 'Abduh's ideas about Islamic reform to Southeast Asia, as reflected in al-Manar. Instead of presumably asserting that the rise of publication of Sundanese tafsir related to the idea of Islamic reform to respond to the traditionalist Islamic thought. It was different from the contemporary approach to the study of the Qur'an that not yet used in the Sundanese tafsir along with the publication began to decline

Rereading Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje: His Islam, Marriage and Indo-European Descents in the Early Twentieth-Century Priangan

This study focuses on a controversial issue about Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje’s family that was left in the Dutch East Indies in the early twentieth century. The issue sparked a debate among scholars in the 1980s. The debate was concerned with the Dutch government's denial of Hurgronje’s marriage to an Indigenous woman as it was intended to maintain his good reputation. As a matter of fact, the colonial government forbids the marriage of European people with Indigenous women because it would tarnish their status and make it difficult in their careers. This study is meant as a follow-up of van Koningsveld's findings about Hurgronje’s wife and children in Priangan. Here the writer uses a historical analysis of the letters written by Hasan Mustapa to Hurgronje (Cod. Or. 8952). He argues that Hurgronje's history needs to be read in his position as a colonial official who may be worried about rules set by the colonial government. This study shows that Hurgronje cannot be considered completely irresponsible to his Indo-European family in the Dutch East Indies. In fact, he continued to monitor the condition of his family through regular correspondence with Hasan Mustapa, his close friend in the Dutch East Indies. This study is important in a sense that it is expected to be able to rectify the confusion over the issue of Hurgronje's morality towards his family. It offers another perspective of the history of colonialism dealing with interracial relation between Indigenous women, and their offspring, and European men amid the rise of the issue of Nyai and concubinage in the Dutch East Indies

Sundanese Ahmadiyya's Pupujian of The Mahdi in West Java

This article focuses on the local tradition of Ahmadiyya in West Java in the form of Sundanese oral literature entitled Pupujian Imam Mahdi, the song of praise of the Mahdi. It is not only related to strengthening the so-called “Sundanese Ahmadiyya” identity through cultural acculturation, but also an important channel in their acceptances in regions with the largest adherents in Indonesia. Through literary and cultural identity analysis, I argue that the literary and cultural channels contributed to the acceptance of minority groups in Indonesia. Through pupujian Imam Mahdi, for instance, Ahmadiyya teachings on the messianistic figure were acculturated into the Sundanese literary tradition. It becomes a frame of movement towards the formation of the Sundanese Ahmadiyah identity. The pupujian is used to support their existences through the same cultural representation as other Sundanese people. It is a cultural strategy carried out by the most controversial minority group among the rejection of the most groups. This study is also important in revealing Ahmadiyya's contribution to the Sundanese local culture which may not be recognized by others. It actually becomes a peculiarity of Ahmadiyya identity in the Indonesian archipelago which is different from other cultural representation of Ahmadiyya in various regions in the world