Sufism, Mysticism and Tradition in Indonesia Islam. Nahdatul Ulama; M.C. Ricklefs, Polarizing Javanese Society: Islamic and Other Visions C. 1830-1930

Tri Harmaji
History of Religions in Indonesia Part II: from c. 1900 to the Present
Sufism, Mysticism and Tradition in Indonesia Islam. Nahdatul Ulama; M.C. Ricklefs, Polarizing Javanese Society: Islamic and Other Visions C. 1830-1930.
In recent Indonesia Islam is divided into several groups that have more or less different theology and political agenda. NU and Muhamadiyah are the two biggest Islamic organization or actually groups that now actively engages in political realm, but outside these groups there are other several groups that also politically very active like HTI for example. The groups in Islamic religion are varying from the most fundamental until the most modern and liberal like JIL for instance. How can Islam become so varied? This question beside can bring us to the understanding of Islamic history but also can bring us to the understanding of the ‘meaning’ of Islam as a religion.
From the reading, Polarizing Javanese society by Ricklefs, I can see the process of Islamic groups’ emerging. And it is interesting that the most discuss group, the mystic or Sufi group, is no longer important now. It is acknowledged that the first Islam came to Indonesia was actually Islamic Sufism. This kind of Islam was very suitable for Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist and so, although it is unclear enough how the process, this kind of Islam won many Indonesian to convert. Sufism was widely accepted until the second wave of Islam, the more fundamental one, came together with the advance contact with Islamic heartland of Mecca. Sufism and mysticism that Ricklefs widely argues as mystic synthesis which people acknowledge themselves as purely Muslim but in other hand they also still believed in local spirits, was been the most widely accepted. But then when many hajj emerged then the more fundamental Islam, santri, was becoming more and more dominant in Java. When this stage was going on resistant from the former was also emerging. This resistant well represented in the three literatures produced at that time that is babad Kediri, serat Gotholoco, and serat darmogandul. This struggle finally result in the three groups of people in java like was perceived by Clifford Geertz that is priyayi, santri, and abangan.
What I described above show us the fact that Islam is a religion that is actually also shaped by the culture. From the first time of spreading in the in the Middle East Islam has been shaped by the cultures of the areas. Sufism that was known as the first Islam came to Indonesia is actually Islam that had been reshaped by Persian culture. In Indonesia and mostly in java where the people has already had high culture of Hindu-Buddhist Islam could not be accepted without receiving the host culture into. Mystic synthesis widely argues by Ricklefs is the proof of this phenomenon. Here Islam being reshaped by Javanese culture in order to be widely accepted by the Javanese. When the santri cried that Javanese was kafir and all kind of Javanese ritual was musrik, serat gatholoco bravely responded that santri was actually the real kafir because they have left their original religion and prefer to foreign religion, the arab religion which their land of origin was so drought like the land cursed by God.