Sufism, Mysticism and Tradition in Indonesia Islam: Nahdatul Ulama

Sufism, Mysticism and Tradition in Indonesia Islam: Nahdatul Ulama
Kristanto Budiprabowo (Tatok)

Thinking about recent history of traditionalist Islam in Indonesia makes me come to the question: How traditionalist Islam understands the meaning of religious organization? Understanding the meaning of religious organization became necessary because even though traditionalist Islam Indonesia practiced Islam in very various ways, they commonly based on the same sufistic teaching that focus on the combination between the five pillars of Islam and the local belief. In this combination of religious teaching, kyais have a significant role not in term of an organization’s organ but as local leader individually who create his own type of organization. The function of the kyais is not as an organization status but rather as local community leader who has an authoritative to offer rituals based on the local belief context. From this point I aware that religious organization somehow not based on the need of community but rather from the religious idea about community (ummat).

In the case of non-centralistic organization, traditionalist Islam in Indonesia mostly correlated with NU and the pesantren. In my opinion, perhaps, pesantren cannot see only as an independent religious organization. Pesantren is more like an educational institution that just broadening the community patriarchal system. If we see pesantren as the organ of the big organization that imaged as religious organization, so the meaning of religious organization not only can find as a dream of Islamic society but also the community effort to transform their social and cultural need to the more active.

The combination between religious idea about community and the socio-cultural need in the specific context, I think is the dominant caused how traditionalists Islam survive. The idea about community can understand in various meaning such as nationality, ethnicity and religiosity but the most important is the real ummat that united people in particular form of society. For me, Nahdathul Ullama is the perennial witness how traditionalist Islam can keep their Identity in the meantime transformed their form in the process of social change.