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Polarizing Javanese Society: Islamic and Other Visions (C. 1830-1930) by M C Ricklefs
Bythe Early Nineteenth Century, Islam had come to be the religious element in Javanese identity. But it was a particular kind of Islam, here called the 'mystic synthesis'. This Javanese mysticism had three notable Javanese held firmly to their identity as Muslims, they carried out the basic ritual obligations of the faith, but they also accepted the reality of local spiritual forces.
In the course of the nineteenth century, colonial rule, population pressure and Islamic reform all acted to undermine this 'mystic synthesis'. Pious Muslims became divided amongst adherents of that synthesis, reformers who demanded a more orthoprax way of life, reforming Sufis and those who believed in messianic ideas. A new category of Javanese emerged, people who resisted Islamic reform and began to attenuate their Islamic identity. This group became known as abangan, nominal Muslims, and they constituted a majority of the population. For the first time, a minority of Javanese converted to Christianity. The priyayi elite, Java's aristocracy, meanwhile embraced the forms of modernity represented by their European rulers and the wider advances of modern scientific learning. Some even came to regard the original conversion of the Javanese to Islam as a civilizational mistake, and within this element explicitly anti-Islamic sentiments began to appear.
In the early twentieth century these categories became politicized in the context of Indonesia's nascent anti-colonial movements. Thus were born contending political identities that lay behind much of the conflict and bloodshed of twentieth-century Indonesia.
About the M. C. Ricklefs is Professor of History atthe National University of Singapore, Adjunct Professor of Australian National University, Honorary Professor of Monash University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
In the course of the nineteenth century, colonial rule, population pressure and Islamic reform all acted to undermine this 'mystic synthesis'. Pious Muslims became divided amongst adherents of that synthesis, reformers who demanded a more orthoprax way of life, reforming Sufis and those who believed in messianic ideas. A new category of Javanese emerged, people who resisted Islamic reform and began to attenuate their Islamic identity. This group became known as abangan, nominal Muslims, and they constituted a majority of the population. For the first time, a minority of Javanese converted to Christianity. The priyayi elite, Java's aristocracy, meanwhile embraced the forms of modernity represented by their European rulers and the wider advances of modern scientific learning. Some even came to regard the original conversion of the Javanese to Islam as a civilizational mistake, and within this element explicitly anti-Islamic sentiments began to appear.
In the early twentieth century these categories became politicized in the context of Indonesia's nascent anti-colonial movements. Thus were born contending political identities that lay behind much of the conflict and bloodshed of twentieth-century Indonesia.
About the M. C. Ricklefs is Professor of History atthe National University of Singapore, Adjunct Professor of Australian National University, Honorary Professor of Monash University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
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First published September 30, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 6, 2014
Buku yang renyah ini menimbang polarisasi keagamaan di Jawa dalam peralihan abad ke-19/ke-20. Dikotomi santri/abangan misalnya, yang selama ini hanya mendapat perhatian dari para antropolog, ditilik dari sudut pandang sejarah. Amatan dan simpulannya menarik, penting untuk melihat transformasi yang dialami agama Islam dari abad ke abad, agar kita tidak melihat varian santri atau abangan sebagai kategori sosial yang sudah 'fixed' dari zaman dulu hingga sekarang.
February 8, 2023
sekuel nya the religion of java nya greetz, ricklefs mampu mendefinisikan kategorisasi santri, abangan, priyayi.
September 9, 2010
One might as well just read the article "The birth of the abangan". This article overlaps with a main argument of the book and contains the part of the book that carries some weight. The point that abangan as a social category only came about as late as the (second half of the) 19th is food for thought. Unfortunately, the argument rest on at least 2 points that are disputable. 1) up till the 19th century Java is homogeneously Muslim (save some small Hindu communities). This point is utterly disputable. Firstly for lack of solid evidence. Secondly for lack of solid theory on conversion. 2) Ricklefs uses the data provided by missionaries in the second half of the 19th century to prove the rise of the abangan-putihan distinction. Since this was the first time Javanese religion was thourouhly studied, one cannot/ may not deduct from this that the abangan/putihan or the nominal/pious distinction was only just drawn in the 18th century. This is unsoud reasoning on the part of Ricklefs.
Again one can save oneself the trouble of reading the whole book and just stick to the article.
Again one can save oneself the trouble of reading the whole book and just stick to the article.
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June 10, 2009Sebelum nemu bukunya, lumayan ada wawancara dengan Ricklefs yang berjudul "Polarisasi Aliran dan Politisasi Agama dalam Masyarakat Indonesia: Sebuah Wawancara dengan MC Ricklefs". Dapat dari kiriman di milis kantor. Sumber aslinya sile klik di sini. Ricklefs ini, kalau tidak salah, murid dari H.J. De Graaf. Disertasinya dibimbing sama De Graaf sekali lagi kalau tidak salah. Gak pegang bukunya takut salah jadinya.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews