'Aisyiyah og visjonen av det sanne islam: reislamisering gjennom sosialt og religiøst arbeid i Padang, Sumatra

Author: Sefland, SignePublished year: 2005Document Type: ThesisLanguage: Norwegian BokmålSupervisor (s): Kari Vogt

Oppgaven omhandler den indonesiske islamske kvinneorganisasjonen ’Aisyiyah. ’Aisyiyah er den kvinnelige fløyen av Indonesias største reformbevegelse, Muhammadiyah. ’Aisyiyah har et landsdekkende nettverk av sosiale og religiøse institusjoner som barnehager, barnehjem, skoler, fødselsklinikker, sykehus og Korangrupper. Med utgangspunkt i kvalitativ metode og feltarbeid i Padang på Vest-Sumatra, fokuserer oppgaven på ’Aisyiyahs forståelse av ”det sanne islam”. Som en del av reformbevegelsen ønsker ’Aisyiyah renselse og reform av samfunnsverdier, fordi de oppfatter dagens praksis og tolkning av islam som lite tilfredsstillende. Målet er å komme nærmere en forståelse og praksis av islam som samsvarer bedre med det opprinnelige budskapet. Gjennom sine institusjoner søker ’Aisyiyah å reformere samfunnet til å komme nærmere ”det sanne islam”.

Gjennom å se på ’Aisyiyahs struktur, arbeidsområder og ideologiske elementer, søker oppgaven å si noe om hva ’Aisyiyahs begrep om ”det sanne islam” innebærer. Oppgaven tar så for seg hvordan ”det sanne islam” søkes virkeliggjort i samfunnet.

Endring forsøkes iverksatt gjennom formidling av verdier og ideologi i organisasjonens institusjoner, samt gjennom såkalt praktisk politikk. ’Aisyiyahs misjon retter seg mot både individ, familie og storsamfunn. For å nå målet om et samfunn basert på ”det sanne islam” ser ’Aisyiyah det som svært viktig å bevisstgjøre folk om egen tro, moral og kunnskap. Det understrekes også at alle må utfylle sin funksjon på best mulig måte i samfunnet. I denne sammenheng fremheves kvinnens muligheter og viktige funksjon. Gjennom bevisstgjøring og nytolkning ser ’Aisyiyah muligheten til å endre holdninger, slik at islam kan bli svaret på en positiv utvikling av samfunnet.

I oppgaven ser jeg på ulike sider ved ’Aisyiyahs organisasjon, arbeid og ideologi, som et uttrykk for reislamisering. Reislamisering innebærer å islamisere på nytt, fordi gjeldende situasjon ikke blir sett på som tilfredsstillende. Oppgaven fremmer en forståelse av at ’Aisyiyahs arbeid er et utrykk for en stadig prosess av reislamisering, der målet for prosessen er ”det sanne islam”.

Un mouvement de femmes musulmanes : 'Aisyiyah

par Prof. BAROROH BARIED
traduction de Farida SOEMARGONO

Baried Baroroh. Un mouvement de femmes musulmanes : 'Aisyiyah. In: Archipel. Volume 13, 1977. pp. 129-135.

"La femme est le pilier de l'Etat,

Si elle a des qualités, l'Etat sera préservé,

Si elle est mauvaise, l'Etat sera anéanti".

Le domaine d'action de 'Aisyiyah est concentré sur les classes moyennes et populaires. Une grande partie de ses membres habitent les villages, les hameaux les plus reculés, aussi les transmissions de directives sont-elles parfois assez longues. Cette action pour apporter le progrès dans les villages et la société rurale est en accord avec les programmes d'Enseignement et de Formation religieuse (P2A) et d'Enseignement ménager (Pendidikan Kesejahteraan Keluarga) qui constitue un programme spécial en dix points : 1. Relations inter familiales. 2. Education des enfants. 3. Nutrition. 4. Habillement. 5. Hygiène de la maison. 6. Santé morale et physique. 7. Economie ménagère. 8. Organisation du ménage. 9. Sécurité matérielle et spirituelle. 10. Planification. Dans ce programme, la participation de 'Aisyiyah porte plus spécialement sur les points 6 et 9.

Les efforts et les initiatives de 'Aisyiyah sont connus à l'extérieur grâce à la collaboration, qui existe depuis 1972, avec The League of Women Voters (Overseas Education Fund) sise à Washington. Depuis lors, 'Aisyiyah en reçoit des invitations et participe à des séminaires traitant de la façon dont il faut diriger les organisations. En 1974, avec les suggestions et l'aide financière de cet organisme, a pu être publié un ouvrage intitulé : "Guide des Jardins d'enfants de Aisyiyah Bustanu'l-Atfal" (Buku tuntunan Taman kanak-kanak 'Aisyiyah Bustaniïl-Atfal). Au cours de ces dernières années, la colloboration a encore été renforcée et en 1975, a eu lieu en Indonésie, un stage de formation des cadres de 'Aisyiyah. Ce recyclage a touché l'association du sommet à la base.

'Aisyiyah est prête à participer à toutes les formes de coopération, mais sans renoncer pour autant à son principe fondamental qui est la propagation de la foi en vue de faire progresser les femmes indoné siennes et de faire en sorte qu'elles prennent conscience du rôle de la religion et du rôle des organisations dans la vie sociale.

Soekarno, Islam, and Muhammadiyah

Quoted from: Boland, B. J. 1971. The struggle of Islam in modern Indonesia. The Hague: Nijhoff.

[The Muhammadiyah bestowed title for Soekarno as] “Faithful Member and Great Support of the Muhammadiyah” (p. 133)

pp. 126-27

In Bencoolen (Bengkulu, Sumatra), where Soekarno had been taken by the colonial government in 1938, he came into contact with the reform movement and became a member of the Muhammadijah, where he found opinions at least partly acceptable to him.

However, Soekarno probably wanted to give a more radical interpretation of “the spirit of Islam” than many reformers. On the one hand, the point on the reformers’ programme concerning the “purification” of Islam from all superstition would not have interested him much. On the other hand, Soekarno could be called a true liberal. He was certainly more interested in the new world than in Islam. In his interpretation of Islam, he always emphatically repeated the slogans of Muslim apologists, such as “Islam is progress”, “no religion is more rational than Islam”, “Islam insists on scientific research”, “the science of Islam is knowledge of the Qur’an and Tradition plus general knowledge”, “the Qur’an and Traditionmust be interpreted with the help of general scholarship”, and so on.[1]

What Soekarno envisaged was certainly not a “return to the Qur’an and Tradition” in the way the salafiya reformers wanted to return to the pure belief of “the ancestors” (Ar. aslāf, sing. salaf). For Soekarno, the revolutionary, there was no “return”. Islam had to catch up its thousand years of backwardness. “Not back to the early glory of Islam, nt back to the time of the caliphs, but run forward, catching up with time (chasing time), that is the only way to get glory again.”[2] Does not Soekarno’s criticism sound like “Turkish” criticism of the Arab glorification of the past?[3]

---

[1] A small collection of sayings by Soekarno is given in Solichin Salam, Bung Karno dan Kehidupan Berpikir dalam Islam, Djakarta 1964.

[2] Salam, Bung Karno, p. 91. When speaking of “catching up with time”, one must realize that the Indonesian expression ketinggalan zaman (obsolete, out of date) literally means that something is “left behind by time”.

[3] Compare Smith, Islam, p. 164ff.

The Indonesian Muslim women’s movement and the issue of polygamy: the `Aisyiyah interpretation of Qur’an 4:3 and 4:129

Mudzakkir, Rof'ah. 2005. "The Indonesian Muslim women’s movement and the issue of polygamy: the `Aisyiyah interpretation of Qur’an 4:3 and 4:129." In Abdullah Saeed. Approaches to the Qur'an in contemporary Indonesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 175-192.

Rof’ah Mudzakir

Lecturer at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The interpretation of the Qur’an cannot be separated from its context, in which political, social and economic factors play a role. An exegete living within the values of his or her own time and place is heavily influenced by these factors. In understanding the interpretation of the Qur’an, therefore, one should always consider the context of the text. This study considers the above hypothesis by examining the interpretation of the tow Qur’anic verses relating to polygamy, namely Q. 4:3 and 4:129, offered an Indonesian Muslim women’s organization, the `Aisyiyah, the women’s wing of the Muhammadiyah. One of the largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia, the Muhammadiyah was founded by Ahmad Dahlan in 1912 in Yogyakarta.

Indeed, in the history of the Indonesian women’s movements that emerged in the late nineteeth century, the issue of polygamy occupies an important position. Its importance lies in the fact that polygamy continues to be viewed as a barrier to the key objective of the women’s movement –that is, to modernise and improve the position of Indonesian women, both culturally and legally. It is not surprising, therefore, that since the first Indonesian Women’s Congress in Jakarta in December 1928, a fierce debate on polygamy has continued in Indonesia. The debate on polygamy has even led women’s organizations to disagree among themselves. While most organizations have decided to support the abolition of polygamy, some continue to support it, or at least to not reject the practice outright. In this debate, Muslim women’s groups represent the latter category, while Christian and non-religious organizations have chosen to contest the very validity of polygamy. Considering the importance of this issue in the Indonesian women’s movement, it is interesting to observe how Islamic groups justify their refusal to support the abolition of polygamy. In this article, we will examine why this is so, focusing on the `Aisyiyah.

The `Aisyiyah was founded on 22 April 1917 by Ahmad Dahlan in the expectation that this organization would help the Muhammadiyah, and act as a partner in promoting the Muhammadiyah’ ideas of Islamic reform. Thus, ideologically speaking, the establishment of the `Aisyiyah was based on Ahmad Dahlan’s belief that women and men are equal in the eyes of God. Considering this belief, it is not surprising to see that, in the early days of its existence, the `Aisyiyah changed the manner of participation of Muslim women in religious activities. Praying in the mosque, receiving religious training, and even wearing the veil were all signs that women (just like men) could publicly participate in religious observances. These kinds of activities were introduced by the `Aisyiyah as something that Muslim women had not experienced before.

Viewed from a wider perspective, the `Aisyiyah is no different from other women’s organizations in Indonesia which have attempted to represent women’s interests and have struggled for their advancement. However, as the female wing of the Muhammadiyah, this group has been one of the biggest Muslim women’s organizations in Indonesia. In 2002, the `Aisyiyah had 194,722 members throughout 30 provinces. More than other women’s groups, the nature of the `Aisyiyah as a mass-based group has allowed its activities to touch the grassroots level of society. Indeed, the role of the `Aisyiyah is not limited to religious activities. Its main concerns are more oriented towards social and community development, with women as the particular target, focusing on issues such as education, health and charitable activities. In fact, this organisation’s great contribution to Indonesian society can be seen in its establishment of hundreds of educational institutions, thousands of mosques, and hundreds of health centres and orphanages all over Indonesia.

Due to its role and nature, the `Aisyiyah has been described as representative of Indonesian Muslim women. It is important, therefore, to observe its response to the issue of polygamy. Another factor contributing to the significance of the `Aisyiyah in the discourse on polygamy is the development of the organisation’s arguments in justifying the practice of polygamy. Interestingly, rather than being the product of purely religious reasoning, this development is more affected by the social and political context of Indonesia. Thus, it is this point that is the main concern of this article.

Howard M. Federspiel

Howard M. Federspiel
Curricula Vita
(January 2007)
Ohio State University at Newark
1179 University Drive
Newark, Ohio (USA) 43055-1797 Tel. 614/366-9297
Box 769
Fax. 614/366-5047
e-mail federspiel.1@osu.edu
(Residence)
Newark, Ohio 43058-0769
Tel. 614/366-5337

I. Current Professional Position.

The Ohio State University at Newark. Professor of Political Science, 1979 to present; Associate Dean, 1979- 1984; Acting Dean and Director, 1979-1980.

II. Past Professional Positions. (Full Record)

1. McGill University (Montreal, Canada). Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies, 1997-1998, 1991-1992; Director of the Canada-Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Project (a technical assistance project), 1995-1996. (See description under VI. below)
2. Mid-West Universities Consortium for International Activities. Associate Director (senior American administrator) of the Joint Management Office, Second Indonesian University Development Project (a technical assistance project), Jakarta, Indonesia, 1987-1988. (See description under VI. below)
3. Mid-West Universities Consortium for International Activities. Team Leader for an educational technical assistance project at the University of North Sumatra, Medan, Indonesia, 1984-1986. (See description under VI. below)
4. Winthrop College, 1970-1979. Professor of Political Science and Department Chairman, 1974-1979; Director of International Studies, 1976-1979.
5. Lenoir Rhyne College, 1968-1970. Assistant Professor of Political Science and History.
6. Advanced Studies Group, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1968. Fellow Scientist in international studies.
7. Research Analysis Corporation, 1966-68. Member of the Technical Staff in international studies.
8. Office of East Asian Affairs, U. S. Department of State, 1962-1966. International affairs specialist.
9. U.S. Army. 1955-1958. German language specialist and intelligence analyst

III. Education.(Full Record)

A. Degree Programs
1. McGill University, Montreal, Canada, Islamic Studies, MA 1961, Ph.D. 1966.
2. Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, Political Science, BA, 1954.

IV. Recognition, Awards, Fellowships, Honors (Past ten years)

1. Visiting Professorship, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, 1996-2000
2. Excellence in Scholarship Award, Ohio State University at Newark, 2001
3. Service Award for International Activities, Ohio State University at Newark, 2002.

V. Publication Record (Past ten years)

A. Books and Major Studies
1. Sultans, Shamans and Scholars; Muslims and Islam in Southeast Asia. Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 2006 forthcoming February 2007.
2. Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals of the Twentieth Century. Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006, 96 pp.
3. Labiran Ideologi Muslim: Pencarian dan Pergulatan Persis di Era Kemunculan Negara Indonesia (1923-1957). (The Caldron of Muslim Ideology: The Founding and Struggle of the Persatuan Islam in the Era of Indonesian National Development 1923 to 1957). Jakarta, Serambi, 2004, 479pp. (Indonesian version of Islam and Ideology in the Emerging Indonesian State: The Persatuan Islam (Persis) 1923 to 1957. Leiden, Brill Academic Press, 2001
4. Islam and Ideology in the Emerging Indonesian State: The Persatuan Islam (Persis) 1923 to 1957. Leiden, Brill Academic Press, 2001, 365pp.
5. (Chief Editor). Anthology of Islamic Studies. Montreal, Canada Indonesia Islamic Higher Education Project, 1997, 401pp.

B. Articles in Books and Scholarly Publications (Past ten years)
1. “Islamic Values, Law and Expectations in Contemporary Indonesia,” in Islamic Law and Society, 5:1, 1998, pp. 89-117. Also in Shari’a & Politics in Modern Indonesia, edited by Arskal Salim and Asyumardi Azra. Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002, 70-89.
2. “Modernist Islam in Southeast Asia: A New Examination,” Muslim World (Fall 2002) 92, 3& 4, 371-386.
3. “Hadith Literature in Twentieth Century Indonesia,” Oriente Moderno (2001) 21 N.S.,
115-124 (in a special edition titled “Hadith in Modern Islam,” edited by Roberto Tottoli).
4. “Indonesia, Islam, and U.S. Foreign Policy,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs (Spring 2002), 9, 1, 107-114.
5. “Contemporary South-East Asian Muslim Intellectuals: An Examination of the Sources for Their Concepts and Intellectual Constructs,” in Islam in the Era of Globalization: Muslim
Attitudes towards Modernity and Identity [edited by Johan Meuleman]. London, Curzon, 2002, 327-350.
6. “Fundamentalist Islam in Late Colonial Indonesia; The Persatuan Islam Revisited,”Al-Jami’ah: Journal of the Islamic Studies, (January 2000), 42-59.
7. “Muslim Intellectuals in Southeast Asia,” Studia Islamika 6, 1 (1999), 43-76.
8. “Islam and National Identity in Indonesia,” in Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Asia Program Special Report. Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Indonesia: A Crisis of Nationhood? Washington, D.C. (July 1999)
9. “Islamic Fundamentalism in Late-Colonial Indoensia: The Persatuan Islam Revisited,” Virtual files of the Indonesian Intellectual Society (ICMI), Montreal and Ottawa Chapter, June 1999, 12 pp. 73-85.
10. “Islam and Muslims in the Southern Territories of the Philippine Islands during the American Colonial Period (1898 to 1946), Journal of Southeast Asian Affairs, 29, 2 (September 1998), 340-356.
C. Papers Delivered at Academic Conferences and Seminars (Past ten years)
1. “Indonesian and Malayan Responses to Islamic Law,” presented to a special conference on “The Politics of the Shari’ah in Contemporary Malaysian and Indonesian Islam, at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, June 12, 2003.
2. “Modernist Islam in Southeast Asia (1900-1950),” presented on a panel on Modernist Islam throughout the Islamic World at the Middle East Society of America (MESA) in Washington, D.C. in November 1999.
3. “Islam and National Identity in Indoneisa,” presented at an invited seminar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. in July 1999.
4. “Islamic Fundamentalism in Late-Colonial Indonesia: The Persatuan Islam Revisited,” presented at the American Council for Study of Islamic Societies meeting in Villanova, Pennsylvania in May 1999 and Indonesian Intellectual Society of Montreal and Ottawa international meeting in June 1999 in slightly different form.
5. “Scholarship in Two Eras: Views of Southeast Asian Islam in the 1970's and 1990's” at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, November 1997 in a speaker’s series on Southeast Asian Islam sponsored by the Indonesia-Canada Islamic Higher Education Project.
6. “Islamic Values, Law and Expectations in Contemporary Indonesia” at the Southeast Regional Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, at Savannah, Georgia, January 1997.
VI. Technical Assistance Work (Past 10 years)
1. Consultation on Southeast Asian Islam for the Strategic Assessments Group, a Washington-based R&D firm, working on a Defense Department contract. One day consultation. March 2004

VII. Professional Service Activities. (Past ten years)

A. Workshops and Seminars
1. Seminar on Islam in the Contemporary World. Ohio University, with sponsorship of the Ohio Endowment for the Humanities, June 23-27, 2003. Director of the academic program, opening lecturer and general discussant for the entire program. Seminar membership consisted of 25 secondary school teachers from throughout Ohio. Year-long planning effort and follow-on activities.
A. Lectures and Lecture Series.
1. Lecture on long-term trends in Southeast Asian Islam. Presented to the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University, September 15, 2006.
2. Lectures on Islam, terrorism and U.S. reaction to terrorism. Several lengthy lectures to general academic audiences and two short lectures given to civic associations 2001-2004.
3. Two interviews with Voice of America for broadcast to the Asian region, 2000-2001..
3. Three lectures on contemporary Indonesian matters given to a mixture of academic and public audiences at Athens, Ohio and in Montreal, Canada. 1999.

Retrieved from: http://polisci.osu.edu/grads/hfederspiel/vita.pdf

Api Pembaharuan Kiai Ahmad Dahlan

Judul Buku : Api Pembaharuan Kiai Ahmad Dahlan
Penulis : Robert W. Hefner, Sukidi Mulyadi, Abdul Munir Mulkhan
Penerbit : Multi Pressindo Yogyakarta
Cetakan : Pertama, Maret 2008
Tebal : viii + 150 halaman

Menghadang Ancaman Ideologi Lain

Tidaklah berlebihan bila Robert W Hefner - seorang Indonesianis kelahiran Columbus, Ohio (Amerika Serikat) - menaruh kekaguman yang luar biasa terhadap pendiri Muhammadiyah, KHA Dahlan. Dalam pengakuan Hefner, KHA Dahlan merupakan sosok pembaharu Islam dan penggagas luar biasa di Indonesia. Bahkan pengaruh gelombang pemikirannya melampaui batas puncak pemikiran Muhammad Abduh dari Mesir. Dan kini, Muhammadiyah merupakan gerakan ‘pembaharuan’ Islam terbesar di dunia.

Ungkapan Hefner memang logis. Muhammad Abduh - dalam sejarah dicatat sebagai inspirator KHA Dahlan dalam memperbaiki Islam di Indonesia pada awal abad 20 - ternyata gagal menembus benteng tradisional-konservatif institut di negaranya (Universitas Al-Azhar, Kairo), meski pemikirannya mampu menempatkan dirinya sebagai salah satu pembaharu Islam dunia. Sebaliknya, Dahlan justru mampu melahirkan karya besarnya yang terus bertahan dan berkembang hingga sekarang.

Hanya saja, lahirnya gerakan Reformasi tahun 1998 - yang notabene dimotori pula oleh tokoh Muhammadiyah, Amien Rais - sedikit banyak membawa pengaruh yang kurang menguntungkan bagi Muhammadiyah. Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah mampu menarik syahwat kelompok-kelompok ‘ideologi’ lain untuk memiliki Muhammadiyah. Terlebih kalau dihitung secara politis, Muhammadiyah yang telah memiliki kekayaan amal usaha dan massa cukup besar ini dipandang sebagai obyek sangat menguntungkan.

Fakta empiris terkait dengan dugaan Gerakan Muhammadiyah telah tercemari oleh ‘ideologi’ lain tersebut terlihat dari fenomena saling berebut pengaruh dalam organisasi ini. Pertama, sebut saja kaum konservatif yang dengan keras menolak pemikiran yang datang dari Barat, bahkan istilah-istilah dan kerjasama dengan lembaga berbau Barat. Kedua, sebut saja kaum liberal yang memandang perlu terus dilakukan penafsiran ulang terhadap al-Qur’an dan Sunnah karena penafsiran serupa juga dilakukan Kiai Dahlan yang daripadanya mendasari gerak Muhammadiyah di awal berdirinya (hal. v).

Berangkat dari indikasi adanya usaha untuk saling berebut pengaruh itulah, 2 orang kader progresif Muhammadiyah - Sukidi Mulyadi dan Abdul Munir Mulkhan - berusaha keras untuk menemukan simpul pemikiran KHA Dahlan. Tujuannya agar Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah tidak menjadi obyek tarik menarik ‘ideologi’ asing (konservatif dan atau liberalis) tersebut. Sebaliknya, kehadiran buku ini, paling tidak, menjadi penyadar bagi kader Muhammadiyah untuk tetap bisa menjaga agar Muhammadiyah tetap hidup sebagai gerakan Islam yang bercorak pembaharu.

Diakui atau tidak, akhir-akhir ini banyak kader yang dulu dibesarkan oleh Muhammadiyah justru ‘durhaka’ dan memusuhi Muhammadiyah. Bahkan ada sebagian mereka yang kemudian merasa telah sekian lama berada dalam kesesatan karena telah menjadi orang Muhammadiyah.

Buku ini tidak sekedar mengajak melakukan ‘napak tilas’ pikiran-pikiran KHA Dahlan, tetapi juga meluruskan pandangan-pandangan yang sesat tentang Muhammadiyah. Misalnya, pandangan bahwa Muhammadiyah adalah gerakan Wahabisme. Satu hal penting yang terangkum dalam buku ini ialah bahwa nalar Muhammadiyah harus dibedakan dari tradisi intelektual Islam yang hingga kini masih belum keluar dari skolastisisme dan kesadaran Sunni yang meniadakan kebebasan kreatif manusia.

Akhirnya, tidak ada alasan lain untuk bisa disebut sebagai kader Muhammadiyah kecuali mau memahami kembali gagasan autentik KHA Dahlan yang bersumber dari kesadaran Islamnya yang sangat menekankan etika welas asih. Karena dengan etika welas asih itulah, Muhammadiyah tampak lebih bersikap terbuka pada modernitas dan kemanusiaan serta pemihakan terhadap kaum lemah (proletar). Fatiananda

http://matanmajalah.blogspot.com/2008/11/b-u-k-u.html

Islam and traweh prayers in Java: Unity, diversity, and cultural smoothness

Moller, Andre. 2005. "Islam and traweh prayers in Java: Unity, diversity, and cultural smoothness". Indonesia and the Malay World. 33 (95): 37-52.

Author: Andr Mller^a

Affiliation:

a Department of History and Anthropology of Religions, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Modernist attitudes and practices in relation to the traweh prayers are fairly homogenous. The description below of my local mosque Masjid An-Nur can be considered as typical of modernist mosques in Java.
As the muezzin announces the call to prayer for the obligatory isya (evening prayers performed around 7 pm), people in the neighborhood begin to get ready. They are in no hurry as they know the imam (I., prayer leader, A. imm) and the muezzin will allow a longer than usual time to lapse between the adzan (I., call to prayer, A. adhn) and the actual prayer session. The muezzin or a mosque official may recite - or rather, sing - some salawat (I., praise of Muhammad, A. salawt) to fill the time.16 At the start of Ramadan the mosque is crowded and additional straw mats are needed in the car park to provide space for all worshippers. By the middle to the end of the month the mosque is half full at best. A one-metre wide green cloth separates the mosque into two almost equal parts: one at the front and the other at the back. The front, the male domain, is generally slightly larger but the area is adjustable should circumstances require it. The back is for women. The cloth is only a symbolic barrier as it does not prevent one group from viewing the other. But it is regarded as necessary by both men and women to maintain the two spheres during traweh prayers. This token cloth barrier is only used during Ramadan.
As the local Muslims drop in, they generally perform two raka'at (I., prayer cycles) of sholat tahiyatul masjid (I., A. a - altu ta īytu l-masjid), the non-obligatory but highly recommended prayers to be performed as one enters a mosque. This done, everyone sits down and either engages in some small talk with whoever they are next to or recite quietly parts of the Koran. This is also a time that may be used for private supplications, or declarations of thanksgiving (I. syukur) for being able to fast for the entire day that has just ended. When the muezzin feels that he has waited sufficiently he announces through the microphone a sort of condensed adzan, the iqomah (I., A. iqmah), that the isya (evening) prayers are to begin. The isya prayers during Ramadan are no different from the rest of the year as they consist of four raka'at. Each raka'at, as always, consists of the recital of Al Fatihah (the first chapter of the Koran), the bending of the upper part of the body (I. ruku', A. ruk'), the complete prostration (I. sujud, A. sujd), and a variety of more subtle practices, which can be studied in any regular sholat manual.17 Added to this is the niat (I., A. nīyah), the intent, which precedes the prayer. As the salam (I., greeting in Arabic) concludes the isya prayers, the congregation may rest for a while before a kultum (short Islamic lecture) is presented.18 Some may use this time to perform two additional and individual raka'at.
When the kultum ends the muezzin raises his voice again to say a - alta sunnata t-tarwī i jmi'atan ra imakumullh (A.), which means approximately 'Let us perform the non-obligatory traweh prayers in congregation, in hope that God will extend His Grace on you all.' Some, but not all, reply by saying l ilha ill llh mu ammadun raslu llh (A., there is no god but God, Muhammad is the Prophet of God). This is the sign that the traweh prayers are about to begin and the entire congregation rises and starts to murmur individually the prescribed intent for this: u allī sunnata t-tarwī i lilhi ta'l (A.), i.e., 'I intend to perform the non-obligatory traweh prayers for God, the Exalted.'21 Most Javanese can say this in Arabic, but some state theirs in Javanese. This done, the imam raises his two hands and utters Allhu akbar (A., God is greater), and commences the first raka'at by reading aloud Al Fatihah and an additional Koranic chapter. The difference between these traweh prayers from their obligatory equivalent is that there is no break between the second and the third raka'at as the imam and the congregation immediately proceed to the third and the fourth prayer cycles. As the fourth raka'at is over and the salam-greeting uttered, the congregation may again rest for a short while. (The word tarwī is linked grammatically to istir ah, which means 'relaxation' or 'rest.')
The break ends when the muezzin repeats the words a - alta sunnata t-tarwī i jmi'atan ra imakumu llh (see above). The congregation then rises again and performs four more cycles of traweh prayers, following the imam. The subsequent rest follows the above-mentioned procedure and then the traweh prayers are over. Before dispersing the congregation, the imam performs three additional raka'at of witir (I., A. witr) prayers. The performance of sholat witir has the status of sunnah within Islamic law, but many ulama regard it as close to an obligatory ritual act (Al Sawwaf, 1999: 199). Before the muezzin declares the commencement of these prayers (A. a - alta sunnata l-witri jmi'atan ra imakumu llh), some members of the congregation leave the mosque. There are two possible explanations for this exit depending on whether they are traditionalists or modernists. The traditionalists who feel that the traweh prayers have yet to end since there should be 20 cycles (see below) intend to perform an additional 12 at home before concluding with the witir. And the modernists who agree with the imam that the Ramadan prayers should only consist of eight raka'at return home for more supererogatory but non-traweh prayers before they conclude that day's prayers with the witir.
This is taken from pp 42-5 of the article.