The mystical Baduys

In West Java, near the city of Rangkasbitung, South Bantam, lies the mysterious Baduy territory. Outsiders may not enter it. The Baduys guard zealously the mysteries of Javanese mysticism from the dawn of Javanese history. They were respected and consulted by the Javanese Sultans on East Java in olden times as well as the recent rulers of Indonesia. Their territory has no direct goverment interference and as money is taboo there no taxes are levied there.

In the heart of Baduy country, enclosed by a jungle, lies the megalitic sanctuary Sasaka Domas, or Many Stones. No one is allowed to come near it.

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AHMADIYAH

Revelation and reason beyond Ahmadiyah issue

One of the problems behind the Ahmadiyah controversy is how to know and understand revelation when someone feels that he or she has received it. According to the Koran, God has given revelation to many persons in human history.

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Jemaah Islamiyah Leaves Trail of Deadly Bomb Attacks in 16 Year History

Jakarta Globe

Jemaah Islamiyah, also known as Jamaah Islamiyah, meaning Islamic Congregation, is a Southeast Asian militant organization trying to establish Daulah Islamiyah, a large Islamic state covering Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand.

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FRONT PEMBELA ISLAM ( FPI )

" Islam Defenders Front "

Left party, historians under attack in Indonesia
1 April 2007
Peter Boyle

FAKI anti-communist thugs march on Papernas's founding congress in January.

Max Lane
30 March 2007


 On March 28 and 29, a series of rightist mobilisations took place in Jakarta, including a 500-strong mobilisation aimed at disrupting a march and rally organised by the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas). The Papernas rally was protesting foreign domination of the Indonesian minerals sector and demanding its nationalisation. The right-wing thugs were armed with scythes, knives and canes. This was the fourth time in the last six months that Papernas has been targeted.

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Muhammadiyah

Muhammadiyah (full name: Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Muhammadiyah, literally means "followers of Muhammad" (from Arabic). The organization was founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan in the city of Yogyakarta as a reformist socioreligious movement, advocating ijtihad - individual interpretation of Qur'an and sunnah, as opposed to taqlid - the acceptance of the traditional interpretations propounded by the ulama.

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The early history of the Nahdlatul Ulama

Labels: Nahdlatul Ulama

Establishment

As mentioned above, one of the prominent figures who took the initiative to establish the Nahdlatul Ulama was K.H. Abdul Wahab Hasbullah. Abdul Wahab was born at Jombang, east java, in 1888 and received his elementary Islamic teaching from his own father, Kyai Hasbullah, who ran the pesantren of Tambak beras at Jombang. He then continued his study from one pesantren to another in East Java, such as the Majosari of Nganjuk, the pesantren of Cempaka, the Pesantren of Tawangsari of Sepanjang, the pesantren of Branggahan of Kediri, and other. He even reached a small island, madura, east of Java, where he studied in the pesantren of Kademangan, Bangkalan, for three years.

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Reog Ponorogo

Ian Douglas Wilson
Spirituality, Sexuality, and Power in a Javanese Performance Tradition

The East Javanese town of Ponorogo, nestled in a remote valley between two extinct volcanoes, has long had a reputation throughout the island for the magical powers and sexual potency of its inhabitants. It has a long history of violent and radical politics, with a well-established tradition of rebellion. Two figures central to this image are the warok and gemblak. 

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Javanese "Santri" Islam

Reference: http://okusi.net/garydean/works/santri.html

The Western aversion and distrust towards Islam runs deep, in contrast to how 'friendlier' religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism are often considered.[1] Even Westerners better informed about Islam have their concerns, so it is probably not simply a case of a 'misunderstood' religion. Many see Islam as an inherently undemocratic religion, placing restrictions on, for example, women's rights or freedom of religion.[2] To assert that understanding leads to tolerance is not necessarily true. Islam confronts many of the foundations of Western liberal-democratic culture, and by its very nature does not lend itself to be co-opted into the pluralistic, 'tolerant' frameworks of liberal Western societies.

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Priyayi

         The above observations are particularly true for the priyayi type Javanese. To this group belong the descendants of the aristocracy of the Javanese courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, who the Dutch won over to become members of the appointive civil service in colonial times. Nowadays they constitute the intelligentsia of Java. They have their roots in the Hindu-Javanese courts of pre- colonial times. A noble and pure character is attributed to them. They were the bearers of the mystic court-traditions taught to them by highly revered guru's.

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ANTHROPOLOGY AND JAVANESE MYSTICAL MOVEMENTS

      During the last decades Javanese mysticism has become more and more of interest to anthropologists. They base their books, articles, doctoral theses, etc. partly on Dutch studies during their colonial past, partly on their own observations during field-work. Java is particularly fascinating because its culture bears traces of various religions.

      The original religion of Java was animistic. Prevailing was the belief in powers, nature-spirits and souls of the deceased hidden in the unseen world. The selamatan is considered to be part of that folklore. This gathering is held at specific dates such as the third, seventh, fortieth, hundredth, and thousandth anniversary of the decease of a relative. The food eaten is meant to be a sacrifice for the soul of the dead person. After a thousand days the soul is supposed to have disintegrated or reincarnated. Prof.J.M.van der Kroef writes: "The homeostasis sought via the selamatan has an animistic background which is part of the Javanese cosmology: man is surrounded by spirits and deities, apparitions and mysterious supernatural forces, which, unless he takes the proper precautions, may disturb him or even plunge him into disaster."

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The Indonesian Moslem Founding

          The nine walis were Sufi teachers who spread Islam and did all variety of powerful and unusual acts across Java. The histories of these men are not always clear. In fact, if you try to count all of them, you will end up with more than nine. Some sources say that there was more than one group of nine. The most probable explanation is that there was a loose council of nine religious leaders, and that as older members retired or passed away, new members were brought into this council.

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