BRICOLAGE: Exploring How Islam is Understood and Lived in Java

BOOK REVIEWBook title:Java, Indonesia and IslamAuthor:Mark WoodwardNo. of Pages:xiv + 275Year:2011Publisher:Springer Science + Business media

7KH ERRN ´-DYD ,QGRQHVLD DQG ,VODPµ FRPSULVHV RI HVVD\V WKat werH ZULWWHQ WKURXJKRXW WKUHH GHFDGHV RI WKH ZULWHU·V HWKQRJUDSKLF research in the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and other regions of the Indonesian island of Java as well as on his close readings of contemporary and historical Indonesian Islamic texts. Mark Woodward, the writer, basically seeks to illustrate how Islam is understood and lived in Java. He also portrays how Java and Indonesia as conceptual categories, geographic and political entities inform and shape each other, and KRZ WKLV LQWHUDFWLRQ LQÁXHQFHV WKH XQGHUVWDQGLQJ DQG H[SHULHQFH RI ,VODP DPRQJ SHRSOH ZKR ÀQG themselves inhabiting both worlds simultaneously.
The first chapter of the books describes Yogyakarta in terms of religion, culture and nationality. While Indonesia is a republic, Yogyakarta is a kingdom with all internal power and authority remaining in the hands of the Sultan. Issues of religion, culture and nationality were all at stake in this exchange. They have reverberated through the histories of both nations for more than 60 years, surfacing in 2008 in debates concerning the still unresolved status of the Sultanate in the Indonesian Republic. In Yogyakarta the balance is thrown not only by the complex interrelations of culture and religion as emic categories in Indonesian and Javanese discourse, but also by the fact that there are competing nationalisms: Indonesian nationalism and Yogyakarta nationalism.
This chapter further explains that the Indonesian terms agama, kebudayaan and kebangsaan are only roughly translated as religion, cultural and nationality. All the three are socially and politically constructed categories the boundaries of which have shifted considerably over time and which are still very PXFK LQ ÁX[ DQG DW issue. The term kebangsaan refers to a nation, people or ethnic group and in contemporary Indonesian discourse has all three connotations. Yet, agama and kebudayaan are more complex still.
4XHVWLRQV RI ZKDW LV ´UHOLJLRQµ DQG ZKDW LV ´FXOWXUHµ PD\ DW times, be bitterly contested. In the 1970s much of what is described in WKLV ERRN ZDV RIWHQ UHIHUUHG WR DV ´-DYDQHVH 5HOLJLRQµ Agama Jawa). Proponents of what was formerly Javanese Religion are willing to accept the designation Javanese Culture to avoid antagonizing orthoprax, and especially modernist and Islamist, Muslims. Similarly, many orthoprax Muslims have sought to describe this complex as ´-DYDQHVH ,VODPLF &XOWXUHµ IRU VLPLODU UHDVRQV %XW Vhifts in the ERXQGDULHV EHWZHHQ ´FXOWXUHµ DQG ´UHOLJLRQ µ FDQ KDYH LPSRUWDQW consequences for understanding the dynamics of power in Javanese and Indonesian society.
Chapter two concerns the religious and cultural foundations of Javanese WUDGLWLRQDO PHGLFLQH 8QOLNH *HHUW]·V DQDO\VLV WKDW FRQVLGHUV Javanese curing as the animistic substratum of Javanese religion, this book argues that Javanese theories of health, illness and curing are based on a Muslim world view and theory of personhood. The SHUYDVLYH LQÁXHQFH RI 0XVOLP WKHRORJ\ GRFWULQH DQG P\VWLFLVP RQ Javanese curing indicates that while it is possible to isolate what can be called a traditional medical system, medical knowledge and practice do not comprise discrete domains in Javanese culture. The book continues to outline that many of the abstract concepts of personhood, cosmology, power and knowledge that form the basis of the Javanese medical system derive ultimately from Middle Eastern Muslim scriptural traditions while others are rooted in older Hindu-Javanese traditions.
Specifically, the Javanese medical system draws on a wide variety of symbols, roles and interactional patterns, none of which may be

JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 06, Number 01, June 2012 understood as uniquely medical. Medical pluralism is, therefore, and inherent feature of Javanese traditional medicine. There are two SULPDU\ PRGHV RI PHGLFDO SUDFWLFH 2QH URRWHG LQ 6XÀ FRQFHSWV RI sainthood (wali) is based on Islamic mystical concepts of miracles and gnosis. The other, practiced by dukun (curers) involves the use of morally suspect forms of magical power some of which are derived from Hindu-Javanese traditions and others are uniquely Javanese or at least Malay. Furthermore, the Javanese health care system includes complex theories of anatomy, the origin and treatment of disease, a large number of herbal and mineral medicines and a system of social interaction directing potential patients towards specialists who treat only a small subset of the culturally recognized ailments. The system is, however, fundamentally paradoxical. Many Javanese are afraid of dukun considering them to be dangerous as well as powerful. Several curers interviewed in and around Yogyakarta use variety of terms to which they refer other than dukun. They referreG WR WKHPVHOYHV DV ´KHOSHUµ (pitulung ´P\VWLFµ DKOL NHEDWLQDQ ´H[SHUW LQ -DYDQHVH VFLHQFHµ ahli ngilmu Jawa ´HOGHUµ orang tua ´VPDUW SHUVRQµ RUDQJ SLQWDU RU VRPH VLPLODU WHUP 7RGD\ WKH\ DUH RIWHQ UHIHUUHG WR DV ´SDUD-QRUPDOVµ paranormal ) oU SUDFWLWLRQHUV RI ´DOWHUQDWLYH PHGLFLQHµ pengobatan alternatif). On the other hand, traditional healers with strong Islamic RULHQWDWLRQV FDOO WKHPVHOYHV ´UHOLJLRXV WHDFKHUµ ustadz ´ZLVH PDQµ (habib RU ´$UDELF SK\VLFLDQµ tabib).
Even kyai are also said to have the ability to heal and exorcise demons. Wali, kyai, mystics and other holy men and dukun are all thought to have the ability cure diseases of the physical and spiritual bodies. The difference between these modes of medical practice is that saints, mystics and other holy men do not rely on magical power or spirits.
Chapter three explores the slametan. The writer could not agree PRUH ZLWK *HHUW] WKDW LW LV WKH ¶FRUH ULWXDO· RI -DYDQHVH culture. Nevertheless, he argues that the slametan cannot be identified as an animistic rite the purpose of which to reinforce social solidarity and as being primarily a village ritual. He therefore presents an alternative interpretation of the slametan as an example of a ritual complex that links blessing (barakah) and food and extends from Arabia to Southeast Asia. He explains that the slametan is not primarily a village ritual and that its religious and social JRDOV DUH GHÀQHG LQ WHUPV RI ,slamic mystical teachings. He further argues tKDW *HHUW]· DQDO\VLV RI WKH slametan that assumes that ritual meals are characteristic of animism but foreign to Islam is not true.
In connection with Javanese of all theological orientations who believe that feeding the poor is a religious obligation and a source of blessing, kejawen Muslims take pains to invite poor people to slametan or, at least, to send them some of the food. Many also donate uncooked rice and other foods to augment the small amounts of sacred food distributed at the ritual. Some of them feel that the food distributed in the slametan is of greater importance than the zakat as the slametan IRRG LV UHIHUUHG WR DV D ´JLIW IURP KHDUWµ VWHPPLQJ IURP D

GHHS GHVLUH WR KHOS RQH·V IHOORZ KXPDQV ZLWK QR H[SHFWDWLRQ RI UHWXUQ
The slametan itself, as ritual meals, parallels the Indo-Persian kanduri, Javanese kenduren, Malay kenduri, Acehnese kanduri, Urdu kanduri in terms of the purpose and the way they are conducted. Like the slametan, it also includes recitatioQ RI SRUWLRQV RI WKH 4XU·D> n, the distribution of blessed food, and prayers for saints and the local community. In Yogyakarta, The slametan is not exclusively, or even primarily, a village ritual. Nor is it limited to the kejawen community. Slametan are performed in mosques, at pesantren, at the graves of saints, and in the homes of traditional santri. Based on this argumentation, the writer argues that the slametan as a village ritual that loses much of its force in urban environments described by Geertz is misleading.
In short, the slametan provides an example of the complexity of local Islams. The ritual of slametan can be understood as the product of bricolage through which concepts derived from various Muslim textual and ritual traditions and elements of Islamicate culture that transcend ORFDOLW\ DUH IXVHG ZLWK WKLQJV VSHFLÀFDOO\ Javanese. There is not one Javanese Local Islam. There are many. Some consider the slametan to be an essential component of Islam, others believe it to be bid·ah, khura> fah and shirk: unlawful religious innovation, unbelief and polytheism. In the late 1970s the slametan was often referred to it as being an element of Islam Jawa or Agama Jawa.
Chapter four examines the architectural, political and religious symbolism of the Yogyakarta kraton. The kraton is basically a Javanese house, but a very special one. It is the house of the Sultan who is XQGHUVWRRG DV EHLQJ $OODK·V UHSUHVHQWDWLYH RQ HDUWK DQG DV WKH ´SHUIHFW PDQµ RI FODVVLFDO 6XÀVP ,Q JHQHUDO WKH UHOLJLRXV DQG SROLWLFDO VLJQLÀFDQFH RI WKH -DYDQHVH kraton resembles that of the royal palaces

JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 06, Number 01, June 2012 of the Indianized states of mainland Southeast Asia and pre-Islamic Java. However, the Javanese kraton is not a replica of a cosmic mountain. Nor is it arranged as a mandala or set of concentric circles. Its architectural and geometric form is linear, comprising a series of gates and passages oriented on a north-south axis. The cosmic structure depicted in the Yogyakarta kraton is that of a Javanese variant of Islamic mysticism.
Historically, the kraton is said to have been designed by Sultan Hamengkubuwana I. It is a complex, polysemic symbolic system weaving the diverse threads of Javanese religious and political thought together into a single coherent system focusing on the person of the Sultan. Moreover, the kraton is a text, but it is more than a text. It is the sacred precinFW GHÀQLQJ WKH VWDWH DQG VRFLHW\ ,Q WKLV UHVSHFW LW LV WKH DQDORJ RI WKH .D·ED DW 0HFFD ZKLFK LV WKH FHQWHU DQG D[LV PXQGL RI WKH 0XVOLP ZRUOG DV D ZKROH -XVW DV WKH .D·ED GHÀQHV WKH 0XVOLP FRPPXQLW\ DV D WRWDOLW\ WKH <RJ\DNDUWD SDODFH GHÀQHV WKH 6XOWDQate as a local Muslim community, with the Sultan, who is also known as Kalifutallah (the Caliph or representative of God) as its head.
The architecture and symbolism of the Yogyakarta Kraton are based on a VLPLODU XQGHUVWDQGLQJ RI WKH KHDUW WKH .D·ED DQG the descent and ascent of the perfect man. 7KHVH DUH DPRQJ WKH PRVW HVRWHULF RI 6XÀ teachings. They are important in Java in part because of their mystical VLJQLÀFDQFH EXW DOVR EHFDXVH Whey are the basis of the Javanese/Islamic theory of kingship.
The kraton is a model of the body of the perfect man and the paths leading to perfection. The kraton has nine gates which represent the openings in the human body which according to Serat Wirid must be closed in meditation as well as in Muslim mortuary ritual.
The representation of the human body in the architecture and symbolism of the kraton is illustrative of the iQÁXHQFH RI 6XÀ understandings of relationships between humanity and divinity in Javanese religious thought. The southern third of the kraton depicts the descent of the perfect man from the divine essence and the birth of a royal infant. The northern third of the palace is a model of introspective and cosmological formulations of the mystical path. Many of the symbols of this section of the kraton are trees and other mundane objects which are linked to tKH 6XÀ GRFWULQH RI WKH GHVFHQW of the perfect man by means of pseudo-etymologies.
Chapter five portrays the way in which the Yogyakarta Kraton celebrates one of the most important Muslim holy days, Mawlid al-Nabi> , which commemorates the birth of the prophet Muh} ammad. In specific, this chapter is concerned with the history, religious meanings, and performative structure of this ritual complex, known locally as the Garebeg Malud, in Yogyakarta. The Malud is among the most important, and today certainly the most popular of the Yogyakarta state ceremonies.
In addition to its stated purpose of celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, the Yogyakarta Garebeg Malud serves four basic purposes: it makes symbolic statements about the Islamic legitimacy of Javanese kingship; it establishes a chain of blessing linking the state and its people with the Sultan, local saints, Muhammad, and God; it links Javanese mysticism with Essentialist Islam and; and it mediates between a religiously inspired theory of kingship and changing political and economic conditions.
In line with the slametan, The Garebeg Malud is a series of slametan at which the Sultan offers food to his subjects. It is thought to transform social relations in the Sultanate in the same way that slametan transform local communities. In rural Java the Mawlid is celebrated with a slametan called Maludan. Therefore, the Maludan and the Garebeg Malud have much in common. Seen from the kraton, the Slametan Maludan is the Garebeg Malud stripped of its royal indexical symbols. Seen from the village, the Garebeg Malud is a Maludan with royal indexical symbols attached.
In addition to the Garebeg Malud is Sekaten, a combined fair, night market, and religious observance. The night market, at which there are a wide variety of popular entertainment events, runs for an entire month. Sekaten LWVHOI ODVWV IRU GD\V FXOPLQDWLQJ LQ WKH 6XOWDQ·V YLVLW WR the Grand Mosque the evening prior to the Garebeg. Elite components of Sekaten include a religious observance and ritual meal attended by tKH 6XOWDQ FRXUW RIÀFLDOV DQG ¶ulama> ·. 2Q WKH ÀQDO evening of Sekaten there is a procession from the palace to the state mosque.
Chapter six presents the place of the fasting month of Ramadan in Islamic discourse, religious practice and experience in Yogyakarta. In particular, this chapters is concerned not only with the ways in which the fast is observed and celebrated in Yogyakarta, but also with the

JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 06, Number 01, June 2012 ways in which it serves as a symbolic marker of differentiation within the Javanese Muslim community.
In particular, Javanese observances of the rites of Ramadan fall into three general categories. Those of reformists which are limited to rites prescribed by Islamic law (with the except of Halal Bihalal,) those of traditional santri add a complex set of locally GHÀQHG GHYRWLRnal acts DQG ÀQDOO\ WKRVH RI kejawen Muslims who often neglect 6KDUL·DK regulations but who join enthusiastically in superogatory acts of piety. Despite these differing performance styles, Ramadan observances are PRWLYDWHG E\ D FRPPRQ XQGHUVWDQGLQJ RI WKH SXUSRVH DQG EHQHÀWV RI the fast and share a common ritual structure, i.e., that Ruwah SXULÀHV the physical body, Ramadan cleanses the spiritual body of sin and that Sawal transforms social relations.
The last chapter explores the interplay of kebudayaan and agama in Yogyakarta at the end of the New Order and the ways in which Sultan Hamengkubuwana X used the kraton as a stage for cultural/religious/-SROLWLFDO GUDPD WKDW ÀJXUHG VLJQLÀFantly in the process of Reformasi that led to the democratic transformation of 1998.
Through this chapter, it is argued that Yogyakarta remained peaceful compared to Jakarta and other neighboring royal cities in Surakarta in dealing with the crisis of 1998. This was possible to KDSSHQ EHFDXVH <RJ\DNDUWD·V KLVWRU\ DV WKH ´PRWKHU FLW\µ RI WKH Indonesian revolution and the charisma of the Yogyakarta throne enabled Hamengkubuwana X to draw on a mix of religious, cultural and nationalist symbols of legitimacy iQ GHÀDQFH RI D UHJLPH WKDW E\ May of 1998 could rely only on brute force to remain in power. This bricolage enabled the Sultan to work together with `ulama> · and Muslim politicians of diverse theological orientations to maintain peace and order in a time oI FKDRV ,W DOVR HQDEOHG KLP WR GHÀQH ZKDW EHJDQ DV an economic and political crisis as a cosmic struggle between good and evil; between Yogyakarta and Jakarta and between himself and President Suharto Throughout this volume, the writer argues the Javanese and larger Indonesian discourse about agama and kebudayaan is of more general PHWKRGRORJLFDO DQG WKHRUHWLFDO VLJQLÀFDQFH +H VXJJHVWV WKDW ZKLOH WKH manner in which emic cultural categories are structured is of VLJQLÀFDQFH IRU $QWKURSRORJists, and especially for Cognitive Anthropologists, it may be of less importance for Religious Studies scholars. He further explains that it is essential for the study of religion to take account of these categorizations and not to limit their analysis to ZKDW LV ORFDOO\ GHÀQHG DV ´UHOLJLRQµ ,W is especially important given the inherent tendency of religions to segment. To accept what one sectarian or political group claims about others and the category religion is a fatal analytic error. He particularly puts Clifford Geertz and others seriously misunderstood and misrepresented Javanese Islam E\ DFFHSWLQJ WKH GHÀQLWLRQ RI ´,VODPµ SURSRVHG E\ QHR-fundamentalists as an analytic category.
In term of the content, this book is very rich, discloses almost all kinds of the cultural practices in Java and discovers how Islam lives in the Javanese culture. This book becomes very valuable and priceless for those who are interested in understanding Islam in Indonesia EHFDXVH LW SURYLGHV ¶ORFDO IODYRXU· WKDW PDNHV LW GLIIHUHQW IURP KRZ Islam is practiced in other countries. However, despite of the detail portrait of Javanese Islam in Yogyakarta, this book does not adequately present Javanese Islam elsewhere in Java but Yogyakarta. As the writer himself DGPLWWHG WKDW KH LV KRZHYHU ¶FRJQL]DQW· RI WKH LQFRPSOHWHQHVV of ethnography as a method for understanding this reality. []