ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS VALUES WITHIN JAVANESE TRADITIONAL IDIOMS AS THE JAVANESE LIFE GUIDANCE

This research aims to describe Islamic religious value within Javanese traditional idioms. It employs descriptive qualitative method. The data in this study was collected using note-taking technique. To find the Islamic religious value within Javanese traditional idioms, the researcher used hermeneutics-content-analysis technique. The findings were (1) the belief of Gusti’s (God) existence, (2) the compliance to Gusti (God), (3) the plea for Gusti’s (God) power, and (4) the gratitude for Gusti’s (God) mercies and benevolences. The Islamic religious values, as part of Javanese local wisdom, should be conserved by the youth. The values should also be used as Javanese life guidance to build well-founded characters and ideal personalities. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan nilai religi Islam yang terkandung di dalam ungkapan tradisional Jawa. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan di dalam penelitian ini adalah teknik simak-catat. Untuk menemukan nilai religi Islam yang terdapat dalam ungkapan tradisional Jawa, peneliti menggunakan teknik analisis isi secara hermeneutik. Hasil penelitian mencakup (1) keyakinan terhadap keberadaan Tuhan (Allah), (2) kepasrahan terhadap keagungan Tuhan (Allah), (3) permohonan terhadap kekuasaan Tuhan (Allah), dan (4) syukur atas rahmat dan karunia Tuhan (Allah). Nilai-nilai religi Islam tersebut merupakan sebagian kearifan lokal Jawa yang harus dilestarikan. Nilai-nilai 34 Islamic Religious Values Within Javanese Traditional Idioms el Harakah Vol. 20 No. 1 Tahun 2018 el Harakah Vol. 20 No. 1 Tahun 2018 tersebut dijadikan sebagai pedoman hidup masyarakat Jawa agar memiliki karakter yang kuat dan kepribadian yang utuh.


Introduction
Javanese is famously known for its cultural diversities.The cultures are represented in their daily habits particularly in the various types of oral tradition.According to Hutomo (1991: 10), oral tradition has similar meaning to folklore, except for the transmitted elements.The use of oral tradition is more suitable and accurate than the use of folklore, because folklore always gets different responses as from its original purposes (Osman, in Hutomo, 1991).On the other hand, an antropologist, Danandjaya (2002) prefers using folklore in referring to the oral tradition.
Oral traditions include (1) oral literature, (2) traditional technology, (3) folklore philosophy, (4) religious and spiritual values, (5) folk arts, and (6) customary law (Hutomo, 1991).Therefore, the forms of oral tradition are divided into two parts, the oral traditions with language and non-language" (Hutomo, 1998: 233).Oral traditions which include mythology, folklore, and folk tales are the channels to keep people's awareness of what happens in the society.The European's development and modernization, for example, were partly determined by their solid understanding on the history and myths which shaped their identities.It is generally assumed as their spirit (Redana, in Kasnadi, 2016).Oral traditions also have their own special place as historical sources.They are the medium of unwritten messages, whose preservation should become collaborative responsibility of each generation (Vansina, 2014).Oral tradition in the form of literature, including the Javanese traditional idioms, is in accordance to Danandjaja's statement (2002) that one of the Javanese folklores is the traditional idiom.
There are moral teachings to be imitated within the idioms.The Javanese traditional idioms consist of the moral value of self-control (Widiastuti, 2012: 153).In addition, Suseno argues that wulang, a type of Javanese literature, consists of moral teachings as the basis of Javanese ethics (in, Endraswara, 2010).Therefore, those good moral values should be preserved by the youth as the inheritor of the culture.
Traditional idioms are local assets that are able to describe the cultural form of particular society.Javanese' asset takes form of pasemon, which uttered relatively symbolical by its speakers.Hence, deep thinking is required before finding the meaning within.The utterance, in the form of pasemon with its meaningful symbols, is the reflection of the speakers' characters.
The existence of Javanese traditional idioms is facing the infiltration by the swift rush of modern culture in society's life.Global era leading to modernization flow is unstoppable, due to the immense growth of science and culture that become the society's needs.Besides the force of modernization impact, Javanese traditional idioms which flourish in the Javanese cultural life are facing extinction lately because of the people's ignorance.The mindset of instant culture and attitude flourish in the modern era are the causes of the ignorance.Traditional cultural elements are fading from the social reality and that identifier statements become its substitute (Couteau, 2018).
If the impact of modernization and ignorance are left to last, the impact will be fatalistic.In some period of time, the next generation will not be able to catch a glimpse of those outstanding hereditary values.Subsequently, they cannot learn the values within as their guidance in social life.In contrast, Javanese traditional idioms are the Javanese culture which have been settled in daily life and internalized in their personality.Javanese traditional idioms consist of various virtuous values as the local wisdom that should be learnt to meet the future life.One of the local wisdoms that have always been upheld and constructed in the Javanese life guidance is Islamic religious values.

The Essence of Islamic Religious Values
The term value means 1) price, 2) money rate, 3) the degree of intelligence, 4) the amount of content, level, quality, 5) characters and things that are important and useful for (Alwi et al., 2002: 615).Value also involves the character or quality which is attached in particular object (Kaelan, 2008: 87).
el Harakah Vol.20 No. 1 Tahun 2018 Further, value is a recognition or quality of particular matter, which becomes the determiner of someone's behavior (Daoreso, 1986: 20).
Value is highly related to culture and customs (Gazalba, 1973).Both culture and customs are systemic value implemented in social life.Systemic value is a way to act and conduct in life.It underlines what should and should not be done by the society.It teaches us how to act and conduct with anything we face in traditional society life (Gazalba, 1973: 528-530).The acts are done according to standard and values in the form of social value, economy, politics, science, technique, art, and religion.
According to Frankena (in Kaelan, 2008: 87) value is a part of philosophical study.In philosophy, the term value refers to abstract noun which means worth and goodness.Therefore, value can be represented as a particular act in rating or assessing particular matters.Frondizi notices the long debatable topic of value between the objective and subjective groups (in Anshari, 2011: 37).On the one hand, the objective group views value as an independent element toward things or subject assessed.Value is obsolete, cannot be intervened by the physical factual intervention or anything humanoids.On the other hand, the subjective group views value as a determined element produced by the assessed subject and object.Values as a set of ideas, rules, or law which becomes the basic or the guidance to do or to conduct an act (Anshari, 2011).
Based on the previous approaches, the concept of value can be concluded as a measurement within a particular thing.Value is abstract entities that are useful and meaningful in human's life.Value becomes a belief, which guides people in all activities.Therefore, it becomes the concept which always guides human beings in their daily life, including in conducting their religious acts.
In relation to religious matters, religiosity has broader sense than religion (Driyarkara, 2006).Religiosity views human more personally and puts more emphasis on human existence matters (Wibowo, 2013: 40).Meanwhile, the religious concepts have more emphasize on vibration of conscience, including humanity (Mangunwijaya, 1982).
Religious matter is a problem which put more emphasis on human nature as humanitarian being.Most people can become deeply religious with or without theology, with or without religions (Caputo, 2003: 3).According to Rizvi (2003: xxviii) Caputo's manifest is concluded in the following, "God is more important than religion as compassion is more important than faith".Religiosity shows the individual level of interest on his own religion.It shows that the particular individual has been applied and internalized in his religion's teaching, which influence all of his life aspects and point of view.Religious teaching involves various and unlimited matters.The teachings are related to life and existence's problems and human's nobility and dignity.One of the life and existence's problems is the problem related to human and his God (Wibowo, 2013: 41).
Related to the importance of religious matter in this global era, religion and spirituality generally re-emerge as humans' basic needs (Sugiharto, 2003: xix).Someone's spirituality can be his standard in social life.Religious people are the people whose mentally structured are permanently directed to the outmost valuable, the gratifying, and the highest, God (Adisubroto, 1987).
Religious problems have become the breath in the Javanese's live and existence; consequently they are closely related to cultural problems.According to Kusumohamidjojo being religious is a part of culture (cited in Radam, 2001;Kusumohamidjojo, 2010).The Javanese has a strong religious and faith system.Each act in their daily life is always related to those religious and faith system.Religiosity or faith system is all kinds of acts which are related to religious faith or religious emotion (Koentjaraningrat, 1994: 58).To achieve a peaceful and contented life, people need to have strong religious faith.Happiness and being religious are closely related to each other; hence, happiness is considered as the evidence of religious truth.The Javanese believes that religious-basedhappiness lasts for a lifetime (Sudiarja, 2006: 775).
All Moslems believe that Qur'an is the life guidance from Allah (God) which is prophesied to Muhammad for all mankind (Madjid, 2000: 3).Islam is a universal religion; the values within are considered the absolute, yet formatively flexible.The values within can merge in general social life through times.Therefore, it is not a surprise that Islam has a relation with Javanese local culture.The related factor for Islam and local Javanese cultural to blend are (1) similarity of spirituality, (2) similarity of life view, (3) similarity of life purpose (Hermawan, 2014: 51-55).
Islam is not a religion which emerges from vacuous space culture.Islam and reality undoubtedly involve continuously in dynamic dialog.When Islam spreads in Indonesia, Islam cannot be separated from the existed local culture in society (Widiana, 2015: 203).On the contrary, when Islam blends with the local culture (Javanese culture), Islam will affect the Javanese thoughts and habits.Those thoughts and habits are reflected on one part of the Javanese culture, in the form of traditional idioms.
Acculturation is a concept to describe the long process to blend two or more values, involving Islamic and local values: either for individual, group, or the settled society with their own existing culture (Widiana, 2015: 214, Sumbulah, 2012).In the meantime, Kastolani & Yusof (2016: 70) show that nyadran tradition is a socio-religious reflection of the value blending, because nyadran and graveyard visit are two religious cultural expressions which have similarities both in rites and objects.Nyadran is also a blending between cultural and religious expression (Arinda, 2014;Winarni et al., 2013).
This paper examines the Islamic religious values within the Javanese traditional idioms.The Islamic religious values become the life guidance in every human being's activity.The traditional idioms, as the internalization of the Javanese life and conduct, consist of Islamic religious values which are used as people's live guidance in their daily life.

Method
This study is a qualitative research in which the data taken were in the form of words or sentences.The data found within the Javanese traditional idioms spreads in the society's life.To collect the data, the researcher used note-taking technique.The instrument of the research is the reseacher himself.The researcher carefully and simultaneously read the data sources to get the data which suit the aim of the research.The findings were then recorded to be analyzed, especially to find the meaning within.Therefore, the deep contentanalysis as the data analysis technique was used to find the related meanings which match the aim of the research.

The Belief in God's (Allah) Existence
Related to their view of belief, the Javanese believes that God (Allah) is so close that they have an idiomatic concept about manunggaling kawula Gusti (unison between God's creations and Gusti (God/Allah).The idiom becomes the option in their submission to the creator of the Universe.According to Jayadiguna in Purwadi (2004: 14) in mysticism (kebatinan/kejawen) there are four important life acts which are stated as follows (1) honorable character, righteous deeds, morality, and honor, (2) a discussion on sangkan paraning dumadi (the lost of soul from the body), (3) understanding toward the spiritual knowledge or jaya-kawijayan, and (4) having the view of manunggaling kawula-Gusti.The ultimate life achievement for the Javanese is kasampurnaning urip (live the fullest life).It will only be achieved if they are able to find the true mentor by implementing the concept of manunggaling kawula lan Gusti (united oneself with God (Allah)) (Endraswara, 2016: 16).
The concept of manunggaling kawula-Gusti is equal with the idiom curiga manjing warangka, warangka manjing curiga (keris (kris/dagger) within the sheath, sheath within the kris/dagger).Kris symbolizes human as jagad cilik or microcosms, whereas sheath symbolizes God (Allah) as jagad gede or macrocosms.According to Achmad (2012: 16), Serat Centini includes the prudent value that human, as microcosms, should unify themselves with God (Allah), as macrocosms.Living human being cannot only think about earthly matters or on the contrary only think about afterlife matters.Therefore, in that book Javanese people are directed to balance their life in the world and the future afterlife.
After their unison with God (Allah), the Javanese are highly respected by their religion.The idiom agama ageming aji (religion is the glorious outfit) is the predecessor of authentic life that will end.Religion is the main life guidance for the Javanese.Religion becomes the standard to do all the activities in the real world.This faith is shown by the Javanese determination to do the spiritual rites.Therefore, the idiom Pangeran iku adoh tanpa wangenan, cedhak tanpa senggolan (God (Allah) is far away with no limit, yet nearly untouchable) is held firmly by the Javanese.On the one hand, the Javanese consider God (Allah) far away, as if limitless that He becomes so close.On the other hand, the belief that God (Allah) is so near, yet He remains untouchable.The distance of God's existence is not the biggest concern of the Javanese, because they firmly grasp and hold the belief that God the omniscient has the outmost knowledge for all his creations' acts.Therefore, God is the most omnipotent, because even though He is in distance yet He is so close to His creation.
The faith of the Javanese upon God's (Allah) justice is based on the idiom Gusti mboten sare (God (Allah) never sleeps).The idiom becomes a strong foundation of faith and life guidance.In any kind of situation and condition, the Javanese always believe that God sees all and monitors all of their actions.Javanese culture and mindset sees God as an entity that never sleeps.
The Javanese also believe that anything happens, begins, and returns to the creator of life.With the faith in the idiom urip iku sangka Pangeran bali neng Pangeran (life is from God and will return to God) becomes the life guidance in their mortal life.According to Sukatman (2009: 160), God is the origin of all life beginnings.Human will always try to do and act well to God and all creatures by having the belief, because God is the beginning as well as the end of the universe.
In their daily life, the Javanese firmly hold those beliefs as a life guidance.They view the beliefs as non-negotiable values.They have to carry out those beliefs if they want a safe, quiet, and peaceful life.Those beliefs become the Javanese keys to successful life.

The Compliance to God (Allah)
Beside the belief toward God's existence, the Javanese has another life guidance; the high compliance to God the Almighty.According to Achmad (2014: 11), the Javanese highly respect God's power by placing high concern toward spiritual-transcendental matter.Religion, as the Javanese life guidance, stimulates the total compliance to the decision of God the Almighty.The attitude sumarah (compliance) and narima ing pandum (take every allotment given to them) along with strong determination and real strive become gondelan (guidance) for the Javanese to act in their everyday life.It is represented in the idiom ajine tekad, ilmune pasrah, rapalane adile Gusti (the importance of paying intention on God's will, the need to know the essence of compliance, the need to put faith in God's justice), is held for each step chosen in their life.The Javanese, in their social life, still hold the strong intention and determination, alongside the high compliance toward the God's justice.Those three concepts of life will lead to the true accomplishment in living their life.
Having the intention, determination, and compliance in living their life, human should also have patience.The old saying sabar iku mustikaning laku (patience is the key of life) projects the form of compliance toward God.Success, prosperity, quiet, and peacefulness will never be present without patience basis.The strong compliance toward God makes the poor, rich, and the weak, strong.In any situation and condition, the Javanese will submit themselves to Gusti Kang Akarya Jagad (God who creates the universe) with the compliance and patience.Hence, the Javanese rely their life journey on the idiom urip iku koyo banyu (living life like the flow of the river).They do not act against the flow of destiny, but they follow it as they truly belief in God's will.Javanese's life is far from the opposition characteristics.They do not like to protest and oppose the garising pepesthi (the exact line of destiny).Moreover, since the beginning, the Javanese has already had strong foundation about God's fortune.The concept that one's fortune will never be exchanged or God will never give wrong fortune to His creation is represented in the idioms anak iku nggawa rezeki dhewe-dhewe (each child brings his own luck).They willingly accept and acknowledge everything that has been given by Gusti Kang Murbaing Dumadi (God the Almighty).Either in happiness or sadness, they live on it in compliance.They are always grateful for whatever happens in life.They live the life as the river flows, because they believe that life has been structured by God.
The Javanese compliance on living the life is reinforced by the belief that wong sabar rejekine jembar, wong ngalah uripe berkah (the patient one gets more blessing).Those idioms describe that in the attempt to earn living, the Javanese emphasize the importance of patience and synchronization.They believe that the ones who have patience will gain prosperous and blessed fortune.The Javanese always teach their heirs to be patient and avoid conflict because god will bless whoever has patience and determination to take everything with compliance in life.
Moreover, the Javanese has the concept to avoid greediness in living life.As they know they will live in limited time as stated in the idioms urip iku mung mampir ngombe (life is just like a sip of a drink).With the belief on the idiom, the Javanese balance their life in the world with the afterlife which is believed to be immortal.The balance between the lives in the world with the afterlife becomes the Javanese life concept.The life in the world is not their ultimate goal.The life in this world is considered as the starting point for the eternal life in the afterlife.
The compliance toward God's might is also represented in the idiom nyangoni manteb lan pasrah (equip them with steady and compliant determination).In other word, the Javanese life concept, if the children are going away to earn a living, the most important capital is the strong intention and determination with the high compliance to the Almighty.They believe that wealth is not the main capital.Wealth is the secondary capital.As a consequence, each Javanese must convey to change his destiny.
The sincere compliance for the Javanese is stated on the idiom sluman slumun slamet (safety in every place and situation).To believe in the essence of the idiom, they have put in their heart the faith of God's supervision.They give all of their body and soul to God with no doubt at all.They assume that they will be safe even if they are careless, due to their high compliance toward God the Almighty.Safety is solely lies upon the God's hands; everything will work as He wishes.That kind of people in Javanese concept is assumed as the people who have truly found their real mentor.The characteristics of the person who has truly found their real mentor are (1) they become more tanggap sasmita (wisely response) in any kind of situation and (2) they become kewahyon (enlighted).It means that in any kinds of situation, they always get kabejan (luck).The highest spirituality is the sign of finding the real mentor (Endraswara, 2016: 17).
According to the previous descriptions, the Javanese has remarkable compliance toward God's power.All of their habit and act in daily life is always based on the high compliance to God.All kinds of action are at the end culminate of the compliance.For the Javanese, compliance has been inseparable part of their life.Through high compliance they live life with lighter burden, so that they are able to gain quietness and peacefulness life in the world.

The Plea for God's (Allah) Power
Another religious act which is always be the Javanese life guidance is the plea to the God Almighty.Plea or prayer to God became one of the keys of laku (act) for the Javanese to gain their dream of success.In addition to the act of request to Gusti Kang Akarya Jagad (God who creates the whole universe), the Javanese also put their best effort in accordance with their own abilities.Effort and prayer are inseparable acts, as a double-sided coin.According to the Javanese, remarkable working ethic supported by sincere plea in living life must make it easy to be granted by God the Almighty.In this concept of plea, Anshari (2011: 252) states that doa (prayer) and mantra (spell) become the medium to transmit the wish to "the entity" which is considered to have the power to make them real.According to Koentjaraningrat (1980) praying and slametan sesaji (offering feast) are parts of human's religious acts.Furthermore, religious acts are not only limited to the relation between human and God (hablum minallah), but also involve the relation among human (hablum minannas).In addition, Humaeni (2015: 176) who investigates the Ciomas' ritual act finds that those rituals and slametan (religious feast) have religious fact and social means especially to increase the solidarity among the society members.
In the concept of unlimited relation to God, the Javanese realize that human is equipped with sense and mind, so they can be claimed as God's most perfect creation.Thus, human should give a try and plea to God so He will decide the perfect end for them.The idiom wong obah bakal mamah (those who work shall feast), wong nandur bakah ngunduh (those who sow will reap the harvest) are the appropriate idioms to represent this case.Both idioms, even though literary related to human activities, are meant deeper than merely human's problems.Implicitly, both idioms have deeper meaning, related to God's power.It is relevant to the Islamic concept of God's (Allah) undeniable qudrat (power) and irodat (will).Every single event in the universe happens in coincidence, all events happen due to God's will.In creating an event, God must have a goal for His creation.All events happen to the creatures in the world is done within Allah's qudrat (power) and iradat (will).He plans anything He wants to plan, so there is no meaningless event.To Understand His will, human as a mindful being is expected to use his brain.In the effort to find God's secret within all events, human should think and put effort while praying the plea.
The Javanese always make a plea to God to realize all his wishes.The previously explained idioms wong obah bakal mamah (those who work shall feast) and wong nandur bakal ngunduh (those who sow will reap the harvest) represent the meaning that the Javanese do not set aside God's role to realize their wishes.They call the role as Allah the Almighty's qudrat (power) and iradat (will).Besides working to earn for food and sowing to reap the harvest, the Javanese always have to pray to God the Almighty.The concepts within both idioms are then illustrated in the idiom sapa wani rekasa bakal nggayuh mulya (those who work hard will gain the best result).Therefore, those previous idioms are attached with the act and the plea of the Javanese; Pangeran iku kuwasa, dene manungsa iku bisa (God is powerful, yet humans are able to gain what they want).The idioms are a guidance to plan and fight for a wishful goal, which is based on the concept that it is only for God to decide humans' destiny.In accordance to Een's argument (in Humaeni, 2015: 163) everything happens in the world is based on His willingness, and none can defy God's destiny.
The Javanese believe that human beings are given mind to think and act for particular wish, even though at the end, it is God who has the power to decide the result.Principally, as God's creation, the Javanese can do anything alongside the prayer, yet the decision is always in God's hand.Consequently, the pleas to God for the Javanese become the life guidance that should be held and done in their daily activities.Religious rites and slametan (religious feast) for the Ciomas' represent the willingness to ask for safety or God appraisal.The rites symbolize collective human communication and respects to God and other supernatural beings which are perceived as having super power to guarantee the extension of society's life (Humaeni, 2015: 177).

The Gratitude for God's (Allah) Mercies and Benevolences
The Javanese never deny the form of their gratitude to God.They are always grateful for each living events of their life.Their high gratitude appears because the Javanese understand that as a creation, they should obey God's (Gusti/Allah) will.Through their full submission, the concept of gratitude grows in the soul of the Javanese.
The immeasurable gratitude of the Javanese is the result of their total self-submission to God the Almighty.They try to accept all God's decisions sincerely after giving their best effort.The Javanese believe that God is omnipotent.The belief is developed out of the trust toward the ruler of the universe.They believe that people who trust God wholly will get elevated qualities.Thus, they belief that they will get convenience in living life in the world and the hereafter.They will be rewarded and blessed continually with various blesses.It is in line to Islamic concept of whomever grateful to Allah's benevolence, they shall get multiple blessings as a reward, and whoever denies it shall get terrible punishment.Therefore, gratitude is the fruit of hard work; continue prayers, and sincere compliance to God's destiny.
The idiom pasrah marang apa kang bakal ana (total submission to anything going to happen in the future), in Javanese concept means that they have to work according to their ability, but at the end of the struggle they should rely it on God's authority, so that they will fully rely on God for the outcomes.The Javanese always be grateful to anything given by the omnipresent.We just have to sadermo nglakoni (do as it is) for anything happens in the world.The Javanese always remember Yang Widi's (God) ordeal for all of His creation.Thus, the most important way to live life is to be grateful toward anything.People who are grateful show that they have internalized the concept of dunung.Dunung is the initial point pursued by philosophical reasoning (Endraswara, 2016: 33), which is based on the Javanese concept antebing kalbu (being persistent on something).People who have persistence and accept all of their life aspects indicate the limitless gratitude within their self.
Therefore, the Javanese hold the idiom mangan kanggo urip, urip ora kanggo mangan (eat for your life, but do not live to eat) to interpret their life.It represents the Javanese ethic in which they eat only when they feel hungry.Eating is functioned as a way to survive their life, not living only for eating, so the concept of cegah dhahar (suppress the gluttony) for the Javanese becomes the strong basic to submit their self to God.The Javanese try hard to suppress aluamah (the over rated gluttony).
The immense gratitude represented in the Javanese idiom narima ing pandum (accept His (God the Wealthiest) allotment) means that the Javanese at the end of their hope always accept God's mercies with their whole heart.They always accept God's benevolences sincerely as their form of gratitude to God.

Conclusion
There are some Islamic religious values in Javanese traditional idioms.Those values are important parts of local geniuses which are important to be preserved.The religious values within the traditional Javanese idioms are (1) the faith of Gusti's (God) existence, (2) the compliance to Gusti's (God), (3) the plea for Gusti's (God) might, and (4) the gratitude for Gusti's mercies and benevolences.Those four religious values become the Javanese life guidance and way of life in daily action and attitude.