ISLAMIC ACEHNESE IDENTITY, SHARIA, AND CHRISTIANIZATION RUMOR: A Study of the Narratives of the Attack on the Bethel Church in Penauyong Banda Aceh

Al Makin

Abstract


This paper explores the narratives of the attack on the Bethel church (GBI/Gereja Bethel Indonesia) in Penauyong Aceh on June 17, 2012, provided for by the victims. Among these are those who hold fear of Christian missionaries, including one of the likely perpetrators, and those who dismissed these as mere rumors. After relating the incident to other violence across the nation during the reform period and to the local Aceh context, the paper delved into the interviews undertaken on July 2013, from which the sources of narratives were taken, explaining motivations behind the mob, trauma resulting from it, and other factors contributing to the incident. Through this article I argue that the sharia implementation  raise the new identity formulation of Islamic Acehnese, through which the dividing line between ‘Muslims’ and others ‘non-Muslims’ is further stressed. This in turn nurtures, among other things, the sentiments among the Acehnese against the non-Muslims.

Keywords


Islamic Acehnese identity; Bethel Church; violence; sharia implementation; Christianization

Full Text:

PDF

References


Al Qurtuby, Sumanto. “Peace-Building in Indonesia: Christian–Muslim Alliances in Ambon Island.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 24, no. 3 (2014): 349–67.

Aspinall, Edward. “The Construction of Grievance: Natural Resources and Identity in a Separatist Conflict.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 51, no. 6 (2007): 950–72.

Barton, Greg. “Indonesia’s Nurcholish Madjid and Abdurrahman Wahid as Intellectual Ulama: The Meeting of Islamic Traditionalism and Modernism in Neo‐modernist Thought.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 8, no. 3 (1997): 323–50.

Bertrand, Jacques. “Ethnic Conflicts in Indonesia: National Models, Critical Junctures, and the Timing of Violence.” Journal of East Asian Studies 8, no. 3 (2008): 425–49.

Bustamam-Ahmad, Kamaruzzaman. “The Application of Islamic Law in Indonesia: The Case Study of Aceh.” Journal of Indonesian Islam 1, no. 1 (2007): 135–80.

Crouch, Melissa. “Implementing the Regulation on Places of Worship in Indonesia: New Problems, Local Politics and Court Action.” Asian Studies Review 34, no. 4 (2010): 403–19.

Crow, Karim. “Aceh - The ‘Special Territory’ in North Sumatra: A Self-Fulfilling Promise?” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 20, no. 1 (2000): 91–104.

Dwiyanto, Djoko. Penghayat Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Yogyakarta: Pararaton, 2010.

Feener, Michael. Sharia and Social Engineering, the Implementation of Islamic Law in Contemporary Aceh. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Harvey, Clare Isobel. “Muslim Intellectualism in Indonesia: The Liberal Islam Network (JIL) Controversy.” Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs 43, no. 2 (2009): 13–52.

Hasani, Ismail, and Bonar Tigor Naipospos. Dari Radikalisme Menuju Terorisme, Studi Relasi Dan Transformasi Organisasi Islam Radical Di Jawa Tengah Dan D.I. Yogyakarta. Jakarta: Pustaka Media, 2012.

Hefner, Robert W. “A Conservative Turn in Indonesian Islam? Genesis and Future.” In Muslim Politics and Democratization in Indonesia, 33–50. Annual Indonesia Lecture Series 28. Clayton, Vic.; Melbourne, Vic.: Monash Asia Institute, 2008.

Hoon, Chang-Yau. “Between Evangelism and Multiculturalism: The Dynamics of Protestant Christianity in Indonesia.” Social Compass 60, no. 4 (2013): 457–70.

Howell, Julia Day. “Pluralist Currents and Counter-Currents in the Indonesian Mass Media.” In Religious Pluralism, State and Society in Asia, edited by Chiara Formici, 216–35. London: Routledge, 2014.

Ichwan, Moch. Nur. “Official Ulema and the Politics of Re-Islamization: The Majelis Permusyawaratan Ulama, Shariatization and Contested Authority in Post-New Order Aceh.” Journal of Islamic Studies 22, no. 2 (2011): 183–214.

Kull, Ann. Piety and Politics: Nurcholish Madjid and His Interpretation of Islam in Modern Indonesia. Lund: Department of History and Anthropology of Religions Lund University, 2005.

Le Billon, Philippe, and Arno Waizenegger. “Peace in the Wake of Disaster? Secessionist Conflicts and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 32, no. 3 (2007): 411–27.

Makin, Al. Challenging Islamic Orthodoxy, the Accounts of Lia Eden and Other Prophets in Indonesia. Dordrecht, Holland; Cinnaminson [N.J.], U.S.A.: Springer, forthcoming.

———. “Persecuting, Prosecuting Minorities.” The Jakarta Post. September 3, 2012.

———. “Pluralism in Education, a Study of Mukti Ali’s Thought.” Journal of the International Yale Indonesia Forum, 2012.

———. “Pluralism versus Islamic Orthodoxy, the Indonesian Public Debate over the Case of Lia Aminuddin, the Founder of Salamullah Religious Cult.” Journal of the International Yale Indonesia Forum, 2011.

Margiyono, Muktiono, Rumadi, and Irianto Soelistyowati. “Bukan Jalan Tengah” Eksaminasi Publik Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Perhal Pengujian Undang-Undang Nomor 1 PNPS Tahun 1965 Tentang Penyalahgunaan Dan/atau Penodaan Agama. Jakarta: ILRC, 2010.

Mietzner, Marcus. “Local Elections and Autonomy in Papua and Aceh: Mitigating or Fueling Secessionism?” Indonesia 84, no. October (2007): 1–39.

Mujiburrahman. Feeling Threatened : Muslim-Christian Relations in Indonesia’s New Order. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006.

———. “The Diaspora Church in Indonesia: Mangunwijaya on Nationalism, Humanism, and Catholic Praxis.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 38, no. 4 (2001): 444–57.

Picard, Michel. “Introduction, Agama, Adat, and Pancasila.” In The Politics of Religion in Indonesia, Syncretism, Orthodoxy, and Religious Contention in Java and Bali, edited by Michel Picard and Madinier, 1–20. London: Routledge, 2011.

Purdey, Jemma. “Describing Kekerasan: Some Observations on Writing about Violence in Indonesia after the NewOrder.” Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 160, no. 2/3 (2004): 189–225.

Saby, Yusny. “The Ulama in Aceh: A Brief Historical Survey.” Studia Islamika, 2001, 1–54.

Salim, Arskal. “‘Shari‘a from Below’ in Aceh (1930s–1960s): Islamic Identity and the Right to Self-Determination with Comparative Reference to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).” Indonesia and the Malay World 32, no. 92 (2004): 80–99.

———. “Dynamic Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: Contested Legal Orders in Contemporary Aceh.” Journal Of Legal Pluralism 10, no. 61 (2010): 1–31.

Seo, Myengkyo. State Management of Religion in Indonesia. London: Routledge, 2013.

Siregar, Hasnil Basri. “Lessons Learned from the Implementation of Islamic Shari’ Ah Criminal Law in Aceh.” Journal of Law and Religion 24, no. 1 (2009 2008): 143–76.

Sirry, Mun’im. “Fatwas and Their Controversy: The Case of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI).” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 44, no. 1 (2003): 100–117.

Suaedy, Ahmad. “Religious Freedom and Violence in Indonesia.” In Islam in Contention: Rethinking Islam and State in Indonesia, edited by Ota Atsushi and Okamoto Masaaki, 139–69. Jakarta: Wahid Institute, 2010.

Suaedy, Ahmad, Rumadi, M. Subhi Azhari, and Badrus Samsul Fata Fata. Islam, the Constitution and Human Rights, the Problematics of Religious Freedom in Indonesia. Jakarta: Wahid Institute, 2010.

Subagya, Rahmat. Kepercayaan, Kebatinan Kerohanian Kejiwaan Dan Agama. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Yayasan Kanisius, 1980.

Tajima, Yuhki. “Explaining Ethnic Violence in Indonesia: Demilitarizing Domestic Security.” Journal of East Asian Studies 8, no. 3 (n.d.): 451–72.

Van Klinken, Gerry. Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia: Small Town Wars. Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series No. 15. London: Routledge, 2007.

Woodward, Mark. Java, Indonesia and Islam. Dordrecht, Holland; Cinnaminson [N.J.], U.S.A.: Springer, 2011.




DOI: 10.15642/JIIS.2016.10.1.1-36

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Indexed by:

    

Creative Commons License

View My Stats

Journal of Indonesian Islam (ISSN 1978-6301 and E-ISSN 2355-6994) is published by the Postgraduate Program (PPs) and the Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (LSAS), State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Journal of Indonesian Islam by http://jiis.uinsby.ac.id/index.php/JIIs/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright ©2020 State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Powered by Public Knowledge Project OJS.