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The Ahmadiyya and the Study of Comparative Religion in Indonesia: Controversies and Influences

2013; Routledge; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09596410.2013.864191

1469-9311

Ahmad Najib Burhani,

Cultural and Religious Practices in Indonesia

AbstractAs an organization of foreign origin, the existence and contribution of the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia has been a subject of debate. Some scholars ignore it completely as unimportant, while others consider that it has had significant influence. The contribution of the Ahmadiyya to Indonesian Islam most asserted by the movement itself is its efforts to check and respond to Christian missionary activity. In what way has the movement actually made a contribution to that effort? How widespread is the influence of the Ahmadiyya in the discourse on Christianity, in particular, and the study of comparative religion, in general, in Indonesia? Why has the Ahmadiyya paid more attention to the issue of Christianity than other Muslim groups? This article aims to answer these questions by analysing literature on Christianity written and distributed by the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia and the effect this has had on relations between Islam and Christianity in two fields – religious mission and academia. The article presents three propositions. First, Ahmadiyya literature, with its apologetic, polemical and controversial character, had a significant influence on the academic study of comparative religion during two periods of instability: the late colonial era and the first two decades after the declaration of independence in 1945. Second, Ahmadiyya literature on Christianity has been most influential through the way it sets out to create a sense of the superiority of Islam and its compatibility with modernity. Third, for the Ahmadiyya, the issue of Christianity, particularly the death of Jesus, has been used as evidence that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the second Messiah.Keywords: religious missioncomparative religiontabshīr (missionary activity)inter-religious dialogueconversion Notes1. The influence of Ahmadiyya literature on Christianity is not limited to these Muslim organizations, but they are referred to here because they have strong mission departments that have been influenced by Ahmadiyya literature.2. After the split in 1914, the Lahore Ahmadiyya retained a number of the teachings of this movement, most importantly the subject of Christianity.3. The international name for the Lahore Ahmadiyya is the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam (AAII) Lahore, while the Qadiani Ahmadiyya is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat.4. Wilfred Cantwell Smith (Citation1969, 369) describes the Lahore Ahmadiyya as a liberal Muslim movement, and the Qadiani as a "sufi version of Islam activated by modern-Western infiltrations" (1986, 301).5. The initiative to send missionaries to the Netherlands shows that there was no coordination or chain of command between the GAI's programme in Indonesia and its headquarters in Lahore.6. This first branch was established in December 1925 or January 1926. Zulkarnain (Citation2005) writes that it was December 1925, whereas information from the JAI states that it was in 1926. What is certain is that Rahmat Ali moved from Tapaktuan to Padang in early 1926. He was asked by the local government in Aceh to move because his presence there was causing social instability, particularly among 'ulama in Aceh (Zulkarnain Citation2005, 178, 212; Zaenal Abidin Citation2007, 13; Alislam.org n.d.).7. The headquarters moved from Qadian, India, to Rabwah, Punjab, Pakistan, after Partition in 1947. After the promulgation of Ordinance XX by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1984, which formally criminalized the religious activities of the Ahmadiyya, the movement's headquarters moved to London.8. The delay in separating these two aspects (i.e. mission and governance) was due to the Ahmadiyya's perceived maturity in Indonesia. If the headquarters considered the Ahmadiyya in a given country to have matured enough, it would allow that separation (Zaenal Abidin Citation2007, 181, and my personal interview with an Ahmadi missionary in Cimanuk, Pandeglang, on June 24–25, 2012). From an outsider's perspective, this can also be seen as a control mechanism.9. The name jemaat or jama'at, translated into English as "community," is taken from ahl al-sunna wa-al-jamāa or Sunni Islam. The Ahmadis claim that they are the true jamāʿa (community) who hold steadfastly the teachings of Islam. According to a Prophetic tradition, Muslims would be divided into 73 sections and only one of them would be saved. The saved section is ahl al-sunna wa-al-jamāʿa (Rauf Citation1996).10. In fact, this assessment was made not only of the Ahmadiyya, but also of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). In the first three decades after Indonesian Independence, scholars tended to pay attention only to modernist movements such as the Muhammadiyah and neglected the NU, which was in the event one of the winners of the 1955 election (Barton and Fealy Citation1996, xxi; Kahin Citation1989, 18).11. This confirms Mirza Mubarak Ahmad's statement (1964, 35) that Ahmadiyya literature has successfully boosted the confidence of Indonesian Muslims that their religion is superior to other religions and compatible with modernity.12. A living example of how Ahmadiyya literature has deterred some Muslims from leaving Islam and becoming atheists or Christians is the story of Djohan Effendi, Cabinet Secretary during Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency (1999–2001) and active in interfaith dialogue. In the 1960s, when he experienced a crisis in his faith in Islam, it was Ahmadiyya literature that came to his rescue (Gaus AF Citation2009, 81). Some people claim that Djohan Effendi is an Ahmadi, but his email to the author on May 14, 2013 implies that he is not. His participation in Islamic Sunday Morning Class (ISMC) hosted by Muhammad Irshad, a prominent leader of the Lahore Ahmadiyya, at the end of the 1950s and from 1963 to 1970 has made some people think that he is an Ahmadi. This assumption is further strengthened by the fact that the name of ISMC was changed to the Angkatan Muda Ahmadiyah Lahore (AMAL – Young Generation of the Lahore Ahmadiyya). All members of ISMC and AMAL were automatically assumed to be members of the Ahmadiyya. (On claims that Effendi is an Ahmadi, see: http://www.arrahmah.com/news/2013/02/24/kisah-djohan-effendi-ahmadiyah-dan-a-hassan.html#sthash.beLqTeiw.dpuf and http://suaraansharullah.blogspot.com/p/profil.html [accessed June 6, 2013]).13. The GAI published Kamal-ud-Din's De Bronnen van het Christendom for the first time in 1930. It was translated by Soedewo, an early member of the Lahore Ahmadiyya and an activist of the Jong Isamieten Bond (JIB – Association of Young Muslims). The English edition used for this article is the 1997 edition.14. De Geboorte van Jezus in het Licht van den Heiligen Qoerän was published by the GAI in 1935 and also translated by Soedewo. The English editions used for this article are the 1941 edition and the 2005 edition.15. Most Ahmadiyya literature on Christianity is written by Indian and Pakistani authors. There are only a few Indonesian Ahmadi authors; they include Soedewo, who wrote several books on this topic.16. Kamal-ud-Din mis-spelt the name of the city where the Council took place. The Council was at Nicea, in present-day Turkey. Nice is in southern France.17. Although the virgin birth of Jesus is mentioned in the Qur'an, the Ahmadiyya rejects this and believes that there can be no procreation without a male and a female (Ahmad Citation2005, 1).18. Boland (Citation1971, 228) characterizes the books on Christianity that were produced by the Muhammadiyah, the YAPI, and the Ahmadiyya as "cheap polemics, suited to semi-intellectuals," unworthy of any academic attention.19. This article uses the 1965 edition or the third printing of that book. The first edition was published in 1962.20. The fourth printing of this book was published by Persatuan in 1986. There is no date for the first edition.21. The president of the Muhammadiyah at that time was Haji Ibrahim, but he was only a figurehead. In reality, Fachruddin led the movement (Shihab Citation1995).22. This book is divided into two parts. The first was published in 1928, and the second in 1933, both in Bandung, Indonesia. This article uses the 1952 edition, which combines the two in one book, prepared and added with some information by C. A. O. van Nieuwenhuijze.23. This last book is a response to Johannes Verkuyl's article entitled Tentang interpretasi iman Kristen kepada orang-orang Muslim (On the interpretation of Christian faith, for Muslims), which was published in a special issue of Bulletin Lembaga Penjelidikan Pekabaran Indjil (see Boland Citation1971, 228). Verkuyl was a Dutch missionary in Indonesia who lived in Indonesia for years. I thank Sunarwoto for sending me Hashem's book from the Netherlands.24. This statement can be found in Sukarno's article entitled "Me-'muda'-kan pengertian Islam," initially published by Pandji Islam in 1940 and then compiled into Dibawah bendera revolusi (1964, 389). Mubarak Ahmad (Citation1965, 70), however, mentions that his source is the Official Gazette of Indonesia, Warta Front National (National Front News), December 20, 1962.25. For detailed information about the background of the conflict between Muslims and Christians during the late colonial period and the early years of Indonesian independence, see Rasjidi (Citation1976); Shihab (Citation1995); Mujiburrahman (Citation2006).26. According to Djohan Effendi, the Ahmadiyya in Yogyakarta supplied Bakry with Ahmadiyya literature. Effendi took the books from Muhammad Irshad, a prominent member of the Ahmadiyya, and brought them to Bakry (Gaus AF Citation2009, 47). At that time, at the end of the 1950s, Effendi was a student at the School for Muslim Judges (PHIN – Pendidikan Hakim Islam Negeri) Yogyakarta.27. For my own work here I use the third reprint published in 1968. This book was originally written as a refutation of F. L. Bakker's book entitled Tuhan Jesus didalam agama Islam (1957). The book has been republished several times with various titles and has even been translated into English as Jesus Christ in the Qur'an, Muhammad in the Bible: Is Jesus Prophet or God? (Kuala Lumpur: S. Abdul Majeed & Co., 1990). It has also been published in a Malay translation (Kota Bharu, Kelantan: Pustaka Aman Press, 1966) for distribution in Malaysia.28. Rahmatullah al-Hindi (1818–91), the author of Iẓhār al-ḥaqq (The appearing of the truth), is not the same person as Rahmat Ali of India (1893–1958), the first Qadiani missionary to Indonesia and the author of Iqbāl al-ḥaqq (The coming of the truth) (Pijper Citation1950, 249; Hamka 1982, 141). Iẓhār al-ḥaqq is an influential six-volume work, originally in Arabic, on the debate between Christianity and Islam.29. It was translated by A. Hanafi of IAIN Sunan Kalidjaga, Yogyakarta, who himself wrote a comparative study of the law of marriage from the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Roma perspectives entitled Perbandingan Hukum Perkawinan pada Agama Jahudi, Masehi, Islam dan Rumawi (1967).30. For an elaboration of this subject, see, for example, Dhofier (Citation1992); Munhanif (Citation1996); Saeed (Citation1999).31. Ali's assessment is different from Beck's, who sees both apologetics and the politics of dialogue as a possible background for comparative religion. It is the context and, sometimes, government policies that change this discipline's orientation, so that, as in its literal sense, the comparative study of religion can go both ways: to create understanding and harmony or to reveal the weakness of other religions and "to prove the superiority of one's own" (Beck Citation2002, 333, 347).32. This book was first published in 1965 under the title Ilmu perbandingan agama (sebuah pembahasan tentang methodos dan sistima) (The discipline of comparative religion, a study of methods and systems).33. Syarif Ahmad Saitama Lubis, former amir (governor-general) of the JAI, relates that Mukti Ali rented a room in the house of an Ahmadi, Yahya Pontoh, while he was studying in Pakistan and, for Lubis, this is one of the reasons why Mukti Ali, on his appointment as Minister of Religion by Suharto, appointed Bahrum Rangkuti, a graduate from Ahmadiyya College in Rabwah, as the secretary general of the Ministry of Religion (Zaenal Abidin Citation2007, 180). Ali Amin (Citation2005, 112) also tells an interesting story about the relationship between Mukti Ali and the Ahmadiyya. According to him, it was Mukti Ali who defended Ali Abu Bakar Basalamah when he was threatened in the 1970s with being fired from his position as a professor at the State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, because of his Ahmadiyya beliefs.34. A detailed discussion of this topic, using philological arguments (i.e. examining passages in the Qur'an), can be found, for instance, in Reynolds (Citation2009).35. Ghulam Ahmad (Citation2003, 43–44) represents the Jewish view of Jesus as follows: "God is disgusted with him and looks upon him as his hated enemy: that he is a liar, an impostor, an apostate, and a rank unbeliever and that he is not from God."36. Ghulam Ahmad intended to explain in detail his objectives in introducing the doctrine of the death of Jesus in chapter 10 of his Jesus in India (2003, 15), but the book has only four chapters, so it seems that he did not finish it. Nonetheless, the idea and his intention are clear from the four available chapters. At the end of the book (121–122), Ghulam Ahmad states again that there would be a sequel: "In the second part of this book, God willing, I shall prove in greater detail that the ultimate object underlying Jesus' long journey to India was that he might discharge the duty of preaching to all the Israelite tribes."37. A similar topic of lecture and preaching appeared during the time of the Ahmadiyya's initial arrival in Surabaya (Sholehuddin 2007, 47).