Islamic Imaginary Homelands of Chinese-Indonesian Muslims in East Java
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Chapter 12 Building Traditions for Bridging Differences: Islamic Imaginary Homelands of Chinese-Indonesian Muslims in East Java Chiou Syuan-yuan Introduction In Indonesia, the ethnic Chinese minority have been regarded for a long time as an alien segment of the indigenous Indonesian culture. The labels of ‘Chinese’ and ‘Muslim’ have been seen as mutually exclusive. Despite this perception, the rst Chinese Muslim organization in Indo- nesia was established in the 1930s. After independence, an Islamic da’wah (mission) movement aimed at Chinese Indonesians was initiated in the 1960s by the Association of Chinese Muslims of Indonesia (Persatuan Islam Tionghoa Indonesia, PITI).1 In 2003, the regional PITI of East Java (PITIEJ) based in Surabaya built a mosque in the Chinese style. The mosque was named Cheng Ho (or Zheng He)2 to commemorate Cheng Ho’s great voyage and his contribution to the spread of Islam in Indonesia. If there is no direct relation between the Chinese Hui Muslims and the Chinese-Indonesian Muslims, then why did the PITIEJ link its own Islamic tradition to the Chinese Hui Muslims by promoting the history of Cheng Ho and building a mosque in the Chinese style? By building the Cheng Ho Mosque, the Chinese-Indonesian Muslims of the PITIEJ have created an alternative socio-religious space, empowering themselves to improve ethnic relations between the Chinese-Indonesian minority and the indigenous Muslim majority after the downfall of President Suharto. Through the ingenious Cheng Ho mosque, an invented Islamic tradi- tion of PITIEJ simultaneously articulates a discourse of religio-cultural intimacy between Chinese and Indonesian Islam, and appropriates 1 The PITI, combined with two Chinese-Indonesian Muslim organizations, was established in Jakarta in 1961. 2 Cheng Ho is usually used in Indonesian. chan kwok bun_f14_265-278.indd 265 9/10/2007 6:10:10 PM 266 chiou syuan-yuan Islamic Chinese-ness from the traditions of the Chinese Muslim Hui. It is represented as a symbolic convergence of Chinese-Indonesian non-Muslims and indigenous Indonesian Muslims. Development from Chinese Muslims to Chinese Indonesian Muslims There are actually several historical links between Indonesian culture and Chinese Muslims. There were many Chinese Muslim (Hui) com- munities along the coast of southeast China, and it is likely some of the Chinese who migrated from China to the Indonesian archipelago in the 15th century were Muslims. Another signi cant historical event was Cheng Ho’s voyage to the archipelago.3 Several scholars have also traced the possible contributions of Chinese Muslims to the spread of Islam in Indonesia.4 However, there was no Chinese-Indonesian Muslim organization before the 20th century. Conversion to Islam among ethnic Chinese in Indonesia was not a form of collective behavior before that time. However, interestingly, Cheng Ho’s voyage has been regarded as a signi cant symbol by Chinese-Indonesian Muslims, and some scholars hold that Cheng Ho, his followers and Chinese Muslims immigrant contributed to the spread of Islam in Indonesia. Often, for reasons of marriage and naturalization, some Chinese gradually converted to Islam and assimilated to Muslim culture. In sum, it is clear from the historical record that the conversion to Islam of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia is not a completely new phenomenon. 3 Cheng Ho (Zheng He, 1371–1433), a Chinese of\ cer and a Hui Muslim, was assigned by Emperor Cheng-tsu (Yung Lo) of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) to visit the Indonesian archipelago seven times in the rst decade of 15th century (from 1405 to 1433). He started a maritime expedition to the Malay World, South Asia, Persia, the Arabic Peninsula and East Africa. See Mills (1970) and Levathes (1996). 4 Although the role of Chinese Muslims in the process of Islamization in Indonesia does not seem to be a core question in the study of Islamization of Indonesian, con- troversies about the historical relation of Indonesia and Chinese Islam was caused by Muljana’s book in 1971. Kumar (1987) has highlighted the dispute in which a minister of religion criticized that this idea attempts to ‘sinicized’ the traditions of Indonesian Islam. Finally it led to Muljana’s controversial book being banned by the Indonesian government. Yet the book was welcomed by Chinese-Indonesian Muslims and agreed on by some Indonesian scholars such as Budiman and Al-Qurtuby. Regarding the trade and evidences of Chinese Muslims in the Indonesian archipelago and their possible in uences on the spread of Islam, see Al-Qurtuby (2003), Budiman (1979), de Graaf and Pigeaud (1984), Fatimi (1963), Lombard and Salmon (1994), Muljana (1968/2005), and Reid (2000). During the post-Suharto era to talk about the historical roles of Chinese Muslims is no longer a political taboo, al-Qurtuby’s book comprehensively revisits the sensitive topic, and Muljana’s book is published again in 2005. chan kwok bun_f14_265-278.indd 266 9/10/2007 6:10:10 PM.