INDONESIA: Shift to ‘Shariah’ Reflects Growing Frustrations

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Kafil Yamin

GARUT, Indonesia, Feb 27 2003 (IPS) - The Cipanas hot spring here in West Java, Indonesia, is a teeming bustle of hotels, restaurants, tourist buses, and handicrafts shops that draws jobseekers and local entrepreneurs, but it is also the subject of a raging debate over ‘shariah’ or Islamic law.

Embodying the two sides of the debate in a trend to adopt ‘shariah’ in several of Indonesia’s regional governments are Syaifuttamam, a Muslim leader in the Garut regional administration to which Cipanas belongs, and Maman Jamaluddin, who works in one of the resort destination’s hotels.

"We will continue to press for the closure of this resort, whose operation is against Islamic law," said Syaifuttamam. "The government has agreed to impose ‘shariah’, so they have to turn the ‘shariah’ into action."

Indeed, with local tourists flocking into Cipanas – about 250 kilometres from the capital Jakarta – every weekend, the add-ons of popular tourism are here too: deafening music from Cipanas’s night spots, pub culture, and prostitution.

Local religious leaders have long called for a stop to the activities of Cipanas. They have been supported by Muslim students and civic groups because of the complaints from residents.

But, says Maman Jamaluddin: "As a Muslim, I agree with the imposition of ‘shariah’," he said. "But if it means we lose our jobs, I object." His reasoning is: "How can I follow religious rule if I cannot support myself in order to fulfill my religious duties?"

The Garut administration imposed ‘shariah’ about a year ago and banned gambling and prostitution.

The head of the administration, regent Dede Satibi, said this was what the people wanted. "Some respected society figures came to me and demanded the implementation of ‘shariah’. Their demand won my support," he said. But he also admitted that his administration lacked the teeth to enforce the ‘shariah’ legal system.

The measures in Garut – whose populace of two million is almost entirely Muslim – and in Cipanas at first followed the letter of ‘shariah’ law. Government female employees wore the ‘jilbab’ (headdress), and Sunday became a working day while Friday, the day for prayers, became the weekly holiday.

The enforcement of ‘shariah’ by local officials, often accompanied by local support groups, lasted less than six months – tourism-related businesses soon returned, and with them all the activities that surround a popular local holiday destination.

Yet when regional administrations like Aceh, South Sulawesi, Cianjur and Ciamis decided to impose ‘shariah’, almost immediately, nightspots – pubs, bars, discos, nightclubs – shut down, investors withdrew from tourism and popular entertainment, and visitors stayed away.

Regional administrations have taken advantage of increased decentralisation in the post-Suharto era – and a weaker central government – to establish their own regulations and systems of law.

But Syaifuttamam, who runs a Muslim boarding school in Cipanas, explained why there is not enough support even from the local Muslim community for ‘shariah’, or least the interpretation of it here.

"They call themselves Muslims but do not want ‘shariah’ to rule their lives. They are not ready for the obligations,” he said.

"I think there is a public image that ‘shariah’ is cruel," said Asep Hidayat, vice chairman of the Shariah Enforcement Committee. "Muslims think that way too," he added, referring to the average Garut and Indonesian Muslim.

Moeflich Hasbullah, a researcher at the Bandung-based Institute for Religious and Institutional Studies, added: "The ‘shariah’ turns into a sort of morality call because both government and people are not really prepared for it."

Hasbullah was categorical about the deeper and wider context of the imposition of ‘shariah’ and its requirements. "There is a lot more to ‘shariah’ than only wearing ‘jilbab’ (the headdress for women), prayers five times a day and going to the mosque on Friday. Muslims have done that without ‘shariah’ being in place."

"There should have been studies on how current developments – like banking, the stock market, currency markets – may be incorporated in ‘shariah’. Instead, they just refer to the law system of the Middle Ages, which is of course irrelevant,” Hasbullah said.

But on the ground, Syaifuttamam slams the local government for what he calls its lack of sincere commitment to upholding ‘shariah’ that has been agreed upon. "The police protect the night spots, gambling places, and are not willing to implement ‘shariah’. How then can ‘shariah’ work?" he asked.

In Garut, the administration now allows gambling in certain places, prostitution cases do not go to court and those who violate ‘zakat’ (giving of alms) are not punished. Moreover, criminal acts like theft and murder are processed under national law – which is enforced by the police – and not ‘shariah’ since Indonesia is a secular state.

Jain Mubarok, a ‘shariah’ expert in Bandung State Islamic University, says this turning to Islamic law is often not about religion but an expression of frustration with corruption and other problems and a desire for a system that works.

”What they are doing about ‘shariah’ in Garut is nothing but dreaming,” he said. ”I think it is not genuinely aspiration for ‘shariah’. It is just public disappointment against the existing law. So many violators get away easily – corruptors, criminals – and people think ‘shariah’, the only legal system familiar to them, may be the alternative.”

Hasbullah’s research in Garut, Cianjur and Ciamis leads him to conclude that there is more to ‘shariah’ than public perception and administrative will. He believes instead that the "wish for ‘shariah’ comes from a few political and religious elites who get frustrated with the national law”, and not really from Muslim aspirations.

The ‘shariah’ campaign as an "explosion of mass psychological freedom after more than three decades under Suharto’s oppressive rule”, he said.

Despite the flaws of the political and social system, he said, most Indonesians are content to stick with the legal system now in place, without ‘shariah’. "Muslims think the existing system is in line with Islamic values," he pointed out. "Why then turn to a new system that is still under construction?"