Transcript MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISM IN SCHOOLS

Introduction
 In the last four decades, Muslim fundamentalist or even
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radicalist movements have been so dominant since around
1980s up to now.
Indonesians, even Cirebonese, witnessed religions-driven
clashes and even terrorist attacks widespread in Indonesia in
the last decade.
A number of institutions like DDII, LIPIA and others set up to
support the dissemination of fundamentalist viewpoints to
society.
Komarudin Hidayat even points out that fundamentalist
networks have successfuly infiltrated schools particularly
Senior High School.
This paper is based on the research conducted in two schools,
SMAN 04 and 06 in Cirebon.
Fundamentalism in Perspectives
 In the last decades, young people have been the prime
target as well as the main actors of the fundamentalist
movements (David Sagiv, 1995: 3).
 Religious, and Islamic in particular, fundamentalism has
been a reaction toward the ongoing reality of religiosity
considered to be far away from the true tenets (Fazlur
Rahman, 1997: 286). Thus, fundamentalist nutions are
aimed at bringing Islam back to the sacred one.
 Scholars in addition to use the term of fundamentalism
also employ different terms depending on their
understanding of the features of a group they studied
such as Skripturalism (R.N. Bellah, 2000: 226),
Conservatism (R. Geraudy), Romanticism, Islamism and
Salafism and others
 The establishment of Rohani Islam is a part of the Muslim resurgence
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in Indonesia in the last 1980s and early 1990s thanks to DDII.
Soeharto’s accommodative approach gave further energy for the
strengthening of Islamic activism in Indonesia, including in schools, in
1980s and 1990s.
The rise of the religious notions named LDK sponsored by DDII in a
number of major secular universities and the introduction of the
halaqoh system in those universities.
The halaqoh alumni as the main pioneer in the creation of the Rohani
Islam (literally means Islamic Spiritual Guidance).
The lack or even failure of religious subjects provided by schools to fill
their need for religious education also gave a further force for students
and particularly religious teachers to organize their own religious
activities.
Inside the schools, the need to pay more attention to mental and or
spiritual guidance to combat juvenile delinquency.
The Setting
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SMAN 04 and SMAN 06 are two of the nine
existing state senior high schools in the city of
Cirebon
Compared to SMAN 06, SMAN 04 is among the
most favourite high schools in Cirebon
SMAN 04 was founded in 1984 after being
transformed from SMPP.
SMAN 06 was founded in 1991 after being
transformed from SGO.
THE IRM OF SMAN 04
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In SMAN 04, the name of the Rohani Islam is the Ikatan Remaja
Mesjid (IRM) that is attached to the An-Najah school mosque
(built in 1991) and being independent from OSIS
In the process of membership recruitment, the IRM is usually
very active in the time of new students’ inauguration week.
The IRM having a close linkage with LDK in campuses adopted
the Halaqoh system
Three elements playing in the religious supervision: formal
religious teachers, the An-Najah school mosque board and AsSunnah preachers, who are to be the most active and intensive in
almost all processes of religious supervision as they become the
daily mentors.
In terms of references, formal religious subjects refer to books
provided by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Meanwhile, AsSunnah provided a sort of Wahabi inclined references.
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Conflicting
notions
in
terms
of
religious
understanding between among mentors brought the
school to take harsh approaches by outlawing those of
As-Sunnah.
Yet, IRM activists continue to invite the As-Sunnah
mentors privately.
As in the As-Sunnah, IRM heavily stressed and
viewed the outward appearance as a part of
fundamental elements of religious identity such as
wearing jalabiya (long dress), ‘imamah (headcover),
isbal ( long trouser above the ankle) and lihyah (long
beard) as well as niqab for female students
Under the austerity of the As-Sunnah, IRM initiated
to set up the Silaturahmi Gabungan or SILGAB that
builds close links of all existing Rohis around Cirebon.
The Rohani Islam of SMAN 06
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In SMAN 06, the name is the Rohani Islam, which is a part of
OSIS.
Like in SMAN 04, the process of membership recruitment takes
place in the time of new students’ inauguration week.
Like IRM, the Rohani Islam in SMAN 06 adopted the Halaqoh
system of learning
Like IRM, the main sources for religious learning in the Rohis of
SMAN 06 come from formal religious teachers as well as
external sources, particularly Bina Siswa Islami (Islamic Student
Supervision or BSI), a non-profit Muslim organisation that has a
close link with Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (Welfare and Justice
Party or PKS).
Conflicting notions in terms of religious understanding between
both mentors brought the school to take harsh approaches by
outlawing those of BSI
The main focus of both IRM and Rohis is on the
formation of true aqidah and akhlaq.
 They generally accepted Pancasila as the sole
ideology of the state considering that it is not in
conflict with the principles of Islam.
 They reject the application of Islamic Sharia in
Indonesia viewing that Indonesia is not an Islamic
state.
 In the matters of Jihad and terrorism, they reject
terrorist action as the way to do Jihad and some
even say that as “a form of misunderstanding
Qur’anic verses”.
 However, IRM activists in particular show their
sympahty towards terrorist perpetrators, particularly
those who took suicide bombings.
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The impacts
 The Islamisation projects was to be fruitful
such as the massive use of the jilbab and the
rise of new style of social interaction between
male and female students.
 The schools through their religious teachers
obliged all Muslim students, who were the
majority of the students, to take active parts in
religious activities including praying together
at the noon (dzuhur), memorising some short
verses of the Qur’an and reciting verses of the
Qur’an before the first lessons were begun.
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The Islamisation project is not without resistance including
creating conflicts between students and teachers in the processes
of teaching and learning.
Some teacher protested againts the changes of the learning session
schedule just to accommodate the spare time for the noon prayer.
The negative reaction also came from students who objected the
exclusivity of IRM activists in their school. The former frequently
attacked the latter as a group of anti-public concern and antimusafahah (direct shaking hand).
The massive arrests as well as killings of terrorist perpetrators,
particularly Noerdin M. Top, put the Rohis activists as the main
target of critics both from students and teachers who suspected
that they had a close connection with those terrorist networks.
More than that, in SMAN 06, for instance, from more than 800
students, only are 84 students who are active in the Rohis,
whereas, in SMAN 04, the amount of the members is even lesser
with only around 30 out of more 800.
Conclusion
 The rise of the Rohani Islam activities in schools was a part of the
Islamic dakwah resurgence pioneered by DDII and the university based
LDK.
 The dissatisfaction among some corners of students as well as of
teachers with the lack or even failure of religious subjects provided by
schools to fill their need for religious education.
 Finally, the active roles played by BSI and particularly As-Sunnah
means that the Rohani Islam on the one hand becomes the backbone of
the Islamisation of the secular driven public schools. On the other
hand, it acts one of the important channels in spreading the
fundamentalist notion of the salafy movement that in many cases is in
conflict with the general feature of religious notions and practices
among Indonesian Muslims.