Most Indonesians- and Southeast Asians, for that matter- are not afraid to identify the threat that confronts them. I am speaking, more specifically, about the source of extremist behavior within their societies. In the west, Wahhabism is often seen as a devious concoction by so-called Western Islamaphobes. A lot of Muslims believe that. In numerous op-eds, blog entries and forums posts, the word Wahhabism is invariably surrounded by apostrophes, as if to imply that it is nothing more pernicious than a figment of imagination.
Not so in Southeast Asian countries. Wahhabism has been a known problem, even before the events of 9-11 made the word popular. A cursory study of the region’s history would reveal why. The first thing to note is the particularly important role Sufi missionaries played in spreading the Islamic religion there. Southeast Asian Islam is thus deeply intertwined with Sufism. I speak as if the two are separate because of the modern (and distinctly Orientalist) belief that the two are not connected. In reality, Islam intertwined with Sufism has always been a mainstream and an orthodox phenomenon.
While it may be argued that early Sufism in the region tended to be a little too tolerant of indigenous practices, there was a systematic attempt, in Southeast Asia as with other parts of the world, to reinvigorate Sufism in the light of Shariah and orthodoxy. This process was accelerated in no small part by the sober teachings of the medieval mystic-scholar, Imam al-Ghazali.
By the end of the seventeenth century, Islam in Southeast Asia had taken on a distinctive character which was Shafi’i in fiqh (jurisprudence), Ashari (see my brief sketch of Imam Ashari’s life) in aqida (creed) and Ghazalian in Sufism. This triumvirate was deeply institutionalized and then channeled through Indonesia’s vast network of pesantrans, where unlike many other Islamic schools in the West, Sufism remains a core subject.
The strong Sufi-bent of the Islam that is therefore found in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore makes it is very difficult for the core precepts of Wahhabism to either gain a foothold or flourish. This is no doubt helped by the fact that Wahhabism is inherently intolerant and exclusivist- the complete opposite of the mainstream Islam practiced by most Southeast Asian Muslims.
However, it is not as simple as that. Most people, especially the older generation, remember the last Wahhabi experiment which happened on Indonesian soil. In the nineteenth century, the Padri movement became heavily influenced by the Wahhabi ideology in Arabia, and promptly sought control over the Minangkabau area. A group of ulema, led by Tuanku Nan Renech and Tuanku Imam Bonjol, began to introduce radical reforms, presumably to cleanse the area of un-Islamic practices. It was perhaps their goal to mimic the feat that their ideological founder, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, had performed in Arabia several decades earlier.
Fortunately, Padri radicalism was bitterly opposed by the majority of Muslims, who were led by Tuanku Nan Tuo. This started the famous Padri wars, which ended only after the Dutch intervened.
This is why in Southeast Asia, the word Wahhabi is not couched in any form of irony. It remains a genuine anathema for many Muslims. What a pity that they live in a region whose Muslim population, though it far outstrips that of the Middle East, always suffers from the indignity of being written off as a footnote in Muslim history.
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“This is why in Southeast Asia, the word Wahhabi is not couched in any form of irony. It remains a genuine anathema for many Muslims. What a pity that they live in a region whose Muslim population, though it far outstrips that of the Middle East, always suffers from the indignity of being written off as a footnote in Muslim history.”
Perhaps because Islam will always be an Arab religion and practitioners from other regions will always be 2nd class adherents.
It is written off as a footnote by Western historians of Islam. The muslim world has been reasonably well aware of contributions from SE Asia, since their scholars routinely went to Mecca to further their studies. Islam came to SE Asia too late for any of their scholars to be canonical within their madhdhabs the way non-Arab scholars from lands closer in are, but to write the whole region off as second class practitioners is unjustified.
After the last speech of the Holy prophet (saw), most of the people present in that speech left Saudi Arabia to spread islam. they went to iraq, yemen, syria etc etc.