 |
| Kabupaten Jombang |
This
thesis focuses on the relationship between Indonesian kiai
(‘ulama:
religious leaders) in Jombang to their wider social and political
situation. There are three kinds of kiai
discussed in the thesis, that is the pesantren
kiai, the tarekat
kiai, and the kiai
involved in politics. Two important aspects of kiai
leadership are highlighted. The first is the strong
attachment of the kiai to
Islam. As a religious leader, this attachment to Islam has resulted
in his leadership being generally seen as charismatic. One might
therefore pose the question as to whether a change in society's
political and social attitudes has an effect on the pattern of kiai
leadership. The second is the independence of each kiai
and hence the specific following he maintains. This
independence from other kiai
indicates that Muslims in Jombang are socially fragmented
along the lines of allegiance to various local kiaiship.
This means that the authority of the kiai
is dispersed. This structural situation creates the
possibility of conflict. The unity of Muslim society as a whole can
be threatened when conflicts occur between kiai
especially in the field of politics. The persistent
attachment of the kiai to
Islam, moreover, imbues any political conflict with religious
justification.
I
argue in this thesis that the charismatic authority exerted through
the leadership of the kiai
in Java has limitations in terms of its legitimacy. At the
very least it has boundaries that determine areas or circumstances
for its legitimate expression. These boundaries are normative and are
loosely expressed by the concept of ‘to struggle for Islam’. This
concept can be used by any kiai
follower or by groups within society tacitly to evaluate a
kiai. As holders
of charismatic authority, the kiai
can often induce action or emotional responses from their
followers since they are held in the high regard. However, in certain
situations such authority may be rendered useless when the kiai's
entrenched lines of authority are perceived to deviate
from a socially accepted religious base. At this point followers have
a possible basis to challenge the legitimacy of the kiai's
pronouncements particularly on social and political
issues. Voting in a general election is a good example. The kiai's
encouragement to support a party other than the Islamic
party, for example, has incurred negative responses from followers. A
few kiai have
even been deserted by a large number of their followers because of
their political stand.
This
thesis further argues that the kiai's
influence in politics is not as strong as in other
domains. Despite his being a charismatic figure, only a minority of
followers feel compelled to follow the kiai's
political example. Differences between the kiai
and his followers in relation to political behaviour are
common, especially after the transformation of the Islamic political
party. Nevertheless, the role of the kiai
in general remains important in the eyes of Muslim
society, since the kiai is
in the forefront guarding the morality and the religious orthodoxy of
Muslim society.
