Alternative models of Islamic governance in Southeast Asia: Neo‐Sufism and the Arqam experiment in Malaysia

Abstract

In the prevailing political world order, sovereign nation‐states and secular political authority widely face competition from transnational religious communities, whose authority and agendas derive from different principles. This is particularly evident in Islam, where ulama may acquire political power, while governments appropriate religious interpretations to their own purposes, and even determine who is orthodox or heretical in their domain. This article focuses on the origins and spread of one Malay Islamic movement, Al Arqam, inspired by a rare mix of global Sufi and strict Shari'ah traditions, many of whose members were organized into residential communes and institutions promoting economic independence, mutual support, social service and extensive mission. With their schools, clinics, farms and factories, this amounted to an experiment in alternative development and governance, although not explicitly as an Islamic state. Arqam's moral example and its success in recruiting technically skilled, highly educated young Malays, however, was perceived by the Malaysian government, as its own loss, and a threat to its legitimacy, and the movement was eventually banned. Through this non‐violent ideological confrontation, Arqam became de facto political, as well as a ‘heresy’, in this local understanding of ‘political Islam’.

Notes

* Professor Judith Nagata, York Centre for Asian Research, Ste. 270 York Lanes, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. Tel.: +1‐416‐736‐2100. Fax: +1‐416‐736‐5688. Email: ⟨[email protected]⟩

For examples of variants of the ‘Asian state’ and ‘Asian values’, see Stein Tonnesson and Hans Antlov (eds), Asian Forms of the Nation (London: Curzon Press, 1998); Hans Antlov and Tak‐Wing Ngo (eds), The Cultural Construction of Politics in Asia (St. Martin's Press, 2000); Diane Mauzy, ‘Democracy, Asian Values and the Question of Governance’, in Acharya, Frolic and Stubbs (eds), Democracy, Human Rights and Civil Society in Southeast Asia (Toronto: Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies, 2001), pp. 107–122.

The impressive scope and impact of some of these networks are vividly chronicled by Mona Abaza, in her tracing of the scholarly exchanges and transnational connections between Indonesia, Singapore and the University of Al Azhar in Cairo, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. See her Changing Images of Three Generations of Azharites in Indonesia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Occasional Paper, No. 88, 1993).

See Richard Eaton, Essays on Islam and Indian History (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000).

Conflating a substantial literature on the origins and practice of Sufism, it is generally characterized as representing a form of Islamic mysticism, privileging more emotional and expressive styles of worship and personal experience of divine love, which allows the exposure of the inner spirit (batin), which are often engaged through group devotions and chanting (dzikr), cf. J.S. Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973); as kind of ‘folk’ or ‘popular Islam, cf. Peter Riddell, Islam and the Malay‐Indonesian World (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001). For accounts of early and contemporary Sufism in Indonesia, see: Anthony Johns, ‘Sufism in Southeast Asia: Reflections and reconsiderations’. Journal of Asian Studies, 26,1 (1995), pp. 169–183; and Julia Day Howell, ‘Sufism and the Indonesian Islamic revival’. Journal of Asian Studies, 60,3 (2001), pp. 701–730. For Malaysia, the most abundant source is from S.M. Naguib Al‐Attas, e.g., Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practiced among the Malays (Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, 1963).

See: Martin Van Bruinessesn, Agha, Sheik and State: The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan (London: Zed Books, 1992); and Peter Riddell, Islam and the Malay‐Indonesian World: Transmission and Responses (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001).

For details of the role of the turuq in preserving social and political order in both precolonial and colonial Africa, see Ousmane Kane, ‘Muslim Missionaries and African States’, in Susanne Rudolph and James Piscatori (eds), Transnational Religions, Fading States (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997), pp. 47–62.

See, for example, Richard Tapper, ‘Ethnicity, Order and Meaning in the Anthropology of Iran and Afghanistan’, in Le Fait Ethnique en Iran et en Afghanisatn, Colloques Internationales (Paris: Editions CNRS, 1988), pp. 21–34; and A. Vinogradov, ‘Ethnicity, Cultural Discontinuity and Power Brokers in Northern Iraq: the case of the Shabak’, American Ethnologist, 1 (1974), pp. 207–218.

See S.M. Naguib Al‐Attas, 1963, and Riddell, 2001.

Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1960).

For a detailed account of the Kaum Muda, as scholars and literati from India and Arabia who settled in the centers of Penang and Singapore, see William Roff, The Origins of Malay Nationalism‐ 2nd ed (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1994).

The Sufi influence on Sultan Osman Khan (1258–1326 CE), was noted for its role in his enlightened leadership, cf. ‘Mengapa Perlu Sufi memimpin?’, Al Qiadah (February 1991), pp. 35–36.

As described by Julia Day Howell, in her ‘Sufism and the Indonesian Islamic Revival’, Journal of Asian Studies, 60,3 (2001), pp. 701–729; Riddell, 2001.

As chronicled in the biography by his son‐in‐law, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, in The Naqshbandi Sufi Way: History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain, with foreward by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Chicago, IL: Kazi Publications, 1975), p. 375.

UMNO or United Malays National organization, is one of two ethnic Malay political parties, the other being the Islamic party, PAS. Since independence, UMNO has been the senior and incumbent party in the ruling coalition alliance, now known as the Barisan Nasional (BN).

As noted, for example, by Nik Abdul Aziz Haji Nik Hassan, (now Chief Minister of Kelantan, and Secretary of the Party PAS), in his account of religious life in Kelantan: ‘Islam dan Masyarakat Kota Bharu Diantara Tahun 1900–1933’, in Islam di Malaysia, (ed.), Persatuan Sejarah Malaysiam n.d.: 18–33. Also pointed out in a special article by Hasrullah Abdullah and Sariman Nabin, ‘Barisan Tareqat: Melalui Kesatuan Hati’, Al Qiadah (February 1991), p. 6.

As chronicled in the article, ‘Import Ulama dari Bukhara’ (Bintang Nusantara), Al Qiadah (February 1991), pp. 56–58.

In Islamic law, waqf is a form of philanthropic donation, of land or other resource, for the benefit and improvement of the Muslim community.

One such list, published in 2000, contained the names of 15 banned groups (Internet, Sangkancil, September 18th).

There were also highly publicized government crackdowns on local rural ‘cults’, such as one in Memali, Kedah, cf Nagata, The Reflowering of Malaysian Islam (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1984, Ch. 2).

The New Economic Policy embodied a new vision for Malaysia, following the ethnic riots of 1969 and the ensuing interregnum, during which an emerging new leader, Mahathir Mohamed, set in motion a series of policies aimed at promoting Malay advancement, including ethnic affirmative action clauses in favor of the Malay community over non‐Malays. Since 1971, special provisions for education, loans, licenses and training have remained in place, since renamed the New Democratic Policy.

The Economist: From Defender of the Faith to Terrorist', June 1, 2002.

ABIM's origins lay in a University of Malaya student organization in the late 1960s, promoting Malay language and rights, but following Anwar's visit to Iran, religion became the key ethnic boundary marker. Anwar's move to UMNO, emasculated its political influence, save as a voice of government in matters of religion.

Named for one of the Companions of the Prophet, whose house was an early meeting place for his followers in Mekkah.

See: Agha, Sheikh and State…, pp. 249–251.

Konsep Kesederhanaan Menurut Pandangan Islam: Sekaligus menjawab Masalah Konsep Fifty‐Fifty (Kuala Lumput: Pustaka Jasa, 1992).

Quoted in Al Qiadah, Feb, 1991; and by Drs Mu'min Effendy, ‘Krisis Kepimpinan Dalam Islam: Umat Jadi Korban’ Dakwah (December 1986), pp.7–9.

As reported in Sinar, 44,1 (August 1994), ‘Kerajaan Bisnis Darul Arqam’.

An Islamic Approach to Rural development‐the Arqam Way (London: ASOIB Press, 1992).

The New Straits Times, Jan. 7, 2000: ‘Much about Arqam remains untold: personally speaking’, by Mazlan Nordin.

As reported by Abdul Fauzi Abdul Hamid, in his ‘Political Dimensions of Religious Conflict in Malaysia: State Response to an Islamic Movement’, Indonesia and the Malay World, 28,80 (2000), pp. 32–65.

Over the years, Arqam has produced a broad array of publications, from the over 40 volumes of Ustaz Aha'ari himself, and a variety of journals, such as Al Qiadah, Dakwah, Al Ain, Comel, Anak Soleh, Al Mukminah, Al Solehah, An Nasihah, Al Munir and Amal, some of which were banned by government religious authorities and serially replaced by others.

Although the small size of the communities made consensus a feasible basis for governance, evidence suggests that there were occasions of division and conflict, leading to secession of disaffected members, cf. Mohd Rushdi Yusuf , Darul Arqam; Antara Kebenaran dan Kekeliruan (Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Kintan, 1990).

The above quotations all come from the same issue of Al Qiadah, February, 1991.

Muhd Syukri Salleh, personal communication, 1993.

From the early 1990s to the present, many new Islamic parties and movements, some with clear Sufi down space antecedents, have emerged in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Khazakstan, which are playing roles in the latest Wahhabi expansion (cf. The Economist, May 17, 2003: 39)

As depicted in the final Arqam journal, Amal, 1 (1992), p. 50, an edition devoted to: ‘Khurasan Dalam Jadual Allah’.

As recorded in the Arqam video, Arkam Teks, 1992, in the author's personal possession.

Edited by Ustaz Yusuf Din, ASOIB publications, 1992.

Cf. Abdul Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

Asha'ari explicitly rejected the idea of western political methods, including electoral democracy, as alien to Islam. cf. Abdul Rahman Hj ABdulla, Gerakan Islam tradisional di Malaysia: Sejarah dan Pemikiran: Jema'at Tabligh dan Darul Arqam (Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Kintan, Sdn Berhad, 1992), p. 97.

S.H. Alattas, Memo kepada Perdana Mentri, Kuala Lumpur, 1992; Mohd Sayuti Omar, Rahsia Ustaz Asha'ari terbongkar di luar Negeri (Kuala Lumpur, 1989); and Merdeka Kedua (Kuala Lumpur: Tinta Merah, 1990); and Yusuk Harun, Anak Bulan di Kota London (Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan gerakbakti kebangsaan, 1990).

For example, Reunungan untuk mengubah Sikap (Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Al Arqam, 1990).

‘Selepas Syiah Apa Pula?’ Muslimah (April 1993), pp. 44–45.

The Malaysian government's official hostility to all that Iran stood for was in part due to its revolutionary record, and to its influence in many opposition Islamic movements across the world, including Anwar Ibrahim's ABIM. Hence, the epithet ‘Shi’ah' was a political as much as a theological statement. Ironically, Asha'ari himself had written a critical volume on the ‘Dangers of Shi’ism' (Bahaya Syi'ah), Penerbitan Shoutul Arqam, 1987.

‘Tak Sekadar Akidah’, Sinar, 15 April 1993.

As recounted by Elizabeth Sirriyeh, Sufis and Anti‐Sufis: The Defence, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World (London: Curzon Press 1999).

The visits and meetings with political leaders in the US and Canada of Sheikhs Nazim and Hisham have been recorded in The Muslim Magazine (North America), 3(1&2), Spring 2000; and by Sri Mulyati, ‘Studi dan Mengamati Praktek Islam di Kanada Menemukan Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah, Cabang Montreal, Sebuah Surprise(?)’, in Yudian W. Asmin (ed.), Penagalaman Belajar Islam di Kanada (Montreal: Permika, 2000).

This plan is outlined in his book, The Caliphate, the hejaz and the Saudi‐Wahhabi Nation‐State, 1997.