Nasr Abu Zayd

UIN held a colloquium this afternoon with Nasr Abu Zayd as the main speaker. Zayd is an Egyptian who was a literature professor at the U. of Cairo before he was forced to leave the country. Zayd is at the forefront of a movement that applies hermeneutical tools for reading the Quran. This approach, which sees the Quran as a work of literature as well as holy text, has been condemned by Egyptian Muslim clerics and Zayd was declared apostate. A curious twist to this tale lies in the judgment that a Muslim woman cannot remain married to an apostate, so Zayd's wife was declared divorced from Zayd even though she refused. Remaining in Egypt was dangerous so he is now living in Holland.

Zayd's presentation was largely a summary of a recent book of his on the reformation of Islamic thought. For the most part, this reformation lies in applying historical critical methods to the Quran and the development of Islam. Some Christians may recognize this as something that has been happening in Christianity for over 100 years.

This historical critical method involves asking questions, for example, about the relationship of the Arabic language used at the time of the Prophet to the revelation of the Quran, the development of Islam as it spread beyond Arabia, and the nature of reading the Quran today. Zayd gave a fascinating overview of many of these issues but, more importantly, pointed out how such a hermeneutical method may lead to a resurgence of Islam. Zayd emphasized that Islam today has been reduced to Sharia, which represents a small part of the Quran, and what was needed was a desire to pursue other ways of being Muslim. These included the development of mysticism/spirituality as well as theology and philosophy.

What I found most interesting, however, was that Zayd tied the reformation of Islam to the necessity of respecting individual freedoms and rights. Individualism is often cited by Islamic scholars as one of the defining faults of the West and particularly democracy. Zayd emphasized that respecting human rights and the development of democracy was necessary for addressing problems of oppression as well as poverty and injustice. Unfortunately, he did not make clear why individualism was necessary for the reformation of Islam. What is the connection between a hermeneutical reading of Islam and democracy? Zayd did not make clear what this connection might be and so the relationship between a method of reading the Quran and Islamic politics remained unclear to me. Luther's insistence on the individual believer reading Scripture and being directly responsible to God transformed the politics of Christianity and Europe as a whole because it established the sacred as a realm distinct from the profane. It is not clear to me how a historical critical approach to the Quran and Islam produces a positive alternative politics that could establish the sort of reformation Zayd is looking for.

While the politics of Zayd's approach is not clear to me, it was clear why some Muslims might feel threatened. I was curious how the audience would react to his presentation. In fact, the questions were largely positive and I didn't sense any real opposition. Curiously, though, the audience was made up almost entirely of students, with only a few junior faculty. I am not sure what to make of the fact that apart from Zayd, I was probably the oldest person there.

I found the presentation to be fascinating, largely because it opened a window on a part of Islam I have not yet encountered directly. What I have experienced so far is an Islam that is heavily dependent on maintaining and repeating traditional understandings of being a faithful Muslim. Zayd's approach is a distinctly modern method that applies a scientific analysis to the tradition in the hope of opening up previously repressed possibilities. I have no idea how influential this hermeneutical approach is, nor do I have any sense of how effective it could be in bringing about a reformation in Islam.

Phil

Thursday, 21 August - Final Update

We got our extension and so won't have to leave for Singapore till the end of September. We probably won't go to Bali because school begins for the girls on Monday and Katie doesn't want to miss the first day. (All flights are booked on Sunday)

So in spite of all our planning and uncertainty over what might happen this summer, it ends with a whimper. Depressing, really.

Have I mentioned that I am probably going to Malaysia in November?

Phil

Thursday, 21 August - Update

It is 2pm Wednesday, 20 August and still unclear what we will be doing tomorrow. We have our tickets to fly out of Solo at 10am, which would require that we leave Jogja at about 8. Someone from my university is in Jakarta applying for the extension and has been told that an answer will come by 4pm today. He is confident that we will get the extension but it isn't clear to me what his confidence is based on. He has worked hard on our behalf and I would hate to have all that effort go for naught.

If we don't get the extension, things get a bit more complicated. In order to apply for the extension, we had to hand over our passports to Immigration. And we can't get the passports back until the question of the extension is resolved. Which means that we have to consider how we will get our passports back in time if we have to be in Solo by 10am. At this point, if we don't get the extension, the tentative plan is to be at Immigration here in Jogja when it (hopefully) opens at 8am, get the passports, and then race to Solo.

Of course, by 4 we may find out that we don't need to go and then the only things we would have to do is cancel appointments in Singapore and figure out what we will do for the rest of the week.

This isn't really interesting in and of itself, since we will be fine no matter how things turn out. What is interesting is the degree of uncertainty to which we have become accustomed. Much like our lives in Africa, we have slowly become used to a degree of uncertainty that one wouldn't normally experience in N. America. In 24 hrs, we may have to be in a different country. Or maybe not. I don't know what courses I will be teaching in September, nor do I know when classes begin. Also, Ramadan runs over most of September and I am not sure how this changes the operation of the university. I have heard that as Ramadan progresses, the campus becomes progressively more empty. Our lives rarely have the opportunity to become routine so we gradually become used to change. I really need routine to structure my day but I have to admit that I also enjoy the uncertainty of our lives here.

Thursday, 21 August

I am afraid we won't go anywhere on Thursday.

The last few weeks have been a bit difficult. At first, our plans to holiday in Bali were on and off for a variety of different reasons. Then, as August came, we weren't sure about going to Bali because we were supposed to be going to Singapore at the end of the month. We are on a kind of visa that is good for six months, after which we are supposed to leave the country. Through my university, we are working on getting a different kind of visa that would allow us to stay for a year before being renewed. However, getting this different visa has been complicated. The short, and polite, version of the story is that our situation is now so convoluted we aren't certain what will happen on Thursday.

One scenario has us leaving the country, on Thursday, for Singapore because our visa expires and we need to renew it out of country. We would stay in Singapore getting a new visa of the same kind we have been on so far in Indonesia. But we would also be doing all sorts of medical checkups, for which we have already made appointments. This is high season for Singapore so we have booked flights as well as hotel rooms. We would then return on 26 Aug. This is the scenario we have been planning for months. The downside of this scenario is that when the process for getting the different visa is complete, most likely by the end of September, we will have to make the trip to Singapore again. We don't necessarily mind visiting Singapore, but the trips are expensive, even though we don't pay for them.

Another scenario, one which we became aware of almost by accident in the last few days, is that my university manages to somehow get a special dispensation for us, allowing us to overstay our visa by one month. The university has told us that we don't need to go to Singapore until the end of September, at which time we will be able to get the new kind of visa. However, it isn't certain that this special dispensation will be granted, and we won't likely know until Wednesday. (Monday is a national holiday.) The university is confident it will work out, but we have never heard of anyone getting this sort of dispensation.

This leaves us not sure what will happen on Thursday, but having to make plans as though we will be traveling to Singapore. If we have to go to Singapore, we have plane tickets and hotel rooms. However, if we don't go, we are thinking of going to Bali. But this is high season in Bali so getting flights and rooms is difficult. But we can't book flights and rooms in advance because we might be going to Singapore. So we might not have to go to Singapore and not be able to go to Bali because we can't get flights or rooms.

I fear that on Thursday, we won't go anywhere.

Phil

Ants (by Lori)

We have alot of ants. Most are very small, and some are a similar size to what we had in Ontario. The little ones have a shocking ability to get into places that you thought were safe. We take care to cover all food that is outside the fridge. The minute a pack of cookies or crackers or even gum is opened, the leftovers have to be put in the fridge. After each meal we have to be meticulous about cleaning up, wipe tables (and kids mouths, and shirts) and sweep. Should we fail to do any of these, disagreeable are the consequences which we shall surely face. Here is one such story.

Yesterday I bought a bag of candy (of the sweet and sour variety) and left the open bag on the kitchen counter. Now, after my first paragraph you are asking, why would she do that? Because most of the candy one buys here comes individually wrapped, so that you buy a bag of individually wrapped candies (not the kind that you can open by stretching the 2 sides apart, but the truly, completely sealed kind). My daughter asked for a candy today after dinner, and I agreed. She took it herself and was asking me to open it, when she starting crying. While waiting for me to get the scissors, she had put the wrapped sweet in her mouth. By the time I got to her she had ants on her shirt, on both hands, and on her tongue! We acted quickly to get them out of her mouth first, and then took care of the rest. As soon as we got them out of her mouth, she was fine - no lasting distress. Not so true for me!

It is times like these that remind me that I am not at home. Sometimes I get very tired of constantly having to be on top of things - and its not just the ants - its checking the beds every night before we go to sleep, for bugs, its the foot long lizard in the back room, the mosquito larvae that live in our bak, the neighbour's dog which has a regular case of worms, the daily smell of burning garbage, plastics, and other toxic stuff, the reality of earthquakes, political sensitivity and the fact that we are very obvious foreigners living in a majority muslim country - the list goes on. No, I don't want to come home yet. Yes, I still enjoy living here. But every once in a while I crave the ability to take a walk outside without being an object of interest, drink water from household taps, to experience a good old fashioned snow storm that will kill off most of the bugs and share the road with people who have actually taken driver training.

Lori

Visit to the village

Today we went to visit the home of Ibu Wahl, the woman who helps us with our meals. She lives with her mother and sisters in a village just outside of Jogja. We had a good time visiting and being shown around the area. I will keep this short and recommend checking out the pictures.

Phil

Bridge-building Conference

This past week, I have been attending a conference organized by the Religious Studies program (CRCS/ICRS) at Gadjah Mada University. The conference was the conclusion of a series of meetings that brought together religiously affiliated people that might not otherwise meet. There were Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. There were people from different parts of Indonesia as well as from the U.S., Europe, Chile, Egypt and Singapore. There were academics, social activists, journalists and politicians. There were also people from across the political spectrum ranging from self-identifying liberals to conservatives. In one respect, the actual topic of the conference was less important than the fact that such a diverse group of people gathered together over four days to talk to each other.

The topic was 'Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities For Religions' and included sessions on the media, youth and education, environment, poverty, religious symbols and identity. Presenters represented a variety of organizations including leading newspapers (The Jakarta Post, Kompas), NGOs (Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Humanitarian Volunteers Network [Christian]), as well as more activist organizations like the magazine _Sabili_ and the organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia.

While the aim of the meetings and conference was to bring together a variety of people in order to encourage conversations on a variety of topics, the conference was dominated by the issue of Globalization and Islam. In large part, this issue was the result of the presence of the editor of 'Sabili' and the representative from Hizbut Tahrir.

'Sabili' is an Indonesian magazine that is at the forefront of Muslim radicalism. It gives a steady diet of anti-Western, anti-Zionist, anti-Christian articles that are quite inflammatory. They have listed the names and addresses of Christian churches which are to be targeted by militants. In his session, the editor gave a presentation that told us how globalization was a tool of the West to destroy Muslims. He was also very vocal in expressing his opinions regarding the positions of others. It was inevitable, then, that at least part of the conference would gravitate towards responding to his position.

I had a hard time getting a read on this fellow. It was clear what he thought of the West and globalization, but his comments on other religions were far less extreme than what one finds in 'Sabili'. 'Sabili' is a business and needs to sell copies, and I had the distinct impression that what I was hearing was less personal convictions and more of a show, or advertisement. For example, at one point this fellow became so upset with how other Muslims were using the name 'Islam' that he stood up, shouted his objection, and threatened to leave if people didn't change. The response of the crowd, the vast majority of whom were Muslim, was to start laughing. My guess is that this was not a nervous laughter but laughter at the show of indignation. I suspect that many people read 'Sabili' not because they agree with the articles, but because they are entertained by the outrageous claims being made. This does not mean that 'Sabili' is innocuous, it had a role in the destruction of churches, nor is the editor a buffoon, his influence among Muslims is considerable. Rather, in my opinion, the role of extremism in Indonesia is not a simple one. A few people are inflamed by 'Sabili' leading to acts of violence but almost without exception these are clearly disenfranchised individuals. They are angry at the West, at Christians, at other Muslims, and are looking for someone or something to channel that anger. Yet, the vast majority of Muslims in Indonesia, while most likely sharing some resentment of the West, would reject the extremism of 'Sabili'. This would be something like people who read supermarket tabloids. They may suspect there are secrets and conspiracies, but most likely don't believe that world leaders are really aliens.

The other force at work in the conference was the presence of Hizbut Tahrir. HT is a Muslim organization working towards the formation of a Caliphate, that is, a transnational state of Muslims led by a single individual, a Caliph. HT is banned in a number of Arab countries but is being 'watched' by the U.S. and European countries. It explicitly rejects the use of violence against innocent people but, as someone put it, creates an environment where there are not many innocent people. Currently on its website, HT has articles explaining the plan of the West to destroy Islam as well as how India is an enemy state. A year ago, HT held a rally in Jakarta in support of forming a Caliphate and 100,000 people attended. (The free meals may have had something to do with the participation of many.)

The representative of HT gave the sort of presentation one might expect on globalization, but reserved part of his speech for urging the adoption of sharia by all Muslims. In particular, he emphasized that the Quran was very clear what was meant by sharia. This is important because there is a raging debate going on in Indonesia regarding sharia. Several parts of Indonesia have been given permission to institute sharia but the question is, which sharia? While many Indonesian Muslims are open to sharia, most disagree with some of its traditional forms. So the question people are debating is whether sharia has one universal form or is it always translated into cultural settings. In particular, the arguments center around the role of women, the nature of punishment, openness to conversion out of Islam, and the place of non-Muslims. Once the issue of sharia was introduced by the representative of HT, it repeatedly arose throughout the rest of the conference. At one point, as Muslims were debating, a Hindu friend leaned over and asked me when this became a conference on Islamic law. As the conference concluded, one participant explained to all the non-Muslims present that the truth of sharia was not just for Muslims, so everyone could accept it, which I thought was very generous of him. On the other hand, there were many Muslims who vigorously objected to this understanding of sharia and Islam. So, while listening to HT was a bit disheartening, the response was encouraging.

The conference organizers consciously avoided any reference to 'dialogue', a word that is anathema to some participants. Rather, the goal was to get people like those from 'Sabili' and HT, into the same room with people from other religions, with the hope that talking to each other might help overcome some of the distance between groups. I was told that there was some evidence of improved relationships and I would like to think that this is true. As with most conferences, the quality of presentations was uneven, but the event was well worth attending for the insight it gave me into Islam and Islam in Indonesia.