Diversity of Tarekat Communities and Social Changes in Indonesian History

Abstract

Islam as a religious system is generally based on three principal teachings called as aqidah (theology), syari'ah (law), and tasawwuf (Sufism, moral and spiritual). Each thought and the Islamic expertise have also established Muslim communities that demonstrate the diversity of social and religious history in various regions on the spread of Islam. In the history of the spread of Islam in Indonesia, particularly the Sufis always showed a significant role in each period of social change. Therefore, further discussion of this paper will be based on the development of tarekat communities. The historical facts in this study are presented gradually based on the unique cases in each period. The tarekat communities in Nusantara in the early period of Islam, which is the 13th century until the 17th century, have established the religious system patterned on the diversity of doctrine, thought, and tradition that is acculturative with various cultures of the local society in Nusantara. Then they developed during the Dutch colonial period in the 18th century and the 19th century. Besides contributing in the Islam religious founding, they also contributed in the patriotism struggle and even protested in the form of rebellion towards the Dutch colonial. The Sufis from various tarekat streams displayed antagonistic of political acts towards the Colonial government policies. It was developed at the beginning of the 20th century, which is the period of nationalism and of Islamic reform movements. The social force of tarekat people became an indicator of the religion revival that was very influencing towards the nationalism movement in Indonesia. The last one, it has been developing on the independence day of Indonesia, which is called the contemporary period, until today. The tarekat people have built a community system variously based on the principle of beliefs and various ritual activities. The tarekat people always develop, modify, and actualize the tasawwuf teachings and the tarekat practice, mainly in order to complete the spirituality and morality improvement of the society. The tarekat people’s contributions are very helpful for the society in general in order to fulfill the mental necessity. Their religiosity is also strategic enough to be used as a control media for the moral life of the nation.

Nationalism and Spiritualism of Javanese Tarekat: Study of Tarekat Rinjani in Banyumas Central Java

“…One of the spiritual practices in Berlian Mas that must be done by a salik to get love from God is to love the motherland and with the Nahdlatul Ulama flag. This may be affected by the history that in the early 20th century, the social power of the tarekat people became an indicator of religion resurgence, which had a significant impact on Indonesia's nationalistic movement (Abdurahman, 2018).…”

Socio-Sufism Practices within the Indonesia’s Tariqah Practitioners

“…First, a study that explains the teachings and practices of the tarekat (Azwar, 2018;Habiba Abror et al, 2021;Ziadi, 2018). Second, tarekat is a response to the problems of today's society (Abdullah, 2018;Abdurahman, 2018;Hamzah & Nasrul, 2020;Kertayasa et al, 2021;Shadiqin, 2018). In this case, the tarekat teaching in building religious awareness responds to the erosion of moral and spiritual values (Jamaludin et al, 2021).…”

Tariqa of Hizib Nahdlatul Wathan: Construction of Social Change During the New Order Period in Lombok, Indonesia

“…Research conducted by scholars on the role of tariqa in society has shown that tariqa plays an essential role in social, cultural, and political life in the Islamic world, including in Indonesia [3][4][5]. Studies on tariqa in Indonesia have been conducted extensively, including studies on the origins and development of Sufism in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. However, research related to the role of the tariqa in viewing social and cultural change in Indonesia, including Lombok, has yet to be explicitly explored.…”