Islam inside the Netherlands East Indies

Een hadji by Nederlandsch Oost-Indische typen by C.W. Mieling circa 1853

Islam came to Indonesia by way of Malabar in addition to Coromandel, the respectively south-western in addition to south-eastern coasts of India, along the age-old trade routes.

Both regions were important centres of trade, staging posts so to speak, connecting the eastern Asian regions with the Middle East in addition to Europe. Malabar was not only important as a transhipment place, yet also as a producer of pepper, a sought-after spice. Coromandel, on the additional hand, had no produce of importance as the item falls inside the rain shadow of the Western Ghats mountains, in addition to receives little rainfall during the southwest monsoon. The town of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is actually one of the driest places in India.

Similar to the spread of Hinduism, which several centuries previously had been brought to Indonesia along the same trade routes, Islam was introduced to the archipelago by traders by the Indian subcontinent. Conversions must have taken place at a fairly brisk pace, as inside the early years of the 16th century the east Java Hindu Empire of Majapahit was replaced by the Islamic kingdom of Mataram. inside the western part of Java, Cirebon in addition to Banten became the main Islamic centres.

The Population Census of 1905 estimates the total population of the archipelago at 37 million, of which some 35 million, or just under 95%, were Muslims—29.6m on Java in addition to 5.4m on the outer islands.

Malabar in addition to Coromandel

Given of which Islam did not come to Indonesia directly by Arabia, yet followed the circuitous route via Persia in addition to the southern coasts of India, This particular has led historians to conclude of which the original type, as propagated by the Prophet, had been strongly influenced in addition to impacted by the many peoples in addition to cultures encountered on its way to Java. the item is actually, for instance, reported of which for the first four centuries after its introduction, by around 1200 to 1600 AD, the strict observance of religious duties, especially of the daily prayers, among the indigenous populations, was rather perfunctory. Believers were, however, highly tolerant in addition to far by fanatic.

in addition to probably as a result of the Indian influence, the early type of the religion contained a heavy dose of pantheistic philosophy, which did, however, fit well into the existing culture of Java with its mysticism in addition to superstitions. yet the same source does also note of which two aspects of religious observance were particularly strong among the converted masses: one is actually their religious conviction, or adherence to the first of the several Pillars of Islam—belief in Allah in addition to in Muhammad as his Prophet, in addition to the second one, circumcision. Many a Christian missionary has experienced the nearly insurmountable difficulty of establishing a foothold in Muslim communities.

The first reliable European image of the Haram in Mecca was published by Adrian Reland in 1717. the item is actually based on Islamic images (Iznik tiles, miniatures) which were flat projections. Reland made a reconstruction in perspective

the item is actually only after the connection with Arabia, inside the 17th century, became more significant, of which the influence of the pure, undiluted Islam grew. This particular more orthodox type was brought back to Indonesia by pilgrims. In those days they might usually stay there for a fairly long time, studying the devotional scripts in addition to acquiring sacral knowledge in addition to learning. Upon their return to Java they might then teach the beliefs in addition to concepts gained in Mecca, thereby gradually changing the earlier “Indian” type of the religion. In Mecca these pilgrims were known as the Java Colony.

These observations, dating by 1917, conclude with the remark of which the reverse side of This particular change was of which intolerance grew in addition to religious strife became more common. This particular, in turn, strengthened the lingering anxiety among the European section of the population in addition to the colonial government. Returning hajjis were suspected of plotting against the political system in addition to sowing intolerance in addition to fanaticism.

inside the early 1800s the colonial authorities reacted to This particular, what they called, “unfortunate development”, by trying to curtail the number of pilgrims. The decree issued to This particular end stated of which before embarking on the hajj, a pilgrim needed a passport. At 110 guilders (This particular might nowadays be the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars) the hajj was priced out of reach of many intending pilgrims.

Pilgrims by South Kalimantan, 1889

A large number of pilgrims, of course, made the hajj anyway, yet without the passport. The authorities responded to This particular by issuing Decree 26 March 1831 / 24, which put the fine for having gone on a hajj without the required passport at 220 guilders. As both decrees had not been published inside the law gazette, the Supreme Court overturned the fine imposed on a hajji for not obtaining the passport. The Governor-General consequently decided to annul the decrees. of which was in 1852. Various methods to control in addition to regulate both the hajj in addition to the hajjis were subsequently initiated by the authorities, until, towards the end of the century, the item dawned on them of which mistrust of hajjis had been unfounded.

Whereas in 1859, the yearly number of pilgrims was estimated to be 2,000, the corresponding figure in 1886 was 5,000, increasing to some 7,000 during the following decade. In 1914 the number of pilgrims by the archipelago had increased to 28,000, in addition to the 2012 number was over 200,000.

As steamers took over the service between Indonesia in addition to Mecca, not only was travelling time reduced, yet also the length of time the pilgrims stayed away. In contrast to previous centuries the pilgrims might typically stay for a month or two, which did not leave much time for the study of devotional scripts. Moreover, the majority of pilgrims might not have been able to speak Arabic in addition to had in a relatively short time been exposed to a completely different environment in addition to culture. the item can thus be surmised of which they might have returned to Indonesia inside the same frame of mind as when they departed. When we agree of which the item was not the increasing number of returning hajjis who caused the growing intolerance in addition to fanaticism, the item might be interesting to identify another cause, or causes, for these developments of which unfortunately are even more noticeable today.