Study tour Indonesia 2007

Lecture about the History of Islam in Lombok

The History of Islam in Lombok, by Mr. Muhammad …:

Mr. Muhammed is a lecturer at IAIN and holds a Master Degree in Educational Science from Syracuse University, New York.

Lombok is often called the ‘island of a thousand mosques’. The original religion in Lombok was called Boda. This is a religion where they worshipped ancestors and believed in spiritual communication. However, in the 14th century, king Majapahit conquered Lombok and spread Hinduism and Buddhism. In the 16th century Islam came to Lombok with a group of people from Java led by Sunan Prapen. He firstly Islamized the kings. This was the reason why Islam spread so quickly in Lombok, because people listen to the king.

The two highest classes in Indonesia are Lalu and Raden. To indicate that you are from one of these classes, you put an L or an R in front of your name. You also have Baig, Lale and Dende, and most of the inhabitants belong to Jajar Karang/Kaula. This tradition stays stronger in the villages then in the cities.

It is allowed to marry between the different classes, but the one with highest class moves down socially. Islam does not really have a social stratification system. This system in Lombok is an old tradition from the Hindu community, which is mixed with religion. Islam in Lombok has kept quite a bit of the traditions from Hindu time, an example is that the man chooses whom he wants to marry. The man’s parents ask the female’s parents if he can marry her. The female has not any impact on this decision. But they also have the typical Muslim traditions as circumcising, and mauli, the celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

Before Islam came to Lombok, the island was divided into many small kingdoms. The two biggest were Salapara and Bayern. But there is no written history before Islam came to Lombok. The Lalu and the Raden are originally from the kings. The dominating ethnic group in Lombok is Sasak. To be a Sasak, you also have to be a Muslim. A Hindu in Lombok is called Bali, which shows that the name of an island or an ethnic group also indicates the religion.

In Lombok there are many private schools for Muslims called pesantren. Here they teach Islam and public knowledge. They do not have an Imam, but a religious leader called Tuan Guru. He is often involved in politics. They also have a big impact on the community. The Tuan Guru often gets paid to tell other Muslims what to vote. The Imam and the Tuan Guru have some of the same tasks, like leading the prayers in the mosque. Every mosque does not have a Tuan Guru, but every Tuan Guru belongs to a mosque. To be a Tuan Guru you have to do the pilgrimage to Mecca, but the educational background is different. You just need good knowledge about Islam. But a Tuan Guru also has the responsibility for the whole community. He is allowed to have a family, and often he is also the headmaster of the pesantren.

In Lombok they try to follow Sharia, the Islamic law, as strict as possible. But it is not possible to follow all of the rules as long as the Sharia is not the formal judiciary system in Indonesia. The Muslims mean that corruption occurs because they do not follow the Muslim law.

When a person dies, long traditions guide procedures of praying and social gatherings. The first day they pray for the dead, and hoping he or she is on the way to paradise. The second day is the ‘biggest’ day. They gather everybody who knew the dead person, who is now being berried. The third and seventh day they pray and eat together. They also gather to pray and read the Koran after 40, 100 and 1000 days. This is traditions and religion mixed together. Before the first week after a baby is born, they have to slaughter one goat if it is a girl and two if it is a boy.