Silallo Tessirapi is a popular phrase among the people of South Sulawesi. The phrase literally means "exceeding but not reaching." It essentially means that everyone at the same time has both a surplus and a deficit in terms of materials, skill, and knowledge.
No matter how sufficient someone is, he is deficient in many things. This essay elaborates on silallo tessirapi as both a popular discourse and a principle of pluralistic life, which is manifested in everyday life among the Ammatoa, one of indigenous peoples of Sulawesi.
In popular discourse, almost every Ammatoa recognizes silallo tessirapi as being the idea of equality. In discussions, the people like to begin their arguments with the phrase. The use of the phrase is to remind both speakers and listeners in any arguments being made to be considerate.
A speaker, whoever he/she is, has the potential to be true (and false, too), and a listener in turn should take a speaker's argument into account, not take it for granted but critically evaluate and compare it with whatever knowledge he has already gained.
In addition, the use of the phrase is to prevent anyone being arrogant, superior, and dominant in discussions. Silallo tessirapi creates a perception that everyone is potentially equal and every argument should be equally considered.
In everyday practices, silallo tessirapi is a means to interpret and articulate democracy for local contextualization. Democracy is unarguably a new political system to the Ammatoa people.
As an imported system, democracy has brought both advantages and disadvantages to people's lives. The Ammatoa people have noticed that democracy theoretically offers equal opportunities for everyone to compete for power, but at the same time, has unfortunately ruined family ties.
In every general election, there is serious tension. "Cousins and uncles become "enemies," they complained. Democracy, however, is not being totally rejected.
Having learned from the process of democratization, the Ammatoa people have struggled to articulate democracy and perceive it to be potentially helpful and useful for life management through the wisdom of silallo tessirapi.
Conducting a local election for a village head, both candidates and constituents of the Ammatoa strongly argued that holding to the principle is an essential key for successful leadership.
A village leader would fail unless he strongly holds to the wisdom of silallo tessirapi. A village leader has to treat the people as his partners, who might be more knowledgeable than himself. The people in turn understand that their participation in democratization, by being consistently critical of the leaders, will definitely determine good governance.
The Ammatoans' religious life is where silallo tessirapi is also pervasively manifested. In a religious sense, the philosophy implies an individual pursuit. For the Ammatoans, religious knowledge is a personal accomplishment and religious practice is an individual commitment.
To search for knowledge is an individual dedication and to distribute it, someone is selective. If you don't search for it, you won't get it. If you want to distribute it, you should be aware of your receiver's personal dedication, an engagement to seriously seek knowledge and be willing to manuntungi (do good things) with the knowledge.
Since religious knowledge is a personal pursuit for the Ammatoans, their religious ideas and practices are pluralistic. Some people might share knowledge and practices with others, but a mainstream knowledge is not desired.
Certain discourses are more popular than others, but those discourses are all individually contested, at least in practice.
Being a Muslim is a final choice for the Ammatoans. They all hold Islam as their collective identity. What is the meaning of Islam and how to practice it are again individual interpretations. The people might come to a mosque collectively, but they have their individual perceptions and expectations on what they are doing.
The pluralistic character of the Ammatoa's religiosity illuminates that the diversity of religious-cultural practices is to be appreciated, celebrated, and supported. They advocate that diversity is not to be afraid of, not to be ashamed of, and not to refuse.
The Ammatoa people appreciate others not because they are religious, or they share same religious identity, but because they have the potential to contribute to a better quality of community life.
In Ramadan, people are not only expected to appreciate those who fast but also those who do not. Ramadan does not separate people but gather them, regardless of their diverse (and different) ways of treating it.
Echoing Saba Mahmood's (2005) insight on ritual in her Politics of Piety, the plurality of the Ammatoa's religious reality is both produced by and reproduces the idea of silallo tessirapi. The pluralistic character of the Ammatoa's religious knowledge and practices is the product of the idea silallo tessirapi because people refer to the idea for their behavior. It underlies everyday practices.
For the Ammatoans, the idea is an inspiration to admit, celebrate, support others' existence and contribute to the wellbeing of themselves. The plurality at the same time produces and reproduces the idea of silallo tessirapi.
The people keep learning from the pluralistic reality where they live to reaffirm the idea. Everyday practices continuously re-establish the principles of the Ammatoa's religious life, which is pluralistic in character both as an idea and as a practice. Silallo tessirapi is a principle and practice of pluralism.
We can learn a lot from this small tribe.
The writer is a PhD candidate in Islam and Indigenous Religions at Arizona State University and is currently doing fieldwork in the Ammatoa community of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
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