“It is definitely a growing problem in Indonesia. Officials don’t care when they break the law,” a friend said in an email when commenting on the Islam Defense Front (FPI) in Indonesia.

Related to incidents of violence conducted in the name of religion, let’s look at a story from Yemen.

Tribal elders in Rafadh valley in Yemen’s Shabwa province gathered to make a decision. After a series of fatal airstrikes caused fear and destruction, they came to the conclusion that they could not keep silent about the presence of al-Qaeda supporters there. Fahd al-Quso, a former prisoner at Guantanamo who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list, and his followers were required to leave the tribe’s land.

The decision to expel al-Quso and his compatriots was not easily taken. Traditional solidarity in a tribe bonds its members strongly and even at times illogically. Al-Quso is a descendant of a tribe in the valley. There must have been strong objections from his relatives and a feeling of unease among the other families in the tribe.

The story, reported by Robert F. Worth in The New York Times on July 6, 2010, ended with a quote from al-Quso’s father, a native of the valley but now living in Aden, a major city in Yemen. “He is a mujahid (holy warrior),” he said. “He is fighting those who occupy Arab lands. He is fighting unbelievers.”

But the decision had been taken. The safety and peace of the tribal region was more important. Al-Quso is allowed to come there, if he wishes, as a member of the community, but alone without any other al-Qaeda members.

What is interesting in this story is how traditional institutions have played, and are still very likely to play, a pivotal role in protecting a community from threats to its existence. Regardless of the outcome of the story, the tribes might have debated to the last breath the question of protecting al-Qaeda men. The existence of a traditional bond made the tribal elders gather, unite and make a decision.

In another The New York Times report, a bomber attacked a meeting of tribal elders in Mohmand, Pakistan (July 9, 2010). Sixty people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

In this case, we could see how the Taliban in Pakistan (and Afghanistan) significantly fear the possibility of united tribes which will pressure them since the tribes actually have great power when compared to military groups or even militias. United resisting tribes will give the Taliban less freedom to move and may eventually cause their defeat.

In the Indonesian context, although the strength of traditional bonds seems to be less, especially in urban areas, the possibility of using traditional institutions to beat violence in the name of religion is not without hope.

Based on a 2010 research project in a Maluku village, Tonny D. Pariela, a professor at Pattimura University, found that when different groups of villagers kept their original identities, they could resist harm from conflicts.

They succeeded in using their traditional ways of communicating ideas and building togetherness as a survival strategy.

Holding traditional values on diversity with a belief in trust and harmony, they were able to come to a conclusion that they had to wash away any divisive thoughts and actions to guarantee safety and peace for their village.

We could refer back to the Wahhabi movement in West Sumatra in the 18th century. Here we find that Tuanku Nan Renceh, the leader of a puritanical Islamic movement in the Dutch colonial era, faced tough resistance from traditional leaders after he strictly imposed intolerant religious laws. He even heartlessly killed his own aunt after she chewed betel and tobacco leaves.

Even though the traditional leaders were “tamed” since they had to choose between joining the colonialists or the puritans, the clash between Islamic radicalism and cultural Islam has never ceased.

Many people ambiguously accept strict religious symbols but keep doing what they feel more comfortable doing culturally and naturally.

Traditional institutions are actually rich enough to facilitate communal resistance. Besides “mechanical solidarity”, which was defined by the famous anthropologist Durkheim as a social bond that underlies traditional society that is predicted to fade with modernization, there are some (not to say “many”) cultural things that flexibly adjust themselves to modernity.

Most traditional arts are universal in nature since they are customarily aimed to entertain and bind the members of a community and even outsiders.

Even in the regions where Islam has enriched native culture — since the current threats are present in the name of Islam — there is more or less cultural flexibility.

In this sense, we could culturally challenge the violent activities of radical groups through urging members of a community to return to the traditional institutions or to strengthen their bonds to them. At least, the members will have an alternative and better viewpoint related to responding to something alien to their traditions.


The writer is a teacher at Lazuardi-GIS, Jakarta.

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