Sunday, November 20, 2011

INTERVIEW WITH THE SOEHERMANS

(Untuk Bahasa Indonesia, lihat: http://abdisoeherman.blogspot.com/2010/05/wawancara-jaffary-news-toronto-dengan.html)

“The missing link like in Darwinian theory was found in Shi’sm for me…”

By Rabiyah Kermali
January 2007

Residing in a cosy, classy house in Richmond Hill, the Soehermans (Abdi and Dian) are an Indonesian family who were born and raised as Sunni Muslims. Like most Indonesian Muslims, their ancestors have been practicing the faith for a few generations now. They finally moved to Toronto in November 2002 after having stayed in a few different countries before this. “We were in Indonesia up to 1995, then moved to England for a year. After this, we moved back to Indonesia for 3 years up to 1999, then to Brazil from 1999-2002, then finally to Toronto”.

We interviewed this family asking them about their conversion to Shia Islam, and the circumstances that led to this. Below are a series of questions and answers conducted with the family.

How long have you been practicing Shia Islam?

I converted to Shi’ism after the Islamic revolution of Iran. My conversion was on a more individual level as I strived to learn more about who and what this great revolution entailed. Between 1983-84, I made my conversion with the help of my Islamic mentor, Dr. Jalaluddin Rahmat in Indonesia who was a Sunni himself and was seeking to learn more about Shi’ism. He has been doing tabligh educating people of Shia Islam since the Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979. Lots of people, especially youths, then became Shias.

Majority of the Sunni Muslims in Indonesia had the impression that Khomeini was just a political leader of Iran, with no religious backing. Even if they knew his religious backing they were not really concerned about it as it has nothing to do with Sunni. I converted before I got married; however both my wife and my parents were still practicing Sunni Islam. My father died before he became Shia. Amongst my other family members, my mother and brother are now Shias. My wife is not fully Shia as yet. She is at least practicing prayer or fasting according to Shia Islam though. Most importantly, she believes in the obligation to love the Prophet and his family, the Ahlul Bayt. Her inquisitive nature allows her to keep asking me questions. Therefore she is practicing Shia teachings that she knows and keeping some Sunni practices when she doesn’t know or isn’t fully comfortable with of the Shia ones. This is because she doesn’t want to embrace Shia partially. She is still learning about Shi’ism. She wants to fully understand Shia Islam and make the total conversion after having full conviction first.

How pervasive is Shia Islam in Indonesia?
Most Indonesians don’t know the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam. Only after the Islamic revolution of Iran did people start to become aware of other sects in Islam, namely Sunni and Shia. The ones that know the difference have become Shias because of the efforts of students who have gone to Qum to study and returned back to Indonesia to teach their people about the Ahlulbayt after the revolution. Of the greater influences, it was from Dr. Jalaluddin Rahmat. Generally, there are two types of Indonesian Muslims – the practicing ones who apply the religion to their daily life and the ones that are Muslims only by name. Islam came to Indonesia primarily via traders from Gujarat, the Persian Gulf and to a lesser extent through some Arab traders. There are a few syeds (sayyids) residing in Indonesia who originally came from Yemen. These people were of the Sunni (Shafi’i) school of thought and hid their Shia belief from the Indonesian public since the majority of Muslims were Sunni at the time. Interestingly, after the Iranian revolution they made known their Shia beliefs to the local public. Hence, more and more local Indonesian people are turning to Shi’ism because of this – alhamdulillah.
The Indonesian government has no problem with the Shia/Sunni differences amongst its people. The locals as well, respect each other’s beliefs and live peacefully side by side. Only after some other students who returned from study in Saudi, we found a little tension here and there.


What attracted you most to Shia Islam?

The concept of Imamate. Shia Islam rests under the principle that for every generation there should consequently and logically be a leader to guide the community. This is missing in Sunni Islam as they do not really talk about a spiritual leader designated by Allah (swt) to act as His representative per se. Before I knew about Shia Islam, I often questioned myself: “the Prophet is very important in Islam, so logically then, his family must be important as well. Initially, I could not find a lot of references to Prophet Muhammad (saw)’s family in Sunni books of hadith. To me, Sunni Islam was missing a very crucial, fundamental link - why did the Prophet not leave any lineage behind after him, through a son of some sort? Why did the Prophet’s sons all die in infancy? I thought about his daughter, Bibi Fatima (as) and made the connection that through his beloved daughter, Bibi Fatima (as) is the mother of all the Imams and this is the great lineage that the Prophet (saw) left behind by virtue of his only daughter, the women of the worlds. I was contemplating that had the Prophet’s sons not die in infancy people would start consider him or them as continuing prophets while Islam believes Prophethood stopped after the demise of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (saw). This is the way Allah has prepared the Imamate as no one would consider Bibi Fatima (as) as prophet since there has never been any female prophet. And other males not descended from the Prophet Muhammad couldn’t be easy to claim or be accepted by people as prophet. It is because of this it is very clear what our Holy Prophet (saaw) used to say that, “O Ali your position to me is like that of Aaron to Moses. Only there is no prophet after me”. The position of Imam Ali and the respective Imams are just like that of prophets. Only no more revelation (wahyi) revealed to Imams as Imams are the continuing bearer of the Holy Prophet’s message (risalat). This is a very beautiful way of Allah in stopping the Nubuwat and starting with the Imamat.

How is the concept of Imam Mahdi (as) for you?

For me, it was not difficult to accept Imam Mahdi upon converting to Shia Islam. This concept is a natural consequence of believing in Shi’ism. There are a lot of Indonesian Sunni Muslims who believe in Imam Mahdi (as), including the non Muslim (mostly Javanese) as well. They call him “Ratu Adil” (The Just Ruler). Although they and Sunnis believe that Imam Mahdi is not born yet. It is of course not easy to understand the concept of ghaibat (occultation) of the Imam. Again I was contemplating that this is a mysterious way of Allah in testing our faith. Firstly, the Holy Prophet used to say about those whose faith amazes the angels. For that the companions guessed that it is the angels who fulfill that position. But the Prophet negated. It is them, the companions, who satisfy the rank, but the Prophet denied. And finally the Prophet said that they are the ones who live long after him, never see him but follow and love him as if they see him physically. This is applicable to us vis a vis our hidden Imam. Had he been around us it is not surprising for us to believe and even love him. It is amazing the angels those who don’t see him but believe and love him as if they see him by their own eyes. Secondly, there is a tendency for people to take things for granted. It is like a spoiled child where parents are all times around. He or she would not try his or her best achievement as the parents will always help him or her. But with the absence of Imam, people will try their utmost effort to be the best humankind so they can prove that they deserve to be in the camp of Imam. This is what we call the active way of intizhar (awaiting), which is supposed to be the trademark of all Shias.

Upon converting to Shia Islam, did you face any problems from the people whom you normally associate with (friends, family)?
No, however people posed questions to me about why and how Shi’ism is different from Sunni Islam. I feel that now, my role is to act as a bridge between these two schools of thought, by teaching and enlightening other fellow Indonesians about the great infallible family of the Prophet (saw). It is easy for me now to be among the followers of these two big schools of thought. Among Shias I am fully accepted and face no problem whatsoever in observing my new faith within the community. Even they are curious as to how an Indonesian who is from majority Sunni Muslims is now practicing Shiism. Among Sunnis, especially Indonesians, I can still participate in their gatherings. For those who know about Shiism I explicitly show that I am a Shia, for instance when we pray together. But there is a situation where it is better to not show who you really are. In this case I do taqiya, for instance when I met relatives of mine and my wife’s who even really don’t know that they themselves are Sunnis, let alone about Shia. For those who know I can always discuss about Shiism and about the differences and the similarities between the two. For those who don’t know, I talk to them about the main, fundamental and important issues of Islam without mentioning that they are the core of Shia teachings. For instance, we discussed about the importance of loving of the Prophet’s family, Ahlulbayt, about the necessity of having spiritual leaders after the Prophet, about correct perspective of Imam Mahdi, about correct perspective of taqlid (muqallid) and ijtihad (mujtahid), etc. And if I found that our discussions lead to nowhere but a quarrel I refrain to continue it and we are still friends. I believe that Sunni and Shia are two great mazahibs (school of thoughts). It would be good if some of them become Shias. But if it doesn’t happen then we can always be united as a big community of Islam without disturbing one against each other. Of course there is extremist element within each school but we are not talking about them now.

How do you feel when you come to the mosque at the Ja’ffari Islamic centre?

(Mrs. Dian Soeherman) I definitely feel more comfortable with my Indonesian community back home. However, there isn’t a community like this here in Toronto so I tried to join the Shia community at the Ja’ffari centre. In the beginning, I found it different with everyone wearing black to commemorate the death anniversary of one of the Masumeen (as). And it seemed everyone was starring at me as I looked different. Since I was used to Sunni Islam in Indonesia, the Sunni community there did not observe black on wafat occasions. This is something I have had to get used to. However I now feel quite comfortable and am aware what to observe on what occasion: wafat or wiladat; sad or joyous occasion.

Where did you learn how to read the Qur’an and Arabic?

In Indonesia, we learned how to read and write Arabic in our elementary Islamic school or in the mosque and at home. We taught our children how to recite the Qur’an at home based on our teachings back in Indonesia. There are lots of easy ways people have prepared to learn Quran there, one of them is famously known as Iqra (read) method.

How did you come to understand the Islamic month of Muharram with respect to Imam Husein (as) and the Kerbala tragedy?
Some of our villages in Indonesia held occasions to remember Imam Hussein (as) even though they were practicing Sunni Islam. We would recite poems, qasidas and various recitations mentioning the panjetan (The Five Holy Figures as) – Prophet Muhammad (saw), Imam Ali (as), Lady Fatima (as), Imam Hasan (as) and Imam Husein (as). Perhaps this practice can be explained in terms of our Sumatran history. In our history, there used to be an Islamic kingdom where the kings were believed to be Shia – kingdom Samudra Pasai in Aceh in 13th century.

“Islam was established in northernmost Sumatra in the late 13th century. From Pasai, north Sumatra, Islam spread to other ports in Indonesia, the Malay Peninsula, and the south Philippines. By the late 14th century Islam had made converts as far east as Trowulan in east Java. The conversion of the Melaka rulers in the early 15th century had a significant effect in popularising Islam in many ports along the trade route leading to the sources of spices in distant Maluku. When the Portuguese arrived in 1509, Islam was still mainly a minority religion, confined to the mercantile population of a few enclaves in trading ports. Islam's main expansion occurred during the 16th century, when the religion of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) gradually became popular among the agrarian villagers of the hinterlands of Java, Sumatra, and other islands. The process of conversion was not a single event with a single cause, but a series of occurrences affected by local factors. Different schools of Islam were popular in different areas. The Shi'a sect made converts in several areas, and traces of the mystical sect known as the Dervishes can still be seen in some parts of Indonesia. In general, the forms of Islam which received the readiest acceptance espoused a Sufi philosophy.” (http://www.arkeologi.net/islamic.php)

In short, Shi’ism came to Indonesia as early as the 13th century. It was known by local as “Adat Lama” (the Old Tradition). Unfortunately then it came “Adat Baru” (the New Tradition) which is now known as Wahabism. There used to be a conflict between the two, especially in Aceh and West Sumatra, which finally won by the latter. But the Shia influence and its legacy are hard to die. On 10th of Muharram, a Tabut would be created and thrown into the sea – the Sunni community commemorated the martyrdom of Imam Hasan (as) and Imam Husein (as) in this way, although it is no longer a religious ceremony. It is interesting that, in Indonesia, everything that comes in pairs is associated with Imam Hasan (as) and Imam Husein (as). This stems from the Shia influence in the 13th century in West Sumatra and and Bengkulu provinces.

For me personally, Imam Husein (as)’s role is a very important one in bringing back the true Islam of Prophet Muhammad (saw) versus the so called Islam of Yazid and Muawiya. After I learned about Shi’ism, I realized why Imam Husien (as) had to sacrifice so much only to save the religion that his grandfather fought so tirelessly to uphold. I understood why he brought his women, his children, his whole family with him to Kerbala to face the tyrants and enemies of Islam. After my conversion to Shia Islam, I kept on delving deeper into studying the true meaning of Shia Islam until I fully grasped the concept of Imam Husien (as)’s sacrifice.

For Mrs. Soeherman, Shia Islam was a late conversion. She started to realize that Shias talk highly about the family of the Prophet (saw). “Everything centers around the Ahlulbayt in Shia Islam”. She used to ask her mum why Sunnis do not talk about Imam Ali (as) with such passion and fervour. But now she has accepted this concept. She had questions about the respect we give to the alam (banners), tabut (coffin) and zarihs (ziarat room). In Indonesia most of the Sunnis used to kiss the alam and do tabaruk to the places considered to be sacred so finally she realized that this was not a new concept.

Last words (of Abdi Soeherman): Being a convert to Shi’ism, it is a good idea for me to be a bridge between the two schools of thought. I always feel free to get together and discuss the importance of the family of the Prophet with others and to teach them to the importance of holding on to this pure infallible progeny of Prophet Muhammad (saw). And it is also my wish to make it happen to bring our Shias to work together and to be united with the Sunni brothers and sisters even though they don’t convert to Shiism. There are lots of issues that both groups can work on together. In fact, I found more similarities between the two rather than the differences.