Clifford Geertz-Islam Observed_ Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia (Phoenix Books)-University of Chicago Press (1971)

8/9/2019 Clifford Geertz-Islam Observed_ Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia (Phoenix Books)-University of Chi…

1/145


2/145


3/145

for Hill

THE UNIVERS OF CHAGO PRESS. CHAGO 60637

The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London

Copyright © 1968 by Yale University

All rights reserved

hoenix Edition published 19

Primed in the United States of Aeria

8 8 8

International Standard Book Nuber: 0-226285111


4/145

Contn

Preface

Two Contries, o Culures

T e Cassica Styes e Sciptaist Inteude

T e Stuggle o he Rea

Bibliographical NoteIe x

M

Mrcco

esia


5/145


6/145

Preface

Bad poets borrow" T. S. Eliot has said good poets steal." Ihae tried in what olos to be in this respect anwa a good

poet and to take what I hae eeded from certain others andmake it shameessly my own. But such thieery is in great partenera ad undened an almost unconscious process of seectionabsorption and reworking so that after awhile one no ogeruite knows where one's argument comes from how much of it ishis and how much is others. One ony knows and that icom- pletely what the major itellectua inuences upon his workhae been but to attach specic names to specic passages is arbitrary or libelous. Let me then merely record that my approach

to the comparative stud of religion has been shaped b m re-actios as ofte rejecting as accepting to the methods and cn-ceps of Taco Parsons Clyde Kluckhohn Edward Shis Roertellh and Wilfred antwell Smith and their intellectual pres-ence ca e discerned not alays in forms of whic te woudapproe throughout the whole of this little book as ca that ofthe ma whose genius made both their and my work possible

ax eber. The certicatio of fact is of course another mater: to the dgree that references documentary to m substantiveaserios can be given they wil be found in the bibliographicalote at the end of the book.

In four rief chaptersoriginally delivered as the Terry Foudation Lectures on Reigion and Sciece for 7 at Yae Uni

ersityI have attempted ot to a out a genera rameworkfor the comparative aalysis of religion and to appl it to a sdof the develo pmet of a supposedly single creed Islam i woie contrastng cviizatios the Indoesian and e Moroccaerely to state such a program is to demonstrate a certain ack ofrap upon realiy. What results can oly be too abreviated to ealanced ad too specuative to be demostrable. wo cutres

over two tousad years are hardly to be compressed ito fort


7/145

V Preface

thousand words and to hope besdes to nterpret e ourse otheir spiriua ie n terms o some genera onsierations s to

ourt superiait and onuson at the same timeet there s someing to be sad or skethes as or os and atthe present stage o sharshp on Indonesan and Moroan Isa (to sa nothng o oparatve regon whh as a sentidspne hard more than mere ests) skethes ma be aat an be epeted For m part I have drawn the nspraton that s e word or t or m sketh main out o m own ed

work as an anthropoogist n the two ountres onerned In195254 I spent two ears n Java studng the regous and soae o a sma town n the eastentra part o the sand aswe as pursuing varous tops n Djakarta and Jogjakarta In195758 I was bak n Indonesa onentratng m eorts ona but spendng some tme n umata and one aga Centra Java as we In 1964 and agan n 16566 I ondutedsmar researhes (whh are as a matter o at st progress) n Moroo workng man n a sma anent waed t the nteror but there too journeng about the oun genera An anthropoogst's work tends no matter what t ostensbe subjet to be but an epresson o s resear eeene ormore aurate o what hs researh eperene as done to

hm Certan ths has been true or me Fedwork has been orme nteetua (and not on nteetua) ormatve thesoure not just o dsrete hpotheses but o whoe patterns o soa and utura nterpreaton The buk o wat I have eventua seen (or hought I have seen) n the broad sweep o soahstor I have seen (or thought I have seen) rst n the narrowonnes o ountr towns and peasant vages

A number o peopehstorans most but pota sentistssooogists and eonomsts as wehave questoned whetherths sort o proedure s a deensbe one Is t not nvaid to reado the ontours o a woe vizaton a natona eonom anenompassng pota sstem a pervasve ass struture rome detas o some mnature soa sstem however ntmate

known? Is t not rekess to assume an suh mnature soa ss


8/145

Preface vu

temsom bypath town or vilage or regionis typica o thcountry as a whoe? Is it not absur to ivine th shap o th

past in a imit boy of ata ra�

n rom the presnt? The an-swr to al these questions, an others lik them, is, o cours,"yes: it is invali, recklss, absuran mpossibe. But thequestions are mspace.candi, not any longr) attempting to substiut parochial undr-stanings or comprhensiv ones, to ruce Amrica to ]ones-vie or Mexico to Yucatan. They ar attempting (or, to be mor

precis, I am atempting) to iscovr what contributions parochia unerstanings can mak to comprehnsive ones, what leasto genera, broastroke interpretaions particular, intimat n-ings can produce. I myse cannot s how this iers, sav incontent, rom what an historian, poltical sntist, sociologis,or conomist does, at east when he turns away from his own vr-sions o Jonesvil an Yucatan an aresses himse to wier

probes. Ve are a specia scientists now, and our worth, ateast in his reard, consists o what w are abe o contribute toa task, the unerstandng o human social lie, which no one o us is comptent to tack unssiste.

act that the anthropoogis's insights such as they ar,grow (in part) out of his innsive ework in prcuar st

tings dos not, then in isef invidte hem. But i such insighsare to ppy to anyhing eyon thos seings, if thy are to transcen hir prochial origins nd achieve a mor cosmopoianrelevanc, thy quite oviousy canno also b valiat hrLike all scienic propositions, anthropologica interpretationsmust be teste against th maria they ar esigne to inrpre;it is not their origins that recommen them. For somone whospens the overwhming proporion o th rsearch phases ofhis schoarly ife andering aou rice terraces or acksmithshops aing to his armer n hat arisn in ht he tkes toe the aers verncur, th rizon of this fct can e ashaking eprienc One cn cop ih i eiher y conning oneself to ons chosen sge an eting others mke of oes e

scriptions what they wil (in which cas he gnerization o


9/145

vm P

them i lkely t e en me ncitical and ncntlled) ne can take p in the aence f ay paticla cpetence td the tak f demntating that le pecial ot f mateialand le intely fced plem can e ade t yild t theame kind f analyi pacticed n the nawed cene T chethe ecnd altenatie i t cmit neelf t facing p t the neceity f ecting ne theie and eatin t tet qitenlike the t which anthplgcal agment ae nmallyeqied t it What wa piate dmin neatly fenced and

itimately knwn ecme feign gnd heaily taeed t penall y nfamilia

In ee lecte I hae a I hae aleady indicated fllwedthe ecnd cre wih mething f a engeance In ding Ihae ght t ee what ene I cld ake f the eligi hitie f Mcc and Indneia in tem th f what I hae cn-clded fm y eld tdie and what in e geneal teI think eligin cme dwn t a a cial clal and pychlgical phenenn Bt the alidiy f th y empiicalcnclin and my theetical pemie et i the end n hweectie they ae in making ene f data fm which they weeeithe deied n f which they wee ignally deigned Thetet f thei wth le thee a cmpaatie hitQical ac

cilgy halfceny afte Wee death thi cilgy itil ey lagely a pgam Bt it i a pgam I think wellwth attempting t eect F witht it we ae pey n the nehand t the pallid mindlene f adical elatiim and n ethe t the hay tyanny f hitical deteminim

Llyd Falle Hilded Geetz Lawence Ren Daid Schneide and Melfd Spi hae all gien ealie daft f thi wk

the enet f extenie and caefl citicim e f which Ihae paid attentn t I am gatefl t tem

GCcgo]y 8


10/145

Two Cotre, Two Ctre

Of all the dimensions of the uncertain revolutio now un

deway in the new states of Asia and Africa, surely the most difcult to rasp is the reliious It is not measurable as, howeverinexactly, economic chane is It is not, or the most part, illu minated by the instructive explosions that mark political development: pures, assassinations, coups deta, border wars rios andhere and there an election Such proven indices of mutation in theforms of soal life as urbaniaion, th solidicaion of class loy

alties, or he rowth of a more coplex occupational system are,if not wholly ackin, certainly rarer and a reat deal more equiv-ocal in the reliious sphere, where old wine oes as easily intonew bottles as old bottles contain new wine It is not only verydicult to discover the ways in which the shapes of reliious ex perience are chain, or if they are chanin at all it is not evenclear what sors of thin one ouht to look at in order to nd out

he coparative study of reliion has always been plaued byhis peculiar embarrassment: the elusiveness of its subject materhe problem is no one of constructin denitions of reliion Wehave had quite enouh of those their very nber is a symptomof our malaise It is a matter of discoverin just wha sorts o beliefs and practices support what sorts of aith under what sorts of

conditions Our problem, and it rows worse by the day, is not todene reliion but to nd it

is may seem an odd thin to say What is in ose thick volumes on totemic myths, initation ries, witchcraft belies, shamanistic performances, and so on, which ethnoraphers have beencompilin with such astonishin indusry for over a century Orin the equally thick and not much more readable works by his


11/145

m v

toians on the development of udaic law, Confucian philosophy,o Chstan theology? O in the countless socologcal stdes ofsuch nsttutions as Indan caste o Islamic sectansm,]aaneseempeo woship o fican catle sacice? Do ey not contanou subject matte? The answe is, qute smply, no they contanthe ecod of ou seach fo ou subject matte. The seach has notbeen without its successes, and ou appointed task s to keep t go-ng and enlage ts successes But the am of the systematc studyo elgon s, o anyway ought to be, not just to descibe deas,

acts, and nstitutions, but to detemine just how and· n wht waypaticula deas, acts, and nsttutons sustan, al to sustan, oeven inhbt eligious faththat is o say, steafast attachment tosome tanstempal conception of eality

Thee is nothng mysteious in ths, no anything doctinal Itmeely means that we must dstinguish beeen a eligous att-tude towad expeence and the sots of socal appaatus whch

have, ove tme and space, customaily been assocated with suppoting such an atttude. When ths s done, the compaatvestudy of eligon shifts fom a kind of advanced cuo collectng toa kind of not vey advanced science; fom a dscipline in whichone meely ecods, classes, and pehaps even genealizes aboutdata deemed, plusbly enough in most cases, to hae something

to do wth eligon to one n whch one asks close questions ofsuch data, not the least mpotant of which s just what does thave to do with elgon We can scacely hope to get fa wi theanalyss of eligous changethat is to say, what happens to fathwhen ts vehcles alteif we ae unclea as to what n any pa-ticula case ts vehcles ae and how (o even n act they fosteit

Whateve the ultimate souces of the fai of a man o goupof men may o may not be, it is ndisputable that t s sustained nts wold by symbolic foms and socal aangements {hat aen elgon isits spcc contentis embodied in e magesand metaphos ts adheents use to chaacteze ealty; t makes,as Kenneth Buke once ponted out, a geat deal of dieence

whethe you call life a deam, a plgmage, a labyinth, o a ca


12/145

Two Count, Two Cutu

na Bu uch a egon caee hoca couee nun upon he nuon whch ene hee mage an mea- pho aaabe o hoe who u empoy hem I eay no

much eae o concee o Chany whou Gegoy hanwhou Jeu O ha emak eem enenou (whch no) hen Iam ou he Uema han whou Muhamma;Hnum whou cae han whou he Vea; Conucanmwhou he manane han whou he Anaec; Naaho e-gon whou Beauy Way han whou Spe Woman. Regon

may be a one hown no he o; bu mu be a papaeone an omeone mu how I h accepe (an no accee he eu o e

moe egon no meey om choay examnaon an aona coue bu om e aogehe) hen een a cuoygance a he egou uaon n he new ae coecey on any one o hem epaaey w eea he mao econ o

change eabhe connecon beween pacua aee oah an he cue o mage an nuon whch hae ca-cay nouhe hem ae o cean peope n cean ccum-ance coming unuck In he new ae a n he o engung ueon o he anhopoog How o men oegou enby eac when he machney o ah begn owea ou Wha o hey o when aon ae"

They o o coue a o o hng. They oe he enb-y. O hey channe no eoogca eo O hey aop anmpoe cee O ey un woey n upon emee. Ohey cng een moe neney o he aeng aon O heyy o ewok hoe aon no moe eece om O heyp emee n ha ng piuay n he pa an phy-

cay n he peen. O hey y o expe he egoune necua ace An a ew mpy a o noce he wo mong o nocng, u coape

Bu uch genea anwe ae no eay ey enghenng noony becaue hey ae genea bu becue hey ge pa hawhch we mo wan o know: y wha mean wha oca ancuua pocee ae hee moemen owa kepicm po


13/145

slm bs

ltca enthusasm cnversn revasm, setvs, secularpet refrmsm, dublemndedness w atever, takng placeWhat new rms f archtecure ae sng these accuuatngchanges f heat

In attemptng t answer grand qestns ke s, the anthrplgst s alwas ncned t turn ward the cncrete the patcua the mcrscpc We are the mnatursts f the scal scences pantng n llputan canvases wth what we tae t edecate strkes. We hpe t nd n the ttle hat eludes us n the

arge t sumble upn genera truths whle srtng hrugh speca cases. At east I hpe t, and n that spt I want t dscussrelgus change n the w cuntres n whch I have wred atsme ength, Indnesa and Mrcc. The mae frm smepnts f vew an dd par a rareed, smewhat vercvlzedtrpca Asan cuntr speckled wth Dutch culture and a tautard rather purtancal Medterranean ne varnshed wh Fench

But frm sme ther pnts f vewncudng he fact that theare th n sme enlarged sense f the wrd Islamhe makean nstructve cmparsn. At nce ve ake and ver derentthe frm a knd f cmmentar n ne anthers chaacte

The mst bvus keness s, as I sa, ther relgus aan but t s als, culturall spekng at east, ther mst bvu

nleness. The stand at the eastern and· westen extremtes fhe narrw band f classca Isamc cvlzan whh sng nraa eache ut ang the mdlne f he ld t cnnect them and s lcated the have partcpted n he hstr fthat cvatn n qute derent was t qute deent degreesand wth qute deent esuts e bth ncne tward Meccabut the antpdes the Muslm wrd the w n pste d

ectns.

As a Muslm cuntr, Mrcc s f cuse the lde. e stcntac wth Isama mltar ne as he Umaads mae the


14/145

Two Coun, Two Culs

bri bi or sovrigny ovr exanrs a he inhabiorame in he sevnh cnuy ony y yars ar h

h o Mhamm; an by h mi o h ghh cenury aoi n cy inerucib sim ooho ha ben es-abish Ovr he ne hre cnuris i as rener inesrucib an h gra age o Berbr Isam he one hich Ibn aun ook back upon ih such a oern bn o curaamiraion an socioogica espair began One ar he ohrh amous reoring ynasiesmorais mohas Merinis sp ou o ha h French ih ne coonia canor useo ca Maroc nul e ors an oases o he preahara eaein rivrs an pock paeaus o h High Aas an heass o h gerian sppe ino Mroc ul, he mi anar Cisas pains Buiing an rbuiing h gra ciieso MoroccoMarrach Fe Raba a Tuanhey pne

ra Musi Spain absorbe is cur an reorking i inoheir on mre srnuous hos rproc a simpi vrsiono i on hir si o Gibraar The ormaive pri boh o Mo-rocco as a naion a o Isam as is cre roughy 050 o 5 consis o he pecuiar procss o riba ges aing inupon an agricuura cener an civiizing i I as he pripheryo he counry he harsh an sri roniers ha nourish an

in ac creae he avanc sociy hich evop a is hars ime en on he conras been h arisans noabes

schoars an shopkeprs assebe ihin he as o e greaciis an he armrs an pasoraiss scar hiny over hcounrysie aroun m nauray iene T ormr ev-op a snary sociey cener on rae an cra h aer a

mobi on cenr on hring an iage Y he iernce b-n he o as ar ro absoue onsman an counrymani no ive in irn cuura ors bu a ihran highan groups prhps asie in h sam one irny siaeRra an rban sociey ere varian saes o a sing sysem(an hr ere in ac a haozn versions o ach) Farrom uncng one anoher hir inracion hough on an

agonisic as coninuous an innse an provie h cnra


15/145


16/145

Two Count, Two Cultu 7

dynac of hstorcal change n orocco fro the foundng ofFez at the begnnng of the nnth �entury to ts occpaton by theFrench at the begnnng of the tenteh

here ere several reasons for ths he rst s tat, as en-toned, the tons ere at base trbal creatons nd, transent o-ents of ntroverson asde, largely reaned so Each aorphase of cvlzaton (and ndeed ost nor ones as ell) beganth a breach of the gates by soe abtous local cheftanhose relgous zea as the source of boh hs abto and hs

cheftanshpecond, the cobnaton of the ntruson nto the estern planafter the thrteenth entury of araudng Bedoun rabs, and the

fact that orocco s ocated not at the core o the grangrongorld but at ts furthest fronters, prevented the developent of aatre pesant culture hch ould have buered trbesenfro tonsen and alloed the, lkng the peasantry of trb-ute or taxes, to go ore ndependently along ther separate yss t as, nether urban nor rural lfe as ever altogeher vablee tes, under the leadershp of ther vzers and sutans, tredalays to reach out around the to control the trbes But the at-ter reaned footloose and refractory, as ell as unreardg.he ncertanty of both pastorals and agcultre n t c-

atcaly rregular, physcaly llendoed, and soehat des-poled envronent pelled trbesen soetes nto the ctes,f not as conquerors then as refugees, soetes out of therreach n ountan passes or desert astes, and soetes toardencrclng the and, blockng the trade routes fro hch heylved extortng fro the e poltca etabols of trad-tona orocco conssted of to but nterttently orkable econ-

oes ateptng, accordng to season and crcustance, to feedo one another

d td, the ctes ere ot crystal slands set a shapelesssea he udty of ton lfe as hardly ess than that of rural,ust soehat ore conned, hle the fors of trbal socetyere as cearly outlned as those of etropoltan I fact, adjusted

t derent envronents, they ere the sae fors, anated by


17/145

8 Ilm Obv

he same deals. Wh ared n rdona Morocco was less hend of lfe deren groups of people aemped o le a heecologcal nches n whch hey attemped o le

ndalusan decoraons, Berber folways, and raba sae-craf o he conrary nohsandng, herefore, he basc syle oflfe n, o use anoher erm from he poned rheorc of he Proec-orae, Moc u, was abou eerywhere he same: srenu-ous, ud, olen, sonary, deou, and unsenmenal, bu aboeall, selfassere I was a socey n whch a ery grea deal rned

on force of characer and mos of he res on spral repuaonIn ow and ou, s eos were srongman polcs d holy-man pe, d s ullmens, small and large, rba and ynas-c, occurred when, n e person of a parcular nddua heymomenarly used The aal gure, heher he as sormngwalls or buldng hem, ws he warror san.

Ts s parlar ppren a e grea rasona ps of

Moroccan hsory, he reurrng changes o poca drecon whch s soc de was orged Idrs II, he nnhcenrybulder of Fez and he counrys rs subsna ng, was oncea descenda of e Prophe, a gorous mlary eader, and adedcaed relgous purer d would no hae amouned omuch as an one of hese had he no concurrenl been he oher

wo Boh he lmorad and lmohad moemens were founded he rs round he mddle of e eleen cery, e sec-ond oward he mddle o he efhb sonr reormersrernng from he Mddle as deermned no us o neghgans error bu o dsmmber s carrers e ehuson, n eeenh cenry, o e reouon hey began, nd he colapseof he polcal order ha reoluo had creaed, was ollowed n

r wha was probabl he greaes spr dslocaon heounry has eer eperenced: he socalled Marabouc rss. o-cal hol men or marabousdescendans of he Prophe eadersof S broherhoods, or smpl d ndduas who had con-red o mae somehng uncanny happenappeared all oerhe landscap o launch prae bds or power The perod of he-

ocrac anarch and secaran enhusasm hus naugraed was


18/145

Two Cont, Two Clt

aested nly centuies late (and then nly ve patiallyith the ise, unde yet ne me efment descendant f Muhammad, f the still eigning Alawite dynasty. And nally, whenafte the Fench and Spanish mved in t take diect cntl f the cunty, it was a seies f such matial maauts, scatteed alng the edges f the cumling kingdm, wh allied the ppulatin, pats f it, f the last ave, despeate attempt tevive the ld de, the Mcc that had, in the cuse f the

pevius halfcentuy, egun slwly ut inexaly t disappea.

In any case, the citical featue f that Mcc s fa as weae cncened is that its culal cente f gavity lay nt, paadxical as this may seem, in the geat cities, ut in the mile,aggessive, n fedeated, nw fagmented ties wh nt nlyhaassed and explited them ut als shaped thei gwh. It isut f e ties tha the fming mpulses f Islami iviliatinin Mcc came, and the stamp f thei mentality emained n

i, hateve AaSpanish sphisticatins uan eligius schlas, lcking temselves away fm e lcal cuent, wee ale,in a few selected ces and f a few chmatic mments, tintduce Islam in Baay wasand t a fai extent still isasicaly the Islam f saint wship and mal seveit, magical pwe and aggssive piety, and this was f all pactical pupses

as tue in the lleys f Fe and Maakech as in the expanses fthe Atlas the Sahaa.

Indnesia is, as I sa, anthe matt altgethe. Rathe han

tia it is, and f the whle f the Chistian ea has een, asically a peasant sciety, paticulaly in its vepweing heatland,Jav. Intensive, extemel pductve wet ice cultvan has pvided the ma ecnmic fundatins f its ultue f auas lng as we have ecd, and athe than the estless, aggessive,extveted sheikh husanding his esuces, cultivating his epu

tatin, and awaiting hs ppunity, the natinal acheype is the


19/145


20/145

wo Coun wo Culu

see ss ahe wa pwma wey cetessg hs eace pacatg hs eghbs a eeg hs s-

pes I Mcc cvizat was bt eve Iesa igeceFhe t y as cassca Iesa cvzat e

p he ck a spcacay pctve peasat ecmyb t was t he s sace Isamc a a b Ic Ukethe way t mve t Mcc Isamwhch ave wth ge-e eveess y ae the teeh cety t

except a ew pckes mata Be a the eebesmve i a essetay vg aea s a as hgh cte wasccee bt t e Asas geatest pica aeshec ei-gs a sca ceats the HBhs Jvaese statewhch thgh t ha by the beg t eake ha cast s ss eepy Iesa scey especay Java bt yhee) that s mpess emae p st Isamzatib Dch peasm a s a ayway me aa-sm as we It s pehaps as te cvzats as t s metha hweve mch hey may ate chage the ameta -mess the caace he sce pssbies wthwhich hey w sme sese aways mve ae se he pastcpe whe they st ae mg I Mcc ths pe was

the age th Bebe yastes whch whateve the ca pe-caies wee a east geeay ve by Isamc eas acces I Iesa was the age ghy cempae-s acay) the gea Ic satesMataam gsa Kei Majapahwhch thgh as mptay shape by catas wee geeay ge by Ic thees csmc ha metaphysica vie I Iesa Isam t csc acviza apppae e

These w acs hat the ma impse he evepme a me cmpex cee sae gazai gsaceae sphscate a a vesaisc eiggew a ceay cae peasat scey p whch ess evepeyg egis pve ahe ha he the way a a

hat Isam peeae hs axa ce we ae ha bee se


21/145

slm bsrd

crely establshed accon for te oeral cast Mhammedansmhas taken n Indonesa Compared to North Afrca the Mdle

Eas and een to Mslm Inda hose brand f fath t phapsmost closely resembles Indonesan Islam has been at least ntilrecently remarkably malleable entate syncretstc and mostsncantly of all mltoced Wha for so many parts of theorld and certanly for Morocc has been a oerfl f not alays trmhant force for cltral homogenzaton and moralonsenss for the socal standardzaton of fndamental belefs

an ales has been for Indonesa a no less oerfl one or cl-tral erscaton for the rystalaton of sharly aran eenncmatble notons of hat the orld s really like and hone oght therefore to se abo lng n t. In Indonesa Islamhas taken many forms not ll of them Koranc and hateer tbroght o the spralng achpelago as not normty

Islam cae n any case by sea and on the heels no o conqestb o trade Is ntal tmphs ere onseqenly along hecoasta areas rmmng e tranql Jaa ea an ts approachese bslng orts rchan rnceos aally northern maa sotes Malaya sh reo soh Celebes and mosmorant of all nor Jaa In the nonJaanese reas the nefath (ne n form anyay as t had come to e sland not ot

o Araba bt Inda t as not qte so ne n sbstance) remaned largely conned to the coastal areas to the harbor tonsand ther mmedate enrons on aa here the cltralcenter of graty as nland n the great olcanc rse basns andhere Eropean presence along the coast soon became the comandng force t had a rather derent career In the Oter Islandenclaes remaned or a leas eeloped n the sor of exclssc ndecorated an emhat creed e assocate th hean ine f Msl tradin thogh een there the enanglement h Indan pantesm n bo te arpelago and hesbcontnen gae t a perceptbly esohcal nge In Jaaheerhere n e en the erhelng ajory Indonesan Mslms ere o be fonhe ne became at nce a

great eal deeper an h less eenly ssedAs the Dtch closed n pon Jaa from the seenteenth to the


22/145

Two Count, Two Cltu

nneteenth centue, a athe cuu pce f cutua and eu dvecatn tk place une e eneal cve f veaIlamizatin. e ndenu tadn cae, amn hm Iamhad taken t met hd, ee dven aay fm ntenatnacmmece tad dmec peddn, and thu aay fm the eatad the ne the hhy Indczed nate un cae eeeduced t the tatu f v evant, admnten Dutch pce at the lcal eve; the peaanty, dan me and me ntthe bt f a cna expt ecnmy, flded back upn tef

a paxym f defenve ldaty. And each f thee majup abbed the Ilamc mpule n qute eent ay.e enty, depved f ndc tuam but nt f Indc pa

hem, became nceany ubjectvt, cutvatn an eentalylunatnt appah t the dvne, a knd f Fa Eaten nticm, cmpete th cabatc peculatn and metapychicexecie. e peaant abed Iamc cncept and pactie,s fa a t undetd them, nt the ame eneal SuteatAan flk eln int hch t had pevuy abbed Indanne, lckn ht, d, jnn, and pphet tethe nt atknly cntemplatve, even phphical, anm And thetadn clae, eyn me and me heavy upn the eccan

plmae a the lfene t the de Iamc d, deveped

a cmpe beteen hat ed it them aln th ne (andfm the plane clleaue n the Oute Iland) and hat thecnfonted Java t pduce a eu ytem n qute dctna enuh t be Mdde Eaten and nt qute etheea enuht be Suth Aan. The veal eult hat can ppey becalled yncetim, but t a a yncetm the de f he element, the eht and meann ven t t au nedent,

deed makedly, and hat me mptant, nceany, fne ect f the ety t anthe

In ht, t a that Mcc and Indnea ae bth Ilamicete, n the ene that mt eveyne n them ell ve nne


23/145

Ilam Obv

tnths o th popaton n thr cas) prosss to b a ss as ch to pont p thr drncs as t s to ocat thr s-

arts. Rgos ath vn hn t s d ro a comn srcs as mch partcarng orc as a gnrazng on and n-dd hatvr nvrsat a gvn rgos radton anags toattan arss rom ts abt to ngag a dnng st o ndvd-a vn dosncratc concptons o and t soho ss-tn and borat m a. Whn t sccds n ths th rst

ma ndd as otn b h dstorton o ths prsona vsons ashr nrchmnt bt n an cas hthr dorng prvataths or prtng hm radton sa prosprs. Whn tas hovr to co gnn to grps th hm a a t hr hardns nto schoastcsm vaporats nto dasm or adsnto ctcs hat s to sa t cass xcpt as a oss ashado or a sh ra to xst. Th cntra paradox o rgos

dvopmnt s that bcas o th progrssv dr rang ospra xprnc h hch t s orcd to da th rr tprocds th or prcaros t gts. Its sccsss gnrat tsrstratons.

r ths has bn h as or Isa n orocco and Indo-nsa. And ths s tr hthr on taks abot that arg spon-tanos or h most part sor ovng spra votonhch took pac rom th pantaton o th crd to so-hr arond h bgnnng o ths cnr or th nd o th astor abot pan sconscos qstonngs hch ac-cratng spd and rsng nsstnc hav bn accatngsnc that tm. n both soct dspt th radca drncs nth acta hstorca cors and tat (that s contporar

otcom o hr rgos dvopnt Isazaton has bn awosdd procss. On th on hand t has consstd o an ortto adapt a nvrsa n thor standardzd and ssnta n-changab nd nsa ntgratd sst o ra andb to h rats o oca vn ndvda mora and ta-phsca prcpton. On th othr t has consstd o a strggto antan n th ac o hs adapv xbty th dntt oIsam not st s rgon n gnra bt as h partcar drc


24/145

w o Co m tr ies, T'UO Cltr s j

tves communcate b God to mankd troug te peemptor

rophecies of Muha mad.

It s tetenso between these two ecesstes, gowng po-

gess el greate as, rst graduall ad ten explosvel, te wa

men and g roups of en saw life and assessed it became more ad

moe aous an commensurable under te mpess of dssm-

la hstorcal expeences, growg socal complext, and eght

eed selfawareness, tat has been te namc bend te ex

pason of Islam bot coutres But t s ts teson, too, that

as brougt Islam n bot countres to wat ma, wtout ancocession to the apocalyptic temper of ou time, legit atel be called a css I Ionesa as n Morocco, the collso betweenwat te Koan eveas, o what Sunn (that s, otoox) ta-to has come to egad t as revealng, ad wat men wo calltemseles Musls actuall beleve s becomng moe an moeescaable Ts s not so muc because te gap between te wo

s greate It has alwas been ey great, and I shoul not like toae to arguetat te Javaese peasant o Bebe seer ofI700 was an close to te Islam of AsSa' or AGhazalthan ae te Westenzed youth of today's Djakata o Rabat. Its because, gve the nceasng dverscaton of dvdual ex-

erece, the azlng multformty wc s the allmak of mod-

er coscousess, the task of Islam ad need of an elgoustradto) to nfom the fat of partcular men and to be n-formed b t s becomg eve moe dcult A elgon whchwould be catholc these das as a extraodna aret of mentaltes to be catholc about; ad te questo, can t o ts andstll rema a specc and pesuasve force wth a shpe a en-tty of ts own, as a steadil more problematcal rng

Te oerall stateges evolved n Moocco an n Idonesadug te premoen perod fo copng wt ts cental dlemma how to bg eotc mds nto the slamc communt wthoutbetayg the vso tat ceated twee, as I have ndcated,stikgl deet, eed almost dametcal oppostes, wth theresult that e shapes of the elgous cses whch ter populatons

ow face ae to a certa extet mrror mages of one aoter.


25/145

'slam Oberved

In Morocco the approach developed was one of uncomprmis

ing rigorism. Aggressive fundamentalism an actve attempt toimpres a eamles orthodoxy on the entire poulaton, bcamenot without truggle te centra theme Thi i nt to ay thatthe eort ha been uniformly succesful or that the concept ofothodoxy that emered was one that the rest of e Islamic worldwould necesarily reconize a such But ditinctive and perhap

even errant a it wa Moroccan Islamism 'came over the cenrieto embody a marked train of religiou and moral erfectionima persiting determinaton to establish a pured canoncal andcompletely uniform creed in this on the face of it unpromisinsetting

The Indoneian (and especially the Javanese) mode of attackwa as I ay quite the contrary: adaptive absorbent pragmatic

and gradualitic a matter of partial compromie half-way covenants and outright evaion The Islamism which resulted ddnot e�n pretend to purity it pretended tocomrehensivene; notto an iny ·u �9 _largnes( s �. , ;�: oU ?htnot to take the aim for,e-chvmn:; 0· peceof unconformable asesut tat

Cr i" eeral co sa!in Indonesia ha ee� Fabian in

irta in oroccan it habeen topin is beyond muc obt It islso beyod mch doubtthat whatever they may rginally have ad to recommen themneither of these trCtegis th prdenia or the headlong is anylonger woring very well ad e Islamization f both countriei consequently in some danger not oly of ceaing to advance butin fact of beinning to recede

As far as reliion is concerned therefore the tale of ee twopeople i esentially the story of how they have arrived or oraccurately are in the proces of arriving at obvese forms f the

ame predicament ut in some contrat to the way in whichpirital confusion i uually conceied in the Wes thi predicamen is less a maer of hat to believe as of how to believe itViewed as a ocial cultral and psychological (that is to ay ahman phenomeon religiousne i not merely knowing the


26/145


27/145

8 lam bsd

All s s, wever, sll bu a rubng a he eges; e resf b ulans sll lng e lassal sbls and nd

e ellng Or anywa largely s he ere awareness ne ar f se r w e nhered aner f fa sllwrk assabl well w s rbabl e s as everdne) a des n wr nearl s well r a grwng nuberf ers ass a eran sadw ver e nal f er wn erens Even re ran se fr w e grasng wer f e lassal sbls as weakened ave, w nl sa

ered exens, n bee ervus a wer algeer,s a raer an ng fr an nernal r an exernal ara belevng ey uuae uneranly and rregularl betweene seeng e sbls nw as eanans f e sared, nwas reresenans A ew unrubled radnalss a ne le and even fewer radal seularss a e er asde, s

rans and Indnesans alernae beween relgusness andwa we g al relgusndedness w su a vare seeds nd n su a varey f was a s ver dul n an

arular ase ell were e ne leaves and e er be-gns. In s, as n s an ngs, ey are, lke s f e e

les e Trd Wrd, lke ndeed s f se f e rs anSend, raer rugl xed u As e ges n, e nu

ber f ele w desre beleve, r anyway feel ey sewug , dereases u less radly an e nuber w are,n a erl regus sense, able . And n s raer degralkng a les e neres f relgn fr se f uw wuld lke unver e dnas and deerne e drnsf sal ange n e new saes f Asa and Afra

Alerans n e general lexn f srual lfe, n earaer f relgus senbly, are re an us neetuarerenans r ss n enal lae, bdless anges fe n Te are as, and re fundaenall, sal resses ransfrans n e qualty f lleve fe Neerug nr feelng s, a leas ang uans, aunus, aselnaned srea subevty, bu ea s nesaab e-

enden un e uzan b ndvduals f sa aaabe


28/145

w Cnt, Two Cl 1

"sy stems o signicnce, cultul constucts embodied in ln

g ug e, cust om, t, nd technoloy-tht is to sy, symbols. is

is s tue o eligiousness s it is o ny oe humn cpcity

Without collect ively evolved, socially t ransmitted, and cul raly

objectied ttens o menng-myths, ites, doctines, etishes,o ht eve it ould not eist And hen these pttens lte,s, given he mpemnence o teesti things, they nevitlynd ineed continuously do, it tes ith hem As lie moves, pesusion moves ith it nd indeed helps to move it oe

blntly, hteve G my o �y not e-living, ded, omeely iling-eligion is socil institutin, oship soictiviy, nd ith socil oce o tce the ptten o thei

chnges is neithe to collect elics o eveltin no to semle

chonice o eo It is to ite socil histoy o the imgin

tion

I is this sot o histoy, condensed nd geneized, I going to sketch o oocco nd Indonesi in e net two chptes nd then ue, in the nl one s the bsis o some even ess

cicumstnil comments on he ole o eligion in society genellyIn the net chpte, I ill tce the development nd chc

teie the ne o ht e my cll, to hve nme o them,e clssicl eligious styles in oocco nd Indonesi As thesestyles ee, like ny styles, not bon dult ut evolved out oothes, I shll not poduce teless snpshot o something

clled tdiionl eligion hich, s e ooccn idiom hs it,ust cme nd s, ut ttempt to sho ho, gdully, viously, nd ith moe n one detou nd one dely, chcteistic conceptions o the ntue o the divine nd he y in hichmen should ppoch it becme esonbly el estlished inech o ese counties

o complish this it is necessy to do seve hings Fist,


29/145

'Islam ObJeved

th mr story of what cam aftr what an whn must b at astgnray outn wthout sunc scrptons of th past ar

cataogs or fary tas Scon th major concpta ths whchwr n ths way prouc must oat an rat to on an-othr an thr ymoc 0 momnts th cutura vhcs ofthr xprsson must b scr wth som spccty so thatas ar not ft oatng som shaow wor of Patonc o-jcts ut hav a oca hataton an a nam Fnay an prhapsmost mportant of a th sort of soca orr i whch such ascou an sm to amost vryoy to not ry appro-

prat ut nvta not comma opnons aout an un-known ray whch t was comfortng or prunta or honor-a to ho ut authntc apprhnsons of a known on whct was mposs to ny must pct an anayz If Durk-hms famous statmnt tat Go s th symo of socty s n

corrct as I thnk t s t rmans tru that partcuar kns offath as w as partcuar kns of out) oursh i partcuarkns of socts an th contruton of comparatv so-coogy of rgon to th gnra unrstanng of th sprtuamnsons of human xstnc oth gns an ns n an uncov-rng of th natr of ths mprca that s to say awfu ntr-connctons h matra rasons why Moroccan Isam cam

actvst rgorou ogmatc an mor than a t anthropoa-trous an why Inonsan sa cam syncrtstc rctvmutfarous an strkngy phnomnoogca n pat anyway sort of coctv f wthn whch an aong wth whchhy vov

h funamnta atratons i ts coctv f ovr th past

svntyv or a hunr yars th movmnt towar what wvagy an somwhat uvcay ca mornsm n turn mo p smar atratons n ts casca rgous sys an ts to thsth ntacto tn rgous an sca changthat I w v


30/145

Two Count, Two Cultu

and Afria by the dynamism of indstrial Erope his is oforse not wrong bt the energy of this external stimls as

onerted not jst in Indonesia and Morocco bt eerywherethat it has been felt into internal hanges hanges in the formsof economi actiity n political organization in the bases of so-ial stratation i moral ales and ideologies family lifeand edcation and perhaps most critically hanges in the senseof life's possibilities in noons of what one might hope for wrkfor or een expect in the world It is ese internal changes nt

at least for the most part Eropean lture as sh to whih re-ligios hange has been on the one hand a respnse and on theother an initement. Only a tiny minority in either society hasad any really intate ontact with Eropean iilizaion andmost of that is either ery distorted ery reent or bo. Whatmost people hae had ontact with is the transformations that

iilization's actiities indced in their own. Wateer its otside proocations nd whateer foreign borrowing may be inoledmodernity lke apital is largely made at home.

he religios risi in Morocco and Indonesia has been and isbeing generated in the internal onfrntation of established forsof faith with altered onditions of life and it is ot of that on-frontation that the resoltion of that risis if there is to be a res-

oltion will hae to ome If the term modernization" is to begien any sbstantial meaning and its spirital implications n-oered the connections beeen changes in the lassial religiosstyles and sch deelopments as rationalized forms of eonomiorganization the growth of political parties labor nions yothgrops and other olntary associations reised relatios be-tween the sexes the appearance of mass commniations theemergence of new lasses and a whole host of other soial noel-ties mst be discoered

Al this i o ose generally known. �hat is no knownor anyway not ery well known are he particls of the sa-ton and it is only throgh knowing the particlars that we anadance beyond the easy banalities of ommon sense Blakes re-

mark that there is n sch thing as general knowledge that all


31/145

22 Islam Observed

knowledg e is knowle f part iculars, may be an exag g erat ion.

But it is n exag gerat t say, at least s far as the sciologyf religin is cncerne, ha here is no rue "o general kwledge save hrugh a se hcke f pariculrs I shall ry kep he hicke as rie and well weeded as I can and avoidelling yu more abu Indnesian shadw plays r Mrccansain fesivals han you care o knw. Nr can I, in such a cm- pass, discuss he nonrelig ius changes in an ne deail. Bu ere

is, in his area, n ascen rh wihu descen o cases.In the nal cha pt er, at any rat e, I will try t make smet hing

raher mre bradly relevan u f all his clsehisr and mi-crscilgy. Anhroplg is, acually, a sly and decepive sci ence. At e ent when it seems most deliberately revedfrm ur wn lives, i is ms imediae, when i seems ms in-

sistently t o be talking abut t he distant, the st

range, the long ag, r he idisyncraic, i is in fac alking als abu he clse, hefamiliar, he coneprar, and he generic. From ne pn fview, he whole hisry f he cmparaive study f religin frohe ime Rober sn�Smih underk his inves!igaLons in heies f e ancien Semies (and as dismissed from Oxfrd asa hereic fr his pains) can be lked a as bu a crcuius, even

devius, approach o a rainal analysis f ur wn siuain, anevaluaion f r wn religius radiins while seeing evaluate nly t hse of ext ic t hers.

Te case is no di erent here. M ving f rom t he s pecial circum-

sances f Indonesia and Morocc he new saes in general, Ihpe o raise e sspicin ha heir predicamen is also ur wn,t hat what t hey face we f ace, however di erent ly we may f oru-

lae i or phre our respnses. I a n sure wheher his willserve e Terry Foundatin's stated purpse f "building t he

ruhs of science and philsophy ino he srucure of a bradenedand puried religion, somehing I am n algeher cerain is agod idea. Bu i ough a leas shw hse wh wuld aempsuch a valiant enter prise just what it is they are up against.


32/145

Caca

All the social sciences suer from the notion that to havenamed something is o have understood it, but nowhere

ths

more true an in the comparative stdy of relgon. There heovervaluation of classicatory modes of thought the pgeonhole

dease has grown to sch alarmng proportons that ne sus-pects some deeper passion to bring perverse phenomena to comorting terms is at work Ask mos people what ey know ocomparatve relgion and f they know anythng a all it wll be

tha there are such nebulous things abroad the world as animsm amatsm ancestor worship otemism shamanism mystcism, fetshsm sant worshp, demonoloy and even, a partcular avorte of mine dendrolatry which, should your Greek berusty, means the adoraton of tees and s sad to b espeal prevaent n Inda

In tsel, namng thns is o course a useul and necessary occpaton, especally the things named exs. Bu it is hardy muchmore than a prelude to analytc thought And when as in thecase o comparatve relion it has not even been elaborated intosome orm o systematcs, an oranzed taxonomy (as indeedgven the ad hoc natre of the whole enterprse it cannot be ) , tsuests relatonships among thins cateorzed toether whch

hae not in fact acally been dscovered and asserted but onlsensed and nsinuated Asde rom the sple queston o whetherthere realy are any pigeons in all o these peonholesan dendrolators pracci dendrolatry n arcane dendrolatologcal ceremonethe mere mutpcation of generalzed cover terms leadsto a tendency to assume that whatever is in a partcular sort opeonhole mst be a partcular sort of pgeo, else why should


33/145

lm Obvd

e be n ee And s we ge discssins f animism" emism" (my paicula cncen ee and my easn f binging

all is u) mysicism," gvened by a pemise a a n beeneaned a e s se wad a scienic cmpeensin f eligius penmena is educe ei divesiy by assmilaingem a lmied numbe f geneal ypes T my mind, andgiven my view f wa suc cmpeensin cnsiss f, is isacally e s sep wad denaing u maeial, wad

subsiuing clic f descipin and assumpin f analysisAn aemp caaceize e classical eigius syles n Mcc and Indnesia in suc a way as cmpe em eecvely bings ne face face wi pecisely i issue esesyles wee sngly maked by beliefs and acices ne can nlycalland indeed alms eveyne as calledmysical" Buwa mysical" means in e w cases uns u be vey fa

fm e same ing T vecme is diculy by genealizine nin f mysicism s as bscue ese cnass in epe f nding bade, me absac esemblances seems a msunpmising aegy, f ve away fm e cncee deailsf e w cases is als mve away fm e place wee anygeneal u we mig discve mus necessaily lie If, weve,

we ue a cnce lke mysicism" mysic" mysical"n fmulae an undelying unifmiy beind supeciallydivese penmena, bu analyze e nae f a divesi aswe nd i, en pusuing e dieen meanings e cncep akesin dieen cnexs des n disslve is value as an deing ideabu enices i As wi e penended nins like man" pliic" a", indeed, eligin"e fue we g

in e deails f e penmena wic e nin can plausibly be applied, e me vivid, e me illuminaing, and, is

lis lcaed, is dieeniains deemined, e me exac ibecmes n is aea f sudy, a leas, e inees f facs lies iei viey, and e we f ideas ess n n e degee wic ey can disslve a vaiey bu e

degee wic ey

can de i


34/145

Th Clacal l 5

With t his prelude, then, let me, �s a way into our subject, re-late t wo brief stories, legends acally, t hough t hey concern his-torical personages, one a sixt eenth-cent ury Jaanese prince popularly regarded o av been inst rumental in the Islaization ofhis country, and t he other a seventeenthcentury halfBerber, half-Arab religious scholar who has been transformed into an ipor-

t ant Moroccan saint. T hese men are metaphors. What ever theyoriginally were or did as actual persons has long since been dis-olved ino an mage of wha Indonesians or Moroccans regardo be rue spirialiy. As such hey are bu two among dozens of simia gues enveope in smia egens wo mig avebeen cosen. Bu a oes been cosen e conas I wis o

bing ou wou ave been on e same oe beween a spiiuaiy o "mysicism i you wis wic consiss in psycic baance an one wic consiss in moa inensity.

Te Inonesan gue is Sunan Kaijaga e mos mpoano e socae "nine aposes wal anga, aiionay consiee o ave inouce Isam ino Java an moe o ess singeaney an wiou eso o oce convee is popuaion o

e new cee. s an isoica pesonage Sunan Kaijaga iee oe aposes is m o e poin wee a ew scoayoubs ave been aise as o wee e eise a a Bu as aneepay eo e man wo moe an any oe is egae asaving boug Java om e saowpay wo o djamnIndu, "Hinu mes o e scipua one o djaman Ilam "Is

amic mes e is o is ay an exemey vivi gue in epopua minone o a ong seies o "cuue enewes somebeoe som ae im wo oug e see ep an puiye unsaabe sabiiy o ei inne ives ave caie e ene sociey owa ino a new pase o spiiua eisence

Kaiaga is sai o ave been bon e son o a ig oya ocia o ajapai e geaes an a ew mino encaves asie

e as o e Inonesian HinuBuis ingoms ajapai


35/145

Islam Obsv

ose catal lay on te loe eaes of te antas Re ofEasten aa about fty les ba fo te coast, donated e

aelago and te egons aound t toug ost q te outeent and teent centues ung te st alf of te steent centuy, te nes of te bugeonng tade ncaltesalong aas noten oastante, Tebon, ea, aaa,Tuban, s, Suabayawent, one by one, oe to Isla and,te sell of te a ngsp boen, seceded, leang Mad a-at a cout wtout a county, an eat sell wc soon col-

lased entely.e beaaay abo states stuggled bttely ong te-

seles, but by te td deade f te sxteent centuy one ote, ea, anaged to attan a cetan ascendancy and becoete cente, te pus nte aes, of te ole newly ongIslac coastal clzaton. Its peenene as sot led, o _eeless tan tty yeasbecause t ested on te at tat,tually alone aong te abo states, ea ad een ble todeelo ts agultual nteland, and, one deeloed, ts n-teland edatel ebelled n tun. Mataa, ognally an n-land one o ea located nea ee ogaata s today,tat s to say, n te ey eat o agaan aa, st dclaed tsndeendence and ten, gateng oltcal oce nd elgous

upose, sallowed not only ea tself but ost o te otenot coast ngdos as well aa's oltal cente o gatyas tus oed ba, afte ts sotled dsplaceent to teoast, to ts tadtonal, and one s teted to say natual, lousn te ce land nteo, and Mataa becae, untl te ut edued t n te egteent cetuy, te geatest o te Islazedstates o Indonesa, Musl Madapat

It as n ts "te wtout ode, as te aanese call t, "te. i te beteen tes, en te Indc clzaton was dssolng

and te Isla ong, tat Kaldaga led. He let te falngadaat atal as a young an, ong to one of te lelest of te aste abo states, aaa, ee e et and be-cae student o tat s, as coneted to Isla by) anote

o te aostles, Sunan onang Fo tee e oed ute


36/145

Th Clcl tl

along he coast, wandering rom town o own, until he arrived ateribon, where he married he daughter o yet a third aposle,

Sunan Giri; and nally he gravitad o Demak where he is conceived o have played a central poliical role in he rise, breakaay, and epansion o Maaram He is aid o have been eacherand guide boh o th original leader o he Mataram revoltagainst Demak, Senapati, and to the independent staes greaestking, Sulan Agung, and o have spread he new aih among themasses o he Javanese heartland His career was thus his countrys

history abandoning the dying, discredied, desancied Madaahit, he assed hrough he poliicoreligious upheavals o heransitional harbor stes o arrive a he renascent spirituality oMaaram, a human recapitulation o a social ransormaion.

In shor, as a symbol, materialized idea, Sunan alidjagaconnecs ndic Java wih Muslm Java, and herein lies his iner

es both or s and or the Javanese. Whatever the acs may e,he is seen as he bridge beween o high civilizations, two historical epochs, and two great religions hat o the Madjaahit HinduBuddhis in which he grew u and at o he Maaram Islamwhich he ostered. For he Javanese he is (or, more exactly, hislie is) he meaningul link beween a world o godkings, riualpriess, and declamatory shrines and one o pious sultans, oranic

scholars, and ausere mosques I is thereore o some value olook a lie more closely at he story, as the Javanese tell it, ohat conversion in Daara where, like Saul in Damascus, a mysical eperience led him, midway in he journey o his lie, ochange his religion, his name, and, uning the raditions o anesablished civilization to the aspiraions o an emerging one, hiswordly desiny

The acal conversion was not, however, exacly Pauline inpiri When Sunan alidaga arrived in Djapara (I summarizenow my inormants renderings o he ale, which do not agree inevery detail but resen a common patern), he was a airly accomplished neerdowell named Raden Djaka SahidLord YoungMan Sahid A home he had been an habitual thie, not averse to

steaing rom his own moher in order o drink, whore, and in


37/145

28 Ilm Obvd

articuar, gamble. When his mothers mone was gon, he abandoned her imoverished and set out to sea from the genera

ubic, becoming nal a highwaman of sc reno that menwere afrai to go to the market in Djaara for fear of being hedu b him

It was at this time that Sunan Bonang, sai b some informantsto be an rab and in an case a usim, came Djaara. e wasdressed in gorgeous cothes, drae with exensive jewes, andhis cane was of solid gold s he waked the streets of Djaara

hus set out, he naurall atracted e rofessiona attetions ofRaden Djaka Sahid, who stoed him and, branishing a dagger,demanded his jewes, his cothes, and his goden cane But Bon-ang was not afraid, and indeed he sim laughed He said, "o,Sahid [whose name he knew hough he had never seen or heard ofhm before} dont alwas be wanting this thing and that thing

and the other thing desire is ointless. Do not be attached towor goods we ive but for a momen Look! There is a tree ofmone

nd when Sahid looked behind hm he saw that the bananree had turne to gold and was hung with jewes, and he wasstounded In fact, he was instant convinced"he becameaare, as the Javanese idiom, alwas henomenologica in such

mattrs, uts it "reaize, we wou sathat materia goos,the things of this world, were as nothing comared to the ower Sunan Bonang. Then he thought to himself, "This man canurn trees into gold and jewes and et he does not se richesnd he said to Bonang that he no longer wished to rb, rink,wench, gamble, an so on he wanted on the sort of siritualknowedge that Bonang had, wanted ver much to be instructedb him in his "science Bonang said, "l right, but it is verdcu Do ou have the strenh of wi, the steadfastness, theeurance? Wen ahi sa he wou ersist t deat onangmere reied, "Wait here b the side of the river unti I comeback. n he went on his a

Sahid waited there b the side of the river for earssome sa

en, some sa twent, othes even thirt or fortlost in thought.


38/145

Th Clssl tls

Trees grew up around h, oods cae and covered h wthwter and then receded, crowds pased hm by, jostlng h asthey went, buldngs were

bult and torndown, but he reaned

unoed n hs trance. t length Bonang returned and saw thatSahd he had soe dculty locatng h ad the trees) hadndeed been steadfas. ut nstead of eachng h the doctrnesof Ia he rely sad, "You hae been a good pupl, and as aresult of your long edtaton you now know ore than I do,and he began to ask h questons, adanced questons, on rel

gous atters, whch the unnstructed pupl answered ed-ately and correctly. Bonang then gae h hs new nae, Kald-jaga"he who guards the rerand told h to go forth andspread the doctrne of Isla, whch he then dd th unsurpassedeecteness. He had becoe a Musl wthout ever havng seenthe Koran, entered a osque, or heard a prayerthrough an n-ner change of heart brought on by the sae sort of yogalkepsychc dscplne that was the core relgous act of the Indc tradton fro whh he cae. Hs converson was not a atter of asprtual or oral chage followng upon a decse change nbelef whch s how Wbst's denes the word), but a wlledsprtual and oral change whch evenuated n an alost acces-soral change n elef. Sunan Kaldjaga becae a Musl be

cause he had refored; he dd not refor because he had becoea Musl. Hs redepton, f that s what t should be called, wasa selfproduced nner state, a wlled ood. nd hs Isla, f thats what t should be called, was but a publc fath he was assgned,as he was assgned hs professonal nae and hs culural sson.

The Morccan gur I an to strke o aganst Kald aga sb 'l asan ben Mas'd Yus, popularly known as SdLa4sen Lyus Lyus, who s uch ore of a fully hstorcal gurethan Kaldjaga a fact whch has not, howeer, nhbtd hs

y thologzaton) , was born n an obscure trbe of transhuant


39/145

3 am Obv

shphdsth v nam mans "t sota onsn thdd tas ountans n 1631. H was appant a Bb,

but popua gnd (whch Lus hmsf aunchd b camnghs sunam was a coupton of th abc Yussf has t that hsfath was not on an ab but ndd a dscndant, b wa ofIds II, th foud of Fz, of th Popht uhammdwhatuss cad a f H d (facua n Fz, b gnd sfxd n th fosts of th dd tas n 1691, so that f adjagas ca concdd wth th s of ataam out of th fom-

ss stuggs of th habo stats, ss concd wth th sof th awt dnastth on whch st gns n Rabatutof th sctaan anach of th aaboutc Css. Both mn vdn ts whn th socts w movng, hstant, panfu,and, n th natu of th cas, qut ncompt, towad fom,aft havng bn dsuptd b fundamnta gopotca uphava But wh adjaga attmptd to dct that movmntb psntng t n hs conscousnss, catng n mcocosm thhamon sought fo n macocosm, us atmptd to dct tb stuggng aganst t, b xposng n hs tachngs and hs actons th ntna co tadtons t was sng dspat to contan Th st appoach s ssnta asthtc; t potas ts da.Th scond s ssnta moa; t commands t

Th aaboutc Css whch had bon out n th ftnthcnu wth th coaps of th ast of th gat Bb dnasts,th nds, cam ung Lus's ft, th svntth cntu, mo o ss to an nd. Ths s not to sa hat maaboutsmdd, fo sant woshp s an hstoca constant n oocco, xstng as a powfu popua foc und th Bb dnasts as txsts toda. What was dnt dung ths wo hctc cnusfom those that pcdd an foowd thm was not that ooccans woshppd sants, but that such woshp attand a xuanc of potca xpsson t had not n ab to achv bfond was unab to gan aft oocco spntd, n ths pod,nto a cocto of ag an sma pots cntd aoundho n of on sot o anoth (ads of Su scts, oca o

anc tachs, sfappontd vangsts, wandng asctcs, and


40/145


41/145

Islam Obs

pops thy ar xamps or) his naura mod o ig wsrstssnss, his discipin moiity, and h sought to captur

truth not y waiting patinty or it to manist its to his mptid consiousnss, ut y tirssy and systmaticay tracking itdown H did not tra to nd a nw sanctuary caus an odon had n rahd; h trad aus, ik his shphrdparnts, h was a trar.

In this iong pigrimag o Lyusis, to incidnts stand out,at ast in th popuar ind, as dning th natur o his saint

inss and thus o saintinss in gnra Th rst is his discipship to th amous prSaharan Su shikh Amd n Nir aDar, oundr o a ry arg odr, th Nasiri, wich, thoughsomwhat sudud, is sti quit important in orocco Th scond is his conrontationoision is prhaps th mor xact word

with th grat consoidator o th Aawit dynasty, oroco's

Akar Sutan uy Ismi n 'Ai As with Kaidaga, I wiry mainy on my inormants' rndrings, or what thy ak inhistorica acuray thy mor than mak up or in cutura pntration.

Whn, th story gos, Lyusi arrid at Tamgrut, th dsrtdg oasis whr n Nasir was taching, h ound th od mancitiay i with a oathsom disas, phaps, rm th sound o

it, smapox Th shikh cad his sudnts to him, on y on,and askd thm to wash his nightshirt But ach was so rpdy th iknss, so disgstd y his and th nightshirt's appaanc, as w as araid or his own hah, that h rusd to do it,or indd to com any mor into th shikh's prsnc.

yusi had ust arrid and was unknown to th shikh, andryon s, and so was not cad. But h approachd n Nasiruniddn and said, "y tahr, I wi wash your coths Ginth shirt, h took it to a spring whr rinsd it and, wringingit out, drank th ou watr thus produd H rrnd to thsikh, his ys aa, not with inss, or did no sik,ut s tough h had drunk a powru win Thus a knw thatLyusi was not, or anyway not any ongr, n ordinary man, that

h hd what th oroans ca aa o thos ront


42/145


43/145

3 Im Obd

he the Suta the aked hat had happeed to all h dhethe palace ae ad "That ma ho ou guet beak hem

he e bg h oodThe Sulta odeed u to be bought to hm

km" km lm"" Lod e hae bee teatg ou lke the guet o God

ad ou hae bee beakg all ou dhe

"Well hh bettethe potte o llah o the potteo la? [e. I beak pate huma ceato ut oubeak people God eato}

ad he poceeded to upbad ula Imal o h teatmet othe oke ho ee budg h a

The Sulta a umpeed ad ad to u "l I ko

that I took ou gae ou hoptat [a deep meagu act ooco} ad ou hae aued a th touble You mutleae m ct u let the palace ad pthed h tet thegaead ut oute the ct ea hee the all a begbult Whe the Sulta head o th he et a meege to theat to ak h e he had bee told to eae h the Sultat he had ot at doe o "Te hm u ad "I hae

let ou ct ad I hae eteed odHeag th the Sulta a eaged ad ame dg out hm

e o h hoe to the gaead hee he oud the at pa-g Iteuptg hm a aege te he alled out to hm"h hae ou ot let m ct a I odeed d u epled"I et out o ou ct ad am the t o God the Geat ad

the Hol No ld th u the Sulta adaed to attakthe at ad kll hm But Lu took h lace ad de a leo the goud ad he the Sulta ode aco t the leg o hhoe bega to k ol to the eath ghteed ua Imal bega to plead to God ad he ad to u "God h e-omed me! God ha eomed me! I am o ! Ge me pado! The at he ad "I dot ak o ealth o oce I ol ak that

ou ge e a oal decee ackoledgg the act that I am a


44/145

Th Clsscl tls 5

shif, that I am a dsndant of th ropht and ntitld to thappropriat honors, privigs, an rspt h Sultan did this

and Lyusi lt, sti in ar or his safy, ing to th iddl t-as forsts, whr h prahd to th rrs (and against thking) and utimaty did, was urid, and transormd into asd a man around whos tom an aoat dvotiona ult hasdvoed.

Two mn, two utus; and ik thos utus, at on andh sam tim shaply dirnt yt uriosy similar Thir dirns ar apparnt, as dirns usually a. On a townsman;th othr a rusti On a dispad aistoat attmpting to sustain

his staus th othr an ordinary trisman attmpting to raishimsl aov his origins. On a yogi and spiritualy somthingof a hamln, tuning surfa atus to novl sttings whilrmaining inwardly ivioat; th othr a puitan and somthingof a alot, assrting th mora sovrignty of prsonal hoinssin whatvr stting at whatvr ost. h similaritis ar mousiv, as smiaritis, at ast whn thy ar gnuin ad mor

than skn dp, usually ar. Thy rst on o fats. First, othgus ar profoundy onsrvativ, dfnding rivd orms ofrligious onsiousnss in th a of radia soia and poitiahalngs to thi ontinuation. nd sond, it is th inrasingpntration of th vry rligious tradition to whih thy ar os-tnsily ommittd, Islam, that maks this dns oth nssay and, as tms passs, inrasingy dspat. ut ths rathrrypti ommnts, summing up in a has rligious dvlopmntin Indonsia and oroo to th nd of th nintnth nury,dmand a good da of xpiation.

On th Indonsian sid, th uua tradition out of whih alidjaga am and whos rligious outlook h struggd to main-tain atr th tradition its had disappad was that o th gat

ourt ntrs o Indi ava. In attmting to summari that out


45/145

slm Obsr

ook in e ords, I ould ke to reduce it to series o doc-trines, though in ct there ere no such doctrines in the sense o

expicit ormultions dogticly sserted, but ony in the senseo impicit principes in terms o hich reigious ie s con-ducted. The rst nd mos importnt o tse I ill c TheDoctrine o the Exempry Center; the second, The Doctrine oGrded Spiritulity; nd the third, The Doctrine o the TheterStte. Together they mke up ord vie nd n ethos hichis eitist, esoteric, nd esthetic, nd hich reins, even terthe dpttions nd reormutions orced upon it by our hndredyers o Ismiztion, three hundred o cooni dointion, ndtenty o independence, poeru theme in the contemporryIndonesin consciousness

By The Doctrine o the Exeplry Center, I men the notiontht the kings court nd cpit, nd t their xis the king him-

el, orm t once n imge o divine order nd prdig orsoci order The court, its ctivities, its style, its orgniztion, itshoe orm o lie, reproduces, beit imperety, the ord othe gods, provides visibe ikeness o n invisibe rem Andbecuse it does this, it so provides n ide tord hich ieoutside the court, in the kingdom s hole, ought propery tospire, upon hich it should seek to mode itse, s chid mod-

es itse upon ther, pesnt upon ord, ord upon kig,nd king upon god

Indeed, ro religious point o vie, tht is the courts bsicunction nd ustictionto disseminte civiiztion by dispy-ing it, to shpe society by presenting it ith microcosmic ex-pression o mcrocosmic orm hich it cn ttempt, s el s it

is be, to imitte The ere o the country proceeds ro theexceence o its cpit, the excelence o th cpit ro thebrilince o its court, the briince o its court rom the spiritul-ty o its king hen Prpnc th gret court poet o Mdj-phit, the uthor o the Ngrkrtgm seeks to express itsgory nd tht o its ruer, he picts the entie relm s copy oits cpitthe thousnds o pesnt houses re likened to the

mnors o the courtiers disposed round the roy compound; the


46/145

Th Clsscl tls 3

te pvines gwn happ and quiet t the ultivated andg the it's edge; the unppulaed ests and muntains nw

tave and eaxatin t its tanquil paks The apita is the sun he sas elsewhee in the pem the unt like its

he ntin tha spiitualit is nt equa distibuted amnge ut nie pptined ading t psitin ang the gaiet siplitia ank whih uns m king t peasant ls m this gwing ente iew authit amst as a gi

la The apait the kind inwad using siusness upn the sues nes existenethat is upn utimatethat Kaidjaga demnstated nt n aies me pesn t anthe ut des s in tems a ve ne aliated status hieah; it is n aident that he was bn a de mee at human inequait has in and itse metasia signia_ne: the dieene etween "high and w ist the same time the dieene beween thse me ale t detahtemselves m the tempa s as t ntemplate the etenala thse ess ae at is t sa etween the eate saeda the eatie pane estige and santit ae intehangeae tems whih ike highness and wness me in degees andth sia adde eahes twad the same uminatin as eigus

itatin: nneing The etaine shud hn the mastethe Madjaahit text a etin ues nening wshipaes the maste shud hn he headman the heamansud hn the d the d shud hn the pine theie shud hn the piest the iest shud hn the gdi the gdking shud hn the supenatua beings the sunaua beings shud hn the upeme Nthingness

hee ae a numbe impiatins suh a iew thingst the least imptant whih is that the king b the mee at eing king is the paamunt saed jet It is upn him hatt whe sstem pits he stands at the juntue the divinea e human with s t speak a t in eah amp mmnthis was expessed b indeed egading him as the inanatin

a in the Buddhist aiant as a bdhisata ten


47/145

Islam Oberved

enog, s bo. B e criic oin is a in e raning ofen in ers of eir cac for siria enigenen rog

isciine sefinsecion, eir ease of access o ia, e reresens a once e ae, if one oos a e sse fro e boo , or e foninea, if, as is ore in eeing wi eeear cener conceion, one oos a i fro e o own.Here, e robem ws no fsing srong n an o nower an crisa were ineren correae fro e o ofe ociet o e boo. Te robe was o een e ower

raaizing e caria, o agnif e n so a i socas a wier an more bining o.Te Teaer Sae en, o coee e circe, is s e

concree reaizaion of is conceion. Te riua ife of e cor e s cereonies, e gwrog ar, e eborae oiessefore no s e rings of re b e ssnce ofi. Secace ws w e sae was for is cenra as ws ess ogoverna job e viagers arge accoise for an ongesevesan o isa in irgca fo e onnees of avanese cre. Te caia was a sage n wice ries an nobes, eae e ing, resene an enessscre agean i resec o wic e orinr n wa aonce ecaor, sear crrier an, rog e ribe an service

e a obige o rener, sonsor. Te scae of cereonia civi a an aricar sae co on ws e esre boof i egemonfor e more eecive e ae ecnqesfor mobiizing men an aerie, e greaer a scae co be an of e egree o wic i was inee an eear cenercabe of evoing te aite Praanca cais e woe ofe avanese conr a owar e eeres ing of Majaai "eess, bowe, sooing, be So ong a e agrarian civiizaion of e grea inerior ricean wi s esre cors coeing for esan srsesconine, ti eegn cobinaion of qiei, cereoniais,an ierarcs co conine aso, for bo forae econions of ife as everone from ing o save, if fro ier

en anoin, obe wi ieren enen, an eras


48/145

The Cica Stye 3

een ith ieent conicemet, kne them, a poie ageneal intepetatio, juticatio if ou ih, of h the ee

that a. What it expee i molic fom men confote inactal expeience, an hat me cofonte in actal expeiencit lent boae fom a a eepe meaig to. Thi i ciculaut eligion, coniee a a huma phenomenon, i ala lkethat. It a it peuaiene out of a ealit it itelf ene.The oce of an cee italit, een one o implicit an uncoie a the Inoaanee, lie in the fact that it pice the

ultimate tctue of exitence in uch a a that the eent ofee life eem epeatel to conm it It i hen thi magical cicle i boken an eligio concept loe thei ai of impleeali, hen the ol a expeience an the ol a imagine n longe ee to e mee eluciation of one anothe, thatpeplexitie enue

It a peciel thi ot of beaking of the cicle that the ieof the noth coat kingom mut hae caue, not onl fo otale like Kalijaga, bt fo lage ume of oina aanee.It a not meel the ituion of Ilamfo that coul haeeen, an in the uppe clae a, eail aobe ithout anfuamental chage of ieut the uen exaion of thetaing clae, a tagle co of foeigne an local that po

uce an element aimilale to the Inic ol ie eeha been tae along the coat, not meel of aa ut of S-mata, Boneo, an the Celee a ell, fo cenuie. Bt hata ieent aout the eelopment in the fteenth an ixteenthcentuie a that the cente of political an economic poe inthe achipelago theatene to hift, fo moe than centu ihift, to ch men. In the hao tate quantitatie change inucequalitatie. The taing goup, oganie ito epaate ethnicquate centee not upon the local cout ut on moque anmaket, oe eail fom oe ton to the ext an in otof the achipelago, an, too bu ith commece to muchconcene ith eite ank o ceemon, upet the tau hie-ach, iupte the theate tate, an igoe the exempla cen

tethat i to a, ititute a ocial eolution


49/145

a eve

Wth the appeaance of ataa, consious odeing tsefdespite its supposed Isais, upon adjapahit, the evoution

astepoai, as it uned outaested. Bt thn it hadpoceeded a enough to ntoduce a ne eeent into the Javanese and, as an of the tades ee Oute Isandes, Indonesianocia stuctue. Though o hat at st ust have een an oveheing majot of the popuaton the Indic od ve continued unde a nomina convesion to Isa, t as no ongeithout a vaa iva that, as oth coca ie and contactth centes o he usi od inceased, ge seadi moepoeu. ne heethe tension eeen the spe o ad japahit and the pu o he oanas intoduced into Indonesianspiiua ife, and hat as to ecoe a thooughgoing dieentiation of the couts eigious tadition as egun

The uk o this deentiation, and thus the dentve oa

ton of the cassica eigous sye in Indonesia, took pace in thethee centuies, ough 5 to 8 in hich the countpassed fo eing a spice shop o Euope to eing a povince ofit. The estaishment o Dutch hegeon, fought tte ataam ut utimate accopshed, cut the gound out om unde the theate state tadition unti it ecae most theate andve itte state The exempa vie of authoity, the Nivanic

ve o oship, and the anksceen vie o the dvine, dessedno n usim guise, continued, and ndeed n a cuious aouished. But those ho hed t ee pogessive tansomed,not ithout incident, om ntansigent oigachs stugging toeud adjapahit to pant funtionaes content to eee t.

The cushing of ataa, essentia copeted the dde

of the eighteenth cenu, ed to a eesded dvision of poticaao in Indonesa, the dstinctiveness, indeed the outight pecuaty, of hich has not een sucent appeciated Utimatepoe, in the sense o soeeign foce as o couse, in Dutchands, though the intensit th hch t as asseted as notunom ove the achipeago. Da to da oca adnistaton,hoeve as aost evehee in the hands o an indgenous

civi sevce hose memes ee the heis of the foe uing


50/145

The C Stye

cass, a ind of whitecoar aristoray. And the syos of au-thority, the reigioutura trappings of oand, reained inthe conuered ourts and the dsared noiity that anned

the A poitia syste in whih the sources of powe, the in-struens of rue, and the ases of egitiacy are so separaeyoated woud see t e inherenty unstae ut this one asted,and in fact prospered, for aout two hundred years In part, thiswas ecause Duth poer was so ovewheing ut in part, too,it was eause, however isted and reote, the Madjapahit sun

sti shone.In fact, the redution of the od courts to spiritua retreats forpensioned prines ed to soething of a cutura reviva eieved,

or argey so, of poitica conerns, the noiity coud devote it-sef to perfecting the expressive side of authoritydeeoping poitesse to an aost osessive copeity, rening the arts andindeed inventing new ones, and on the reigiophiosophia side,

utivating the sort of anguid ystagogy that tends to go withthe sense that one is conserving, perhaps for not uh onger,the reis of a vanished greatness This yzantine orescene, asG P ouaer apty aed it, fored in turn the soure frowhich the aristorats turned ivi servants, now the vehies ifhardy the sprigs of authority in Indonesia, drew their ife stye,their socia vaues and their reigious ieas y the eginning ofthe nineteenth entury the pattern of a ureaucratic gentry wied-ing power that it did not reay have in the nae of a uturaidea that was not reay regnant was charateristic not ony ofava, ut in soewhat odied and ess intensive for, in theOuter Isands as we. Kaidaga's paaceorn heritage had passeto a cass of oe ers

ut if governent continued in Indonesia, so did trade if In-diis, so Isa The Duth preeption of internatioa ong-distance oereaso the resut of a protrated strugge, hereore with agie erhants than stuorn ingsturned theindigenous traders inward to forge a doestic areting systeAnd as this syste was construted iing utiatey the whoearchipeago in a ontiuous newor of oa trade, it carried with


51/145


52/145

Th Cssca ts

d r d de, o eid, o od e o, e s-eisi olk eligio o e ss o e esyoer

e o i I sll ve ore o sy le oi onede o e, lized e, d resised eir isin.Neve ell y eoiled o oe oer, ese vrios sndsee yy esly ell oied in syse i sless syesis so o siril le o oer, lneo oe i resed o e kind o oeiso gees i re ossile i siey i is sill ore n s

selge o eoles d olleio o ss gops loselieeled y e evsive isiiosgisries ndkes ieged iol oiy. We or o soie s los, so oo s e le.

Tig k, i is sees, oAsioAi epsiin,o Mooo, e eslised religios diio i Lys seig o ssi i e e o soil rsorios sgi os sily sed p i e er roisMo is

Fren redeig o e Ai mb# i

i deives ro roo enig ie, id, sen, ,i, oor. A i s s ied, od, seed God, like el o pos, sip pier, prisoer o llor, ore poriel, s ib er derivive, es oried sy, le o ros, like onk o ose.I is vios oios e ord rns rog e r Moo isor. Te s d gees e Berer epires,

e ode o Mke d e oeror o Adlsi, ie ko i Eglis s e Alorvds, s i Al Mrin,Te Mros. , e pil o e oty, derves oe "s or, "ri, i, , i origill sAd so o e, i soe los gile sense, ed, bn,iederps e s ord s sledo God


53/145

m Obrv

ege to e so ) ee the ieite oi o eligios eoionin "the Mooo tht s An even in the Mooo tht is

ti sententl thoity hs o isppeThe ontent o this on, s ell s the sign o its existene

n the eslt o its opeton, s, to etn to te en-tione elie, "k Litelly, "k ens lessing, inthe sense o ivine vo Bt speing ot o tht nleening, speiying n eliiting it, it enloses hole ngeo linke ies: teil pospeity, physil elleing, oil

stistion, opletion, lk, plenite, n, the st oststesse y Westen ites nxio to oe it into pigeonhoeith n, gil poe n oest tes, "k is not,s it hs so oten een epesente, pphysil oe, kin ospii eletiity ie hih, thogh not entiely ithotsis, spies it yon eognition Like te notion o the

exeply ente, it is oneption o the oe in hih the i-vne ehes into the ol pliit, nitiize, n osysteti, i too is "otine

Moe extly, it is oe o onstingotionlly, o-ly, intelletllyhn expeiene, ltl goss on leAn thogh ts is st n intite pole, ht this on-sttion, this gloss, oes on to, so lest it sees to e,

is the poposition ( gin, o ose, holly tit) tht the seppes ost ietly in the ol s n enoent tlentn pity, speil ility ptil inivils thethn eletiity the est (t still not vey goo) nloge o"k is esonl pesene, oe o hte, ol vivi-ness Mots hve k in the y tht en hve stength,

oge, igniy, skill, ety, o inelligene Like these, thoghit is not the se s ese, no even ll o the pt togethe, it is git hih soe en hve in gete egee thn othes, nhih e, ots, he in speltie egee Te poleis to eie ho ( not only, s e shll see, ong the living, tlso ong the e ) hs it, ho h, n ho to enet oit

The pole o ho hs it s inee in soe ys the en


54/145

The Cc Se 5

trl teologil prole i tt is not too elegnt or or nisse i rrely rose ove te ol n te prtil ) in lssi

l Moroo n to it to or lsses o nsers ere, soetimes seprtely, soeties siltneosly, iven: t e yll te mirlos n te enelogil. Mrotoo, te possession o r, s inexe eiter y onderorin, repttion or sing nsl tings to or, or y sppose linelesent ro te ropet Or s sy, y o Bt o teto priniples ere oten, ter te seventeent entry perpsmost oten, invoe togeter, tey ere yet seprte priniples,n in te tension etween te n e seen reete o teyni o Moron ltrl istory. t is tis tension, still perl, tt lies ein t gt ve seemed, en reonteit, rios tist to te en o te story Lsi n te Sltnen, ving onvininly mpresse is irlos poers

pon te Sltn, tis Berer ontineer ss te Sltn to elre tre esennt o te ropet: seri. Bt, lieBongs ely srprising resl to te lig te Kornter is extrvgnt eittion, tis inient is not ere tist,n ntilmx t is n ige o it reting to n nsettlingsit o te gron on i, psyologilly n soiologilly,it s een estonlessly stnin

ro religios point o vie, te rise o te lite ynsty,n espeilly its onsolition in te ns o Mly smil,represented te ssertion o te spremy o te genelogilvie o te sis o r over te irlos o te proposition tt tog sintoo is, ntrlly enog, ompnie yoners, it is, onveniently enog, onveye y loo. sei

in ynsty, tring its peigree ptrilinelly to li, teropets soninl, it s edite, is edite, to te elevton o t Mx Weer lled ereditry rism over te lle personl rim n to e ontinment o iti the onnes o xe n orere stts syste. Te ite nser to rotis s to liense it or nyy, to tryto

e serin priniple o legity s, o orse, not ne


55/145

Osr1/

o Mooo i he veeeh ey A I hve eioed ev-el ie beoe he pope kig i Mooo Idi II

lied hei deehi he Idi I hig bee diveo Bghdd by H Al hid B Idi II ool bie bo tety ye d liied oed o Fez d ievio The Idiid ioded he geelogil oepioo bk b hey old o eblih i viioy boioo ep it lot holly y The ie t he Alovidd he he Alohd kigdohe Alovid i he eleveh

d elh eie he Alohd i he elh d hieehepee he eegee o eol hi oveeigoe i 10oo The ge Bebe dyie he oe· odedby eii Sh ei he oe by Gd Al oeee Aled Bel h eked e beoe hey ee epieeoi e o they oe o he eligio level yy

eio o he heeie d heeodoxiehji Shiid j pli pgio Moo oiey Fied by pioo odied l pehp oly leeed od hve heAlovid eeged o hei ib o e Mlkie oodoxy o he hole o lold Moood o oe ooe exet o Spi ell. Fied by die o he ioliy hih peied ihi hi leglii hell he Alohd

he e e oghly ii bole ooheieeged o hei o e po i Godigheed pii hih like he legli i neve ed lo The holepoe h oe oplex h hi e o igibe hgig elio betee he Ili d Chitiold he opeig o Bby o he ee o Mli hoghhe iio o Bedoi Ab d o o B h i elde io i cs, Bel gi o ptly llheho oged he eed oiee o Mooo ideedoged Mooo iel i beyod h dob

The Mboi Cii he olleio o ei oeihi hih Lyi hped bt he debi o hi diio The ollpe e oey holdig io o he

hid o he oive dyie he Meiid geed po


56/145

h Cic Sy

liial aoiy ad aeed o o pea e omme ieieglal ao e ladape ae lie e Idoeia a-

zaaae og ei oigi ee diee ad ei yleoaig e Mooa iaae ee il o o he io a ivilizaio oe piial oe olived i poliial apai-ie Bo ee i e ed mee ielde momeay devia-io i e ey eded eemed o ave le eveyig heame ad i a ee evolio I Idoeia e aelage a e appeaae o a aleaive oe o evelaioe oa; i Mooo i a e egee o a aleaiveiiple o aiyeia dee.

Te imp o e laie peaed aally y e iemegee o aoe eia dyay e Saaia i ailedo ailize aed e eligio poplim o me lie Lyime o om aaa gaviaed aally o oe egadle o

aio igeo eog o deeve ii e oaig o-io o a eediay piial paiiae B o moe a eIdi adio iolved i e ae o Ilamizaio i Idoeiadid e odeoig vie o aiood diolve i e aeo e geealogial i Mooo I a piig i may eeme o piiplea aima a a idividal ale ada i a a aily paimoyaally ed Hee e o-

ome o e la eee a ealied oloo ad a iom-ig doie a o a deepeig dieeiaio o eligio yle a ieaig iaio o i Ae e ixee eyLvioveal a ie "eligio} eaig ee givea Fez o e oyide amped e ame diiive mpi o e lieae o e oy Te le o e Moo

a ola oo om i i peiod ad i e olloig adi a o vaied ie.Ad a i e lieae ad e ola o moe gadaly

d le ompleely i e oiey a a ole Te ie odiee o o meeped ame aia ade i-elleal oiloeig e ae o limae eliad e moaliy did o epaae io dii eam hoe

divegee ieaed a ey pogeed ge omea pa


57/145

Ob

dxicy, given the intense ci ntgnisms mng thesevrius grups, cser tgether, becme c vrints n per-

vding theme t the stry Kidg's cnrntin withthe new shud end with intrnsigence in the guise ccmm-dtinndicism mintined beneth n smic veneerndtht Lysis with cpitutin in the guise rebeintheshern principe reigius egitimcy ccepted in the curse mr cisin with its quintessenti representtiveisgin superby dignstic At the sme tme tht ndnsi ws

mving twrd spiritu cevge, Mrcc ws mving, n esshtingy but s n ess denitivey, twrd spirit cnsid-tin

The whe prcess, the soci nd cutur stbiiztin Mrccn mrbutism, is usuy reerred t under the rubric "Susm but ike its mst cmmn gss in Engish mysti-

cism, this term suggests specicity beie nd prcticewhich dissves when ne ks t the rnge phenmen twhich it is ctuy ppied Susm hs been ess denite stnd-pint in sm, distinct cncetin reigiusness ike Meth-dism Swedenbrginism thn duse expressin thtnecessity mentined in e st chpter r wrd reigin tcme t terms with vriety mentities, mutiicity c

rms ih, nd yet mintin the essence its wn identityespite the therwrdy ides nd ctivities s ten sscitedwith it, Susm, s n histric reity, cnsists series der-ent nd even cntrdictry experents mst them ccurringbeteen the ninth nd nineteenth centuries in bringing rdxsm itse n semess unit ) int eective retinship withthe wrd, rendering it ccessibe t its dherents nd its dher-ents ccessibe t it n the Mide Est, this seems miny t hve

ment recnciing Arbin pntheism with Krnic egism indnes, resttng nd iintinis in Arbic phr

Documents

Clifford Geertz-Islam Observed_ Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia (Phoenix Books)-University of Chicago Press (1971)