PERSIAN ECHOES IN THE ARCHIPELAGO: Exploring Shi‘a Aesthetics and Ritual Memory in Indonesian Islam
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24014/apjrs.v9i1.37847Keywords:
Tabuik, Karbala, Ritual, Indonesian Islam,Abstract
This article examines the presence of Persian Shi‘a ritual aesthetics in Indonesian Islam through a case study of two Muharram commemorations: the Tabuik festival in Pariaman, West Sumatra, and the Tabok ritual in Palembang, South Sumatra. Though practiced within predominantly Sunni communities, these rituals retain symbolic, theatrical, and affective elements historically associated with Shi‘a mourning traditions in the Persianate world. Drawing on theories of cultural memory (Assmann, Connerton), ritual aesthetics (Chelkowski, Aghaie, Hyder), and Persianate cosmopolitanism (Pollock, Green, Ahmed), the article argues that such practices are not aberrations but culturally adapted expressions of a broader Islamic memory. By tracing the localized afterlives of Karbala in Indonesia, this study reveals the plural genealogies of Islamic devotion in the archipelago. It contributes to a deeper understanding of Islam’s transregional aesthetic and emotional vocabularies.References
Aghaie, K. S. (2004). Martyrs of Karbala: Shi’i symbols and rituals in modern Iran. In Martyrs of Karbala: Shi’i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran.
Ahmed, S. (2015). What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic. Princeton University Press.
Al-Attas, S. M. N. (1968). Prelimary Statement on a General Theory of Islamization of The Malay-Indonesia Archipelago. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Anggito, & Johan Setiawan. (2018). Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Jejak.
Arikunto, S. (2016). Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Rineka Cipta.
Assmann, J. (2011). Cultural Memory and Early Civilization. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511996306
Azra, A. (2022). THE ORIGINS OF ISLAMIC REFORMISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: Networks of Malay-Indonesian and Middle Eastern ‘Ulamāi in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. In The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia: Networks of Malay-Indonesian and Middle Eastern ‘Ulamāi in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
Carr, D., Koselleck, R., & Tribe, K. (1987). Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time. History and Theory, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/2505122
Chelkowski, P. (2022). Art for Twenty-Four Hours. In Islamic Art in the 19th Century. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047417279_020
Cole, J. (2002). Sacred space and holy war: The politics, culture and history of Shi’ite Islam. I. B. Tauris.
Coleman, S., Stewart, C., & Shaw, R. (1997). Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/3035052
Connerton, P. (2006). Cultural Memory. In Handbook of Material Culture (pp. 315–324). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848607972.n21
Deeb, L. (2006). Lebanese Shia women : temporality and piety. ISIM Review, 18.
Feener, R. M., & Sevea, T. (2009). Islamic connections: Muslim societies in South and Southeast Asia. In Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies in South and Southeast Asia.
Feener, R. Michael. (2019). Sharia as a Public Policy: Religious Education and Islam in Indonesia. In M. Crouch (Ed.), Islamic Law in Modern Indonesia: Legal Pluralism and Conflict. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614443
Godfray, H. C. J., Crute, I. R., Haddad, L., Muir, J. F., Nisbett, N., Lawrence, D., Pretty, J., Robinson, S., Toulmin, C., & Whiteley, R. (2010). The future of the global food system. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (Vol. 365, Issue 1554). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0180
Greeley, J. A. (2022). Sufi turning and the spirituality of sacred space. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/20440243.2022.2126138
Green, N. (2012a). Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India. In Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077961.001.0001
Green, N. (2012b). Sufism: A Global History. Wiley- Blackwell.
Haroon, S. (2021). Modern Sufis and the State: The Politics of Islam in South Asia and Beyond. Journal of Islamic Studies, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etab062
Ho, E. (2002). Names beyond nations. The making of local cosmopolitans. Etudes Rurales, 163–164(3–4). https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesrurales.7980
Hyder, S. A. (2011). Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory. In Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195373028.001.0001
Ishii, Y. (2018). The Junk Trade from Southeast Asia. In The Junk Trade from Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814519793
Koselleck, R. (2002). The practice of conceptual history : timing history, spacing concepts. Journal of Social History, Cultural m. https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh.2004.0077
Malik, J. (2008). Islam in South Asia: A short history. In Themes in Islamic Studies (Vol. 4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0049085713494310
Mason, P. H. (2016). FIGHT-DANCING AND THE FESTIVAL TABUIK IN PARIAMAN, INDONESIA AND IEMANJá IN SALVADOR DA BAHIA, BRAZIL. Martial Arts Studies, 2016(2). https://doi.org/10.18573/j.2016.10065
Masquelier, A., Stewart, C., & Shaw, R. (1997). Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis. Journal of Religion in Africa, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/1581685
Mottahedeh, N. (2005). Ta’ziyeh: A twist of history in everyday life. In The Women of Karbala: Ritual Performance and Symbolic Discourses in Modern Shi’i Islam. https://doi.org/10.7560/709362-004
Pinault, D. (2016). The Shiites: Ritual and popular piety in a muslim community. In The Shiites: Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-06693-0
Pollock, S. (2006). The language of the gods in the world of men: Sanskrit, culture, and power in premodern India. In The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.44-1370
Rahma, V. Z., Dewi, D. A., & Furnamasari, Y. F. (2021). Analisis Nilai-Nilai Pancasila pada Penyelenggaraan Festival Hoyak Tabuik di Kota Pariaman. Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai, 5(3).
Riddell, P. (2001). Southeast Asia. Islam and the Malay-Indonesian world: Transmission and responses. Hurst.
Rinaldo, R. (2021). Spirituality and Islam. In Situating Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197565001.003.0016
Smith, M. G. (2014). Shi‘ism and Politics in Colonial Indonesia: The Role of the Arab Community. In Shi’ism in South East Asia . Hurst & Company.
Wacquant, L. J. D., Connerton, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1991). How Societies Remember. Revue Française de Sociologie, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.2307/3322083
Wang, Q. (2021). The Cultural Foundation of Human Memory. In Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 72). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-070920-023638
Wormser, P. (2014). The spread of islam in Asia through trade and Sufism (ninth-nineteenth centuries). In Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315758534-17
