1 - Saint Veneration in Indonesia

Summary

Saints are prevalent among all societies, cultures, and religions. As Françoise Meltzer and Jaś Elsner have argued, the belief in holy persons represents a “faith without borders” and is found in every society and culture. Fundamental to the notion of saint is the hierarchical conception of the relations between man and God and the intermediary roles saints play in this hierarchy. Nevertheless, this hierarchy differs conceptually within traditions or from one place to another. In each tradition and in all regions, the configuration of this hierarchy is vernacularised through the use of local conceptions and the way in which they are manifested. Kristian Petersen argues that vernacularisation points to the discursive space where vernacular linguistic interpretations become a vehicle for a cosmopolitan vision, blending the global and the local in a temporal and geographically specific place. Thus, the vernacularisation of Islam is the process through which the messages and teachings of Islam are translated into local concepts. The universal principles of Islam that originated in Arabia were vernacularised in a specific time and space.

The sainthood tradition in Indonesia seems to be a peculiar case where the vernacularised tradition develops as a result of the intertwinement of different streams of ideas, peoples, and beliefs. It is a peculiar trajectory where the tradition is loosely connected to Sufism while it echoes Trimingham's distinction between the Sufi approach and popular belief. Particularly in Java, with its strong emphasis on mystical practices, Sufism has facilitated a unique fusion of Islam and pre-Islamic Javanese religious practices. But, as Mark Woodward warns, saint veneration in Indonesia, especially in Java, is as much part of Sufism as metaphysical speculation and textual exegesis. Saints perform miracles, are sources of blessings and provide important links between intellectualised and popular traditions. Pilgrimages to their tombs and other shrines are one of the most common features of Muslim piety.6 Saint veneration, which is essential in Sufism, was translated into a localised blend and demonstrated the continuity and adaptation to local concepts and abstractions.

Examining various local concepts and the Wali Sanga as the dominant form of sainthood in Indonesia, the first part of this chapter will show the vernacularised saint worshipping tradition and its dynamics through time. The second part will examine the entwinement of sainthood and the economy and will further demonstrate the characteristics of hybrid Muslim saint veneration in contemporary Indonesia.