A poster in the front yard of the district office of Cianjur from hadits says ‘the most perfect faith is the one who have the best akhlak’. Such posters were easily found in the government offices and on the roadsin Cianjur as a strategy to promote the programof Gerbang Marhamah.
After Wasidi Swastomo was elected as Bupati in 2001, some Islamic leaders and
Islamic groups expected him to fulfil his promise to implement Islamic Sharia. Then, some Islamic leaders initiated a gathering to celebrate the Islamic New Year on 1 Muharram 1422 H (26 March 2001) and agreed to make an Islamic Sharia declaration. The event was claimed to be attended by almost 100,000 people, including a representation of 35 Islamic and social organisations that signed the
declaration, including NU, Muhammadiyah and PERSIS75 (Tasman 2004). However,
this research found that the support from the 35 organisations did not necessarily
75 The representation of 35 Islamic and social organisations who signed the declaration, included NU, Muhammadiyah, PERSIS, PUI (Persatuan Ummat Islam), SI (Syarikat Islam), DDII (Dewan Da’wah Islam Indonesia), IPHI (Ikatan Persaudaraan Haji Indonesia), ICMI (Ikatan Cendikiawan Muslim Indonesia), BKSWI (Badan Kerjasama Wanita islam), MDI (Majelis Dkawah Islamiyah), DMI (Dewan Masjid Indonesia), BKPRMI (Badan Koordinasi Pemuda Remaja Masjid Indonesia), Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, Pemuda Muhammadiyah, Pemuda PERSIS, GPI (Gerakan Pemuda Islam), IPNU (Ikatan Putra Nahdlatul Ulama) PMII (Pergerakan Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia), GUPPI (Gabungan Usaha Pembaharuan Pendidikan Islam), FKPP (Forum komunikasi Pondok Pesantren), SARASI (Santri Raksa Reformasi), IMAM (Ikatan Muslim Anti Maksiat), MIMBAR (Majelis Muslim Bersatu), GERAM (Gerakan Anti Madat), HIZBULLOH (Front HIzbulloh), GARIS (Gerakan Reformis Islam), Resimen Santri, HAMIDA (Himpunan Alumni Miftahul Huda), BKPI (Badan Koordinasi Perguruan Islam), DKM MA (Dewan Keluarga Masjid Masjid Agung), IPMC (Ikatan Pelajar Muslim Cianjur), PD PII (Pengurus Daerah Pelajar Islam Indonesia), Yayasan PSDM Islahul Ummah, BANSER, ISNU (Ikatan Sarjana Nahdlatul Ulama) and MUI, who initiated and organised the declaration (Tasman 2004).
represent the opinions of the members, because it was only signed by the head and the secretary of each organisation, without the agreement of the members of the organisations (Suhendi, Youth Leader, Cianjur, interviewed 29 April 2008).
The enormous number of people who attended the event, according to Choirul Anam, Head of the Steering Committee, was a response to the euphoria of the reformation era (Choirul Anam, interviewed 10 March 2008). This was because the economic crisis in 1997 and the failure of the political system, which was followed by the fall of
Suharto in 1998, made the idea of implementing Sharia very popular due to people
feeling frustrated with Indonesia’s condition and seeking an alternative ideology. However, the involvement of those organisations might express the fact that the issue of Sharia was very popular and widely supported by the Cianjur community, although the support was not merely motivated by ideological or religious reasons, but also political interest.
The Islamic declaration was the first large ceremony held by Muslim groups. The declaration to implement Sharia in Cianjur read:
1. Belief that Islamic Shariaprovides guidance for people that will guide them to
greater prosperity, happiness, security, peace, equality in the world and
hereafter and can manifested in Cianjur: Baldatun Thoyyibatun Wa Rabbun
Ghofur76 (Cianjur sugih mukti tur Islami).
2. Determination to implement Islamic Sharia in daily life gradually, in
accordance with prophet Muhammad’s deeds, to support Cianjur’s development and not in contradiction with the Indonesian constitution.
3. Insistence that the policy-makers, particularly the Bupati and DPRD approve,
and implement Islamic norms in the development and government, hence
Cianjur district would be wealthy, prosperous and Islamic (Sugih Mukti Tur
Islami) (Kusoy 2005, p. 2).
According to Choirul Anam, the ceremony and the declaration was simply a moral movement, and there were no ideas to formalise Sharia Islam into a regulation or
76 The phrase ‘Baldatun Thoyyibatun wa Rabbun Ghofur’ literally means ‘[and your land] is a good country and [Lord] God is Oft-Forgiving’. This phrase refers to Qur’an surah Saba verse 15, which describes the prosperity of the country of Saba (Dar Qiraat 2010).
anything to dowith the Constitution. It was merely motivated by the fact that many Muslims did not individually practice Islamic teaching well. The declaration was made to build a commitment among the Muslim community to be more committed to practicing and implementing Sharia in their lives. This means that Sharia was supposed to be implemented in a cultural way. However, some other groups wanted to formalise Sharia into regulations.
The debates about whether it was necessary to formalise Shariainto regulations and
follow up the declaration by making regulations were intense between proponents and
critics. The critics did not want to politicise religion and did not want the Bupati to
politicise Islam. However, the supporter groups urged the Bupati to follow up the
declaration and formalise the Shariato fulfil his promises. Following the declaration,
there would be many Sharia-related projects that would benefit the supporters of Sharia through programs and facilities financed from the local government budget. The Bupati responded to the declaration by issuing two policies that represented a compromise between the opponents and the supporters of the formalisation of
Sharia.77 The policies were the launching of ‘Gerakan Aparatur Berakhlakul Karimah’
dan ‘Masyarakat Marhamah’, which was the embryo of Gerbang Marhamah, as
stated in the Bupati Circular of Cianjur Number: 451 / 277/Assda-1 6 September
2001. The policy of ‘Gerakan Aparatur Berakhlakul Karimah’ calls for the government apparatus to uphold good moral standards, while the policy of ‘Masyarakat Marhamah’ calls for the community to behave according to good moral
standards. These two policies were followed by a maklumat (edict) from Bupati about
‘Ajakan Berperilaku Akhlakul Karimah’ (calling for good moral behavior),
announcing the impementation of Sharia Islam, including sholat berjamaah
(congregation prayer), wearing muslim clothes, pengajian (Islamic education) and
amar ma’ruf nahiy munkar (commanding right and forbidding wrong) (LPPI 2001).
However, in these policies, the Bupati emphasised moral values rather than the
political and constitutional aspects of Sharia, as a form of the compromise approach that accommodated the demands of the two contending groups. Nevertheless, some of
77 The Bupati’s decision to use ‘akhlak’ (good moral) as a policy was to accommodate the demands of both opponents and supporters of the formalisation of Sharia. For the supporters, ‘akhlak’ is the answer for their demand because it is a core of Sharia, while for the opponents, as long as there is no term of Sharia and no obligation, they conform to the policy.
this policy was criticised because it obligated women to wear the hijab although it
was only a recommendation. The obligation to perform the jamaah Friday prayer
meant that government offices were closed during the prayer time, although it was during the working hours and there were also female staff who could work as they were not obligated to perform the Friday prayer.
As a strategy to facilitate the implementation of Sharia in Cinajur, the Bupati issued
another policy: Cianjur decree No. 34 and No. 36 of 2001 on the establishment of LPPI (Kusoy 2005; Yulia, Kurniawati & Azizi 2004). The establishment of LPPI resulted from a workshop in Cianjur conducted by MUI and the government of the Cianjur district. The workshop recommended that Muslims in Cianjur should be
obliged to implement Islamic Sharia. To do so, they needed an institution to study
Islamic Sharia; hence, Bupati issued a decree to establish LPPI, which would function
as a ‘think-tank’ to formulate guidelines for the implementation of Islamic Law in Cianjur and to produce a book, ‘Basic Format Implementation of Islamic Sharia’ (Format Dasar Pelaksanaan Syariat Islam) in 2001. In addition, LPPI produced a guidance book for preachers and teachers in the Cianjur district to implement Sharia (LPPI 2005).
A year later, in an effort to strengthen support from the community, LPPI and the supporters of the formalisation of Sharia, along with support from the district
government of Cianjur and the MUI, successfully held the first Silaturahmi dan
Musyawarah Ummat Islam (SILMUI: Conference of Islamic Ummah) on 16 March
2002 in Building Da’wah, which was attended by Ulama (Islamic scholars), umaro
(government), community leaders, political organisations, community organisations, student organisations, educational institutions and Islamic NGOs in the Cianjur district. The first SILMUI formulated materials for the application of Sharia in Cianjur, and it resulted in a decision to establish an umbrella organisation for
Muslims in Cianjur—Majelis Ukhuwah Ummat Islam (MUUI: Islamic Ummah
Brotherhood Council)—as a tool to legitimise the implementation of Sharia (Majelis
Ukhuwah Ummat Islam 2006). It was claimed that the first SILMUI was attended by
100,000 people, and many considered that this event was organised to mobilise
10 March 2008). With these strategies, Wasidi sought to mobilise support and legitimacy for his position and the implementation of Sharia.
In addition, LPPI issued a Rencana Strategy Gerbang Marhamah (Renstra Gerbang
Marhamah: Strategic Planning of Gerbang Marhamah), which contains an
implementation plan for the next five years of Gerbang Marhamah as a guideline to
implementing Islamic Shariacomprehensively (Kaffah), and the explanation of Sharia
Islam, which was mentioned in the ‘Basic format Implementation of Islamic Sharia’.
This Renstra was approved by some Muslims and Islamic groups during the first
SILMUI.78
In order to socialise the three primary agendas of ‘Gerbang Marhamah’, the Cianjur
government organised 1,000 Penyuluh Ahklakul Karimah (PAK: good moral
extension officers) out of 6,000 targeted Ulama (Islamic scholars), 2,000 Guru
Pembimbing Akhlakul Karimah (GPAK: good moral supervising teacher) out of
15,000 targeted teachers, Tim Penggerak Aparatur Berahlaqul Karimah (TP-GAB:
enforcement team of good moral staff), who were recruited from district government staff, and 1,000 volunteers (Abidin 2006; Kusoy 2005, p. 49). In addition, the government officials, particularly from the education office, received training about
Gerbang Marhamah. Some informants explained that the training was held in a hotel, which was uncommon, and they were paid for their participation, where usually the attendees pay to participate in the training (Pipih, Staff of Education Office Cianjur, interviewed 3 March 2008).
78 Since then, the SILMUI has been held annually following the celebration of the Islamic New Year, but has attracted smaller numbers of attendees. The eighth SILMUI produced nine recommendations, one of which wanted the government to issue a regulation concerning the implementation of economic Sharia principles to limit the practices of moneylenders. This recommendation was a follow-up with Perda No. 3/2006 about Gerbang Marhamah Gerbang Marhamah(Subur S 2009). Another recommendation was that MUI urge the government to immediately revoke the Bupati decree (SK) of Cianjur No. 36/2001 regarding the LPPI and issue a new decree for the legality of LPPI as an institution that has a duty to facilitate the task of the government in formulating the concepts of Gerbang Marhamah. In addition, MUI urged the government to evaluate the permits for the owners of nightclubs, cafes and hotels in Cipanas, Cianjur, due to the fact that many of the permits were not valid or had expired. In addition, the SILMUI demanded that the Bupati implement decree No. 12 Tahun 2006, about religious education (Pemberdayaan Pendidikan Diniyah) (Subur 2009). However, some of these recommendations have not been implemented, such as issuing a new decree for the legality of LPPI. Moreover, the government issued decree No. 61/2009, which abolised LPPI. The ninth SILMUI was held on 19 December 2009. This SILMUI produced further recommendations, including that the government supervise and tighten liquor trading, and that it reactivate PAK and supervise and restrict cults, especially the Ahmadiyah cult (Fikri 2009). The most recent SILMUI was held in December 2011.
The Gerbang Marhamah program, initiated by Warsidi, contains general and very normative regulations that tried to accommodate the demand from formalist and substantive Islamic groups. Wasidi’s government fully supported the program of
Gerbang Marhamah, for which the support increased from year to year (Kusoy 2005). The budget that Wasidi’s government provided in 2001 was 2 billion Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), increasing to 4.5 billion in 2002, 8 billion in 2003, 10 billion in 2004 and 15 billion in 2005, which was about 3 per cent of Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Daerah (APBD: Budget Revenues and Regional Expenditures). In addition,
Gerbang Marhamah was funded by Badan Amil Zakat (BAZ: institution for
collecting Zakat/Islamic tax) for which the amount increased from year to year. In
2001, BAZ provided support of 2 billion IDR, and in 2005, this increased to 4 billion IDR (LPPI 2005). The support from the government also included facilities for religious-related activities, programs and organisations. For instance, the establishment of LPPI and any activities conducted by LPPI were fully funded by the district government. LPPI activities included research on Islamic-related topics, training for teachers and preachers on Islamic topics, and conducting seminars and
workshops. Further, financial support was given to pesantren (Islamic boarding
schools) and pengajian (Islamic education groups). However, these policies were
criticised by opponent groups, who argued that this was squandering of resources and funds for something that was not really important, and only to one aspect: religiosity, with the consequence that the development of infrastructure was ignored (Yudi, LBH Cianjur, interviewed 29 February 2008; Dian & Aru, activist Cianjur, interviewed 28 February 2008; (Abidin 2006).
The role of LPPI was significant in supporting the implementation of Islamic Sharia. LPPI even submitted a draft of the Regional Regulation (RaPerda: Rancangan Peraturan Daerah) for the implementation of Sharia in Cianjur, but the draft regulation was rejected by the DPRD (Rina, Parliament member from PPP, Cianjur, interviewed 28 February 2008). According to Toha, a parliament member from PBB, when the draft was initially proposed, almost all parties refused, except PBB. However, after lobbying, PPP supported the draft and was then followed by the other parties (Toha, Parliament member from PBB Cianjur, interviewed 28 March 2008). Nevertheless, according to members of parliament from PD, who initially rejected the draft, as well as PDI, who walked out during the approval meeting, any DPRD members who
rejected this draft were labelled anti-Islamic by advocates of Sharia such as LPPI members (Iwan, Parliament member from PDI, Cianjur, interviewed 26 February 2008; Gatot, Parliament member from PD, Cianjur, interviewed 3 March 2008). Nevertheless, LPPI continued its promotion of the formalisation of Islamic Sharia.
Finally, Gerbang Marhamah was approved as a regulation by DPRD in July 2006,
soon after Tjetjep was inaugurated as Bupati, having defeated Wasidi during the 2006
Bupati election (Rina, Parliament member from PPP, Cianjur, interviewed 28 February 2008).
6.6.3 Gerbang Marhamah or Perda Sharia: The Politics of Nomenclature in