Abstract
The state implementation of Islamic law in the special autonomous region of Aceh (Indonesia) presents a complex and compelling case for examining some of the central themes of this special issue, particularly the attempt to understand the complex entanglements of secular nation states with contemporary religious movements. These dynamics are particularly energized in contemporary Aceh, where a state-directed project for the formal implementation of shari`a has been pursued alongside broader agendas for social reconstruction following the devastating 2004 tsunami and the subsequent end of decades of violent conflict between the ‘Free Aceh Movement’ (GAM) and the central Indonesian government. This article explores a heretofore un-examined source base – that of ‘Text Messages (SMS) to the Editor’ printed in a local newspaper – to gain new perspective on local debates over the role of Islam and official state structures in building a ‘new Aceh’. This material presents a striking example of the complexity and contestation of popular discourses on Islamic law and society well beyond the realm of specialist spokesmen.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For discussions of the dramatic changes in contemporary Acehnese society, see: Daly et al. (2012).
This tradition is related in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Bayhaqi, among other sources. For a fuller discussion of this tradition in its various versions as transmitted through Islamic tradition, see Cook (2000: 33ff).
For legislation on the implementation of Islamic law in contemporary Aceh, see: Himpunan Undang-Undang, Keputusan Presiden, Peraturan Daerah/Qanun, Instruksi Gubernor, Edaran Gubernor berkaitan Pelaksanaan Syari`at Islam, 7th edition. Banda Aceh: Dinas Syari`at Islam.
The first major pieces of legislation defining Aceh’s Shari`a institutions were: Peraturan Daerah Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam No. 33/2001 tentang Susunan Organisasi dan Tata Kerja Dinas Syariat Islam; and Qanun Provinsi Nanggroe Darussalam No. 10/2002 tentang Peradilan Syariat Islam.
For more on the activist and utilitarian vision informing Aceh’s contemporary Islamic legal system, see: Feener (in press).
Peraturan Daerah Nomor 5 Tahun 2000 tentang Pelaksanaan Syariat Islam di Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh, IV.13.
A broad range of these debates as they have taken shape in diverse Muslim historical contexts is masterfully presented in (Cook 2000).
Other laws along these lines include Qanun Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Nomor 11/Tahun 2002 tentang Pelaksanaan Syari’at Islam Bidang Aqidah, Ibadah dan Syi’ar Islam, and Qanun No.12/2004 tentang Kebudayaan Aceh. Qanun Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Nomor 23/2002 tentang Penyelenggaraan Pendidikan also contains provisions for Islamic education to be “based on the Qur’an and the Sunna,” while also subject to the stated objectives of the Indonesian national educational system. The most dramatic instance of such, however, has been a proposed code of Islamic criminal law known as the Qanun Jinayat. This bill attracted global media attention to its hard-line stance on issues of sexual morality, and in particular for its stipulation of the penalty of execution by stoning for convicted adulterers. While this bill was passed in the last hours of a lame-duck session of the provincial legislature in 2009, the governor of Aceh refused to sign the bill, and to this date it remains in effect a dead letter.
This explanation of the term is borrowed from William Roff’s work on analogous developments of regulating Islamic morality in the Malay Peninsula (2009: 98).
The courts have had far fewer cases related to the subsequent Qanun No.7/2004 on Zakat.
For an overview of the development of the earlier development of these institutions, see: Lev (1972).
For an overview of the Darul Islam movement in Aceh, see: van Dijk (1981: 269–339).
Statistics compiled by Muhammad Yusuf, Panitera/ Sekretaris Mahkamah Syari`iyah Aceh, 5 June 2009.
Aspects of its redefined activities and the workings of its administration were further elaborated in Law No.43/2001 and Qanun No.9/2003.
Najib Kailani has remarked how in some contemporary Indonesian Islamist publications ‘secular slang’ terms (bahasa gaul) have come to be replaced with Arabic-derived neologisms such as ikhwan and akhwat (2008).
Interview with the Editorial Staff of Metro Aceh, 21 October 2009 at Lhokseumawe.
Because of the sheer volume of messages received, however, there can sometimes be a backlog of between two to five days before a message appears in print.
The materials discussed here represent my attempt at drawing a representative selection from over fourteen months of daily columns that were collected for me by Mahdi Syihab and his colleagues at the Pasee Institute of Research (PIR) in Lhokseumawe. Reading through this material it has become clear that many of the messages posted in the Aspirasi section repeat not only the sentiments, but also sometimes the exact wording of earlier texts. In some cases these come from what may be the same phone number, but not always. Thus in a number of cases I have found nearly identical messages reprinted over a series of several months.
The particular reference here is to Ramli MS, the Regent (Bupati) of West Aceh who has made name for himself through his campaign to implement Shari`a morality in the area under his jurisdiction by more vigorous enforcement of what he views to be ‘proper Islamic dress’ regulations for women—most notably by his public pronouncements that any woman caught wearing tight trousers will be confronted by the WH and provided with a loose skirt (sarung) to provide proper coverage. This is such an important public issue for Ramli that he has recently promulgated a new special regional regulation on the matter of ‘Islamic dress’ for his Regency (Peraturan Bupati Aceh Barat No. 5/2010 tentang Penegakan Syari`at Islam dalam Pemakaian Busana Islami di Kabupaten Aceh Barat).
For a stimulating collection of studies on diverse reconfigurations of media and politics in post-Suharto Indonesia, see: Sen and Hill 2011.
For an attempt at dealing with the connotations of this slogan in relief and development circles working in Aceh, see: Kennedy et al. 2008.
References
BRR - Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi & International Partners. (2006). Aceh and Nias: Two years after the Tsunami: 2006 progress report. Banda Aceh: BRR NAD-Nias.
Castells, M., Fernández-Ardèvol, M., Qiu, J. L., & Sey, A. (2007). Mobile communication and society: A global perspective. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Cook, M. (2000). Commanding right and forbidding wrong in Islamic thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Daly, P., Feener, R. M., & Reid, A. (Eds.). (2011). From the ground up: Perspectives on post-tsunami and post-conflict Aceh. Singapore: ISEAS Press.
Feener, R. M. (2012). Social engineering through Shari`a: Islamic law and state-directed Da`wa in contemporary Aceh. Islamic Law and Society, 19.2, 275–311.
Feener, R.M. (in press). Islamic law and development: Shari`a and social engineering in contemporary Aceh, Indonesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harper, R., Palen, L., & Taylor, A. (Eds.). (2005). The inside text: Social, cultural and design perspectives on SMS. Dordrecht: Springer.
Ichwan, M. N. (2007). The politics of Shari`atization: Central governmental and regional discourses of Shari`a implementation in Aceh. In R. M. Feener & M. E. Cammack (Eds.), Islamic law in contemporary Indonesia: Ideas and institutions (pp. 193–215). Cambridge (Mass): Harvard University Press.
Jeffrey, R., & Doron, A. (2012). Mobile-izing: democracy, organization and India’s first ‘Mass Mobile Phone’ elections. Journal of Asian Studies, 71.1, 63–80.
Kailani, N. (2008). Budaya popular Islam di Indonesia: Jaringan Dakwah forum Lingkar Pena. Sosiologi Reflektif, 2(3).
Kennedy, J., Ashmore, J., Babister, E., & Kelman, I. (2008). The meaning of ‘Build Back Better’: evidence from post-tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 16.1, 24–36.
Lev, D. (1972). Islamic courts in Indonesia: A study in the political bases of legal institutions. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lindsey, T., Hooker, M. B., Clarke, R., & Kingsley, J. (2007). Shari`a revival in Aceh. In R. M. Feener & M. E. Cammack (Eds.), Islamic law in contemporary Indonesia: Ideas and institutions (pp. 216–254). Cambridge (Mass): Harvard University Press.
Ling, R. (2004). The mobile connection: The cell phone’s impact on society. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Missbach, A. (2012). Separatist conflict in Indonesia: The long-distance politics of the Acehnese Diaspora. London: Routledge.
Pertrierra, R., Ugarte, E. F., Pingol, A., Hernandez, J., & Dacanay, N. L. (2002). TXT-ING SELVES: Cellphones and Philippine modernity. Manila: De La Salle University Press.
Rafael, V. (2005). The cellphone and the crowd: Messianic politics in the contemporary Philippines. In M. Rao & L. Mendoza (Eds.), Asia unplugged: The wireless and mobile media boom in the Asia-Pacific (pp. 286–315). Thousand Oaks: Response Books.
Rheingold, H. (2003). Smart mobs: The next social revolution. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing.
Roff, W. (2009). Patterns of Islamization in Malaysia, 1890s–1990s: Exemplars, Institutions and Vectors. In Studies of Islam and Society in Southeast Asia. Singapore: NUS Press.
Salvatore, A. (2007). The public sphere: Liberal modernity, Catholicism, Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sen, K., & Hill, D. T. (2011). Politics and the media in twenty-first century Indonesia: Decade of democracy. Abingdon: Routledge.
van Dijk, C. (1981). Rebellion under the banner of Islam: The Darul Islam in Indonesia. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Merle Ricklefs, Patrick Daly, Anthony Johns, Marion Katz, Janet Steele, Robin Jeffrey, Susanne Dahlgren and Samuli Schielke for their helpful comments on earlier drafts. I am also grateful to Hongyan Li for her help with editing and formatting this article for publication. I, of course, am solely responsible for any and all faults that remain in this published version. This work was undertaken partially with the support of the Singapore Ministry of Education’s Academic Research Fund (MOE AcRF no. R-110-000-029-750).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Feener, R.M. Hand, heart and handphone: State shari`a in the age of the SMS. Cont Islam 7, 15–32 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-013-0244-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-013-0244-0