이슬람의 유입과 자바 무슬림의 능동적 대응: 종교 텍스트에 대한 분석을 중심으로

Responses of Javanese Muslims to Islam: Analysis of Three Religious Texts

The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of Islamization in Java, focusing on religious discourse among Muslim intellectuals. How Islamic tradition and knowledge have been perceived and utilized and how they have interacted with those of non-Islamic origin will be discussed. For this, three Islam-related books written in different phases of Islamization are to be analyzed: Babad Tanah Jawi compiled by Mataram court in the 17th century, Serat Cabolek written by a court poet in the late 18th or early 19th century, and Fikih Anti-korupsi published by reformist and scriptural organization of Muhammadiyah in 2006. Babad portrays conversion to Islam as a process which does not demand a dramatic outward change in religious practice. Scriptural tradition of Islam and the dichotomy between what is Islamic and what is not were not mentioned in order to explain conversion. Spiritual and mystical enlightenment was emphasized heavily, and for this, the importance of non-Islamic traditions was fully acknowledged. Serat tells us that this period was characterized by the surge of scriptural and shariah-minded Islam, maintenance of non-Islamic traditions, clashes between scriptural Islam and old religious traditions, and Javanese efforts to harmonize these. In Fikih, non-Islamic tradition is replaced by scriptural Islam and disappears totally. Interpretations based on the Scriptures, however, do not monopolize it and are used together with mode of analysis from the West. It is too much to call this 'intellectual syncretism', in that Islamic Scriptures and Western knowledge do not mix but stand side by side. Three books under examination reveal that the process of Islamization in Java has not been uniform. It has been conditioned and shaped by local socio-cultural and historical circumstances, where active engagement and intellectual exercise of Javanese Muslims have played key roles. Even Islamization in the last few decades is not an exception. The surge of scripturalism and fundamentalism does not simply bring about a move to Arabization. Interacting with local intellectual and socio-cultural milieu, this has produced a sort of intellectual hybridity, which is unique to Muslim society of Java.