`Maulid` celebration and cultural pluralism

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RUBRlKASI
'Maulid' celebration and
cultural pluralism
Donny Syofyan
PADANG, WEST SUMATRA
ot
of pesantren
(Islamic
board ing schools) and majlis
aklim (Koran study groups)
~
hold recitations of zikir (religious
chants) every time they commemorate the anniversary of Prophet
Muhammad', birth (maulid). ln a
somewhat different way, the Sasak
natives in Lombok, who are mostly
Muslims, wash their keris (traditional daggers) in nearby Lake Sagara Anak, arituai called pekelem, to
mark the Prophet's birthday.
Multiple ways of celebrating the
mau/id of the Prophet Muhammad
signais that respect for the Prophet
cannot be separated from cultural
pluralism. Due to his noble personality, love and respect for the
Prophet cannot be restricted to one
single religious celebration.
In principal, assorted maulid
celebrations by diverse groups of
I'vluslims indicate that thev have
shifted into more personal and cultural expressions instead of purely
religiaus manifestations. Take the
Mawlid of al-Barzanji, for instance.
one of the c1assics of traditional Islamic culture. It is asung celehration of the birth and greamess of
ivluhammad, traditionallv recited
on the anniversarv ofhis birth.
Despite oppos'irion to it from
some Islamic movements, the recital of al-Barzanji has its own 1('-
gitimacy, not simply because it possesses elements of Sufi - which is
a part of Islamic traditional science
_ but also because it accentuates
the cultural expression of Muslims'
love for the prophet Muhammad.
Strong cultural pressure makes
particular groups of Muslims' love
for the prophet long-Iasting. While
the staged approach through deliv,ering sermons might have aboring
_effect on people since they only suit
those with astrong religi aus consciousness, the frequent recital of
al-Barzanji ingrains respect for the
prophet in Muslims. Yl' I;JI have accustomed myself to the
al-Barzanji tradition since I was a
child. My personal repertoire and
mental image of the Prophet, to a
serious degree, has been shaped by
listening to the recital because it
narrates a lot of the Prophet's noble
characteristics,
among others his
siding with the poor, his very humble lifestyle, his habit of sewing his
own sandais and clothes, his shv
personality, his not heing puffed up.
his compassionate attitude to his
family and sa on."My deep love for
and mature comprChCll$ion of Muhammad are inseparably linked to
this tradition.
Furthermore, a diverse celebration of the Prophet's birthday heto.
kens Muhammad's plural personality. Muhammad is not a monolithic
figure. Rather he is a multidimensional man with a distinguished
degree of success in all the raJes
played; ordinary man, husband, father, religi aus leader, general and
many others.
His diverse personality trait has
invited Muslims' vast and heterogeneous response to his charm. In
anutshelI,
multiple ways of celebrating maulid suggest that Muslims assign great importance to the
Prophet in different ways.
ln Yogyakarta, the Prophet Muhammad's birthday is celebrated
with the Sekaten festival with the
intention of bringing people to.
gether to recite the shahadah, to
witness th at there is no God but
Allah and that Muhammad is His
Prophet. ln a ceremony known as
kan dur gangsa, the sultan attends
a commemoration of Prophet Mohammad's birth day at the mosque
to listen to the story of the Prophet
being read out aloud. Cultural festivity is central to maulid celebration there.
For people around Mt. Lemongan in East Java. the maulid celebration is held through activities
such as re':greening Mt. Lemongall,
cultural art performances and a local Ja\'anese procession to clean
the village. passed down through
generations. \Nhile this is valuable
soci.11capital for Jc.'elopment. the
rf'.~rL'ening acrivi:.v is inspired by
tne vcry essence of Muhammad's
earning as a blessing for the entire
universe (rahmaial1 li'! 'alamin), ng-
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PUSAT INFORMASI DAN HUBUNGfo.N MASYARAKAT
\
uring in the environment.
Even under the Fatimid govern.
ment in Sunni Islam, the maulid
celebnttion had a social and political function. At th at time, the place
in political and social hierarchy of
the host organizing the maulid celebration was expressed through the
value of the gifts received.
Last but not least, with the mautid being celebrated in different
places in different ways, it remains
a hope that it encourages Muslims
to maintain th is country as a benefi.
ciallaboratory of tolerance.
We might learn how Muslim descendents of the king's b'1.lardlive
in peace in Bali. In the land oftemples, Puri Pemeeman in the Badung
kingdom and the Muslim community in Kampung Islam Kepaon
have maintained a special relationship. when the mosque celebrates
maulid, the king from Puri Pemecutan is invited. In Kampung Islam
Kepaon, the houses of the Hindus
do not have sanggah Csmalltemplel
out front and no dogs roam around,
as a sign of mutual respect for their
Muslim neighbors.
The celebration of the Prophet's
hirthday is areminder that we have
to live in tolerance as he himself
taught.
The writer is a lecturer in the
School of Cultural Sciences at
Andalas University.