
One Sunday afternoon, a man dressed as Gatotkaca, the solidly built hero of the Mahabaratha epic, stood in the yard of the Rasarantang Arts Center in Cirebon, West Java.
Before him were some 20 people wearing costumes of various kinds. They raised the national flag, recited the state ideology of Pancasila, sang the national anthem Indonesia Raya and read poems.
The man then delivered a speech, calling for action against the social injustice in the country. He brought to attention the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, which displaced more than 1,000 people, the barriers that the poor face in obtaining a college education and the high jobless rate.
It is important to reflect on these things with the ultimate goal of achieving social justice, he said, "Indonesian is not fully liberated".
That man was Ahmad Syubbanuddin Alwy, a cultural observer and an important promoter of Islamic literature.
A collection of Alwy's poetry titled Bentangan Sunyi (Scene of Silence) was published in 1992. His works can also be found in Antologi Puisi Indonesia (Anthology of Indonesian Poems 1987), Titian Antar Bangsa (Inter-Nation Bridge, 1988), Negeri Bayang-Bayang (Country of Shadows, 1996) and Cermin Alam (Mirror of the Nature, 1997).
Alwy is better known as cultural observer in Cirebon, West Java. The poet who once worked as a journalist for the Bandung, West Java-based Pikiran Rakyat daily is now active in the People's Anti-Corruption Movement (Gerak). He is also on the board of the youth wing of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, and is a coordinator of the Islamic Seminary Literature Coalition.
Born on Aug. 26, 1962, Alwy has been an outspoken critic of corruption in the government and the misuse of state funds. As a result he often receives death threats.
As an anti-corruption activist, Alwy, together with academics, non-governmental organization activists and Islamic boarding school staff in Cirebon scrutinize the regional budget every year.
"We need to observe closely, from the start of the planning period. Otherwise, the executive and legislative members will do whatever they want in planning the budget," said the chairman of the Cirebon Arts Council.
Alwy said the formalization of religious activities, such as the issuance of sharia-based laws, many times destroyed the key values of the Islamic tradition.
"It shows the state -- as represented by regional governments -- is too fussy, and the politicians, too silly. Islamic law is about a relationship between human beings and God, how can we formalize this relationship? It is the business of each individual. We are not capable of taking care of horizontal issues, how can we take care of vertical issues (the relationship between man and God)," he said.
Alwy is also nicknamed "the lion of seminars", thanks to his lively seminars on Islamic literature, which never fail to draw a crowd.
"If Alwy is speaking, many people will come. He is a smart guy who has some pretty controversial views," said Lampung poet Isbedy Stiawan Z.S.
Alwy studied Islamic literature at the Sunan Kalijaga Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) in Yogyakarta in the 1980s. He knows inside and out the so-called "yellow books", detailing Islamic law, which are used as a text in Islamic boarding schools, and he is also very knowledge about religious comparative studies. With this background, he has often been a mentor for santri (Islamic boarding school students) who are interested in writing.
"All this time there has been a misperception of Islamic boarding schools. Many have the idea that Islamic boarding schools are terrorist bases or places to study Islam only. The fact is they are considered models of inclusive religious education," Alwy said.
He said that many of the country's literary figures went to Islamic boarding schools
"There are hundreds of writers who learned their craft in Islamic boarding schools. But they are often overlooked. That is why I established the Islamic Seminary Literature Coalition. We also support those who have been threatened as recently happened to a Bandung poet," Alwy said.
He was referring to the poet Saeful Badar, whose work Malaikat (Angel) -- which describes the angel as having the same weaknesses as a human being -- enraged the Islamic Proselytizing Council of Indonesia (DDII).
Alwy said many students and teachers of Islamic boarding schools wrote poems, short stories and novels that had only been read by a select few.
"I once met a woman who taught in an Islamic boarding school. She wrote wonderful poems but was not confident enough to submit them to a publisher. We encouraged her and she got them published," he said.
Source: The Jakarta Post, October 03, 2007
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