- 26 Jul 2016
Saudi Arabia’s Indonesian Intellectual Sojourners: Islamic Scholars, Scientists and Students
Abstract:
Interactions between Arabia (especially Yemen and Hijaz) and Southeast Asia (particularly the Malay-Indonesian archipelago) have existed long before European colonial times. Historically, Arabs, particularly Hadramis (from South Yemen), journeyed to the archipelago mainly for trade, residing, or spreading Islam. Indonesians, on the other hand, voyaged to Hijaz in northern Arabia due to two main factors: (1) to perform hajj pilgrimage and other religious activities in the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina (Haramain), and (2) to learn Islamic knowledge and sciences in the birthplace of Islam and Prophet Muhammad. After performing hajj, the vast majority of Indonesians returned to their country, while a small minority chose to stay in Mecca and Medina to learn about Islam and Arabic. Whereas some stayed on for months or several years to study before returning to their home countries, others continued to reside there until they deceased. By the early 17th to mid 20th centuries, some of these initial educational travellers who then resided in the Haramain, became respected imams of Haram Mosque (Masjid al-Haram), fine teachers of Islam, and noted Islamic scholars (ulama). This tradition of “educational travel” continues till today. Saudi Arabia is now home to thousands of Indonesian Muslim students pursuing diverse studies from Islamic disciplines to hard sciences and engineering. In the past a great number of Indonesian scholars taught purely Islamic sciences in madrasah, mosques, and informal centers of learning in the Haramain. However, in the recent decades, some Indonesians have begun to teach “secular sciences” at universities and colleges across Saudi Arabia. This talk will discuss the history, changes, and contemporary developments of these intellectual sojourners.
About the Speakers
Sumanto Al Qurtuby is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining KFUPM, he was a visiting professor and a research fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, the United States. He has degrees in anthropology, sociology, conflict transformation, and Islamic studies. He holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University and an MA in Conflict and Peace Studies from Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. His research interests focus on the study of Muslim politics and cultures; conflict, violence, and peacebuilding; inter-and intra-religious relations, the role of religion in public sphere, and Arab-Indonesian connection.
A columnist and a freelancer of several media outlets such as Deutsche Welle, Jakarta Globe, Gatra, among others, he has authored, co-authored, and written more than 16 books, dozens of academic articles, and hundreds of popular essays (in Indonesian language and English). His most recent book from Routledge (London & New York) is Religious Violence and Conciliation in Indonesia: Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas. He is now completing a book manuscript on Islam, Travel, and Learning: Saudi-Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Networks, in addition to conducting research on Saudi Arabia’s domestic terrorism and counterterrorism.
