New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. xvi, 397 pp. (Illustrations, portraits.) US$65.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-19-026401-7.
A study of Shi’ism in Southeast Asia has been a long time coming. Readers dealing with the Muslim zone of Southeast Asia continually run into references about ‘Ali, Fatima, the family of the Prophet and other names and terms that suggest a Shi’a influence. This raises the question: Is there a real and prevalent Shi’a force or presence in Southeast Asia or are these merely invocations without deep meaning? The editors of this anthology have provided an answer, namely that there was considerable Shi’a presence in the Islam that first came to the region, but it later lost out to Sunni Islam. As a result, discussions of Shi’a exist in the literature, in some celebrations, and in historical references. As well, modern Shi’ism, reflecting an Iranian stance against Western and other ideological viewpoints, has gained a foothold in certain places, particularly in Indonesia.
There are fourteen essays in the book. The first is an introduction to the study while the second deals with overall trends in Shi’a Islam without regard to world areas. The remaining twelve essays present evidence of Shi’a influence in Southeast Asia. The organization is logical, by subject area, the essays are well structured and well written, and the overall text is well edited. The contributors represent a truly international scope, with scholars from Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States. All are specialists in their fields and they range from senior scholars to those just getting established in the academic world.
One of the chief areas of scholarship in this book is contained in part 2: Literary Legacies, where four essays have Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, as their focal point. Most of the material comes from an historical literature that may be classified as “Muslim Women’s Literature,” in which Fatima and several wives of the Prophet are pictured as role models for later Muslim women. Fatima is portrayed with various attributes depending on the views of writers of various manuscripts. Stories from the Middle East stress Fatima’s charity, devotion to her father and husband and, above all, her poverty and humility. Stories from Southeast Asia follow earlier Hindu tales wherein Fatima is a princess who certainly is charitable, but still wealthy, refined, and socially astute. All of the stories emphasize her life before the birth of her children and thereby avoid her presence in the pivotal historical beginning of Shi’ism, with the martyrdom of her son Husayn. Hence, note the writers of these essays, Fatima’s importance could either be a reflection of Sunni respect for a member of the Prophet’s family, or a manifestation of Shi’a identification. Inclusion of the wives of the Prophet as ideal women seems to have been a device for making the documents identify more closely with Sunni Islam at a time perhaps when de-emphasis of Shi’a forms and outlooks may have been occurring in Southeast Asia. One article, discussing the sexual act itself, uses ‘Ali and Fatima as the model for conducting such relations, particularly in the use of certain pious phrases that should be uttered throughout the action. It is unclear, however, whether it is Sufistic practice that is the driving factor or an identification with Shi’ism.
A second line of investigation, found in part 3: Modalities of ‘Alid Piety and Cultural Expression, yields two interesting studies on ‘Ashura celebrations in the Malay-Indonesian world. Both developed historically to reflect local mores and entertainment traditions that retained only a semblance of the content or even context of the very pietistic forms commemorating the death of Husayn in standard Shi’a Islam. The first, by one of the editors, Michael Feener, traces the development of the Tabot celebration in Bengkulu, Indonesia. Local dancing, parades, neighbourhood processions, band competitions, picnicking, and the honouring of local shrines allow the entire region to participate in the event. Family hierlooms of small dioramas of metal or carved wood, often depicting scenes from the Hindu Ramayana, such as the mythical Garuda (bird), are an important part of the parades. The festival begins on Muslim New Year and ends on ‘Ashura. In the second article another author traces the development of the Boria celebration in Penang, Malaysia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Boria were parades with floats accompanied by revellers acting foolishly while dressed in outlandish costumes, usually intended to mock rival Chinese or Malay gangs and British colonial authority. Neither festival celebration has much to do with Husayn or the commemoration of his martyrdom.
A third line of investigation is contained in part 4: Contemporary Developments, where one author traces the rise of Shi’ite socio-political activism in Indonesia over the past twenty years. That author concentrates, in particular, on the activist Jamaluddin Rahmat’s efforts to create a Shi’ism adaptive to the existing Indonesian Muslim community. There are other Shi’ite activists who prefer a more purist, less compromising brand of Shi’ism, and there are Sunnis who regard all these Shi’a efforts as belonging to a “deviant” sect of Islam. The second article by Chiara Formichi, the other volume editor, brings up the work of the Rausyan Fikr Foundation in Indonesia, which promotes study groups where Shi’ite philosophy and history, but never law, are emphasized. Most study group members are university-level students. Such study is certainly not in step with usual Islamic educational activity prevalent in Southeast Asia, as the Rausyan Fikr promotes open thinking about religious lessons, rather than mastering the standard formulas of Sunni or Shi’istic orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
One important point not covered in the book is whether the influence of Shi’ism is likely to expand or fade in the future. Is the legacy sufficient to continue to have an impact? Is the influence of Iranian importance in the central Islamic world likely to promote even greater interest in its brand of Islam in peripheral areas? The two editors, now having a thorough understanding of ‘Alid importance in Southeast Asia, are likely candidates for making such an assessment. Hopefully they will take up the challenge.
Howard M. Federspiel
Ohio State University (Emeritus), Columbus, USA
pp. 853-855