INDOSLAM
Indoslam is a photographic observation of Islam in South East Asia. It is a project developed in chapters beginning in late 2014. Its aim is to delve into the diverse features of contemporary Islam in the Malay archipelago and to explore its coexistence with other creeds and practices that merged with it
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO OPEN THE PHOTO GALLERIES
In Indonesia the healthcare system is fragmented. The state provides minimal care for the poorest but good treatments are private and still beyond most families' budgets. Although initiatives to extend healthcare to larger groups of citizens are in place, an increasing number of Muslims prefer Islamic medicine.
Faith healing clinics which provide 'the medicine of the Prophet' are quickly becoming a real player in the healing market. The Indonesian Bekam Association (ABI) registers and monitors faith healing businesses in throughout the country. According to the ABI the number of active licenses for faith healing clinics was 1700 in 2012 and grew to 3570 by 2015. However, such registration is not required to do business. ABI also reported that in the same period about 30 new herbal products factories opened in greater Jakarta.
Islamic healing, or medicine, is mentioned in the Koran, albeit vaguely, and mostly indicates self-healing methods based on common sense. However, just like elsewhere, medicine is huge business in Indonesia, therefore it is easy to observe the exploitation of ignorance for profit. The offers of any faith healing clinic may range from distributing herbal products, cupping (bloodletting with pressurized cups), exorcisms, acupuncture, water therapies, hypnotherapy, advising or providing the use of boarding houses as well as mental asylums. Prices vary from zero to hundreds of dollars depending on who and where the service takes place.
According to the traditional Indonesian Islamic view, the cause of most conditions afflicting a person may be the same. Both in pre-Islamic mythology and in the Koran, a demonic creature called Jinn is mentioned, said to be born at the edge of fire. A Jinn can simply travel across land, be present within things as well as the body and be the cause of any affliction.
“It’s possibly a Jinn” is often the initial explanation anytime there is no immediate understanding of what is wrong. To some psychiatrists exorcising a Jinn offers a chance of “atonement” and a way to let repressed energy burst out, somewhat like Confession in the Christian tradition. Anyone may request a cleric to perform a Ruqyah, a chanted prayer to test for a ghostly presence, and use the same prayer to get rid of it in case a jinn is believed to be there. From a more secular perspective, a Ruqyah can help a person to release energy. But believing to have a ghost in one’s body or in the family “is perfectly normal in Indonesia”. It can happen for a moment or it can be the root of a deeper problem, either behavioral or physical.
However easy it may seem to lump Islamic Healing with radical Islam, the bulk of faith healing consumers are normal, moderate Muslims who cannot afford or simply trust Islamic doctors more than the conventional healthcare to which they have access.
Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Muslims and non-Muslims alike are now subject to strict Islamic law in the conservative province of Aceh.
It is the only one of Indonesia's 34 provinces to impose Islamic law in the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world, with a population of about 250 million people.
Aceh province implemented Islamic law in 2001, but in September the religious "penal code" was extended to everyone, now applying to some 90,000 non-Muslims who live there.
Offences not previously regulated such as adultery, homosexual acts, and sex outside marriage are now punishable with sentences handed down by Islamic courts, including public flogging. Buying or carrying alcoholic beverages could result in 10 strokes of the cane, 10 months in prison, or a maximum fine of 100 grams in gold.
Often it is said that Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country in the world. It stretches over an area as big as Europe where Islam is dominant among pretty much any other religion but old time religions, cosmic beliefs are still nowadays very well present in popular culture.
Stricter visions Islam reject these old superstitions in today's culture even though they are endorsed by the most.The cult of magic for instance, of dead people, of ghosts, trees and land. Such beliefs still persist in rural areas, where Islam is more syncretic...a man once said: "ghosts used to live in trees, but now some of those trees are gone, so the ghosts just went to live in houses. In rural areas where scientific notions are scarce and hospitals or state facilities are hard to come by, local shamans known as Sanro deal with healing knowledge. They can be responsible to stir anyone's fortunes towards work, love or money. Influence the climate, cure physical symptoms, pains, disease, bad influences and even perform or remove spells.
For roughly two centuries Kemukus has been famous both in Javanese and Islamic culture as the resting place of prince Pangeran Samudro and his step-mother Nyai Ontrowulan. Mt. Kemukus is the setting for an age old legend, that the two lovers were stoned to death, because of their sinful love affair. Nowadays, regardless of the scorn and distaste of the more puritans Muslims wahhabi wannabes of the region, the celebration of the prince is repeated every thirty-five days. The legend has it, that prince Pangeran Samudro fell in love with his stepmother Nyai Ontrowulan and together decided to hide on the hill where they committed to have sex seven times in a year. However, they where found by a local army and were killed and buried before they could complete their seventh sexual intercourse. There should be one every 35 days to complete the ritual by the Javanese calendar cycle.