Question: How have external phenomena influenced Malay-Indonesian supernaturalism?
Introduction
Supernaturalism is deeply embedded in the lives of Malay-Indonesians (Slaats and Portier, 1989). Although there are many accounts of practices and encounters, there is a worrying lack of legislation concerning supernaturalism, unlike in Africa where the practice is outlawed (Schapera, 1970). This is mostly attributed to the colonial interference of the law. In order to assert Western scientific and rational values on the locals, the colonials had completely excluded supernaturalism on a legislative level in an attempt to eradicate the practices (Zelenietz, 1981). However, as the law did not reflect the social realities of the people, many problems began to arise because there was no official channel in which the locals could report and settle disputes relating to supernaturalism.
Besides the conception of local laws, the orientalist academic work on local supernaturalism also failed to address supernaturalism problems (Ellen, 1993). The academics either belittled the cultural importance of supernaturalism or exoticised it to the point that supernaturalism was not seen as a problem. As a result, it was not addressed, causing the practices to continue thriving even in urban settings. Hence, I argue that not only have orientalism in colonial law and academic work been unsuccessful in undermining Malay-Indonesian supernaturalism, but they have also promoted and exacerbated supernaturalism-related problems in Malay-Indonesian societies. In addition, despite the fact that the dominant religion, Islam, did not recognise supernaturalism, it also did not hinder supernaturalism from thriving because the locals had successfully assimilated and appropriated Islamic elements into their supernaturalism practices, thereby presenting it as acceptable in the religion.
Colonial influences in the law
In pre-colonial times, supernaturalism was considered common in the Malay-Indonesian societies. Although the practice was rife, it was controlled by moral and normative systems in place which defined the kinds of supernaturalism, and how it should or should not be practiced (Slaats and Portier, 1993). To the locals, magic that was used to inflict misfortune over others was prohibited, and there were punishments in place for practitioners who engaged in this activity, which was referred to as “black magic” (Beidelman 1970).
However, the laws concerning supernaturalism changed during the period of colonisation. As the colonials wanted to assert their Western moral and rational values on the locals, and since they regarded supernaturalism as antithetical to logic and rational thinking, they did not include any legislation to control or outlaw the practices of supernaturalism (Ellen, 1993). This was done in hopes that the law would undermine, and therefore erase the practice of magic from the region (Watson, 1993). In reality, the exclusion of supernaturalism from the law created an unintended opposite effect. Supernaturalism that used to be managed to a certain extent, was now completely out of control and not addressed at all on a legislative platform. Although there are some reports of supernaturalism practices in colonial legislation records, it was not the practitioner that was put on trial (Slaats and Portier, 1993). Instead, it was the individuals who attacked the practitioner, that was tried in court for their violent and illegal reactions. This meant that the practitioners got away because their supernaturalism activities were not considered as offences in the Penal Code, causing the practice to continue to thrive, even in modern times.
Orientalism in the study of Malay-Indonesian supernaturalism
Aside from colonial influences in the law, orientalism in the study of Malay-Indonesian supernaturalism also failed to undermine magic practices in the region. Orientalism is the a way of seeing non-Western cultures as exaggerated, exotic and backwards in order to emphasise the superiority of the West. This biased lens creates many problems with how the West views other cultures and also influences how non-Western cultures perceive themselves (Said, 1978). For example, in studying the supernaturalism practices of the Malay-Indonesian societies, many Western scholars have either overemphasised Malay-Indonesian supernaturalism by describing it as an integral part of the local culture (Barton, 1969), or completely disregarded its existence (Douglas, 1970). Both analyses are problematic and have pushed supernaturalism practices to continue even until today: the former statement convinces locals that supernaturalism is central to the Malay-Indonesian identity and has to be protected from modernisation and scientific thinking in urban times (Dom, 1979), while the latter has resulted into the lack of addressing supernaturalism-related problems in Malay-Indonesian regions (Ellen, 1993). In both cases, supernaturalism is not regarded as a problem, and therefore is not addressed and controlled, thereby allowing its practice to continue in urban settings.
Religion as a Tool for Promoting Supernaturalism in Malay-Indonesian Societies
Despite the external factors that unintentionally promoted supernaturalism in Malay-Indonesian societies, it is still puzzling that supernaturalism is still practiced when there an equally strong factor that disapproved of it, which is religion. Religion was particularly influential in the Malay-Indonesian region, that the Dutch and British colonial laws had to take into account of the pre-existing religious rulings or Shariah law, when they wanted to formulate the new colonial laws on the locals (Engelbrecht, 1954; Moeljatno, 1982). The dominant religion during colonialism was Islam, and it was explicitly clear that the religion forbade supernaturalism practices. According to the Quran, the Muslim holy book, supernaturalism dealt with evil spirits who were essentially manifestations of Satan Golomb, 1985). Due to this, any form of supernaturalism was not allowed.
However, upon closer observation, the religious orientation of the people had caused the opposite effect. Instead of hindering the spread of supernaturalism beliefs and practices, the way the religion was understood and practiced had supported and encouraged these practices because of two main reasons. Firstly, supernaturalism is not necessarily evil in Islam because of Islam’s monotheistic or Tawhidic principle (Bowen, 1993). The religion does not attribute evil to a single source or pose God and the Devil as antagonists against each other. As Muslims do not believe in an equal ‘evil’ counterpart to God, engaging in supernaturalism does not immediately mean that a practitioner is automatically engaging with evil spirits or representations of the Devil. There are also some Muslims who believe that not all spirits are evil, and assert that these spirits are willing to champion for Muslim piety by performing errands for practitioners (Golomb, 1985). Hence, practicing supernaturalism or engaging with spirits does not necessarily affect Muslims’ Islamic faith.
Secondly, although the religious texts explicitly forbid the engagement of evil spirits or sorcery, Muslims on the ground had successfully assimilated and appropriated Islamic elements such as Quranic verses, spiritual incantations and prayers into the supernaturalism practices to ensure that it is religiously acceptable (Skeat, 1967). In addition, Muslims had changed the laws and rules of practicing supernaturalism to suit their religion. Previously, the Malay societies would allow all forms of practices, except the ones that inflicted harm on others (Golomb, 1993). After the coming of Islam, it became clear that supernaturalism practices could only be carried out in the form of healing and, in some Malay societies, returning malign magic to the one who inflicted or sent the attack (Bowen, 1993). In this way, it became religiously acceptable as the intention and action was carried out as a way to prevent harm and protect people. Hence, although Islam does not allow the practice of supernaturalism, it became acceptable due to the assimilation of Islamic beliefs and elements. Supernaturalism could be practiced, not on the basis of interacting with the unseen, but on the basis of safeguarding the welfare of the people.
The assimilation of Islamic elements and beliefs in supernaturalism practices supported and propagated the spread of supernaturalism in Malay-Indonesian communities, which explains why it continues to thrive even in modern settings. Today, it is not uncommon to see advertisements in local Malay newspapers advertising supernaturalism healing. In fact, many of these services have been endorsed by prominent religious figures with influential positions in society (Azhar, 2006). It is also common for these prominent leaders to occasionally share verses from the Quran that supposedly would protect people from the evil supernaturalism attacks of others.
Conclusion
The spread of colonialism in Malay-Indonesian societies intended to assert Western ideals of rationalism and logical thinking among the locals. To the Westerners, there was absolutely no way that supernaturalism was aligned with logic, and should therefore be eradicated in the local community. However, I believe that they failed to eradicate supernaturalism as they did not take the time and effort to understand local communities and how supernaturalism was important in their society. The roots of supernaturalism was intertwined with their previous animistic beliefs, and the fact that the supernatural practitioners also held leadership roles in Malay-Indonesian society shows how important it was to the locals.
References
Azhar Ibrahim. (2006, 17 February) Pembomohan dan Keberkesanannya: Suatu Tinjauan Kritis. Retrieved from http://www.thereadinggroup.sg/Articles/Pembomohan%20dan%20Kebertahanannya.pdf
Bowen, J. R. (1993). Return to Sender: A Muslim Discourse of Sorcery in a Relatively Egalitarian Society, the Gayo of Northern Sumatera. In Watson, C.W. and Ellen, R. (Eds.), Understanding witchcraft and sorcery in Southeast Asia (pp. 1-27), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
Slaats H., and Portier K. (1993). Sorcery and the Law in Modern Indonesia. In Watson, C.W. and Ellen, R. (Eds.), Understanding witchcraft and sorcery in Southeast Asia (pp. 1-27), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
Ellen, R. (1993). Introduction. In Watson, C.W. and Ellen, R. (Eds.), Understanding witchcraft and sorcery in Southeast Asia (pp. 1-27), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press