Hadrami Arabs in Present-day Indonesia: An Indonesia-oriented group with an Arab signature

145 Pages·2009·1.13 MB·English

by  Frode F. Jacobsen

Hadrami Arabs in Present-day
Indonesia
This book focuses on social and cultural trends in present-day Hadrami
Arab societies in Eastern and Central Indonesia, and the history of the
Hadrami Arab people, which demonstrates an early form of globaliza-
tion. For centuries, migration has played a vital part in Hadrami adap-
tation. External forces, such as the expanding powers of the Portuguese
in the Indian Ocean and the Turkish conquering Yemen, and internal
forces, such as poverty, droughts and political unrest as well as trading
opportunities and missionary work, have instigated migration move-
ments. While some Hadrami Arabs sought work in North America
and Europe, other waves of Hadrami migration have followed the
monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean to the Zanzibar coast, India,
Malaysia and Indonesia. The story of Hadramis in Indonesia has
largely been a story of success, in terms of trade, politics, education
and religious activities. Despite continual debate regarding what con-
stitutes Indonesian Hadrami identity, the author argues that they are
still ‘an Indonesia-oriented group with an Arab signature’.
This book will be of interest to Southeast Asian and Middle East
specialists and scholars in anthropology and migration studies.
Frode F. Jacobsen is currently an Associate Professor at the Department
of Public Health and Primary Health Care at the University of Bergen,
Norway. He has a special interest in health issues, local forms of
knowledge, and culture and migration.
Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
1 Land Tenure, Conservation and 13 Financial Fragility and Instability
Development in Southeast Asia in Indonesia
Peter Eaton Yasuyuki Matsumoto
2 The Politics of Indonesia– 14 The Revival of Tradition in
Indonesian Politics
Malaysia Relations
The deployment of adat from
One kin, two nations
colonialism to indigenism
Joseph Chinyong Liow
Edited by Jamie S. Davidson and
3 Governance and Civil Society in David Henley
Myanmar
15 Communal Violence and
Education, health and environment
Democratization in Indonesia
Helen James
Small town wars
4 Regionalism in Post-Suharto Gerry van Klinken
Indonesia 16 Singapore in the Global System
Edited by Maribeth Erb, Relationship, structure and change
Priyambudi Sulistiyanto and Peter Preston
Carole Faucher
17 Chinese Big Business in Indonesia
5 Living with Transition in Laos The state of the capital
Market integration in Southeast Christian Chua
Asia
18 Ethno-religious Violence in
Jonathan Rigg
Indonesia
6 Christianity, Islam and Nationalism From soil to God
in Indonesia Chris Wilson
Charles E. Farhadian
19 Ethnic Politics in Burma
7 Violent Conflicts in Indonesia States of conflict
Analysis, representation, resolution Ashley South
Edited by Charles A. Coppel
20 Democratization in Post-Suharto
8 Revolution, Reform and Regionalism Indonesia
in Southeast Asia Edited by Marco Bünte and
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Andreas Ufen
Ronald Bruce St John 21 Party Politics and Democratization
9 The Politics of Tyranny in Singapore in Indonesia
and Burma Golkar in the post-Suharto era
Aristotle and the rhetoric of Dirk Tomsa
benevolent despotism 22 Community, Environment and Local
Stephen McCarthy Governance in Indonesia
10 Ageing in Singapore Locating the commonweal
Service needs and the state Edited by Carol Warren and
Peggy Teo, Kalyani Mehta, John F. McCarthy
Leng Leng Thang and
23 Rebellion and Reform in
Angelique Chan
Indonesia
11 Security and Sustainable Jakarta’s security and autonomy
Development in Myanmar polices in Aceh
Helen James Michelle Ann Miller
12 Expressions of Cambodia 24 Hadrami Arabs in Present-day
The politics of tradition, identity Indonesia
and change An Indonesia-oriented group with an
Edited by Leakthina Chau-Pech Arab signature
Ollier and Tim Winter Frode F. Jacobsen
Hadrami Arabs in
Present-day Indonesia
An Indonesia-oriented group with
an Arab signature
Frode F. Jacobsen
First published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
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© 2009 Frode F. Jacobsen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Jacobsen, Frode F. (Frode Fadnes), 1961–
Hadrami Arabs in present-day Indonesia: an Indonesia-oriented
group with an Arab signature/Frode Jacobsen.
p. cm.—(Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series; 24)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Arabs—Indonesia. I. Title.
DS632.3.A7J33 2009
305.92'75330598—dc22 2008027771
ISBN 0-203-88461-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN13: 978–0–415–48092–5 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–88461–4 (ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
2 Historical and wider ethnographic
background: the homeland of Hadramawt 7
Social stratification in Hadramawt 8
Indian Ocean trade and migration 10
Who travelled? 14
Travels to the Indies 15
The story of a first generation Hadrami in
Indonesia 16
Hadrami mobility and migration in
perspective 17
3 Hadramis in Indonesia: introduction to Hadrami
communities on the islands of Java, Bali, Lombok
and Sumbawa 19
Introduction 19
An ‘Indonesia-oriented group with an Arab
signature’ 19
Muwallads and wula¯yatı¯s 22
Some general trends 24
Regional variation and international
context 25
vi Contents
4 ‘We are modern Indonesians’: continuity and
change among present-day Hadrami communities
in Indonesia 33
Introduction 33
The story of Hussain 33
Indo-Hadramis, Hadramawt and Yemen 37
Trade, wealth and ethnic identity 38
Visions of the homeland 43
Ethnic relativity 49
Hadrami ethnic identity in the East Indies in a
historical perspective 54
Present complexities 56
Hadrami ethnic identity in Indonesia: some
concluding remarks 58
5 Between ideologies of equality and social
stratification 61
Social stratification in Hadramawt 61
Hadrami stratification in the Netherlands
East Indies 62
Intra-ethnic stratification disputed 63
Marriage patterns and issues of social
stratification 66
Kafa’a debates in twentieth-century
Southeast Asia 70
Kafa’a and cultural continuity 72
6 Hadramis in diversity: a focus on some unique
adaptations on Bali and beyond 75
A Hadrami healers on Bali 75
Introduction: Hadramis on Bali 75
The Hadrami healing group 76
Muslim healing in a Hindu context 82
Concluding thoughts 93
B Religious healing among Hadramis on Bali: a
comparative approach 95
Introduction 95
Contents vii
God’s power in Northern Sudan 96
Charisma and ‘positive contamination’ 98
The blessing of being in the right spot at the
right time 102
Charisma and ‘pseudo-naturalness’ 103
Mustafa: a charismatic religious leader 106
Political changes and new ways of channelling
charisma 110
The blessings of technology and charisma
for sale 113
Conclusion 113
7 Conclusions 115
Notes 120
References 124
Index 129

Ilustrations
Tables
3.1 Family origin in Hadramawt, collected in Indonesia
1999–2001 27
3.2 Overview over families and origins, in Sumbawa
Besar, Sumbawa, collected in 2000 29
3.3 Occupations of Hadramis in Central and Eastern
Indonesia 32
5.1 Patterns of marriage for Hadrami Arabs, recorded in
1999–2000 from the towns of Surabaya, Singaraja,
Denpasar, Klungkung, Ampenan and Sumbawa
Besar 69
Figures
2.1 Map of Hadramawt 9
2.2 Trade routes across the Indian Ocean 12
3.1 The Malay Archipelago 26