When piety is not the motive . . . what is?

On September 27, 2014, the Aceh provincial parliament approved the Principles of the Islamic Bylaw and the Islamic criminal code (Qanun Jinayah), which create new discriminatory offenses that do not exist in the Indonesian national criminal code (Hukum Pidana). The bylaws extend Sharia, or Islamic law, to non-Muslims, which criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts as well as all zina (sexual relations outside of marriage). The criminal code permits as punishment up to 100 lashes and up to 100 months in prison for consensual same-sex sex acts, while zina violations carry a penalty of 100 lashes. http://www.acehmail.com/2014/10/minorities-feel-threatened-with-indonesias-aceh-province-implementing-sharia/

I was searching for articles commenting on whether Joko Widodo, who assumes the presidency on October 20, is expected to do anything to rein in the Sharia law hysteria that now engulfs Aceh—and seems to be popular with no one except “the parliament,” whose members are rarely listed anywhere (Rami Sulaiman and Partai Aceh Spokesman Muhammas Harun being the exceptions). Interviews with Aceh citizens indicate that this “crackdown” does nothing but ruin business, restrict freedom of movement, and is a general pain in the ass to normal folks who just want to get on with some sort of semblance of normal daily life.

At the same time (September 28), the national parliament (controlled by the party of everyone’s favorite war criminal Prabowo Subiato and other supporting parties) passed a bill scrapping direct elections for provincial governorships, regency heads and city mayors.  Now, leaders will be chosen by “regional councils.”  This is certainly an anti-Jokowi measure, and aims to re-centralize the government, but I wonder if a) Aceh has to play along, being “autonomous” and all, and b) would a gubernatorial appointment be any different than current guv Zaini Abdullah, a big proponent of the pervert police—and why wouldn’t he be?  Prabowo’s Gerindra party made his life very easy both during and before the campaign.  They whipped up caliphate fervor all over the province, tapping into the desperation of thousands of ex-GAM combatants who hadn’t received a dime in promised compensation after the 2005 peace accord, and who watched GAM leaders assume positions of power and leave them in the dust.   “Jakarta has done you wrong,” was the message to the disaffected (read: nearly everyone) in Aceh.  “They don’t care about you, they’ll never help you, they don’t even want you to be a Muslim anymore!  Well they can’t take that away from you—down with Jakarta, up with Prabowo, and if you elect me I’ll let you stone and behead whoever you want.”

No one had ever really thought about stoning and beheading before, but now that he mentioned it, they really were good Muslims, and wanted to insulate themselves from a now-perceived “threat” in too-secular Jakarta, so the pervert police was born. And let the subjugation begin!

Prabowo and his greedy bunch really are very, very clever.

Add a substantial war chest, and poor little Aceh seems doomed.

So what’s Jokowi going to do about it?

Not much, if the Sept 22 article in the Nation, (“Jokowi’s Way”) mentioning Aceh only once, is any indication. Remember, he’s the guy who’s said he’s “pro economic expansion” and wants to increase palm oil production by 30%. “He is now backed by some of the most well-known oligarchs in the land, whose political parties are more like obliging banks . . . “ http://www.thenation.com/article/181466/jokowis-way 

Plus, Prabowo is not finished with Jokowi by a long shot.  See the Economist’s October 4 article, The Empire Strikes Back http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21621874-old-guard-out-obstruct-next-presidents-ambitious-plans-reforms-empire-strikes

The Sharia police have now extended their tentacles into rural Aceh, where you didn’t use to have to worry about hiring a driver who was not a husband or brother to take you somewhere, or receive agriculture training from a man who wasn’t a relative. 

"This bylaw has been highly anticipated by the people of Aceh, who have long wanted to see complete Islamic law on the veranda of Mecca," [Rami Sulaiman] said.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/lite/breakingnews/434576/aceh-approves-caning-for-gay-sex

In a pig’s eye they do.

You think the farmers in the Aceh Timur rainforest have time to worry about whether the boatman who takes them across the river to their cocoa farms is a relative?

You think tiny assistance providers like JMD are going to walk away from the livelihoods of 31 women and 500 family members?

I, however, will not be able to visit these programs.  I will not be able to be driven by the Director of the agency to see the projects that I have helped develop.  I’d laugh if it weren’t so pathetic and transparent.

“Ramli Sulaiman, chairman of an Aceh parliamentary commission that drafted the law, said proving extramarital and gay sex would be difficult.

‘There must be clear evidence and four witnesses who saw the act themselves,’ he said.

‘We can't just accuse people of having extramarital or homosexual sex.’"

And yet as far as I know, the 8 men who recently raped a woman as “punishment” for what they reported (but was never confirmed) as extramarital sex were never prosecuted, AND the raped woman was caned.

That possee of perverts lurking behind lampposts and popping out from behind padangs to arrest women with nail polish having coffee after sunset—are they just hoping for a quick feel before the trip to the police station?

Show me a practitioner of this horrid mangling of true faith and I’ll show you a sexually repressed loser with very few brain cells and an inability to think for himself.

Islam shmislam.  It’s sexual predation dressed up as holy order.  Shame on the lot of ‘em. 

This is, according to the Nation article,  “the result of what happens when you join Islamic modernism with dire economic prospects in a political system in which government elites are all too happy to exacerbate identity-based violence if it means avoiding discussions about their failure to do more for the country. Their sense of opportunism runs deep. Many of the sharia-type laws on the books in Indonesia have been introduced and passed by the secularist heirs of the Suharto government, eager to curry favor with radical Muslims and get on with business.”

So with both the provincial sharia bill and the national de-centralization bill, the national government, under the populist president, is going to be sanctioning sex-obsessed witch hunts in a country whose constitution forbids that Sharia law ever supersede or contradict the Constitution.

As Al Pacio would say, “I got nothin’.”

Vigilante Sharia: sexual torture as the enforcement weapon of choice in Aceh

By now the US and world wire service has reprinted the story that first appeared in the Jakarta papers last week of the woman suspected of adultery in Aceh who was raped by 8 men, doused with excrement, then turned over to Sharia “authorities” for her “real” punishment. And I do believe that almost the entire global community finds this incident as sickening as I do, but there are so many layers of sickness to it that authorities, world leaders, human rights NGOs, and Acehnese citizens themselves seem paralyzed to do anything that will help the situation.  Where do you start?  Start with a province where the majority live in poverty, are jobless, unable to feed their families, have barely survived 30 years of warfare in their own backyards, and then ten years ago watched as 180,000 of their family members were swept away by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.  Start with the venomous bitterness that the thousands of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) supporters feel towards the Indonesian government for not keeping promises made as far back as the 1940’s regarding Aceh’s ability to govern itself.  Start with (as usual) corrupt and greedy politicians who promise these poor, disenfranchised, furious young men that if they help elect this or that politician (using whatever means necessary) Aceh will be given full autonomy and will be able to claim what is its right.  And that “right,” specifically, is the proceeds from natural resource extraction.  And they are convinced that since the “enemy” is Jakarta, the Indonesian Constitution is also the enemy.  No matter what Sharia implies, the fact that it is not the law of the land according to Jakarta is enough for most of the disenfranchised to grasp it to their bosoms regardless of their understanding of it.  Understanding is not the issue for these delirious groups of men spoiling for a fight.  Contrary to what some of the articles regarding this rape and caning have reported, Aceh is NOT allowed to practice Sharia if it violates the spirit of the Constitution. The Helsinki MoU stated that National law takes precedence over Sharia law.  There is NO national precedent for caning, stoning, rape, or public humiliation.

 All politicians know this, but few are acting on this blatant disregard for the law so close to election time.  I do not know what their excuses were the other times this raping of a “Sharia violator” has happened.  And it happens a lot, especially in eastern Aceh, GAM stronghold, only it was the Sharia police themselves who raped the suspected adulterers.  I doubt they raped the men involved.  And I wonder why that act in itself is not considered adultery, and why they were not caned.  I suppose it’s too much to wish for extra.  Where’s a useful gang of Sharia rapists when you need them?  I am trying my hardest not to become disillusioned by a few incidents, but it is very difficult not to despair right now.

Another thing the articles are missing is that these thugs, rapists and witch-hunters are not even obeying the twisted version of Sharia that they purport to be upholding.  For one thing, “adultery” can only be proved by having three witnesses to the actual sexual event (which is not just an unsupervised visit to someone’s house—that may be against Sharia but it’s not adultery.)  So . . . three witnesses to adultery . . . which makes you wonder about the mental health of a society that by and large has nothing better to do then lurk about in packs of three or more, looking for people who they hope they can see punished.  The fact that these articles report that “prominent Islamic leader” Teungku Faisal Ali "cautioned citizens against taking Sharia into their own hands" is fairly ironic, since that is what Aceh’s administration has done all along--for political, not religious reasons. Jakarta will not step in and put an end to this horror show so close to the presidential elections—yet that is what it MUST do, now.  Everyone's a Sharia vigilante now—it gives these impoverished and marginalized fighting-age males a convenient target for all their rage and powerlessness—and it has absolutely nothing to do with Islam.

For my part I plan on contacting as many human rights organizations and global women’s groups as I can to at least place a spotlight on what has become essentially a fascist state run by sexual sadists.

Jakarta has got to step up NOW and put an end to this flouting of the Constitution.

My Indonesian friends are also saddened, disgusted, and disheartened about what has happened.  One writes “I am angry, sad, and frustrated because I don't know what to do to stop that stupid Shariah law!! Maybe we should call it ‘Shariah low!’"

Another wrote back to her: “Please let’s not give up; as Bung Karno said, ‘There is no end for a fighting nation.’ We should move forwards until justice prevails.  I am just not sure whether I can be in Jakarta right now.”

Read the article/s here:

Indonesian woman who was gang raped by eight men now faces caning for adultery

Eight men allegedly gang-raped a widow in the conservative province of Aceh, accusing her of having sex with a married man. The region’s Sharia leader decided that despite the trauma that came from rape, the woman still deserves to be caned for the initial charge of adultery.

BY Carol Kuruvilla  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, May 8, 2014, 11:51 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/indonesia-gang-rape-victim-faces-caning-adultery-article-1.1784418#ixzz31WLmKUVN

Aceh Rape Victim to Be Caned, Shariah Official Insists

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/aceh-rape-victim-caned-shariah-

Indonesian gang-rape victim faces caning

Widow purportedly punished for having sex with married man may still be caned for affair under sharia laws of Aceh province      Tuesday 6 May 2014 09.52 EDT

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/06/indonesian-woman-allegedly-gang-raped-punishment-caning

This just in . . . and we told you so!

Another colleague just sent me this from Khabar Southeast Asia News:

Bylaw on non-Muslims in Aceh not enforceable: experts

Islamic criminal codes go further than the laws they are meant to implement, professor says.

By Nurdin Hasan

April 29, 2014

A clause in Aceh's new Islamic criminal procedural codes that could see non-Muslims tried in Sharia Court cannot be enforced, some legal experts in the province say.

Aceh's Regional House of Representatives (DPRA) approved the criminal codes – the Qanun Hukum Acara Jinayat (QHAJ) – in December, and they are currently undergoing review by the Interior Ministry in Jakarta, which has asked the local government for several clarifications.

One clause in the QHAJ says non-Muslims could be prosecuted under Sharia law in Aceh if they participate with Muslims in offences not regulated by Indonesian criminal law. But Saifuddin Bantasyah, a law professor at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, doesn't see how.

Criminal codes lay out procedures by which police, prosecutors and judges implement material law – in this case, four bylaws (Qanun Jinayat) regarding dress code, gambling, adultery and alcohol consumption. But these, in place in Aceh for ten years, apply only to Muslims, he said.

"When procedural law adds a clause that applies to non-Muslims, what is the legal basis for prosecution?" he told Khabar Southeast Asia.

Saifuddin cited a 2006 case in which three Christians and a Muslim involved in a gambling incident were brought to Sharia Court in Banda Aceh.

"During the trial, the judge asked the three Christians if they were aware of the function of the Sharia Court. They said no. Then, the judge explained that Sharia Court is only for prosecuting Muslims," Saifuddin said.

They were given the option of converting to Islam but declined. "The judge ruled that Sharia Court had no jurisdiction or authority to proceed with the case," Saifuddin said.

In such a case, non-Muslims could be prosecuted under Indonesian criminal law for disturbing public order, he added.

Aceh Sharia Court Vice Chairman Jamil Ibrahim said the four Qanuns apply only to Muslims, although a non-Muslim may choose to be tried in Sharia Court.

He said the controversial article in the QHAJ will confuse Sharia Court judges because non-Muslims, absent their consent, are outside the Court's jurisdiction.

"Maybe later another Qanun will be made specifically to address these issues," he said.

Zulfikar Muhammad, executive director of the Aceh Human Rights Nongovernmental Organization Coalition (Koalisi NGO HAM), expressed regret that local legislators included the controversial clause in the QHAJ after civil society activists campaigned against it.

"This is a form of discrimination against non-Muslims by the Aceh parliament," he said, urging the Interior Ministry to cancel the clause.

Activists have already sent a letter advocating just that; if it is not heeded, they will request a judicial review by the Supreme Court, he said.

Unfortunately, this focus on non-Muslims seems to bypass the larger issue of the unfairness and repressive nature of the application of Sharia law to subjective views of “morals,” at the expense of women and the province’s weakest citizens.  It’s the entire edict in itself that I hope will get shot down by the Jakarta legislature.  After everyone’s confirmed, we’ll see what they’re made of.  It’s still very much a political game, certainly not guided by religion, spirituality, or one of the Pancasila principles of “fairness and justice.”

http://khabarsoutheastasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2014/04/29/feature-02 

Here we go again . . .

The Diplomat had some creepy and not unexpected news last week.

Aceh’s Sharia Police Get Extended Powers

--Detention centers are being prepared to process those who fall foul of religious codes.

By Rob Yates

April 18, 2014

In line with laws passed in December that extended the Aceh Sharia Police’s power to detain suspects, local authorities in Indonesia’s semi-autonomous region have recently been preparing detention centers to process those who violate provincial religious codes. Zulkarnain, head of the Sharia Police, or Wilayatul Hisbah (Wi-Ha) as they are known, told The Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that he hoped these centers would soon be prepared “in all 23 districts and towns across Aceh.”

The Wi-Ha are a familiar presence in Indonesia’s northernmost region. Following the Special Autonomy Law in 2001, Aceh’s provincial legislature enacted a series of qanun, or local laws, governing the implementation of Sharia. Since then, the enforcement of these qanun has largely been carried out by the Wi-Ha, who have functioned alongside the national police force for over a decade.

Although the extent of the Wi-Ha’s legal authority during its history has, at times, seemed less than clear to members of the public, legislative developments over the past five years point towards an extension of jurisdiction, as well as a general increase in the number of Sharia-related offences being introduced.

 “Jurisdiction” is a funny thing in Indonesia.  Nowhere is it clearer than in Aceh that even though Sharia 2.0 violates the Indonesian Constitution, the Administration is allowing Acehnese authorities their pretend independence . . . as long as it doesn’t interfere with either the mainland or economic prosperity/public relations.  And I will bet that if the young woman from Jakarta who was arrested last week at a coffee shop and accused of being a sex worker makes any type of a national fuss, there will be a lot of post-election back-pedaling from the veil-and-stoning crowd.

 Decreed punishments for such violations also seem to have grown more severe, although their implementation is, in many cases, not carried out.

In April 2009, two new and controversial qanun were passed, reiterating existing Sharia prohibitions, enhancing some penalties, and introducing an array of new offences. The new laws authorized punishments that included up to 60 lashes for “intimacy,” up to 100 for engaging in homosexual conduct, and death by stoning for marital adultery.

These laws still stand today [because Zaini, a PA member and Irwando foe who signed off on them, is still governor] and, with the new Qanun Jinayat passed on December 13 last year, the Wi-Ha have new powers with which to enforce them. Previously, the Wi-Ha could only search and detain suspects briefly. After having been “educated” about Sharia principles, a process notoriously vague in its phrasing, perceived offenders had to be released if the official police had not been involved. Now, the Wi-Ha can detain suspects for up to 30 days prior to a legal trial. This period can then be extended for a further 30 days should the awaited trial be delayed. Zulkarnain has also indicated that those awaiting trial could be transferred to regular jails should the detention centers become overcrowded.

[I am not so sure that the “law” has changed regarding this.  Many believe it is just an emboldened political move on the part of PA, encouraged by Probowa in return for support in the presidential election.

Gosh, this is so slimy I think I need an antimicrobial sponge bath.]

What is the significance of these new developments? The general implementation of Sharia is not necessarily controversial for many Acehnese. Despite anger voiced by some of the younger generation at recent restrictions on clothing and public intimacy between unmarried couples, and despite some viewing the Wi-Ha as a public nuisance, many individuals support the religious principles that underlie Aceh’s strict legislature.

[As noted in previous posts, to say you are anti-Sharia is to say you are against Islam. No one will say that. It’s a version of “Think about the children,” and then whatever harebrained scheme you promote will get frightened and tacit approval. ]  However, international observers and human rights groups in the past have pointed towards the scope for abuse and selective implementation that these laws can afford.

A year after the two controversial qanun of 2009, Human Rights Watch published a report condemning the manner in which the Wi-Ha had been enforcing this legislation, stating:

“Human Rights Watch takes no position on Sharia law per se, which supporters say is a complete system of guidance on all matters in life, or on the provisions that regulate the internal workings of Islam. However, the two laws singled out in the report are applied abusively and violate both Indonesian constitutional protections and international human rights law.”

The report also contained testimony from “suspects” who had undergone physical and sexual abuse from Wi-Ha officials, [also known as the Morality Police—how about that!] as well as attacks from members of the local community upholding and encouraged by the 2009 codes. One female even claimed to have been raped by the Sharia police who arrested her before being released the next morning. [This is not an uncommon story.]

Given the criticism and human rights concerns surrounding the Sharia laws of 2009, some observers and residents may regard Wi-Ha’s recent extension of power with trepidation. On Tuesday, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, a Wi-Ha raid cracking down on dress-code violations briefly detained 59 people. Zulkarnain said they included 54 women found to be wearing “tight shirts” in public and five men in shorts, adding:

“They were only advised not to repeat their offence and were told that in future, if they’re caught again in another raid, they face the possibility of being taken into custody.”

[If you ever wondered why Aceh has no public funds for programs like job creation, food for hungry kids, or school supplies, it’s because all their resources are now going towards rounding up women in tight shirts. ]

Although these suspects escaped prolonged detention, the gender imbalance shown in this single incident suggests that women may well find themselves disproportionately affected by the December ruling.  [And this is a surprise because . . . ?]

Human Rights Watch said that their 2010 report “details evidence that the laws are selectively enforced – rarely if ever applied to wealthy or politically-connected individuals.” It seems being male may also help one escape time in a new Wi-Ha detention center.  [They’re harder to sexually assault, for one. ]

http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/acehs-sharia-police-get-extended-powers/

Apparently, only prostitutes get manicures

Well, it’s starting up again.  Just in time for certain politicos to tell constituents that they’ve “cleaned up Aceh.”  Notice that apart from a few punks thrown in for good measure, everyone arrested was a woman.  One-sided immorality?

Girls netted for prostitution, loitering, attire

Hotli Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, April 01 2014

The sharia police in Banda Aceh, Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam, have rounded up 15 young women after they were “caught” in a late-night coffee shop.

They have been accused of not wearing appropriate Muslim clothing and for loitering outdoors after midnight, both deemed to violate the Islamic moral code.

The women were arrested on Saturday in a number of late-night cafes and coffee shops in a string of sharia-enforcement patrols conducted by public order officers and sharia police in Aceh.

“The patrols were in connection to the proliferation of sharia violations by minors in Banda Aceh, especially in the city center,” said Banda Aceh Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and Wilayatul Hisbah (WH) Sharia Police chief Rita Pujiastuti.

According to Rita, it was believed that certain teenagers choosing to hang out in coffee shops until the early hours were involved in prostitution.  [Because what else could they be doing—drinking coffee?]

“Apart from the loitering, we believe they are also involved in sex work,” said Rita.

Besides detaining the girls, the sharia police in Banda Aceh also arrested a number of youngsters dressed as punks and female beauty-parlor employees who were allegedly caught engaging in immoral acts.  [Like tinting hair and giving facials.]

They were detained at the Banda Aceh Public Order Agency and WH headquarters for questioning. They will be released in one day pending the completion of the investigation.

They were jailed without being given access to legal advice.  [It is telling that the Jakarta Post editors decided to include this.]

“The investigation will now focus on what sharia violations they committed. If they are proven to have violated sharia, the cases will be brought before the Sharia Court,” said Rita.

Rita said the police would further intensify raids in areas deemed “prone to sharia violations”.

“We will further fight to uphold sharia until Banda Aceh is free from vice and sharia violations,” said Rita.

Separately, Gita, a teenager from Jakarta, who has only been in Banda Aceh for three months, was one of the teenagers detained.

She said her arrest was without evidence and she strongly protested the inappropriate handling of the incident by the WH officers.

Gita said she and her fellow detainees were in a small crowded cell that lacked sufficient space to lie down.

“I’m an employee who was by chance sitting in a coffee shop. I don’t know why I was arrested for hanging out in a coffee shop late in the evening,” said Gita. [That is probably precisely the charge.  And it will be interesting to see how the “authorities” now try to train the police how to differentiate Jakarta residents from Aceh residents, who would be less likely to attract media attention to what hopefully will render the provincial government a laughingstock in its own backyard.]

She said the sharia police officers had seized her cell phone, thus, she was unable to call her family to tell them she was being held by the police.
“This is too much for me. What’s the basis for confiscating my cell phone?” asked Gita.
Despite her anger, she said she stood no chance against the sharia police.
“I resign to my fate. It’s up to them, they are the ones who hold the law. I’m just the victim,” said Gita as she sobbed. [--to a reporter.  Well done, Gita!]

Recently, the Aceh Council approved the Qonun Acara Jinayah (the Criminal Code Procedure), which mandates that everyone in Aceh, regardless of religion, follow sharia. [It still has not been approved in Jakarta.]

Since the approval, the sharia police have often conducted raids urging women, including non-Muslims, to wear Muslim dress. [Urging?]

On Oct. 3, 2012, a 16-year-old girl committed suicide after certain media outlets reported that she had been arrested by the sharia police for alleged prostitution.

The girl was nabbed the previous evening while watching an organ tunggal performance in her neighborhood in Langsa, Aceh.

The sharia police later denied that they had made the statement labeling the girl a sex worker. [what exactly did they think they did with all the girls they just accused of being prostitutes at the coffee shop?]

Back to the Elections: Sharia Law as less-than-perfect Administrator

I promised you this post about three days ago . . . but life (and other Indonesian tidbits) intervened. (that line is from a poem but I cannot for the life of me remember it.) Anyway, this may be a two-post day.

Partai Aceh is using the implementation of Sharia Law in Aceh to further solidify a break with Indonesia by attempting to separate the constitution of Aceh from the national constitution.  I want to talk a little about the practicality of using Sharia law as not just the guide for but the basis of rules, regulations and policies that govern all parts of civil society and public services. I’ve had to rely on a few texts and lectures for this post, because even though I agree with what scholars and analysts have said, my initial reaction to any tiny group of people who hijack a faith for personal gain just makes me sputter incoherently, and I want to be a bit more coherent here.  And brief!  We don’t need another sleep-inducing pedantic tome on the vices or virtues of political Islam.

So here goes.

A government that wants to promote itself as “Islamist” first and foremost (as opposed to Democratic or Socialist or Monarchic etc.)  is going to run into some difficulty because it must stretch itself across all areas of life, not just religious/spiritual practice.  It immediately inherits responsibilities that as a faith it has never been established to address.  And Islam has never been a homogenous entity (this is especially evident in Indonesia with all its different factions).

Sami Zubaida, in his book Beyond Islam, writes that both the West and Islam “comprise a great diversity of cultures, social formations and political organizations historically and now.

There is a great deal in common for example, between conservative Islamic advocacy in the Middle East and that of the US religious right. Both advocate the supremacy of revelation over science, the moralization of society, and the regulation and censorship of cultural products. [my emphasis.]

“To see Islamic law as one immutable set of norms, then, is difficult in light of the contemporary and concrete problems of governance, economic development, opportunity, social services, security, international relations, trade, etc.  In an earlier post I quoted Bertrand Russell, who said that his main gripe with Communism was its reliance on a tiny number of self-described “elites” who make decisions and force their vision of change onto a “recalcitrant majority.” 

Likewise, Sharia law i is guilty of this technical failure to address those specific areas of governance that deal with civil society, and this failure makes the idea of parliamentary or legislative power (or importance) pretty absurd.

In 1988 Ayatollah Khomeini issued his famous fatwa on maslahat (public interest), maintaining that "[The Islamic state] is the branch of the absolute trusteeship of the Prophet and constitutes one of the primary ordinances of Islam which has precedence over all derived ordinances, such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage." In other words, the existence of this Islamic government is more important than any thing else we have in our legal tradition. So Islamic law is what characterizes a community and is what legitimizes its claim to power.

But Khomeni also says that actually being in power is more important than Islamic law. Our being in power allows us, and actually necessitates us, to suspend or contradict any notion in Islamic law if we deem it necessary. So this concept of “maslaha” or “utility” or “public interest,” says Zubaida, “has been advocated at various times as a let-out clause for policy and legislation."

Efraim Afsah of the University of Copenhagen sums it up like this: "Those now actually in power have to figure out how to derive public law and policy from a body of work that has been developed by private individuals, (which is how Islamic law began), that is focused on private law and private transactions, is highly formalistic, very inflexible, with very strong emphasis on procedural matters, and that is now being used to run the public sphere. And they have to derive public law from this. [Sharia law] simply does not provide the answers in all the fields that a modern government is faced with. That is the practical challenge.”

The body of Islamic law is said by its proponents to be complete (or as Zubaida says, “a total 'civilization', not just a religion but a political and social system, and the divinely revealed law at its core"). But it has no conceptual answers to practical problems. It does not have rules for governance, or “secondary rules:” rules about how to assess when new rules need to be made, no instruments of governance or civil law in place and ready for new leaders.

Also, a massive degree of violence has been needed to push through Islamist reform efforts in a great many countries, not just Indonesia, and not just against a secular opposition but violence against otherwise sympathetic people who are often trained in religious law and who may disagree on minor points. And that again points to the absence of these “secondary rules,” for example, the rule of recognition:  How does a member of society recognize that a rule is valid? There are no clear means of doing this.

The rule of change: How do I change rules that are no longer practical? With Sharia this is a big problem because rules, once they exist, once they find themselves in one of the many fiqh manuals, are very hard to change.

And then there’s the rule of Adjudication: How do I deal with two competing rules? How do I decide which rule takes precedence? There are no methodological norms to solve this; if there were, there would be no need to use violence against people who have different opinions.

This method of using a state apparatus to bend reality to conform to ideological preferences is what is at the heart of the “enactment” of Sharia law.  But what’s so awful about its application in Aceh is that those who are promoting it have either not thought through its devastating consequences based on its own inability to respond to the practical realities of the majority of Acehnese citizens . . . or, since they are only interested in the political results Sharia will yield for them, they simply do not care.  And I fear it is the latter.

Sharia Law is an Odd Sort of Campaign Promise

The other day a colleague found herself in the position of having to defend herself to members of a committee she belongs to after having been called “a bad Democrat” by the Chair of the Democratic party in her town for her voting practice on that committee.  “I was just so angry,” she told me, “and I don’t know why it bothered me so much, or why I thought it was imperative that I defend my ‘honor.’  I had nothing to apologize for; my committee certainly did not think less of me and understood the stand I took, but boy, the notion that a bunch of people representing my party had decided that because of something they didn’t agree with they were going to declare me as 'no good . . '   well, it still pisses me off.”

I started thinking about this, this way that some groups can decide who’s a “good” or “bad” member, and how members willingly buy into this on a large scale, as I was writing the next-to-last post about Dar Islam and its advocacy of an “Islamist State.”  And how the original intent of this group has been perverted and twisted to serve the specific will of a few power-hungry politicians who have no real interest in sticking to the letter of Sharia Law but who understand the Pavlovian-like response that most people have to being called an unworthy member of a group that has given them, in the past, some measure of identity and comfort.

If you asked the average Acehnese citizen if they want the Sharia police breathing down their necks, or if they want this new Sharia 2.0 implemented, or if they felt that they themselves were good and devout Muslims, they would say heck no to the stoning, the veil mandates, and the countless prohibitions of anything that remotely resembles art or fun, and they would say yes I am a devout and pious Muslim.  Even the Aceh punks, who were arrested a few months ago for wearing Ramones-like clothes, playing music, dancing and sporting very snazzy Mohawks, regularly attended Mosque and stated that they were extremely good Muslims.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sbne-qCNzU; http://www.cvltnation.com/freedom-choice-punk-vs-sharia-documentary-now-showing/ )

Former provincial governor Irwandi was in the position of losing either way when he was presented with the Sharia resolution.  He didn’t sign it, but he did not come out against it either. He couldn’t win-- the ulema (religious community) has everyone repeating the same. . . well . . .  catechism, if you will: “if you’re against Sharia law, you’re against Islam” and nobody wants to be accused of that. (Zaini, the current governor, signed it.)

For some reasons these challenges (actually just name-calling, like “You’re a bad Democrat”) are surprisingly effective in producing knee-jerk reactions that usually take the form of showing the accuser just how [progressive, pious, loyal, conservative, vegetarian, etc etc etc] we really are—including those of us who normally couldn’t care less what “they” think of us.

The push for Sharia law by de Tiro’s group in 1942 was the one way he knew of that would (non-violently, he hoped) separate the Aceh constitution from the Indonesian constitution.  If Aceh and Dar Islam could get Sharia recognized as the law of Aceh then it would be independent with no ties constitutionally to Indonesia/Jakarta.  Instant independence.  The freedom was economic and social as much as it was religious.  In 1970 Jakarta was appropriating most of the profits from petroleum extraction in Aceh.  Dar Islam, revived again,  wanted the profits to stay where they were.

Currently the ex-GAM/Partai Aceh politicians are pushing Jakarta further and further to see how far they can goad the administration. The Sharia police may be causing quite a kerfluffle around the province right now, but it’s my opinion that if Jakarta really saw some inherent danger in what was going on as far as excessive trampling of human rights, they’d come in and squash this “resolution” like a bug.  (Not because of any worship of human rights, but because of the perception that Aceh was in fact making and enforcing its own edicts when it has no legal power to do so.)  The first foreigner who gets arrested for not wearing a veil . . . the first non-citizen to be caned . . . and the Sharia police get sent back to the barracks without supper.  It’s just not enough of an issue right now for Jakarta.  Sharia law is NOT the legal purview of Aceh, no matter what it says.  Aceh is autonomous, not independent. 

But waving the Sharia banner gives these candidates the sheen of being “pro independence” which speaks to average citizens who remember the conflict.  Problem is, their leaders do not. The ex-GAM leaders have no idea what went on during the majority of the 30-year conflict—they were all in exile in Sweden or Malaysia.  Hasan de Tiro was exiled in Sweden for 30 years , Governor Zaini and his vice governor were in exile for the majority of the conflict , de Tiro’s second in command was also exiled, Nur Djali, the former head of BRA (the ministry for ex-combatants), was also out of Aceh.  The list goes on.

All these combatant leaders had no idea what was really happening on the ground—no feeling for what regular people (or regular foot soldiers) were going through because they were only in touch with their higher ranking members.  If they had been in the field they would have had more of a sense of fairness when the dust settled and the MoU was signed.  It was nothing for them to let 19,000 of their 22,000 members twist in the wind in the hinterlands, without job prospects, without pensions, without government positions . . . because (and this is the kind view) they just did not have any idea of how much these people gave up to continue the revolution on their behalf.

And it was bad enough that they didn’t know what their own people needed and wanted, they didn’t have a clue about what was happening in Jakarta.  In Jakarta, as in other large political communities, it’s a marker’s business.  These ex-GAM “leaders” did not understand the effects that political will in Jakarta would or could have on Aceh.  They came back with nothing to trade, no markers to call in.  No one owed them any favors, and in a very short time they owed many.

Remember, former governor Irwandi was seen as a “traitor” because he was not interested in the “Sharia Law or bust” method of getting the best deal for Aceh.  Unlike his colleagues, he did have some contact with Acehnese during the conflict, and was exiled in Malaysia only briefly (after spending some time in prison in Aceh until he escaped when the 2004 tsunami hit).  But he had a better idea of how politics operated in Jakarta, so he knew what might work better.  But this moderate approach was seen (or spun) as a “sellout” and a capitulation.

But even with his minor understanding of the workings of Jakarta’s political machinery, Irwandi could not fully understand how to set up a mechanism to appropriately compensate or reintegrate the majority of ex-combatants into the fabric of Aceh’s economy and social structure. Jakarta sent millions  per month in economic appropriations and allocations to Aceh, under the condition that what was not spent was returned to Jakarta.  One of Irwandi’s campaign promises was to compensate ex-combatants—and in fact the BRA was set up to do just that, with a $40 million budget.  Hardly any of it was appropriated, the rest was spent incorrectly, and the remainder, plus the monthly Aceh stipend, was returned to Jakarta.  No one in that group of Irwandi and all his favorite high-ranking GAM people, for all their rhetoric, could figure out how to set up the appropriate apparatus to compensate these men or provide social services—they just didn’t have real-world experience.  And it was far too much to steal, even for them . . . so back it went, and BRA folded, a well-funded but abject failure. 

Now this is pure Sara-based theory, backed up by absolutely nothing.  I want to make that very clear.

But!

I believe that this whole mess ties in to Probowa and his desire to have Aceh in his pocket in order to win the presidential election.

Why?  Beside the fact that he’s a vicious maniac with no scruples?

He will promise Partai Aceh, “if you vote for me and I get in, I will promote Sharia law and you will be able to do what you want to do.”

This would be a form of independence in principle . . . but since what PA wants is true independence, and Sharia is only the vehicle and not the destination, this may backfire.

For one thing, what is to keep Probowa from going back on his word? 

And how will “true” Sharia affect Aceh’s economic resources that Jakarta is so fond of appropriating?  Speaking of which, what self-serving politician in his right mind is going to grant independence to its one true cash cow? [Think of now-independent Kosovo and its diamond mines that are still controlled by Serbia.]

At the end of the day Aceh will still not be independent, and it will have bought itself a repressive system that nobody, not even the clergy, truly wants. Ratcheting up this issue just to gain political points only makes regular citizens suffer.

As long as I’m on a roll I think I will dip a toe into the pool of Sharia Law as Crummy Administrator tomorrow, with some help from historians and law professors Sami Zubaida, Ebrahim Afsah, and Chilbi Mallat.