By Salim Osman
Indonesia Correspondent
salim@sph.com.sg

 

IN JAKARTA

EVEN after seven days since his death, the grave of former President Abdurrahman Wahid is a hive of activity.

Hundreds of his followers and admirers from across the country have been flocking to the grave to pay homage to the late leader and offer special prayers to the man they admired for being a symbol of democracy, pluralism and moderate Islam.

Police officers have been deployed to maintain order and control the crowd at the cemetry, located on the grounds of the Pondok Pesantren Tebu Ireng in Jombang, East Java.

Hundreds of others continue to hold 'tahlil' prayers, or special prayers for the dead, in their homes as well as in mosques throughout the country for Mr Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur.

Photo source: Reuters

Prayers are also held at Chinese temples in the country by Gus Dur's followers who appreciated his efforts to remove Suharto-era laws that were discriminatory to the Chinese, and lifting the ban on public display of Chinese culture and language.

At one Confucianist temple in Surabaya, a huge portrait of Gus Dur was mounted next to the altar with lighted candles, while worshippers prayed, with hands clenched and kneeling. It was almost like worshipping Admiral Zheng He, the 15th century Muslim Chinese explorer, who visited Indonesia where many Chinese temples are still dedicated to him.

Gus Dur is fast becoming a cult leader in the country because of his followers' passionate love for the man who ruled Indonesia briefly after the fall of Suharto. They are ordinary Indonesians who are fond of the former leader that they go all out to show their love for him by offering prayers for his soul and performing acts of affection for the man. Others do so by calling on the government to name Gus Dur the country's national hero.

Although showing respect and love for the man is only natural and something encouraged, but it seems that some of his followers have gone overboard. One glaring example is how Gus Dur is being "worshipped" and treated like a cult leader by some.

At some of the visits by his followers last week and over the weekend, something strange happened: lumps of earth on his grave and flowers and plants were found missing. It appears that many followers had taken some lumps of earth, flowers and plants from the grave before leaving.

Photo source: Reuters

Many of them were also seen kissing the tombstone as they left with their family. As a result, the pesantren management had to put back lumps of earth to replace those missing.

Now guards at the Islamic boarding school had to build a temporary enclosure around the grave to stop followers from getting too close to the site - hence preventing them from taking away earth, flowers and plants from the grave.

Local cleric Abdushomad Buchori, of the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Ulama Council, was incensed by the incidents that he issued a statement urging the Muslim followers to stop the cult of "worshipping" the man.

"Gus Dur was an ordinary human being. It is 'shirik' to worship the man like a cult," he said in a statement on Monday. "I knew Gus Dur personally and he would not want people to worship him like a cult after his death. It's unislamic," added Kiai Abdushomad.

Photo source: Reuters

Shirik is Arabic for sinful deeds that amount to idol-worshipping or worshipping others than Allah.

The cleric's message contains a warning that Gus Dur's grave is fast becoming a shrine where superstitious Muslims would visit and "worship" in the hope of getting divine blessings through the deceased.

The statement is timely to rein in such excessive adulation of the former leader.