Religious Esotericism

STR/AFP

Muslim worshippers perform the "Tarawih" nightly prayer during the holy month of Ramadan, while keeping their distance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at the Grand Mosque, Islam\'s holiest site, in the Saudi city of Mecca, late on May 8, 2020.

Anatomically, religious reality is formed from two components: the casing or skin component and the content or core component.

The casing component is the dimension of religious exteriority-surface that appears on its surface structure and can be observed, such as ritual movements, aspects of cultural festivals and all their propagation and sociological glitters. On the contrary, the core component includes the interiority of religion, which becomes the spirit, soul and spiritual depth of religion that occupies the deepest structure.

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Borrowing Frithjof Schuon (1981), the dimension of religious exteriority is called religious exoterism. Meanwhile, the dimension of religious interiority is referred to as religious esoterism. Throughout their history, these two components have often been involved in contestation dialectics that dominate and negates each other. Nevertheless, the two dimensions can actually be integrated simultaneously in seeing the reality of a form of worship, such as prayer, fasting, zakat (alms) and haj.

In the spectrum of Islamic thought, the struggle between the two is reflected in the contestation between Sunni Sufism and philosophical Sufism. Sunni Sufism bases its theological arguments on the textuality of the Quran and the hadith of the Prophet. Meanwhile, philosophical Sufism bases its arguments on philosophical thought and the teachings of God. At an extreme level, each of them forms an epistemic block that often escalates into a zero-sum game that negates and mistreats each other through the help of the ruling regime.

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KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Alad tadarus (reciting) activity of the Koran by students at the Daarul Quran Al-Kautsar Islamic Boarding School, Cibinong, Bogor Regency, by maintaining a distance between one another, Saturday (9/5/2020). The activity of reciting or tadarus jointly implemented while maintaining personal health and safety.

Ramadan exoterism

In their simplest form, there is no need for the two components above to be in opposition. That means the two can work together to see a reality of worship. Thus, religious exoterism and esotericism do not have to be diametrically opposed to and negate each other but unite into a chemistry in constructing the existential significance of worship. If the exoteric dimension sees a worship more in terms of its jurisprudence, esotericism sees it more in terms of Sufism and the depth of its spirituality.

Religious exoterism sees fasting as a series of compulsory rituals that must be performed by every Muslim in accordance with sharia. It means the exoteric group accentuates more the dimensions of the terms of harmony (read: jurisprudence or sharia) in every ritual worship. Whether the worship is valid or not lies in whether the conditions of worship are fulfilled or not. The question about the depth of the spiritual meaning of worship is not the concern of the exoteric group.

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On the contrary, the esoteric group always looks at worship from the perspective of the depth of the contents or meaning of spirituality. For the esoteric, ritual worship that is performed only to the extent of fulfilling the obligations will not provide spiritual and existential meaning to the doers. The esoteric is more concerned with the interior dimension than the exterior surface of a worship. For example, we often read or hear stories of Sufi practitioners who do not go on haj but are awarded the predicate haj mabrur (accepted) without undergoing rituals of the haj because the resources are dedicated to the penniless.

Unfortunately, in seeing fasting and other worship in the month of Ramadan, most Muslims are trapped in the perspective of religious exoterism. They only see fasting as a religious obligation that is carried out according to the rules of fiqh (deep understanding) or sharia. This view is not entirely wrong. However, in the perspective of Imam Ghazali, this kind of view represents the lay people who do not get the virtues of fasting for the doers except for the feeling hunger and thirst.

Sociocultural worship

Behind the presence of the COVID-19 outbreak, in the current Ramadan, perhaps there is a message that is attached to the meaning of worship that is far more essential than ritual as usual. The euphoria of Muslims welcoming Ramadan in general is truly special, beating other months of worship. Not surprisingly, there is an impression that we often give privilege (in the sense of giving priority) to this month than any other months of the year. They are enthusiastic about carrying out a series of ritual services this month but loosen in the following months.

The month of Ramadan is indeed special because in it there is a series of worship promised by Allah SWT in the form the multiplied rewards. Therefore, André Möller (2005) calls the series of worship this month the Ramadanic ritual complex. It is not uncommon for Muslims to celebrate the presence of Ramadan excessively by exploiting the exteriority-skin dimension rather than absorbing in the dimension of its spiritual depth. We are more consumptive this month than in other months. This is the domino effect of the domination of religious exoterism, which tends to see Ramadan from the outside skin, not from the depth of its spiritual meaning.

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As a result, the exoteric group’s longing for Ramadan lies in the aspect of the Ramadan festival, which is more sentimental-ornamental rather than spiritual-existential. They undoubtedly deplore Ramadan in the middle of an outbreak as a degraded or imperfect Ramadan because many mosques are deserted, there is no tarawih (evening Ramadan) prayers or iftar (breaking-of-the-fast meal) together, there is no sahur (predawn meal) on the road, no mudik (exodus) or halalbihalal (get-together) and so on. All the fun and excitement suddenly disappeared from the Muslim religious landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exoteric tends to deplore the presence of an outbreak that has amputated various cultural joys of Ramadan. In short, in the eyes of the exoteric, worship becomes very sociological rather than spiritual.

Existential enrichment

On the contrary, more than just carrying out obligations, the esoteric look at what is the deepest meaning of fasting for the existential enrichment of the doers. Fasting can only be said to be spiritually meaningful when the teleological dimension of fasting (piety in its essential meaning) can be achieved by the doers. The doers of fasting will not be trapped in the surface dimension of the worship. They do not care about all forms of hustle and bustle and cheerful celebration of Ramadan. More than that, the esoteric will undoubtedly explore the spiritual depth of worship in order to reach the existential-spiritual meaning of Ramadan and its relevance for improving the quality of self and life in general.

In this context, religious esoterism becomes relevant in seeing Ramadan in the middle of the outbreak. The presence or absence of an outbreak does not reduce the virtues of Ramadan and does not prevent them from exploring the deepest meaning of every worship performed. If the exoteric tend to deplore COVID-19 as a barrier to the perfection of Ramadan, the esoteric consider it a challenge to continue to achieve the virtue of Ramadan.

UIN SUNAN AMPEL

Masdar Hilmy

The most important thing is how the values contained in fasting, such as social empathy, principles of obedience, discipline, governance, work ethic and the like can be actualized and internalized in the personal character of the doers of worship. This is what in Al-Ghazali\'s conception is called the fasting of khawwas al-khawwas (a very special person).

Masdar Hilmy, Professor and rector of Sunan Ampel State Islamic University (UIN) Surabaya in East Java.