The Purification of Politics

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Family members of the victims sprinkle petals and pray at the location where a Lion Air plane crashed. The vessel KRI Banda Aceh sailed Tanjung Pakis waters off Karawang in West Java on Tuesday (6/11/2018) to take the family members to the crash site.

Various disasters are happening in our homeland. Earthquakes hit Lombok and Sumbawa in West Nusa Tenggara. Another earthquake, followed by a tsunami and soil liquefaction, struck Palu, Donggala and Sigi in Central Sulawesi. Most recently, Lion Air flight JT-610 crashed into the sea off the coast of Karawang in West Java. Pious men of faith will see these various disasters as tragedies. To them, disasters are tests of their faith and their full acceptance of whatever sorrows have befallen either them personally, their families, their communities or their nation.

However, some people -- supposedly in the name of their faith and religion --, through sermons and social media posts, espouse the idea that such disasters are punishments from God. According to them, people affected by the disasters committed either personal or communal sins. Other than portraying God as most tormenting and most wrathful -- instead of most compassionate and most merciful --, such a perspective also highlights a lack of empathy and sympathy with those affected by the disasters. What these people do is merely victimizing the victims.

Those who hold dear such perspectives seem to have rejected God’s will (sunatullah) that the universe runs according to certain rules and order. Nature and all within it runs according to God’s will, which includes the law of causality. Therefore, natural disasters are natural occurrences. The law of causality also applies to accidents and disasters; whether they be caused by technological or human error. Therefore, the (mis)perception that disasters are punishments from God runs against not only the true nature of God and comprehensive religious teachings but also God’s will. Consequently, under such a (mis)perception, God and religion are further removed from reality, especially science and technology.

Furthermore, holders of such (mis)perception often link natural disasters with politics. Natural disasters are seen as being caused by political leaders who implement misguided policies and regulations and therefore are “bringing bad luck”. Consequently, the people are suffering not only from poverty, unemployment or various others sorrows but also from disasters as punishments from God. Therefore, these people would demand that the political leaders that “bring bad luck” be ousted, or at least be ritually purified (ruwat), so that the country and the people could avert further disasters.

Ruwat is a Javanese cultural-spiritual tradition dating back to the pre-Islam era that is still well-preserved today. In Javanese mythology, ruwat denotes a ritualistic ceremony to free mankind from the clutches of Batara Kala, the man-eating God, who may also inflict injuries and disabilities on people.

To protect oneself from disasters caused by either sengkala (curses) or sukerta (sins), both personal and communal, certain rituals are needed to soothe Batara Kala’s heart. Usually, the ruwat ritual involves a shadow puppet performance of the Murwakala tale.

The tradition of protecting oneself from sengkala and sukerta through purification rituals exists not only in Javanese mythology and tradition. In the tradition of some Muslim communities, there is what is called the thiyarah or tathayyur tradition, which involves certain rituals to drive away “bad luck” related to humans’ physical or psychological deformities or various forms of disasters.

In practice, the ruwat can also be applied to politics. Generally, the ruwat, or purification, of politics is held by opposing sides in politics. Each side performs the ruwat for no other reason than to maintain or strengthen their own political position.

However, it seems that political underdogs are more prone to linking various instances of “bad luck” and disasters to those holding political power. Backed with arguments based on twisted facts and data, these underdogs would call for the ruwat of political rule for the sake of the nation’s safety.

The end goal of such calls for ruwat is, of course, power itself. This was evident in the various ruwat acts conducted by political aspirants running in the regional elections held on June 27, 2018. Among those conducting political ruwat was Central Java\'s then-gubernatorial candidate Sudirman Said in various cities, including Brebes and Tegal, in December 2017. The ruwat involved famous dalang (puppet master) Ki Entus Susmono (who died on May 14, 2018), who held an overnight shadow puppet performance attended by executives of the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Previously, a political ruwat ceremony was conducted by Yogyakarta residents from the Cultural Preservation Society (Pametri) in front of senior politician Amien Rais’ house in Condongcatur, Sleman, on Oct. 16, 2014. It was intended to prevent Amien from disrupting Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s presidential inauguration on Oct. 20, 2014.

Can such ruwat be effective in preventing certain political figures from grabbing power or, on the contrary, place certain political aspirants in public office? Modern democracy is far removed from traditional mythology and eschatology. Political aspirants are elected for their their popularity, acceptability, credibility or organizational strength. In the latest round of

regional elections, many candidates with a known history of “unclean” activities were not elected.

On the other hand, political aspirants who secure power (be it as governors, mayors, regents or lawmakers) often lose their power due to corruption. When the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sets its eyes on these politicians, no ruwat can save them. (AZYUMARDI AZRA, Culture and Humanities professor, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University)