Keraton originally means as the place for the ratu (queens) to stay, came from the words of: ka + ratu + an = keraton. It is also translated as a palace. The term Keraton is a palace with several meanings; religious, philosophy, and also cultural. Keraton is rich with its hidden meanings and significance, which is important not just for the internal community but also to the city development of Yogyakarta. Whilst the name of Ngayogyakarta was taken from the area of Yogyakarta, with more comprehensive meaning of Yogya (Goodness) + Karta (Properous) and also Ngayu (Goodness) + Bagya (Happiness) + Karya (Inovative).
The elements of Keraton, including the ornaments, the buildings, decorations, also the colors and plants have their own hidden story. All of their stories seems to encourage about the importance of doing good deeds in the world and will carry on until the life after death to the people also the visitors. The philosophy mostly adapted from Islam religion with the mix of Hinduism, and progressing until now.
1746 – 1749: Conflict Between Brothers
The birth of Keraton begun with the battle of Prince Mangkubumi to win back the Mataram Kingdom that has been surrendered by his step brother, Prince Pakubuwono II to the Dutch Colony, with personal interest. The two brother were in the same Kingdom of Mataram. The Mataram Kingdom was originally concluded both the city of Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo).
It took more or less 9 years for Sultan Hamengkubuwono I to restore the Mataram dynasty that was temporarily handed by his older brother, Sunan Pakubuwono 2nd to the Dutch East Indies.
1746
Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, who then went by the name Raden Mas Sujono, went to Sukowati.
1749
On December 1749, Raden Mas Sujono was crowned as the first sultan of Sunan Kabanaran.
The reason Pakubuwono 2nd gave their land to the Dutch East Indies was to reassure that his heir will become sultan. On December 15 1749, the Dutch East Indies crowned Pakubuwono the 3rd as the succcessor to balance the recently crowned Pakubuwono I.
Pakubuwono 2nd died in December 20, 1749.
1755: The Giyanti Agreement & the Birth of Keraton Yogyakarta
With all of the conflicts and tension that happened between the two Keraton of Yogyakarta and Surakata, Dutch Colony then tried to separate the two Kingdom with “Giyanti Agreement” that stated, the Mataram Kingdom will be divided by two regions, the Sunanate of Surakarta which under the authority of Prince Pakubuwono II, and the Sunanate of Yogyakarta which under the authority of Prince Mangkubumi then later became the first Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono, the first “Sultan” (ruler) of Keraton Yogyakarta.
1755 – 1756
The First Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono and The Construction of Keraton Yogyakarta
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I
Original Name: Bendara Raden Mas Sujono/ Prince Mangkubumi
Date of Birth: 7 August 1717
Crowned: 13 February 1755
Died: 24 March 1792
After Prince Mangkubumi was crowned as the first Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono as the ruler of Sunanate Yogyakarta, he decided to build a royal palace by his own desire. Sultan Hamengkubuwono I was the architect of the Keraton Surakarta. His residence in Jogjakarta was his private residence; the design was an application of his philosophies
Keraton was built on forest, the concept was adapted the Hinduism belief which communicates the relation between God with all of his creation. Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I believe that our level as human is the same with other living creature. Therefore, it is important to treat the others equally as God sees us all the same way. Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono was also a Muslim. He added philosophies of Islam into the royal palace.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubowo I Facts:
Had wives in total of 25
The total of his children is 32
1792 – 1921: The Successors of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono
The era of two centuries after the the First Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono was considered as the era of stabilisation. There were not many significant changes happening at that time. Keraton Yogyakarta was still in good condition, with the system that was built by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono 1 and continued since. Although, each of the successors has their own little stories.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono II Sultan Hamengkubuwono III
Original Name: Gusti Raden Mas Sundoro Original Name: Gusti Raden Mas Surojo
Date of Birth: 7 March 1750 Date of Birth: 20 February 1769
Crowned: 2 April 1792 Crowned: 12 June 1812
Died: 3 January 1828 Died: 3 November 1814
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono II Facts: Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono III Facts:
Had wives in total of 28 Had wives in total of 25
The total of his children is 80 The total of his children is 32
Hamengkubuwono IV
Hamengkubuwono V
Hamengkubuwono VI
Hamengkubuwono VII
1921 – 1939
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII, the Father of New Development
Hamengkubuwono VIII
The era of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII was known as the era of new development. This was known based on the new added elements at Keraton Yogyakarta by on the 20th Century. He implemented many of his designs with the use of symbols that has the components of 8 (eight). The elements that were designed by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII are also shown in the section of .
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII’s contributions to Keraton Yogyakarta were significant. According to the history, the era of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII was the time when the Dutch East Indies was trying to take to the whole Yogyakarta for their own purpose, by built fort with missiles that were aiming to Keraton Yogyakarta. However, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII was smart enough to manipulate them and develop the royal palace using the social funding so that the Dutch East Indies could not take it.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII Facts:
Had wives in total of 8
The total of his children is 41
1940 – 1988
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, the One Who Experienced 5 Periods
Hamengkubuwono IX
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was named as the phenomenal Sultan of Keraton Yogyakarta. He experienced the 5 Periods: 1) The time when Dutch East Indies were invading Indonesia, 2) The British Occupation and the Java War, 3) Japanese Occupation in Indonesia, 4) The revolution period when Indonesia fought to reach their independence, 5) The time when Indonesia proclaimed themselves as an independent country in 1945.
Under the authority of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Keraton Yogyakarta then decided to be a part of Republic of Indonesia. Keraton Yogyakarta was very significant to Indonesia at that time, chosen as the location for the coronation of the first Indonesian President in 1945. Hamengkubuwono IX was also officiated as the second Vise-President of Indonesian between 1973 – 1978.
He went to Leiden, Netherlands and pursued his study. His father (Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII) sent him there in order to learn the true education and meet the real ‘Dutch People’ with the hope that Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX will return home and could finally be free from the Dutch East Indies.
Because of his magnificent achievements during his reign, he held the title of “Ngarsa Dalem Sampeyan Dalem Ingkang Sinuwun Kangjeng Sultan Hamengkubuwana Senapati-ing-Ngalaga Abdurrahman Sayidin Panatagama Khalifatullah ingkang Jumeneng Kaping Sanga ing Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat”. There is also a museum dedicated to Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono IX in order to remember his contributions for Keraton Yogyakarta and also Indonesia.
The Hamengkubuwono 9 museum was built because to commemorate the sultan’s tremendous efforts of uniting the Kraton with Indonesia. The construction of the museum was initiated by Jogjakarta local authorities with Murwanto/ Tri Martini.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX Facts:
had wives in total of 5
The total of his children is 22
1986 – Present
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, The Current Sultan
Hamengkubowono X
Nowadays, the family tree of Sultan Hamengkubuwono is currently hold by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono the 10th. He is also officiate as a Governor of Yogyakarta, from 1998 until present.
One of the events that is still debatable in the area of Keraton Yogyakarta is the problem regarding to the next successor of Hamengkubuwono, as Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono does not have a Son.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X Facts:
He has one wife
The total of his daughters is 5
Therefore, he does not have a Son who could possibly his successor. Because of this matter, there are still some discussions about the controversial news of having his daugther as the successor.
Professor Jackie Ying will be awarded the inaugural Mustafa Prize in the Top Scientific Achievement category on Friday. Photo Courtesy: TST/Seah Kwang Peng
Samantha Boh
SINGAPORE
A SINGAPORE-based scientist has won the top science and technology award of the Islamic world, which comes with a $700,000 cash prize.
Professor Jackie Ying, 49, executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), will be awarded the inaugural Mustafa Prize in the Top Scientific Achievement category on Friday (Dec 25), in a ceremony to be held in Teheran, Iran.
This prize is meant for individuals whose research has improved human life and “expanded the boundaries of our perception about the world”.
Among her numerous scientific contributions, Prof Ying was recognised in particular for her role in developing glucose-sensitive nanoparticles that deliver insulin to diabetic patients only when their blood glucose levels are high.
The system does away with external blood glucose monitoring by finger pricks, and allows insulin to be delivered orally or by the nasal passage, instead of through injections.
Professor Hossein Zohour, head of the scientific committee of the Mustafa Prize, said the groundbreaking research is “an outstanding scientific approach of great promise for improving the quality of life of mankind in the near future”.
The other top award winner, under the Nano Science and Nanotechnologies category, was Jordanian chemist Omar Yaghi, co-director of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.
The pair edged out 600 other nominees, including Nobel laureates and scientists in the top of their fields.
The Mustafa Prize recognises leading researchers and scientists of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, and Muslim researchers from around the world.
Prof Ying, who was born in Taipei, and raised in Singapore and New York, converted to Islam in her 30s.
She told The Straits Times that she intends to use a portion of the prize money to get more students intrigued about science, such as through exchange trips to renowned overseas science institutions and better-equipped school laboratories. She will start her effort at her alma mater Raffles Girls’ School.
AN IMAM once regarded as one of New York’s leading religious figures had a sudden fall from grace. So what does the story of one man’s attempt to adapt Islam to modern America tell us, asks Sune Engel Rasmussen.
Before the controversy that cut him down, Shamsi Ali was the leading figure of moderate Islam in New York, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
For a decade, the biggest mosque in New York, the Islamic Cultural Center on 96th Street in East Harlem, was his stage. Here, the diminutive Indonesian with a brusque demeanour praised democracy and vigorously condemned extremism, to thousands of worshippers. Outside the mosque, he taught the FBI and congressmen in Washington about inter-religious co-existence.
He befriended presidents too. In the days after 11 September 2001, the city of New York picked him to represent the Muslim community on President George W Bush’s interfaith visit to Ground Zero. Another president, Bill Clinton, wrote the foreword to the new memoir, Sons Of Abraham, that Ali co-authored with a Jewish rabbi he counts among his close friends.
Although many of his conservative peers interpret the Koran to prohibit the use of music, Ali listens to rap and hangs out with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. He even shrugs, disinterested, at cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
In short, Shamsi Ali is the Muslim that liberal America wants. But he is not the leader all New York’s Muslims want. Ali is a divisive figure in New York’s Islamic community, and two years ago, the same mosque that gave him a platform to grow influential and popular, suddenly pulled the rug from under him.
Now, rather than preach to thousands at the 96th Street mosque, Ali speaks to a meagre congregation of 20 at the al-Hikmah Mosque, far out in the sticks of Queens, New York.
While his schedule is still packed with congregational duties at two mosques, and outreach activities and speaking engagements in public, the mosque that allowed him to rise to prominence at a young age no longer wants anything to do with him. The reasons for that are political, Ali says.
After years of tensions, he was quietly fired in 2011, or – depending on whom you ask – left of his own accord before he was. So quietly, in fact, that no one seems to know about it.
***
Tensions over how to practise Islam in the US mirror the challenges faced by any number of religions when they come to the US. Like Judaism and Christianity before it, Islam faces challenges of cultural integration, and lacks institutions to represent believers on their own terms in years of increased public suspicion against the religion.
Shamsi Ali at the Jamaica Center, Queens, New York .
“The lack of these institutions makes it difficult for Muslims to tell their own story, their own narrative,” says Khalid Latif, Muslim chaplain at New York University and another vocal interfaith proponent.
People who seek to integrate new religions into American society often meet as much resistance inside their communities, where prejudices against other faiths are rife, as they do from the outside, says Jose Casanova, professor at Georgetown University and one of the world’s leading scholars on sociology of religion. But if they persevere, people like Ali can make a huge difference.
“If you have leaders who commit themselves to it, then they can carry communities with them,” says Casanova.
An essential part of doing that is education, which is why religious institutions are so important, says Latif, and why Ali’s exit from the Islamic Cultural Center was such a blow to religious coexistence in New York.
“That mosque could be amazing in terms of really helping to educate and do outreach, right? But it’s not really doing that,” says Latif.
***
Ali likes to say he has a rebellious soul. But at the offices of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations in New York, his first and longest remaining employer in the US, he wears the attire of American establishment.
The grey suit, lime green shirt and purple-striped tie all look slightly oversized on his lean, marathon-trained frame, as he edges forward on the couch to tell his story. It’s a journey that begins and ends with fights. Including internal ones.
Beginning at age six, when Shamsi led children from his village Tana Toa on the Indonesian island Sulawesi in fisticuffs against children from rival villages, through his teenage years of practising the Indonesian martial art, silat.
“That’s another thing I like,” he says. “I like to fight.”
The third of six children, Shamsi grew up five hours’ car drive from the nearest city. His parents had never read the Koran, but after they suggested he study it, it took him just eight months to learn it by heart. At 12, he enrolled in a pesantren, a strictly disciplined Islamic boarding school, where he quickly excelled as a top student.
“It was a jail in the beginning,” he says. “But later, I began to call it a divine jail.” At the school, he learned to sing verses from the Koran more beautifully than the other boys. And he learned to preach.
As a pre-teen, he gave sermons to the villagers, including his own mother who would superstitiously bless food by presenting it to a sacred rock. When Shamsi rebelled against that pagan custom and threw away his mother’s food, she got so scared the rock would curse the family that she fell ill for three days.
Shamsi’s view of Islam changed when at 18 he went on to study in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and found a stricter, more fundamentalist religion than he had been taught in Indonesia.
In Pakistan he married Mutiah, the 15-year-old daughter of the Islamic school’s headmaster, who three years later gave birth to their first child. A few years later, the Indonesian Ambassador to the UN heard Ali speak to a group of pilgrims in Mecca, and was so impressed with the young imam that he invited him to run a newly built Indonesian mosque in New York.
***
When he first landed in the US in 1996, at the age of 29, Ali was surprised to see that all Americans were not white. The first of them he saw were Asians, the cab drivers were Pakistanis, and his first neighbour and friend an elderly Irish Catholic man.
“It is not true that America is bad or worse than any Muslim countries. In fact, you find that America is better than many Muslim nations,” Ali says, explaining how the ethnic makeup of New York softened the doctrinaire Islam he had been brought up with.
“Islam for me is about justice, equality, tolerance, freedom, giving right to others, respecting the human rights. And if you don’t have these – even if you claim that you are a religious, Islamic country – that is a lie for me… Here in America, we have that.”
Yet, Ali’s liberalism has limits, and they are the ones that to him are unmistakably stipulated in the Koran. There is no way, for example, that he can approve of same-sex marriage. Centuries ago, he explains, Muslim scholars decided that homosexuality is a genetic mistake where a girl is accidentally born a boy, or vice versa.
While he would accept a child of his that came to him and said he or she was homosexual, he stresses that people who identify as homosexual should live a life in celibacy, get a sex change operation, or seek therapy, he says. “In that sense, I am orthodox.”
***
Ali was in the heart of the Manhattan when the two planes struck the towers. Al-Qaeda’s attack on the US on 9/11 became a crucial juncture in Muslim relations with American society, and it pushed Ali to the front of the public sphere.
After having noticed his burgeoning interfaith activities, the City asked Ali to join President George W Bush at a visit to Ground Zero with a host of religious leaders. At Ground Zero, Ali asked the president to explain to the American people that Islam was not terrorism. And that plea seemed to work.
“The face of terror is not the true face of Islam. That’s not what Islam is about,” Bush said a couple of days later in a speech in Washington. “Islam is peace.”
As Muslims came under scrutiny, he says, they became forced to rethink their place in society, and that brought some good things as well.
“After September 11, the Muslims became more open, more inclusive,” he says. “They opened their houses of worships for others to come and observe and see what they’re doing. They became more aggressive in terms of introducing themselves to Americans.”
In New York, however, the oldest and largest mosque in the city, the Islamic Cultural Center on 96th Street, was not rethinking anything.
Founded by the government of Kuwait in the late 1980s, the mosque wasn’t known for its progressiveness. In 2001, its head imam Muhammad Gemeaha said in an interview that “only the Jews” were capable of carrying out the attack on World Trade Center. Later his successor, Omar Saleem Abu-Namous claimed that there was no conclusive evidence that Muslims were behind 9/11.
Capsized by the following furore, the leadership of the mosque realized it needed a spokesperson more in line with the public opinion.
Enter Shamsi Ali.
He was working with the Indonesian UN Mission and at the Al Hikmah Mosque, and a press conference he gave after 9/11, in which he stressed the importance of faiths working together, had caught the City’s attention,
The mosque offered Ali, who was steadily gaining admirers outside the Muslim community, a part-time position as assistant imam. And he quickly became the face of the mosque.
***
Around the same time, Ali made an unlikely ally and friend. Like Ali, Marc Schneier is a self-declared orthodox believer who has raised ire with his outreach to other communities of faith. As vice president of the World Jewish Congress and head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Schneier is also one of New York’s most influential rabbis.
“Most Muslims don’t trust Jews, and most Jews don’t trust Muslims,” says Schneier, a heavyset man of 54 with backcombed hair, in a stern, droning baritone. Recalling the time before he met Ali, he says: “I had a definitive bias in those days toward Muslims. I saw them as the enemy. They were the demons out to kill all Jews.”
Schneier’s suspicion was reciprocated. Ali, whose interfaith work had mainly been limited to working with Christians, saw Jews as the true, clandestine rulers of America, and as innately anti-Muslim.
Around the same time, Ali made an unlikely ally and friend. Like Ali, Marc Schneier is a self-declared orthodox believer who has raised ire with his outreach to other communities of faith. As vice president of the World Jewish Congress and head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Schneier is also one of New York’s most influential rabbis.
“Most Muslims don’t trust Jews, and most Jews don’t trust Muslims,” says Schneier, a heavyset man of 54 with backcombed hair, in a stern, droning baritone. Recalling the time before he met Ali, he says: “I had a definitive bias in those days toward Muslims. I saw them as the enemy. They were the demons out to kill all Jews.”
Schneier’s suspicion was reciprocated. Ali, whose interfaith work had mainly been limited to working with Christians, saw Jews as the true, clandestine rulers of America, and as innately anti-Muslim.
***
Around the same time, Ali made an unlikely ally and friend. Like Ali, Marc Schneier is a self-declared orthodox believer who has raised ire with his outreach to other communities of faith. As vice president of the World Jewish Congress and head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Schneier is also one of New York’s most influential rabbis.
“Most Muslims don’t trust Jews, and most Jews don’t trust Muslims,” says Schneier, a heavyset man of 54 with backcombed hair, in a stern, droning baritone. Recalling the time before he met Ali, he says: “I had a definitive bias in those days toward Muslims. I saw them as the enemy. They were the demons out to kill all Jews.”
Schneier’s suspicion was reciprocated. Ali, whose interfaith work had mainly been limited to working with Christians, saw Jews as the true, clandestine rulers of America, and as innately anti-Muslim.
As a response, opponents in another group, the Islamic Thinkers’ Society have taken to internet campaigns to denounce Ali. “Shamsi Ali is a moderate Uncle Sam Muslim who wants the Muslim community to imitate the west,” the group writes on its website.
In 2011, the mosque on 96th Street got a new chairman, Mansour al-Otaibi, who was less enthusiastic about Ali’s interfaith work. Suddenly, Ali no longer had the protection of the leadership, but it took a political conflict of global importance to topple him.
***
The outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011 pitted supporters of the popular protests against defenders of the autocratic order, also in New York.
Ali sympathised with the Arab protests. He also knew very well that his employer in the mosque, the government of Kuwait, a little oil rich monarchy ruled by the same family for nearly 300 years, did not.
On a Friday in February, 2011, Ali strode through the prayer hall to deliver his noon sermon. Mounting the pulpit, he overlooked several thousand people sitting on the floor. The atmosphere was filled with a sense of anticipation. At the end of his sermon, Ali fixed his eyes on the men on the floor and said, “Every human being in their lives view freedom as a necessity. Prosperity without freedom does not guarantee happiness.”
He then asked his Egyptian brothers and sisters in the mosque to join that afternoon’s protests on Times Square against the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak. The protesters in the Arab world needed their solidarity and support, he said.
After the prayer, the chairman pulled Ali aside. “This mosque doesn’t deal with politics,” he told him. But Ali replied that anti-dictatorial struggle was an inherent part of Islam. He was told he had to spend more time with his congregation and less on outreach activities, and he left the mosque.
The mosque insists that Ali was fired rather than left on his own account, but the chairman, Al-Otaibi, denies that it had anything to do with his interfaith activity.
In an email, he writes: “It was advised to [Ali] and to the other imams as well, that it was preferable not to speak about politics in sermons.”
Abdulrazak al-Amiri, who is daily director of the mosque, elaborates: “The people are coming here to pray, some of them are with the regime, some of them are against the regime. We don’t want this in our mosque.”
However, Ali claims he was squeezed out for political reasons, including his friendship with the Jews.
***
Since his days at the pesantren in Indonesia, Ali has thoroughly enjoyed singing verses from the Koran for masses of worshippers. On a recent afternoon, in his family’s two-story home in the low-rise jungle of Queens, he recites verses for two men in his living room.
Ali has just returned from a two-week trip to Indonesia to visit his sick father, and while there, newspapers and magazines wrote extensively about him and his interfaith work. That’s the reason the men, one of them fresh off the plane, have come – unannounced – to pray on the floor, wedged in between the coffee table and the window.
Ali and his wife Mutiah have lived here since 2004, when Ali took a job at the Jamaica Muslim Center, which is smaller than the 96th but still serves a large, predominantly Bangladeshi congregation. He also preaches to a small number of worshippers at the al-Hikmah Mosque.
Mutiah, a mild-faced woman wearing a loose-fitted dark dress and a black headscarf, serves the two men tea and plantain crisps. At 36, she is nine years Ali’s junior, but looks younger. Three of the five children run haphazardly around the living room, waving plastic swords above their heads.
The daughter of a madrasa principal, Mutiah is more conservative than her husband. “But I support him in everything he does,” she says.
His face shows the first discreet signs of middle age as he readily admits that his influence over his large congregation is diluted by all the time he spends away from it, building relationships with other faiths. Later this year, he hopes to establish his own interfaith, not-for-profit organisation which will provide a prayer room to younger worshippers. With an international tour promoting his book, this year may end up being one of the most important in his career.
“I’m sure that will be the beginning of the real journey,” he says, as he closes the front door to his house and makes the five minute stroll to the Jamaica Muslim Center.
In front of the gold-coloured pulpit, he turns his back to the crowd to lead the prayer. He then begins to sing with that striking voice that so entranced people in his pre-teens.
The loudspeakers outside the mosque carry his song through the sleepy streets, then down the hill to the busy avenue, where it dissolves and disappears in the traffic.
***
BBC Magazine
3 November 2013
Ali with his two daughters Maryam (left) and Malika.
RHOMA Irama, the ‘King of Dangdut’, on Saturday (11/7) declared the establishment of a new political party, Partai Idaman, with Idaman being the abbreviation of Islam Damai Aman (Peaceful and Safe Islam). The party aims to wipe out the widespread negative stigmas about Islam and islamophobia.
“Partai Idaman aims to present the face of Islam in an open way. We want to make such an appearance because we will wipe out islamphobia which has been prevalent in Indonesia. (We want to end) the negative, terrorism side and so on,” Rhoma said in his official statements to mark the formation of the new party, beritasatu.com reported. The event took place at Raden Bahari Restaurant in South Jakarta.
Rhoma lashed out at politicians who tend to hide their identity as Muslims. “Show to the international world that Islam is not terrorist, radical, and racist. Islam is a tolerant religion,” the former executive of United Development Party (PPP) said in his statements.
Ironically, in 2012, Rhoma was reported to provoke people not to vote for then Joko Widodo and his running mate Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama in that year’s gubernatorial election. Speaking to an audience in West Jakarta, he said Jokowi had Christian parents while Ahok was Chinese and Christian.
In 2013, Rhoma Irama was among several figures proposed as presidential candidates from the National Awakening Party (PKB), for the 2014 election. Other candidates included Jusuf Kalla and Mahfud MD.
If Partai Idaman wishes to take part in the 2019 legislative election, it is obliged to fulfill a number of requirements stipulated by existing laws:
It has to be formed by at least 30 Indonesian citizens who are at least 21 years old or who are already married
At least 50 Indonesian citizens jointly register the political party with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights
It has chapters and management boards in all provinces, and at least in 75 percent of all the regencies/cities in each province. Also the party’s chapters are formed in at least 50 percent of all the sub-districts in each of the regencies/cities.
10 political parties participated in the 2014 legislative election. They were among the 34 parties which had fulfilled all the lawful requirements set by the General Election Commission (KPU).
Earlier this year, two new political parties were declared publicly by their founders. They are Partai Solidaritas Indonesia (Indonesian Solidarity Party) and Partai Persatuan Indonesia (Partai Parindo). Both parties are in the process of obtaining official recognition from the government.
Partai Solidaritas Indonesia is currently led by 32-year old Grace Natalie, who is a Chinese Christian and former journalist and television presenter. Meanwhile, Partai Perindo was declared by businessman-turned politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who is also a Christian Chinese. He is a former top executive of Partai Nasdem (Democratic National Party).
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID — One of the most prominent Indonesian national heroes, Mohammad Hatta, received recognition for his peaceful and democratic commitment in fighting for independence by a university located in Netherland, a nation that once colonized Indonesia.
Erasmus University Rotterdam, where the freedom fighter went to study for 11 years until 1932, named its international student dormitory building after Hatta to honor his ideology, Erasmus’s professor Willlem M. Lamberts van Bueren stated here on Saturday (24/5/14).
“The move was aimed to reflect the changing perception about Hatta by the current Dutch generation. We are deeply impressed by his ideals and democratic commitment in fighting Indonesia’s independence, and only now we understand what he was doing,” reiterated van Beuren while visiting Hatta’s house to announce the university’s decision.
The Dutch East Indies administration in Indonesia’s colonial era saw Hatta as a recidivist who wanted to overthrow the legitimate government. To curb Hatta’s influence on the independence movement, the East Indies authorities then exiled him to several locations, including Digul and Banda.
Even as a student at the Erasmus University, later known as Rotterdam School of Commerce, Hatta was detained by the Dutch authorities without trial for six months because of his activities.
When finally taken for trial in The Hague, Hatta delivered a famous speech titled “Indonesia Vrij” or Free Indonesia. He explained that his nation and the Dutch administration could not cooperate with each other because the two are not equal partners, one is a colony and the other is a colonizer.
This unequivocal stance against colonialization was what set Hatta apart from several other national figures who sought independence through cooperation with the Dutch East Indies authorities. It was also the reason behind the hostile treatment he received during the colonial rule.
But as stressed by van Beuren in Jakarta, there is a growing change in perception in Holland about Indonesia’s first vice president.
“This appreciation for Hatta’s struggle is the main reason for Erasmus University naming its dormitory building after him,” he pointed out.
Meutia Hatta, the freedom fighter’s daughter stated that she was “grateful” and hoped to visit the building named after Hatta in the near future.
Meanwhile, Sri Edi Swasono, Meutia’s husband and also a prominent economy critic, remarked that more than a decade of education in Erasmus University laid the groundwork for Hatta to draft Indonesia’s constitution.
“Hatta deliberately chose to study international law and economy to set Indonesia in the right path after independence,” Sri Edi reiterated.
In the economic field, Hatta proposed an alternative model to capitalism and communism practices, known as “koperasi” or cooperative. While in the field of international relations, he was the architect of the main principle of Indonesian foreign policy, which is “politik luar negeri bebas aktif” or independent and active foreign policy.
SAMUEL Marinus Zwemer (April 12, 1867 – April 2, 1952), nicknamed The Apostle to Islam, was an American missionary, traveler, and scholar. He was born at Vriesland, Michigan. In 1887 he received an A.B. from Hope College, Holland, Mich., and in 1890, he received an M.A. from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N. J.. His other degrees include a D.D. from Hope College in 1904, a L.L.D. from Muskingum College in 1918, and a D.D. from Rutgers College in 1919.
After being ordained to the Reformed Church ministry by the Pella, Iowa Classis in 1890, he was a missionary at Busrah, Bahrein, and at other locations in Arabia from 1891 to 1905. He was a member of the Arabian Mission (1890–1913). Zwemer served in Egypt from 1913–1929. He also traveled widely in Asia Minor, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London.
In 1929 he was appointed Professor of Missions and Professor of the History of Religion at the Princeton Theological Seminary where he taught until 1937. He had married Amy Elizabeth Wilkes on May 18, 1896. He was famously turned down by the American Missionary Society which resulted in him going overseas alone. He founded and edited the publication The Moslem World for 35 years. He was influential in mobilizing many Christians to go into missionary work in Islamic Countries.
Zwemer retired from active work on the faculty of Princeton College Seminary at the age of seventy, but continued to write and publish books and articles as well as doing a great deal of public speaking. Zwemer died in New York City at the age of eighty-four.
According to Ruth A. Tucker, Samuel Zwemer’s converts were “probably less than a dozen during his nearly forty years of service” and his “greatest contribution to missions was that of stirring Christians to the need for evangelism among Muslims.” — Wikipedia
WHAT’S in a name? It’s money. Oops, not really. But for veteran jazz musician Bill Amirsyah Saragih, a name has a lot to do with business. That is why he changed his name to Bill Simatupang.
“Simatupang is Siang malam tunggu panggilan (Waiting for order day and night),” Bill joked during the cocktail party held in conjunction with the 17th anniversary of The Jakarta Post at The Regent hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Bill said he has become “a high-class unemployed man” since he stopped performing at pubs in the city recently and started to take orders from companies, “including state-owned pawnshop company Perum Pegadaian”.
But now he prefers to sing at Chinese wedding parties.
“It’s a true business,” he said. At such parties, he only sings one or two songs, but receives quite a nice sum of money.
One day, he said, after he sang one line of a song at a wedding party, suddenly there was a blackout. Not too long afterward, the family of the bride came to him and handed him a receipt to sign. He could not believe it. “It’s big money,” he said. — Darul Aqsha
The Jakarta Post
Sun, Apr 30 2000
Bill Amirsjah-Rondahaim Saragih (born January 1, 1933 in North Sumatra; died January 30, 2008) was an Indonesian jazz musician. His albums includes songs such as Billy’s Groove and original songs include Anna My Love, which was dedicated to his wife. Bill worked hard all his life to educate and promote music. his passion for Jazz Music was obvious. Bill leaves behind a son Tony and a daughter Tiana. Both reside in Sydney Australia. — Wikipedia
Name: Abu Sa’d al-A’la ibn Sahl Title: Mathematician, physicist and optic engineer Birth:940 Death: 1000 Ethnicity: Iraqi Arab Occupation: Scientist at the Abbasid Court, Baghdad. Main interest: Physics, optics and mathematics. Notable ideas: Discovering the law of refraction and useing it to derive lens shapes that focus light without geometric aberrations, known as anaclastic (aspehric lens). Designing elaborate mechanisms for drawing his lenses and irrors, dealing with parabolic mirrors, ellipsoidal mirrors, biconvex lenses, and techniques for drawing hyperbolic arcs. Ibn Sahl’s studies led to the development of instruments and theories on optis in Europe in the 17 century. Works:On Burninbg Mirrorrs and Lenses (984). Credited by the Egyptian historian of science Prof Roshdi Rashed in 1990 for developing the first law of refraction, also known as Snell’s Law, named after the 17th century Dutch scientist Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626). Sources: Wikipedia; fanousscientists.com; http://www.indiavisitinformation.com
Hasan Aidid was born on the remote island of Bonerate, Selayar Regency, South Sulawesi, in 1910s. He died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in October 1979 when he performing haj pilgrimage.
He had Arab blood from his father, while his mother came from the South Sulawesi. His wife Hj. Zubaidah Daeng Sikati comes from a Bugis royal family.
In addition, Hasan Aidid was a marine veteran and a fighter during the Indonesian revolution in the end of 1940s. He was known as the Chairman of the Anti-Communist Front (FAK) of East Java branch, an activist of the Masyumi Islamic party and a member of KNIP (Central Indonesian National Committee) as the results of the 1955 general elections.
Besides known as a businessman, he was also an orator and a da’i. People called him ‘The Lion of Podium’ because his speeches had a magnet to lure crowds of people.
Sobron Aidit, the younger brother of the Communist leader DN Aidit, in his blog told a story about a young man who protested and demanded Aidit’s apology for humiliating Islam during his speech among PKI’s supporters at a stadium in Malang, East Java. He threated if Aidit wouldn’t apologize he himself would force him to get him down from the podium. Aidit was dither and apologized. The young man was Hasan Aidid.
Prior to his death, he was active in the Dewan Da’wah Islamiah Indonesia (DDII, Indonesian Islamic Da’wah Council) led by M. Natsir in Jakarta.
Before living in Gresik, he once lived in Tegal (Central Java) and in the Arab square of Ampel in Surabaya (East Java).
He was survived by four children (one daughter and three sons), who living in Gresik. They are Muchlisa, Umar, Abdullah and Muhammad. Muchlisa lives in Bonerate.
Name: Abu al-‘Iz ibn Isma’il ibn al-Razaz al-Jazari Title: Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, artist, mathematician and astronomer Birth: 1136 in Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia Death: 1206 Ethnicity: Kurdish Region: Mesopotamia (Iraq-Syria-border) Main interests: Mathematics, engineering, astronomy, arts Notable ideas: 1. Invented an early crankshaft, which he incorporated with a crank-connecting rod mechanism in his twin-cylinder pump. Like the modern crankshaft, Al-Jazari’s mechanism consisted of a wheel setting several pins into motion, with the wheel’s motion being circular and the opins moving back-and-forth in a straight line. The crankshaft described by Al-Jazari transforms continuous rotary motion into a linear reciprocating motion, and is central to modern machinery such as the steam engine, internal combustion engine and automatic control. 2. The camshaft, a shaft to which cams are attached, was first introduced in 1206 by Al-Jazari, who employed them in European mechanism from the 14th century; 3. Hand-washing autmotation with flush mechanism Al-Jazari invented a handwashing automation incorporating a flush mechanism now used in modern flush toilets. It features a female humanoid automation standing by basin filled with water. When the user pulls the lever, the water drains and the female automation refills the basin; 4. In the Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, he gave intructions of his inventions and illustrated them using miniature paintings, a medieval style of Islamic art. Works:Kitab fi ma’rifat al-hiyal al-handasiya (Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices) (1206), where he described fifty mechanical devices along with intructions on how to construct them, and Al-Jami’ bayn al-‘ilm wa ‘amal, al-nafi’ fi sina’at al-hiyal (A Compendium on the Theory and Practice of the Mechanical Arts)
Wikipedia; http://www.history-science-technology.com
Islam In Indonesia 