3.4 Social Adaptation of Indonesian Muslim Communities
3.4.2 Problem and Challenges
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
51
To gather such large participant, usually they use and rent a train station hall, public park, schools’ Hall, or place that can accommodate a big number of people and easy to access.
Thus, these communities do inter-organizational exchange visits, especially for tabligh akbar. They will come to the city where tabligh akbar conducted. For the example, when there was a tabligh akbar in Chungli that organized by FOSMIT – Chungli, the other communities under KMIT and KOMIT will attend and participate in the event.
Another interaction can be seen when doing advocacy related to Indonesian workers problem. Mr. Suyadi, who was a former president of KMIT, said that in the past he often communicate with all organizations under KMIT to do coordination, especially related to advocacy. When there is Indonesian worker who died due to health condition or working accident, then together with IETO Taipei and Indonesian workers communities or organizations, they help to prepare the funeral procession before they send them back to their family in Indonesia.
3.4.2 Problem and Challenges
According to Gibson, et al (1997: 437), in an interaction, in addition to creating a cooperative and interdependent relationships, it can also result in conflict. Conflict is usually caused by objectives, resource allocation - resource that is shared, decisions, and behavior of each party involved (Myers, 1982:234-237; Kreps, 1986:185; Stewart, 1993:
341). In other words, this occurs if the individual or each component organization has its own interests or goals and do not cooperate with each other.
With the development of Indonesian Muslim communities and organization that is growing rapidly33, but with this growth, the problem also arises. In some ways, these organization compete each other; whether which communities that are better, more active and exist among others, or which organization that have more members and can gain more funding or donation. However, this competition is not develop into an open conflict. Most of the time, individual or private motive become the reason behind a conflict.
Mr. Zulhendri, argued that another factors that can make problem and challenge among Indonesian Muslim communities is change in management, also change in program and
33 Especially for “on-air” based communities with the development of communication technology and gadget.
They can easily form a new community with a different reason and background.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
52
policy of organization/ communities. In other words, different leader and management will have different program.
In addition, Galih (an Indonesian student who are actively participated in Indonesian workers activities in Kaohsiung and Pingtung) said that the most crucial for Indonesian Muslim communities or organization is the management regeneration. The Indonesian workers in Taiwan mostly working based on 3-years contract, after it finished, usually they come back to Indonesia. Therefore the sustainability and continuity of communities’ or organizations’ activities is really depends on the member’s activeness. They should have a strong regeneration system and implementation.
Lilik, an Indonesian student who serve as Head of Community Service Department in FORMMIT, said:
“During my experience interact with Indonesian Muslim organization in these last 4 years, sometimes there are some intersect or even clash with other organizations when conducting Tabligh akbar, and also the collection of zakat, infaq, and sadaqah, If an organizations hold an event, then the other organizations should not be looking for donations or infaq in the event area (except the hosting organization only).”
Different opinion about challenge for Indonesian Muslim communities given by Mr. Hakun, the head of PCI NU Taiwan. He said:
“The challenge is the influence of Indonesian political issues among Indonesian workers in Taiwan. Indonesia had just held legislative election on April 2014 and presidential election on July 2014. This five-year event influenced not only Indonesian citizens in Indonesia, but also Indonesian in Taiwan. Since there are more than 200,000 Indonesian who are eligible to vote for the election, hence it becomes a potential source for vote getter. So, it is better to make a clear separation between da’wa and politics.”
Over all, another challenges for Indonesian Muslim communities and organization is the absence of activity that show the unity of Indonesian Muslim in Taiwan. Until now, there is no joint activities between inter-Islamic organization under KMIT, PCI NU Taiwan and another communities such as PCI Muhammadiyah Taiwan.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
53
CHAPTER 4
SOCIAL ADAPTATION OF INDONESIAN MUSLIM AND CHINESE MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN TAIWAN
This chapter will describes and analyzes about the case studies related to social adaptation of Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim communities in Taiwan. To understand this social adaptation, it should be re-stated that among Taiwanese society, both of Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim in Taiwan are considered as minority in Taiwan, due to the small amount of Muslim as well as the Islamic practices in Taiwan.
As the immigrant in Taiwan, in order to survive and adapt with their environment, of course Indonesian Muslim need to do social interaction and “learn” from Chinese Muslim whom are familiar with Taiwanese situation. Indonesian Muslim as “guest” in Taiwan has different challenges compare to Chinese Muslim. Hence, the presence of Chinese Muslim as “host” in Taiwan is very important for the guests. In their social adaptation, Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim played important role for helping each other through cooperation for various activities.
4.1 Religious Activities and Ceremonies
Masjid or mosque plays very important roles for Muslim in the context of social adaptation.
Masjid (in Arabic means mosque), known as a place for Muslim to do the worship.
However, mosque not restricted to being a place of worship, a location for performing rituals, or a social and political dimension of the Muslim community, instead, it has served as a symbol of belonging and identity (Abdel-Hady, 2010). Hence, the highest interaction between Indonesian Muslim communities and Chinese Muslim communities happened in mosque.
It can be seen that most of the time, especially on Friday and weekend, there are many Muslim from various nations come to the mosque regularly. Not only for doing prayer, but also some social activities for intra and inter-Muslim communities. Here is some activities that has been doing by Muslim communities (both Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim) in Taiwan.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
54
1) Marriage Procession Ceremony
Marriage ceremony is often held in the mosque, mostly among Indonesian workers and some cases between Indonesian worker with Taiwanese, Pakistani or Thailand. Here, the Chinese Muslim who is Imam in the mosque taking important role to proceed the akad or holy matrimonial.
All the administrative requirement should be applied to Indonesian Muslim Communities.
About this matter, according to Imam Abdullah from Taichung Mosque, the requirement should be strict. There were some cases of Indonesian worker who already married in Indonesia, but then secretly married again in Taiwan without a proper permit from their family. They should proof that they haven’t married yet. And also according to Taiwan’s law, people only allowed to have one husband/ wife. So that, the mosque and Indonesian Muslim community need to make a strict regulation to prevent this case happened.
Every Sunday in Longgang mosque there is quite often wedding ceremony, around 2-3 times per month. The officer of Not only Indonesian Muslim, sometime there is also wedding ceremony for Chinese Muslim in the mosque. Usually, Indonesian Muslim (students and workers) are helping the preparation of procession and celebration (especially for cooking and washing the dishes).
(Source: Personal documentation. Taken in Longgang Mosque, Chungli on June 22nd 2014)
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
55
4.1.2 Death Procession Ceremony
There are some cases of Indonesian workers who died because of accident or illness. Before sending the dead body to Indonesia, they will proceed Islamic cleansing, provide a shroud and bathe the corpse. Mrs. Maulidiyah, one of Indonesian student who actively come to Longgang mosque, ever participated in death-ceremony procession of Indonesian Muslim workers. The workers died because of working accident. Because there’s only limited number of people in the mosque, she and some other students and workers helped the procession (bathing, shrouding and prayers for dead body) in the mosque. And after that, the dead body was sent back to Indonesia.
Another example is from Kaohsiung mosque. There was a special case where one of Indonesian worker died because of the HIV. Based on the Taiwan government regulation, those who died because of virus can’t be buried and must be cremated. And the dead body can’t be sent to Indonesia and proceed in Islamic way. But if he/ she died because accident, the Islamic procession for funeral can be do.
4.1.3 Friday Prayer
Friday is a holy day for Muslim. This weekly event become the opportunity for Muslim from various countries to gather at the mosque. They are mainly coming from Taiwan (Chinese Muslim – elder people), Indonesia (mostly students, while workers is depends on working shift in the factory), Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Gambia and some Muslim from Middle Eastern countries. Not only man, but female Muslim woman come to the Mosque for doing pray and interact each other. In average, there are around 50 – 100 male Muslim and 10 – 20 female Muslim on Friday prayer.
During Friday Pray in Taipei Grand Mosque, we can see an international atmosphere where all the Muslim from many countries coming to this mosque. Not only the students and workers, but also officials from representatives’ offices from Islamic countries and Muslim-majority countries come to this mosque to perform their pray. Because the Friday’s religious preach in this mosque is taught in English, there are more international Muslim come here. In certain time, there will be hundreds of Muslim gathered to pray, and after that buy some halal meat and food that be sold in a small bazaar in the mosque’s hall.
The interaction between Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim during this time is not really intensive, because they only have limited time to conduct their pray and having lunch.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
56
But for some people, they are helping the preparation of the Friday prayer and also serving some small foods for free to the visitors.
4.1.4 Ramadan/ Fasting Month
We can say that the interaction between Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim in Taiwan reach its peak during Ramadan. In every day during this holy month, many Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim come to the mosque to help the preparation of ifthar (break-fasting) and dinner. Not only cooking the food, they also divided their works to prepare the room and food, and cleansing the dishes afterward.
(Source: Personal documentation. Ifthar in Taipei Grand Mosque, July 2014)
Because the number of visitor who come for ifthar is quite big, so that the mosque management need many volunteers to help them. When conducting an observation in Taipei Grand Mosque, Taipei Cultural Mosque and Longgang Mosque, I met some Indonesian female workers and students who are come to the mosque to help this preparation.
There are around 50 – 100 Muslim coming for ifthar every day (and there will be more on weekend), and they will eat dinner together after the prayer. In this time, the interaction among Chinese Muslim and Indonesian Muslim is more intensive, because they will sit in a round table all together and discuss or do a small talks while having their dinner. And sometimes they bring their own food and share it to other Muslim.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
57
4.1.5 Islamic Holiday Celebration
During the Eid celebration many Muslim from various nations come to mosque. Especially for Indonesian workers, even though the Eid pray is on weekday, usually they will try their best to come to the pray by asking special permit. In Chungli, there are many Chinese Muslims living close to the Longgang mosque, so after the prayer some Indonesian Muslim students and workers come and visit the Chinese Muslim houses near Longgang mosque as the part of silaturrahim and celebrate the Eid together.
(Source: Personal documentation. Activities after Eid Prayer in Taipei Grand Mosque, 2014) While in Kaohsiung mosque, after the Eid prayer, there is gathering as well. For Indonesian Muslim, usually they cook in Indonesian store’s kitchen next to the mosque and it was cooked by IWAMIT Kaohsiung member. As for Chinese Muslim, they cook in Mosque’s kitchen and eat in the mosque’s hall.
4.1.6 Tabligh akbar
FOSMIT, under the organization of KMIT, hold a Tabligh akbar once a year in Chungli.
KMIT’s function is to help all the Indonesian Muslim organization activities in Taiwan to match the schedule. Tabligh akbar is an event for Indonesian Muslim (mostly workers) and hold every month in different places in Taiwan with different organizer.
The Indonesian Muslim held this regular event to commemorate religious holiday. The tabligh akbar itself is held in Indonesian language, so that there is no Chinese Muslim participate in this event, however the organizer invited the Imam and the Mosque
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
58
management. They gives many support and help in terms of permit to Taiwan’s local government and police, giving speech in the day of event, and also the equipment.
According to Mrs. Maulidiyah, FOSMIT and Longgang mosque have close and good relations, they are helping each other and have good cooperation on Islamic activities.
4.1.7 Islamic Education
One of challenge for Muslim in Taiwan is limited Islamic education for children. Imam Abdullah from Taichung Mosque said that we must concern about education for future generation of Muslim to make better contribution for Islam in Taiwan. Not only in matter of number of people, but also in terms of quality of people and education. Islamic education also very important for Muslim, especially if they are as minority.
Although it is still limited, however there are basic Islamic teaching every weekend in every mosques in Taiwan. The teacher is not only Chinese Muslim but sometimes Indonesian Muslim students and workers also being asked to teach basic Arabic and Quran reading.
For the example is many Indonesian workers and students come to Kaohsiung mosque to helping and teaching basic Arabic for Quran reading to Chinese Muslim.
In Chungli, some students from NCU who are active in FORMMIT (Indonesian Muslim students Forum) give some free courses such as computer and Basic English course for Indonesian workers. They also teach Arabic Quran reading for Chinese Muslim children and children of inter-marriage. Especially in Longgang mosque, every Saturday and Sunday there are classes for children from 10 am – 12 pm. There are several classes for learn basic Arabic for Quran reading based on their level. In every class, there 10-15 children. Many of them is the second or third generation of Chinese Muslim from Thailand or Burma, and some mixed Thailand – Taiwan, Pakistan – Taiwan, Indonesian – Thailand, etc.
4.1.8 Islamic Exhibition and Seminar
Interaction between Indonesian Muslim and Chinese Muslim, especially Indonesian students can be seen from Islamic exhibition and seminar. One of the biggest event for Indonesian Muslim student in Taipei is International Muslim Culture Exhibition (IMCE).
This annual event was held by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology – International Muslim Student Association (NTUST – IMSA). IMCE held since 2011, and
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
59
aims to introduce Islam as minority in Taiwan with soft culture approach through culture, and food. The visitor’s enthusiasm is quite big. In this event, many Muslim from various countries give their support, especially CMA and Taipei Grand Mosque. They support not only financially, but also for the interpreter and speaker for the seminars. Not only from the organization, support also come from Chinese Muslim personally to give donation, event preparation, publication, idea, equipment and network.
Another Islamic exhibition also held by Muslim Student Association in Yuan Zhe University (YZU) and National Central University (NCU) in Chungli. Most of the member of the association are coming from Indonesia, Gambia and some Middle Eastern student.
One of Indonesian student initiated this activity for the first time in YZU. The mission of this event is to introduce about Islam, halal food and hijab for all Taiwanese and foreign students in their campus. This event also get full support from Longgang mosque, in which the Imams came to the exhibition to give speech and seminar about Islam, and Taiwanese Muslim student also taking part actively as well. Not only in Chungli, but all the Imam or mosque management in big cities in Taiwan are often being invited by the Muslim students to give lectures or seminars about Islam.
(Source: National Taiwan Museum. Event’s poster about the exhibition, 2014)
Not only conducted by Indonesian Muslim students, in early until mid-year 2014 there was an exhibition called “The Exhibition of Islamic Life and Culture” held by National Taiwan Museum in Taipei. Every weekend, there were some volunteers from Chinese Muslim and also Muslim students from various countries to help this special event. They help to introduce about Islam in general and Muslim daily life, including help the visitor to wear Muslim’s clothes as experience.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
60
4.1.9 Hajj
Started in 2013, some Indonesian Muslim participated in Hajj pilgrimage. Together with Chinese Muslim and another Muslim from various countries, they went to Mecca from Taiwan. Compare to Indonesia, it is easier for Indonesian Muslim to go Hajj from Taiwan because of the quota. While the Hajj cost is not much different. In the future, Indonesian Muslim communities planning to regularly join this Hajj mission and keep the coordination with Chinese Muslim Association to organize the application from Indonesian Muslim in Taiwan.
4.1.10 Visitation to Detention Center
Another interaction is related to visitation to detention center. Sometimes Indonesian Muslim, Chinese Muslim and Pakistani Muslim do their regular visitation to detention center in Sanxia, Hsinchu, Yilan and Nantou to visit Indonesian Muslim workers who are arrested because of the violation of immigration regulation and working permit.
Mr. Aslan, Pakistani Muslim who have been living in Taiwan for 20 years and married with Indonesian worker, is one of the Muslim who are regularly visiting those detention centers.
During Ramadan, the Muslim donate some food and money for Indonesian workers in detention center to have a proper meal for fasting. They also asked the officer to cook the food for Indonesian workers. Mr. Aslan also mentioned that in Sanxia, some of the halal restaurant owner bring free halal food for ifthar and break fasting. Last Ramadan, I joined Mr. Aslan for the visitation to detention center in Nantou. There are 45 Indonesian workers;
30 woman and 15 man, who are staying in this DC.
Indonesian Muslim presence in Taiwan is very important for Islam in Taiwan. One of Taiwan’s mosque problem is the limited presence of Chinese Muslim especially from young generation. Only the elderly Muslim who come to mosque regularly. That’s why, the Indonesian Muslim presence is very significant to enliven Islamic activities in mosque.
Ma Hikmah, a female Chinese Muslim whom is participate actively in Taipei Grand Mosque, said that:
“Compare to Taiwan condition in 20-30 years ago, the condition is better because currently there are more foreigner Muslim in Taiwan that help a
“Compare to Taiwan condition in 20-30 years ago, the condition is better because currently there are more foreigner Muslim in Taiwan that help a