These three photos really show the uniqueness of the wayang last night---SURAN at the Islamic Day School run for over 30 years now by the dynamic and charismatic Abah Syarif. An Islamic elder from Jakarta was invited to speak from 8-9 before the wayang started, but as soon as he went on too long, Abah Syarif (seated, left, in the photo) sent him a note to say its time for the wayang. Everything is in moderation for Abah Syarif, everything is about balance, and he wants Java to remain Javanese in their attitude toward Islam. To have a wayang screen and permanent dhalang platform at the center of a school, with the inscription: Sing Mbahu Rekso Ponpes Nurul Huda, and to have the icon of the performances be the giant ogre wayang starting the left side simpingan--these are a perfect symbols of his attitude. Sing Mbahu Rekso is quintessential Javanese expression referring to a protecting force that could be anything from a person to a mystical presence inside a volcano, well, tree, or other inantimate object. Highly unusual for an Islamic School. Abah Syarif called me off the stage at about midnight to invite me to take a tour, and we had an hour-long conversation on the mat outside the performance area. He presented a complex interweave of wayang characters, lakon, mystical meaning, Islamic teachings, Western thought, and other eclectic topics. But his main message was this: radicalism has no place here, and if I teach my students nothing else here, thats the important thing. He always gives the sindhen the choice to wear whatever they wish--some feel pressured to come to this event in jilbab but would wear sanggul at other wayang, some want to wear jibab and would it anywhere, and some come in sanggulan here and anywhere else. The audience had more women in it than a typical wayang in any East Javanese alun2, and no separation seating-wise.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 17:22:59 +0000
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