images of violence and piety in aceh 293
Not all reactions in Jurong were framed in conflict-derived terms.
The historical and ethnographic discussion presented above conveys
other images that were used to interpret, explain or categorise both the
cause and effect of violent confrontation. While these images may figure
less at the forefront of the dominant narrative of Acehnese history, they
are not, for that reason, necessarily less resonant, powerful or ‘available’.
Some of my interlocutors in Jurong, in their attempt to understand or
speculate about what was going on, drew on a long, multifaceted tradition
of Islamic mysticism, expressed in the dynamic use and meaning of a
text like the Hikayat Perang Sabil, or the belief in supernatural powers.
This complicates the framework of the Aceh conflict in at least one
respect, as the latter tends to oppose an ongoing Acehnese tradition of
pious resistance against the (equally static) interests of (‘syncretist’ or
‘pseudo-Muslim’) Javanese oppressors. In Jurong, the sources of magical
power and mysticism were often sought, geographically, in the west coast
districts and (sometimes) the central highlands, distinguishing these
areas from the ‘heartland’ of the Darul Islam and the gam (the north
coast and Pidie), as well as Aceh Besar itself. Such distinctions in turn,
were connected to the shifting dichotomies between ‘urban’ and ‘rural’
settings, between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ lifestyles, and to personal
differences in social background and class. Similar mechanisms inform
the ways in which official images of Aceh have been constructed. One
of the reasons why Ali Hasjmy was able to convert the Aceh-centric
image of holy war into a more neutral image of ‘holy struggle’ was his
social position as a reform-minded ulama, former Darul Islam leader
and administrator, his role in formulating and representing an urban
strand of Islamic modernism, and his personal experience with political
life in Jakarta. Few others were able to mediate so successfully between
the discourse of Acehnese exceptionalism and the New Order language
of statist developmentalism.
A final suggestion concerns the relationship between stereotypingand the problematic idea of ‘pious resistance’ itself. First, it is important
not to overstate the ‘religious’ factor, even in instances where this might
seem apparent. Some of Jurong’s young men expressed their respect
for the jihadis’ struggle, not so much out of cause, but out of a more
general sense of sympathy for their relatively weak position (and thus
their bravery and the need to be ‘smart’), combined with an interest
in the adventurous side of armed combat; but if the image of pious
resistance loses its hold here, in other contexts Acehnese stereotypes take
centre stage, albeit perhaps in unexpected ways. As Taufik Al Mubarak
and his reference to the phrase ‘Crazy Aceh’ show, stereotypes are not