You are cordially invited to a special seminar by Dr. Saiful Umam. The details are as follows.

Title: Other Javanese Islam: Pegon Books and the Localization of Islam in Java

Speaker: Dr. Saiful Umam, director of Center for the Study of Islam and Society, the State Islamic University Jakarta & CSEAS visiting research scholar

Date and Time: March 2nd (Thurs.), 2017 16:00-

Venue: Tonan Tei, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Moderator: Masaaki OKAMOTO, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Abstract:
This project examines the localization of Islam in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the northern coastal areas of Java, Indonesia. It focuses on a unique type of Islamic texts, Kitab Pegon (Pegon books), which are books on Islam in the Javanese language using Arabic script. Written by local ulama (religious scholars), Pegon books discuss various branches of Islamic knowledge. Their intended audience is commoners, and therefore they were composed in the vernacular language employing the lower stratified Javanese, or ngoko. An assessment on this type of sources reveals that despite their adoption of local cultures and ideas, their contents conformed to Sunni orthodox teachings. The use of the Arabic script facilitated the maintenance of orthodox ideas, while the utilization of the vernacular language enabled an accommodation of local concepts and ideas.

Contrary to the widely-held belief that Javanese Islam was heterodox, syncretic and heavily influenced by pre-Islamic ideas, this project argues that Pegon texts represent both Javanese and orthodox Islam. This hopefully contributes to debates on the localization of world religions, by providing a case study in which orthodoxy was clearly maintained within a process of localization.