Arab Indonesians (), or colloquially known as Jama'ah,
The official number of Arab and part-Arab descent in Indonesia was recorded since 19th century. The census of 1870 recorded a total of 12,412 Arab Indonesians (7,495 living in Java and Madura and the rest in other islands). By 1900, the total number of Arabs citizens increased to 27,399, then 44,902 by 1920, and 71,335 by 1930.
History
Indonesia has had contact with the
Arab world prior to the emergence of Islam in Indonesia as well as since pre-Islamic times. The earliest Arabs to arrive in Indonesia were traders who came from
Southern Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Arab traders helped bring the spices of Indonesia, such as nutmeg, to Europe as early as the 8th century.
However, Arab settlements mostly began only in the early Islamic era.
[W.P. Groeneveldt, 1877, Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca, Batavia : W. Bruining.] These traders helped to connect the spice and silk markets of South East Asia and far east Asia with the Arabian kingdoms,
Persian Empire and the
Roman Empire. Some later founded dynasties, including the Sultanate of Pontianak, while others intermingled with existing kingdoms. These early communities adopted much of the local culture, and some disappeared entirely while others formed ethnically distinct communities.
More Arabs visited Malay Archipelago when Islam began to spread. Islam was brought to the region directly from Arabia (as well as Persia and Gujarat), first to Aceh.
Modern Arab Indonesians are generally descended of Hadhrami people immigrants,
The community elites began to build economic power through trade and real estate acquisition, buying large amounts of real estate in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), Singapore and other parts of the archipelago. Through charity work and "conspicuous consumption", they built and protected their social capital; eventually, some Arab Indonesians joined the Volksraad, the people's council of the Dutch East Indies.
During the Indonesian National Awakening, an Indonesian nationalist movement, Persatuan Arab Indonesia, founded by Abdurrahman Baswedan in 1934, promoted the idea of gradual cultural assimilation of Arab Indonesians into wider Indonesian society, which Baswedan referred to as "cultural reorientation".
Identity
First generation immigrants are referred to as
Wulayati or
totok. They are a small minority of the Arab Indonesian population. The majority,
muwallad, were born in Indonesia and may be of mixed heritage.
Because of the lack of information, some Indonesian scholars have mistaken the Arabs of Indonesia as agents of Salafi movement and Wahhabism, as Azyumardi Azra depicted Indonesians of Arab descent as wishing to purge Indonesian Islam of its Islam Nusantara. Indonesian critics of Arabization in Indonesia point to the founding of the radical group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and leadership of Laskar Jihad (LJ) by Indonesian Arabs.
Distribution
The majority of Arab Indonesians live in
Java and
Madura Island, usually in cities or relatively big towns such as
Jakarta,
Pekalongan,
Cirebon,
Surakarta, Kudus,
Yogyakarta,
Gresik Regency,
Pasuruan, or
Surabaya. A sizeable population is also found in
Sumatra (primarily in
Palembang, and some in
West Sumatra,
North Sumatra,
Riau, and
Aceh). The earliest census figures that indicate the number of Hadhramis living in Dutch East Indies date from 1859, when it was found that there were 4,992 Arab Indonesians living in Java and Madura.
The census of 1870 recorded a total of 12,412 Arab Indonesians (7,495 living in Java and Madura and the rest in other islands). In 1900, total number of Arab population 27,399, 44,902 in 1920, and 71,335 in 1930.
Census data shows 87,066 people in 2000, and 87,227 people in 2005, who identified themselves as being of Arab ethnicity, representing 0.040% of the population. The number of Indonesians with partial Arab ancestry, who do not identify as Arab, is unknown.
Religion
Arab Indonesians are almost all Muslim; according to the 2000 census. Historically, most have lived in so called
Kauman villages, in the areas around mosques, but this has changed in recent years. The majority are
Sunni, following the Shafi'i school of
Sharia with Ba 'Alawi sada families usually follow Ba 'Alawiyya
tariqa.
The Islam practiced by Arab Indonesians tends to be more orthodox than the local, indigenous-influenced forms like abangan who do not follow some of the more restrictive Islamic practices. Children are generally sent to , but many later advance their education to secular schools.
Traditions
Music
Qanbus is a popular musical genre among Arab-Indonesians, usually during weddings or other special events. The music is played by a music ensemble consisting of
Lute, violins,
Mirwas,
Goblet drum,
Bongo drum,
Tambourine,
Suling (Indonesian version of
Ney),
and sometimes accompanied with
Accordion, Electronic keyboard, Electric guitars, even drum kit. The Lute (Gambus) player (commonly called
Muthrib) usually sings while playing the
Lute. The music is very similar to Yemeni music with lyrics mainly in Arabic, similar to Khaliji music, where the rhythm is categorized as either
Dahife,
Sarh or
Zafin.
In the events, sometimes male-only dancers go to the middle in a group of two or three persons and each group takes turn in the middle of the song being played.
Cuisine
Just like the Chinese and the Indians, the Arabs also brought their own culinary traditions as well as cuisine to Indonesia.
The influence of Hadhrami immigrants in the Indonesian cuisine can be seen in the presence of Yemeni cuisine in Indonesia, such as Nasi kebuli, Mandi rice, Ka'ak cookie,
Ancestry
As common among Middle-Eastern societies, genealogies are mainly
Patrilineality. Patrilinearity is even stronger in Sayyid families, where an offspring of non-Hadhrami man and Hadhrami woman is not considered a Sayyid.
Many of the Hadhrami migrants came from places in Hadhramaut, such as
Seiyun, Tarim,
Mukalla,
Shibam,
Mukalla or other places in Hadhramaut.
DNA
Very few researches and DNA samples, if any, have been done on Arab-Indonesians. It has been guessed that the DNA haplogroups found among Arab Indonesians are J, L and R
with higher possibility of J-M267 traces.
Haplogroup G-PF3296 is also common, especially among descents of
of
Hadhramaut.
It is predicted the presence of mtDNA R9 haplogroups among Arab Indonesians due to mixed marriage between Indonesians and Yemenis.
Notable Arab Indonesians
-
Abdurrahman Baswedan, diplomat, Indonesian freedom fighter and the founder of Persatoean Arab-Indonesia
-
Abu Bakar Bashir, suspected head of Jemaah Islamiyah
-
Ahmad Albar, rock singer
-
Ahmad Surkati of Sudan, founder of al-Irsyad.
-
Ali Alatas (half-Sundanese people), former Minister of Foreign Affairs
-
Alwi Shihab (half-Buginese people), special envoy for the Middle East
-
Anies Baswedan, educator, Minister of Education (20142016), Governor of Jakarta (20172022), relative of Abdurrahman Baswedan and Novel Baswedan
-
Fadel Muhammad, former governor of Gorontalo and Deputy Speaker of People's Consultative Assembly
-
Fuad Hassan, minister of education and culture
-
Habib Ali Kwitang, Islamic cleric and founder of the Islamic Center of Indonesia
-
Usman bin Yahya, Mufti of Batavia
-
Habib Munzir Al-Musawa, preacher
-
Haddad Alwi, Nasheed singer
-
Haidar Bagir, scholar and businessman
-
Hamid Algadri, figure in the Indonesian National Revolution and member of parliament
-
Jafar Umar Thalib, founder of Laskar Jihad
-
Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, founder of FPI
-
Munir Said Thalib, Human Rights activist
-
Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, politician
-
Quraish Shihab (half-Buginese people), Islamic scholar
-
Raden Saleh, painter in Dutch East Indies era
-
Said Naum, Kapitan Arab, a philanthropist
-
Syarif Hamid II of Pontianak, Sultan of Pontianak Sultanate
See also
Gallery
File:Orang Arab di Talise 1920. Koleksi Het Geheugen van Nederland.jpg|alt=Indonesian Arab of Talise in 1920|Indonesian Arab of Talise
File:Kapten Arab HABIB ALWI BIN ABDULLAH (Kapten Arab) dan HABIB MUHAMAD BIN ALI BIN YAHYA.jpg|alt=Kapten Arab of Borneo|Kapitan Arab in Borneo
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van het hoofd van de Arabieren te Tegal Java TMnr 10005286.jpg|Kapten Arab of Tegal, Central Java
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Arabische wijk te Soerabaja Java TMnr 10013607.jpg|Arab Indonesian from Surabaya
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een batikker met wasstempels aan het werk op een stand van batikmakerij Tanaabang Batawi TMnr 60018017.jpg|An Arab Indonesian working on batik wax stamps to work in Tanah Abang
File:Hadhrami Arab neighborhood, Surabaya 1880.jpg|Hadhrami Arab neighborhood in Ampel, Surabaya, 1880
File:Hadharim of Palembang.jpg|Hadhrami People on Eid al-Adha day in Palembang, February 1937 CE
File:Al-Usysyaaq Gambus Orchestra, Jakarta.jpg|Arab-Indonesian musicians in Jakarta, 1949
Footnotes
Bibliography
