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Indonesia on Yemen crisis
- The largest Muslim country in the world, 4th largest nation on the planet.
- Biggest Muslim economy on earth.
- An Asian giant.
- One of the biggest militaries in the world.
Jakarta, capital of Indonesia.
Indonesian soldier, Indonesia has a 0.2 million strong army.
Indonesia is the biggest Muslim nation on the planet. However it is Muslim due in a large part to Yemen.
Yemen is considered by some as the motherland of the Arabs. It is said when Isma'eel ('alaihi salaam) settled in Mecca he became Arabized due to the Yemeni tribe were there at the time, the Banu Jurhum.
Yemeni traders and saints played a big part in the spread of Islam in Indonesia.
So Yemen plays a huge role in the formation of the modern state of Muslim Indonesia.
There are Indonesians of Yemeni descent in the world's biggest Muslim country.
There are said to be 5 million Indonesians of Arab (mainly Yemeni) descent.
Abdur Rahman Baswedan, Indonesian indepence activist and freedom fighter of Yemeni (Hadhrami) descent.
Ali Alatas, Indonesian foreign minister 1988-99 of Yemeni descent.
Anies Baswedan, Indonesia's minister of education of Yemeni Hadhrami descent.
There are still active ties between Yemen and Indonesia today:
Despite the considerable presence of the Hadrami diaspora in Indonesia, the idea of a pilgrimage to Hadramawt did not really exist among Indonesian Muslims of non-Hadrami descent until rather recently...
In recent years, Hadramawt has become a rising pilgrimage destination not only for Indonesian Muslims, but also for other Muslims from regions where the Ba Alawi had played an important role in the transmission of Islamic knowledge...
In 1993, Habib Umar visited Indonesia to rekindle diasporic and intellectual connections between Ba Alawi living in Indonesia and their ancestral homeland. After spending a month in Indonesia he returned to Hadramawt with 40 young Indonesians (of both Hadrami and non-Hadrami descent) who were to be educated under his personal care. The 40 Indonesian students became the embryo of Habib Umar’s Dar al-Mustafa Academy, founded in 1996. Gradually, students from Yemen and other Arab countries, followed by Muslim converts from Western countries, began to flock to Dar al-Mustafa. More and more Indonesians studied at the academy, and in 1999 Habib Umar’s wife opened an adjoining school for women named Dar al-Zahra. After spending three to four years in Hadramawt, the Indonesian students would return to their homeland with a renewed proselytizing zeal. They began establishing majelis taklim (Islamic study groups), transmitting what they had learned to the wider public and paving the way for the revival of the Ba Alawi tradition in Indonesia. These students became the primary agents in reintroducing Hadramawt as a spiritually significant place for Indonesian Muslims...
The new forms of Sufism enjoyed unprecedented popularity across society, mediated especially by Islamic programs on television. Communal dhikr (ritual chanting) associated with Sufism became popular throughout Indonesia. The participation in these rituals of prominent businesspeople as well as celebrities increased steadily. Such gatherings were also held to support political events linked to the regime. It was precisely within this context that the Indonesian students who had been educated in Hadramawt propitiously returned to Indonesia. They thus assumed an active role in the revival of Sufism by creating new study groups in which they introduced the spiritual significance of Hadramawt to the Indonesian public...
Al-Kisah became a popular magazine, catering especially to Indonesian Muslims with a Sufi orientation. The magazine focuses on profiles of Ba Alawi saints and scholars both from Indonesia and Hadramawt, on reports and agendas of study groups run by the Indonesian graduates of Hadramawt, and on spiritual, legal, dream, and theological consultations. Refraining from political issues, al-Kisah’s priority is on the Ba Alawi and their Sufi tradition. Al-Kisah’s circulation ranges from 60,000-90,000 per edition. Together with the influx of returning students from Hadramawt and the growth of domestic pilgrimage practice, magazines like al-Kisah have played an important role in reintroducing Hadramawt as a spiritually significant place for Indonesian Muslims.
In recent years, Hadramawt has become a rising pilgrimage destination not only for Indonesian Muslims, but also for other Muslims from regions where the Ba Alawi had played an important role in the transmission of Islamic knowledge...
In 1993, Habib Umar visited Indonesia to rekindle diasporic and intellectual connections between Ba Alawi living in Indonesia and their ancestral homeland. After spending a month in Indonesia he returned to Hadramawt with 40 young Indonesians (of both Hadrami and non-Hadrami descent) who were to be educated under his personal care. The 40 Indonesian students became the embryo of Habib Umar’s Dar al-Mustafa Academy, founded in 1996. Gradually, students from Yemen and other Arab countries, followed by Muslim converts from Western countries, began to flock to Dar al-Mustafa. More and more Indonesians studied at the academy, and in 1999 Habib Umar’s wife opened an adjoining school for women named Dar al-Zahra. After spending three to four years in Hadramawt, the Indonesian students would return to their homeland with a renewed proselytizing zeal. They began establishing majelis taklim (Islamic study groups), transmitting what they had learned to the wider public and paving the way for the revival of the Ba Alawi tradition in Indonesia. These students became the primary agents in reintroducing Hadramawt as a spiritually significant place for Indonesian Muslims...
The new forms of Sufism enjoyed unprecedented popularity across society, mediated especially by Islamic programs on television. Communal dhikr (ritual chanting) associated with Sufism became popular throughout Indonesia. The participation in these rituals of prominent businesspeople as well as celebrities increased steadily. Such gatherings were also held to support political events linked to the regime. It was precisely within this context that the Indonesian students who had been educated in Hadramawt propitiously returned to Indonesia. They thus assumed an active role in the revival of Sufism by creating new study groups in which they introduced the spiritual significance of Hadramawt to the Indonesian public...
Al-Kisah became a popular magazine, catering especially to Indonesian Muslims with a Sufi orientation. The magazine focuses on profiles of Ba Alawi saints and scholars both from Indonesia and Hadramawt, on reports and agendas of study groups run by the Indonesian graduates of Hadramawt, and on spiritual, legal, dream, and theological consultations. Refraining from political issues, al-Kisah’s priority is on the Ba Alawi and their Sufi tradition. Al-Kisah’s circulation ranges from 60,000-90,000 per edition. Together with the influx of returning students from Hadramawt and the growth of domestic pilgrimage practice, magazines like al-Kisah have played an important role in reintroducing Hadramawt as a spiritually significant place for Indonesian Muslims.
Thus with Indonesia's huge importance in the Muslim world and also as the 4th largest country in the world alongside its historical ties with Yemen, the country from which the people who made Indonesians Muslim came from, what is Indonesia's role on the current crisis in Yemen?
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