Djinn Spirit Impregnation
Jan 18th, 2010, in Opinion, by Ross
A school principal blames a djinn spirit for an alleged sexual assault on a student.
One of the good, even great things about living in Indonesia is that boredom is something one rarely experiences. Not all such absences of ennui are welcome, however, a choice example being the report in the Jakarta Globe 15/1 from (almost inevitably) Tangerang.
The latest nonsense to emanate from that rats’ nest of mediaevalism involves a headmaster and his djinn, and a young teenager raped in a school pantry.
The proximity of the ‘other world’ here is well-known, but whilst I have heard of genies being used to move both people and objects, and serve as general dogs-bodies to their human familiars, this is a new low in terms of exculpation. In the West we try to blame drugs, alcohol and ‘an underprivileged background’ for horrendous crimes, but what are we to make of this?
Indonesian High School Principal Denies Rape, Blames Genie
The principal of an Islamic boarding school in Tangerang is vigorously denying allegations that he raped one of his teenage students. His defense: his “pet genie” did it.
A 15-year-old girl, identified only by the initials KHF, said she was raped at the school last July. She said she had gone to the office of the principal, identified as HDN, to report that she was stepping down as a head of the Student Council.
But she claimed the principal changed the topic of conversation by saying that one of his genies had a crush on her. He reportedly promised that she would be given certain “metaphysical powers” if she agreed to have sex with the genie.
It sure beats some of the chat-up lines I’ve heard in various bars around the world! The poor lass spurned the djinn’s advances but a few days later she bumped into the principal once more, in the pantry.
……….she had kissed his hand as a sign of respect and then began to feel disoriented. The next thing she remembered was waking up in the principal’s office, exhausted and with pain in her lower body.
In due course her mum took her to a doctor, who pronounced her pregnant.
The principal has denied raping the girl and reportedly told her parents that his genie was responsible for the pregnancy. He said the genie must have been angry because it had not been fed for months. He is understood to have said the genie “borrowed” his body at the time of the rape. In response, the girl’s family challenged him to take a DNA test. He agreed and said he was sure the test would reveal the true culprit, the girl’s mother said.
If this were not such a serious crime, the story would be laughable, but it does raise some serious issues, irrespective of whether the guy is guilty of rape or not, most urgently, what kind of benighted twits are recruited to run Islamic boarding schools? There is, after all, a Ministry of Religion included in SBY’s government. It infrequently serves any useful purpose, but here is a case which could turn the minister’s talents to good use.
Why not organise a thorough inspection of these ‘schools’ and close down any found under the control of superstitious and/ or predatory cretins? Why not get the NU and Muhammadiyah to cooperate in checking the qualifications of those who aspire to the responsibilities of principalship?
I’m sure many readers will adduce reasons why this would not be a productive exercise, but honest, decent Muslims must surely share my concerns and can suggest alternative ways of safe-guarding children.
50 Comments on “Djinn Spirit Impregnation”
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Oigal says:
B.S.
I think perhaps you are taking this the wrong way. The point I am making (and most others I from what I read). Is the belief in the mystical or unworldly is very pronounced and common in Indonesia. It is not a matter of being uneducated or educated, better or worse than anyone else just simply a fact of life.
The level of belief far beyond the league as the Easter Bunny or such like. Not sure what your point is with fireworks on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Ghosts.
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bs says:
The point with the fireworks is that it originally was intended to scare away evil spirits. I don’t think the people of Sydney still think of it that way or know where it’s from, it’s just another tradition and just fun.
I regularly had discussions with Indonesians about the common belief in mysticism. Most of them point to the Easter bunny, Santa Claus and other Western myths. To me these were not ‘mystical’ but just a tradition and people only pretended it. For me this was ‘different’. They were right. It’s not different.
How many people in the West believe homeopaths, chiropractors and NLP practitioners? Quite a lot I’d say. And the funny thing is, these are the people with, on the average, less education.
It’s exactly the same in Indonesia. The only difference is that people in Indonesia are less educated in both an absolute and relative way. For the Indonesians here, I mean less educated, not less civilised (kurang ajar). An average Indonesian in a good school will do equally well as an average non-indonesian in the same school.My point here is that there absolutely is a relation between education and belief in myths, and this is exactly what explains that there is more mysticism in Indonesia.
Oigal, please try the following exercise:– Make a list of countries with poor education (GDP can be a reasonable proxy if you like)
– Make a list of countries where many miracles happen, myths are believed and dukun’s consultedPut these lists together in a graph.
If you now look at this , you will see that the variables:
– correlate
– more education (first in time) decreases belief in myths (second)
– no other factors will correlate in the same way and with the same strength.
These are exactly the three conditions for a causal relation.I do admit that the third condition is more difficult, since poor economics and poor education often co-vary. But I think you get the point.
No facts ever fall out of the clear blue sky, and ‘facts’ of life are either interesting research subjects or to be frowned upon.
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Odinius says:
My experience with Indonesians is that they are very superstitious. Much more superstitious on average than Westerners. Does that mean Westerners are not superstitious? No. A very large percentage of Americans believe in either angels or UFO visitations. But the depth and breadth of superstitious beliefs, and their embeddedness in Indonesian society–across all strata–strikes me as pretty unique from what you find in the West. And so what? Max Weber said modernity produces “the disenchantment of the world.” Is that a good thing? In some ways. But in others, it robs the world of its richness and…well…its magic.
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timdog says:
Well, very clearly Indonesians of all sorts of education levels have a pretty intense belief in the supernatural. The other day I was cruising through Surabaya on a saturday night in the rather flashy car of a friend en route to a dinner I could ill afford. As we drove he – well educated, well off – told me about how his grandfather could fly, and how he would be able to do all of that stuff too, having inherited the power, but had always been too lazy to do the spiritual exercises required.
And then a few days later I went and visited a well-known “haunted” location and various well-educated Indonesian friends descended into near hysterics when I told them where I was going…BS – I don’t think that there is as absolute an inverse link between education and belief in the supernatural as you think. Sure, in say, Germany or the UK or Switzerland you would find lower levels of such beliefs, but try instead Singapore, or Japan, or even Spain or Italy and you’ll find that the “other world” is still getting a fair bit of attention..
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BrotherMouzone says:
How many people in the West believe homeopaths, chiropractors and NLP practitioners?
Great Point! Add to that list Organic food, vitamin supplements, AIDS denialism, and vaccine scaremongering.
We are just as superstitious as we ever were – we still believe in nonsense with no scientific backing, it’s just new nonsense!
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The point with the fireworks is that it originally was intended to scare away evil spirits. I don’t think the people of Sydney still think of it that way or know where it’s from,
Actually No, In Australia’s case its the misbegotten and mutated child of Guy Fawkes Night, which in turn is a English tradition. The scaring of spirits had nothing to do with it except perhaps on the goldfields with the large Chinese community there. Dates change but cracker night is cracker night.
I regularly had discussions with Indonesians about the common belief in mysticism. Most of them point to the Easter bunny, Santa Claus and other Western myths…..homeopaths, chiropractors and NLP practitioners
Not comparing apples with apples in any way with this, we are talking belief in spirits and mystism here not quaint childrens stories or new age wank. It is just a fact of life that mystics and belief in “spirity” play a much large role in the Indonesian make up than many other places. How many adults really believe in Santa Claus (I do but only for the presents, can’t hurt to be on the safe side) yet how many Indonesians believe in spirits. I would venture to suggest the vast majority and they may be right so why the fuss.
This is not bad, good or indifferent thing, just an obvious observation. Not sure why such a passionate defence/denial. Yup, the West has its share of the believers and ghost watchers but as a society generally not as evident in day to day life.
make a list of countries with poor education (GDP can be a reasonable proxy if you like)
– Make a list of countries where many miracles happen, myths are believed and dukun’s consultedPut these lists together in a graph.
If you now look at this , you will see that the variables:
– correlate
– more education (first in time) decreases belief in myths (second)Does not hold true at all! Singapore, Hong Kong, Southern States of America, Italy, Spain to name a few off the top of my head could hardly be called poor in education or in dollar terms. Yet they all have a high % of belief in the super natural side of life compared to some other countries.
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Did you copy that last bit off me, just two posts above Oigal? If you did I’m flattered; if you didn’t then it’s yet more remarkable evidence of the closeness of the midsets of the liberal conservative and the, er, whatever it is that I am…
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Superstition is an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear… by that definition I reckon homeopathy, MMR vaccine scaremongering, acupuncture, and organic food are clearly superstitions.
For what it’s worth, most of these modern superstitions seem to be more strongly held by higher-income, better educated people in developed countries. Gullibility is not salary-related, but different economic groups believe in different types of BS…
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For what it’s worth, most of these modern superstitions seem to be more strongly held by higher-income, better educated people in developed countries
a point highlighted, curiously enough, by both the authentic and the charlaten gurus of the incense-and-chanting-and-don’t-we-have-so-much-to-learn-from-them? “Eastern Religions” and the beard-tugging shriekers of “anti-Western” Islamism as evidence of the profound lack of spiritual fulfillment offered by the godless capitalism of “the West”.
As a totally unconected (excpt in the very loosest sense) aside, anyone else noticed how belief in witches – and persecution and even killing of those suspected of being such – is a seemingly universal phenomena which crops up in times of great social tension and unrest… interesting…
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Ross says:
Some folks seem to be confusing ‘religion’ and ‘superstition.’ Yes, agnostics, humanists and atheists may argue they are one and the same, but for a Christian or a Muslim to believe in the power, or existence, of the Queen of the South Seas is surely superstition.
Believing that a man walking along Sudirman with his hands clasped behind his back is likely carrying a tuyul is not the same as believing in the afterlife. In my opinion. -
But Ross, where do you draw the line?
Does, say, a Javanese Muslim (or indeed a Javanese Catholic – “traditional Javanese Islam” is by far the most innacurate translation of the term “Kejawen”) who maintains the ideas of mystical power in inanimate objects, of ancestor veneration, of an “unseen world” that may involve such concepts as the continued (though now invisible) existance of Majapahit – or indeed the Queen of the Southern Ocean – deserve a certain contempt for neglecting “religion” in the name of superstition?
There is a certain dichotomy in the outlook of many – generally non-religious – westerners towards such issues (myself very much included, be absolutely sure). On the one hand we will almost always look more favourably on those who maintain such “traditional” beliefs when the alternative is an “international” brand of Islam (or indeed Christianity or even Hinduism) bleached of its “local colour”.
But at the same time, present us with the slightly more ridiculous – or unpleasant – aspects of such belief and we’ll find it very hard not to scoff at the “superstition”…Whenever “orthodox” Islam manifests in what to “us” is offensive form, there’s a word – a cliche indeed – that always gets bandied about: “medieval”.
But the truth is that in Indonesia at least, for its own adherents orthodoxy is anything but “medieval”. One of the commonest self-applied labels for “orthodox” Islam in Indonesia is “Islam Modern“… And that’s by no means as oxymoronical as our jerking knees might have it. In being stripped of “silly superstition” it is more modern…For despite the dogma and the practice, an “orthodox” Indonesian Muslim (or Christian), free from the pervasive grasp of the ancestors, appeasing no spirits and placating no ghosts, ignoring the ridiculous stories of the Queen of the Southern Ocean, and instead – when you really get down to it – adhering to nothing more than that ultimate unanswerable – the idea that an abstract, unknowable god exists – is much, much closer to “us” in their spiritual outlook than any of those admirable traditionalists, be they Kejawen, Balinese or Marapu-Animist…
That’s a thorny and contradictory issue to wrestle with – as evidenced in your post above, which could well be interpretted as you siding with those who would smash up Sufi shrines as temples to absurd idolatry and superstition over those who would avoid wearing green on the beach at Parangtritis…
Tricky, huh? -
It all maybe fun for the discussion here, but my ‘fierce’ defence was driven by sympathy for the poor people suffering from the consequences of mysticism taken too far.
A lot is being said based on gut feelings or “I have a friend who thinks his grandpa can fly, so…”.
These things don’t generalise very well. Mysticism is often the best explanation these people have so far, and the increase of education and, as a consequence, income diminishes belief in it.Every once and a while in life, shit happens. When your kid is sick and you don’t have money for a doctor, you take him too a dukun or magical flying grandpa. It’s a reaction to the very primitive feeling of “Don’t just stand there, do something!”.
You can not expect such a person to take his/her kid to the dukun and then denounce mysticism. That is what I meant with the reference to dissonance.The countries mentioned might be a step up from Indonesia, but are still on the lower end of the developed countries. Italy is more superstitious than most Western countries, but also has the poorest regions of Europe in terms of income and education.
But let’s turn it around and assume I’m wrong (as your physics PhD friends from the world top500 universities in Singapore, Spain, Italy and the rest seem to confirm).
Suppose:
Indonesians are just more mystical as a fact of life. But, in a decade, progress is made and average income increases. People have more money. Shit will still happen though.
Now the mother of a very sick kid, being very mystically, still brings her kid to the dukun before considering a real doctor?
And how about floods? Will Indonesians take preventive measures with the new money? Or will they keep it in the bank and just ask magical flying grandpa to prevent it?And how about chances of people accepting a Djinn raped their daughter?
Will the Singaporean PhD just as likely accept this as the pesantren educated villager?I have difficulties believing these things. In the end, people don’t differ that much. It’s mostly what is available to you (knowledge, money, opportunities) that makes the difference.
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ET says:
I have difficulties believing these things. In the end, people don’t differ that much. It’s mostly what is available to you (knowledge, money, opportunities) that makes the difference.
In the long term, yes. But here we are dealing with ingrained cultural phenomena that aren’t wiped out immediately by higher income, job opportunities or better education. Visits to a dukun or balian in Bali are excursions with social implications in which sometimes the entire family takes part, followed by sightseeing and a picnic or a family meal in a warung, rumah makan or restoran for the financially better off. These visits have a more psychotherapeutic purpose as people will talk about personal and family, even financial problems but everything wrapped in a semi-religious or mystical shroud, sometimes even with trance-like behaviour. To take it away will be felt by those involved as an impoverishment of their social habits and culture, even when they have serious doubts about the reality behind all this.
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To take it away will be felt by those involved as an impoverishment of their social habits and culture, even when they have serious doubts about the reality behind all this.
I fully agree.
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ET – despite our disagreements elsewhere, here we find common ground. Which gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling (perhaps helped by the fact that I’m back in Bali again myself right now).
To take it away will be felt by those involved as an impoverishment of their social habits and culture, even when they have serious doubts about the reality behind all this.
Spot on. And those social exercises way on down the line become the Christmases and Halloweens of the “West”, still retaining their beneficial social functions long after the spiritual aspect has been totally obliterated. That stage, however, for the most part, in Indonesia is generations away – educational improvements notwithstanding…
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Ya, Timdog, it is difficult but not i think impossible to draw a line. Myself, I have a lot of time for kejawan, as it seems a much more natural religion for Indonesians than certain others.
But the wilder superstitions like tuyuls and babi nyepet, are no more an integral part of that belief system than Bunnies and Reindeer are of Presbyterianism…or dijinns, maybe, in Islam.
But it is the weekend, so I have more pressing matters to attend to. Monday, lo, resumption. -
In my opinion people of all races, cultures and backgrounds will always have a weak spot for the magic and supernatural. The difference is that in more traditional societies these phenomena are still lived and experienced directly in everyday life while in more ‘developed’ societies they are banned to movie theaters and television.
X-files anyone? -
Some folks seem to be confusing ‘religion’ and ’superstition.’ Yes, agnostics, humanists and atheists may argue they are one and the same, but for a Christian or a Muslim to believe in the power, or existence, of the Queen of the South Seas is surely superstition
Actually, if you do need such crutches to get through the day, then the “Queen of the South Seas” and her ilk make far more sense than the more “mainstream” religions. Invariably they act with the same jealous rage, vices, compassion (and lack of) as does man himself. This of course makes the rage of the seas taking the lives of children and other innocents at least understandable as just a plain piece of nasty. So unlike the so called merciful GOD of the mainstream, who revels in such mayhem but then has his cultists deny all responsibility. Is not the most revolting excuse in the world that cliche “He works in Mysterious Ways”.
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Burung Koel says:
One of the problems with modern, revealed religions is that they miss the concept of a demiurge.
With a demiurge, you don’t have problems in trying to work out why bad things happen, with the bonus that your God gets off the hook.
Comment on “Djinn Spirit Impregnation”.
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It’s a story. Not everybody telling the myth actually has to believe in it. I realised this when my wife asked: “do you actually believe there is a rabbit walking around with a basket of eggs?”.
Most people you ask here will confirm the existence of the Easter bunny too.
It seems there is a scale of believing ranging from respecting tradition to believing in the supernatural. I like to think most myths are on the tradition side of the scale.
Or do you Aussies believe the Sydney firework really scares the ghosts away?