Islamic Civilization in a Collection of Archives
The history of Islamic civilization stretches long from the Arabian Peninsula to the Archipelago. Millions of archives scattered everywhere record his journey.
In general, cooperation between countries with Muslim populations is established in the economic, scientific and cultural fields. However, it has never been established in the field of archives. In fact, the history of Islam that is preserved in archival records is also part of world civilization. It is for this reason that the heads of archives from countries with Muslim populations gathered for the first time.
"This meeting is an initial step to explore and explore the establishment of a national archive collaboration forum in all Muslim or Muslim-populated countries," said Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) Imam Gunarto in a preliminary meeting "National Archive Cooperation Forum of Populated Countries Muslim majority” at ANRI, South Jakarta on Wednesday 12 July 2023.
Apart from Indonesia as the host, the meeting was attended by representatives of nine other countries. They are: Saudi Arabia, Brunei Darussalam, Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Qatar, Palestine and Jordan. This forum is expected to preserve the collective memory of the long-standing history of Islam. And of course to increase the role of national archives in Muslim countries at the international level.
The pleasures of Cianjur
Indonesian Archives Ambassador Rieke Diah Pitaloka who is also a member of the DPR emphasized the same thing. Apart from serving as historical evidence, the historical archives of Islamic civilization are also a collective memory of the struggles of every nation which is dominated by Muslims. According to him, the thoughts of the leaders of Islamic countries are in line with the thoughts of the leaders at the Asian-African Conference (KAA). Work together for peace, justice and the welfare of mankind.
One of the important historical archives is related to the formation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1969. It later changed its name to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The formation of the OIC was spearheaded by King Hasan II from Morocco and King Faisal from Saudi Arabia.
“The archives reveal the fact that this organization is not only fighting to protect the holy places of Muslims, not only striving to increase cooperation among member countries. OIC also fights for international peace and security. In line with the spirit of the 1955 Asian Conference, the OIC is committed to helping the struggle for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state," Rieke added.
In Indonesia alone, historical archives on Islam are quite rich. It is scattered everywhere. Not only in archival institutions, but kept by clerics, Islamic boarding schools, and Islamic-based communities.
According to Oman Fathurrahman, professor of philology at the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University, many archives in Indonesia are linked to the Arab world through tarekat and selawat manuscripts. This is because the network of Islamic civilization in the past was connected in such a way. Is it through trade, diplomacy, knowledge interaction, or religious interaction. This connected network makes Islam not only grow and develop in the Arabian Peninsula. Islamic civilization was born later in various areas that were originally called peripheral or periphery scholars.
However, Oman does not agree with the term peripheral as a suburb which has a low meaning. Peripherals show more places far from the center of Islamic development such as Mecca and Medina. But from the point of view of Islamic civilization, it is not actually in the sense that the quality of adab is low.
“Never see that Islamic archives and manuscripts written in non-Arabic languages are inferior. Absolutely not. That there is a translation, yes. Arabs also used to translate Greek archives and scholarship at Baitul Hikmah during the Abbasid Caliphate, for example," he said.
The spice route shows the route from Mecca and Medina to the archipelago through various regions. Starting from Aden in Yemen, Oman, to Sri Lanka. At least until the 19th century, these stopover points became the route for connecting Indonesian pilgrims to the holy land. Thus, Islamic civilization is actually very, very rich, not only in Arabia.
"We have Arab, African, Asian, Persian, Turkish, Ottoman and even European Islamic civilizations. If in the context of archives and manuscripts, we will find Islamic archives in countries in this region, including Southeast Asia (Nusantara). This is what is less known by the public about the complexity of the international relations of the Muslim world that connects it with us in Southeast Asia," explained Oman.
Besides Arab Islam influencing the culture of the Archipelago, continued Oman, it turns out that Nusantara Islam has also contributed to the Arab world. Lots of thoughts from Nusantara scholars whose books were printed in the Arab world. Some of them were Sheikh Abdurrauf Singkil (1615-1693) from Aceh, Sheikh Abdus Shamad al-Palimbani (1704-1789) from Palembang, and Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad al-Banjari (1710–1812) from Banjar. Their works were printed at Mustafa Al-Babi al-Halabi, the oldest printing house in Cairo, Egypt.
“You can see that there is a reciprocal relationship, a mutually beneficial connection. This relationship stimulated the birth of Islamic archives and manuscripts. So Nusantara scholars interacted with the Indian, Persian, Arab Muslim communities, met in Mecca and Medina, then gave birth to archives," he explained.
Thanks for reading Islamic Civilization in a Collection of Archives. Please share...!
0 Komentar untuk "Islamic Civilization in a Collection of Archives"