DILI, TIMOR LESTE — During a week of following various information from the people of Baucau City, Ustaz Dede Permana, Dompet Dhuafa Ambassador for Timor Leste, took many lessons from the struggle of Muslims there. The various layers of society he met provided valuable and very interesting information to learn. Starting from vegetable traders to clothing traders in the market, the management and congregation of Al-Amal Baucau Mosque, teachers in public schools, construction workers, school children, to the Chairman of the Board of Concelho National Islamico De Timor Leste (Conistil), a large Islamic organization in Baucau City which is equivalent to MUI.
If explained, has Islam existed in Timor Leste since the days before integration into Indonesia at the end of 1975? The answer is very easy. Islam already existed in Timor Leste, even before 1512, before the Portuguese Alfonso de Albuquerque landed his three naval fleets on the land of Bumi Lorosae. Before the entry of the Portuguese colonizers, the Kingdom of Malacca had made a good influence by bringing local kings (Luirai) in the country.
From a socio-economic perspective, many Muslim brothers from Makassar, Arabia and Alor had already mingled with the local population and infiltrated their daily activities. However, after the Portuguese arrived, Islamic activities were severely restricted and centered around the An-Nur Mosque in Alor Village, Dili. Until now, there are several Arab Muslim families who still survive in Timor Leste, including Al-Katiri and Sagran.
After the Portuguese left Timor Leste in 1974, the people of Timor Leste were faced with a difficult choice. Did they want to become an independent nation, or did they want to integrate with another nation to benefit from each other? After much political wrangling, the leaders of four parties – Apodeti, UDT, KOTA and Trabalista – all Catholic, signed an agreement to integrate with Indonesia. This decision contradicted the stance of one party, the Fretilin Party, which wanted independence on its own feet.
Based on requests from local people who wanted to integrate, Indonesia finally decided to enter and develop the former Portuguese colony on the island of East Timor, known more familiarly as East Timor. Of course, in its development, the Indonesian government still needed a lot of ABRI personnel – now TNI-Polri – because it would face the Security Disturbance Movement (GPK) spearheaded by indigenous militias who already had weapons taken from the Portuguese army.
Indonesian soldiers in East Timor carried out their daily duties while still trying to follow the teachings of their religion. Muslim soldiers prayed in congregation, Christians attended church services, and Hindu soldiers built a temple in the house they bought near the Al-Amal Mosque in Baucau, which can be seen today. The indigenous people of Timor Leste are welcome to follow the teachings of any religion they want, even if they still hold on to their dynamism religion, it will not be questioned.
The people of East Timor, who still do not understand religion, are partly interested in converting to Islam after seeing the treatment of Indonesian soldiers, the majority of whom are Muslims, who tend to be more polite than the Portuguese soldiers. The reason is that Indonesian soldiers are recognized by small communities as more humane, thinking about the education of people in remote areas of the mountain. There are often raids from the Indonesian army to houses, if there is a child at the age of compulsory education but he does not go to school, then the parents will be reprimanded.
The Indonesian army was more protective of individual property rights than the Portuguese army. In the days before the integration of Indonesia, when passing a road where there were livestock belonging to local people, Portuguese soldiers would often seize the animals without asking the owner. This is different from Indonesian soldiers who do not just take livestock belonging to residents and instead want to protect the animals that are bred by residents. If they want to consume them, the soldiers buy them from the owner first. This is no small attraction. Plus, if a local resident wants to convert to Islam, he will be given a shirt, sarong and cap.
When they were still under Portuguese colonization, the people of Portuguese Timor did not understand the uses of cassava and banana leaves. It was only after mingling with migrants from Java, Sumatra and elsewhere that they learned about their uses. Many other things were also learned by the local people after exchanging experiences with Indonesians. This exchange of experience then continues until now, on a larger scale, namely the issue of city governance systems, electricity systems, to the police system.
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After the Referendum in 1999, the situation in Timor Leste became unstable as the local population disagreed and fought between the two camps, both pro-integration with Indonesia and pro-independence. Especially after the return of all companies of the Indonesian armed forces to their barracks in the country. This situation led to the burning of government facilities and houses of worship, especially Muslim houses of worship.
Baucau City witnessed the burning of Al-Amal Mosque by a mob that was angry with Islamic symbols in March 2002. All constitutional efforts were made by the management of Al-Amal Mosque, especially by Umar Said, a native of Baucau who had studied at IAIN Bandung. The constitutional efforts to restore the physical condition of the mosque paid off, and in June 2002 the rebuilding of Al-Amal Mosque was successfully started. Before Eid 2002, the mosque was completed and ready to be used during Eid. Until now, the mosque still stands firmly to fulfill the needs of Muslim worship, as well as various social and educational activities to improve the quality of human resources of its people.
Many East Timorese people can speak Indonesian because of their interactions with the army, inpres teachers, central government employees stationed in East Timor, and school curriculum policies that require learning Indonesian. Although now separated from the Republic of Indonesia, Portuguese Timorese born before 2000 are still fluent in Indonesian, and children born in 2000 and above also understand, at least passively, when spoken to in Indonesian. Access to Indonesian-language television and social media is also very common in Timor Leste, because its constitution includes the use of local languages (Tetun and Portuguese) as official state languages, and Indonesian as a working language.
The message from the people of Timor Leste to Indonesia is that Indonesia should not abandon Timor Leste. Timor Leste wants to be considered as a younger sibling of its older brother, Indonesia. The Muslims in this country also still need a helping hand from the Indonesian Muslim community to send their preachers and teachers frequently, so that Islam in Timor Leste can develop better.
Baucau, April 7, 2024
Ustaz Dede Permana, Dompet Dhuafa Ambassador 2024