0
0
Guess all of us have experienced the feeling of` having two little people with completely opposite views in our head. One said, you must buy this! It is awesome, if you don’t, you will think about it for months and regret your decision. And the other one is like, but it is way too expensive… In contrast, having two identities that are in contrast might be less common. Many people are born in one country and their heritage belongs to another culture, but the two or more cultures they experience may not be in dire divergence. However, have you wondered how it feels like having two contradictory identities?
The paper: Muslims with Tattoos: The Punk Muslim Community in Indonesia (2017) written by Mohammad Rokib and Syamsul Sodiq introduces us to a group of people who have at least two different identities and a part of themselves are not really accepted by the mainstream society. Now, let’s get to know the life of Punk Muslims together.
Islam can be a very strict religion and being punk means living a divergentlifestyle from the mainstream society while holding nontraditional values (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). When combining these elements together within one person, it can be hard to imagine how he/she will cope. The reference to Punk Muslims first started circulating in 2002 when a punker and street musician called Muhammad Budi Khoironi founded a group called “Warung Udix Band” (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). The group consist of roughly twenty permanent members, and they would pray, learn Islam, and create underground music with Islamic lyrics together (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).
There are many reasons why Punk Muslims get inked and one of them is to gain an identity as one of the punkers just like their friends, like Anang puts it “No punkers without tattoos” (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). Consequently, the punk tattoos have a bonding purpose among the punkers and according to Kotak, it is easy to greet their fellow inked people. As a result, it can be said that they get tattoos to socialize with friends. Other people like Shihab thinks that his tattoo is just a good picture and a beautiful decoration (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). In addition, Muhammadiyah team believe that tattoo is a kind of jewelry (Rokiband Sodiq, 2017).
Despite how the punks think about their tattoos, the mainstream Muslims usually hold a negative opinion towards them and as to the critics, tattoos are associated with marginalization and deviation (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).Tirmidzi argues that:
Islam clearly forbids dirty things such as tattoos. If our body is dirty, our
mind can be dirty too. Look at the Punk Muslim’s styles, they are dirty
people because they don’t clean their tattoos in the bodies. It is forbidden
in Islam to have permanent tattoo because it can abolish their ritual ablution
before prayers. Being Muslim must be clean and pure. They cannot claim
their self as Muslim before erasing their tattoos (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).
Tirmidzi’s statement basically summarized the opponents’ viewpoints. However, surprisingly, a tattooed Muslim artist in Indonesia, Tora Sudiro has not been discriminated by the mainstream which leads the authors of the paper to argue that it might be the worldviews of the punks causing a problem for them Sodiq, 2017). But still, Indonesian Council of Ulama state that any attempt to change God’s creation is cursed by God (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). However, the administrator of Punk Muslim Facebook account thinks that whether it is a legitimate requirement or not, it is determined by God (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).Despite the punks’ beliefs, they do feel remorse towards God by having tattoos and they hope that God will forgive them (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). It is worth noting that, some think tattoos are not to be removed, because it is also an act of harming the body while others such as Shihab hold the view that tattoos should be cleaned (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). In reality, many cannot afford to get their tattoos removed (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).
Apart from all the negativities, there are still some supporting voices. Wawanbelieves that:
No matter what their backgrounds are, be it naughty boys, criminal
person, pick pocketers, robbers, drinkers, whatever, we must respect to
their efforts to be better. I am a stupid Muslim because I do not know
much about Islam especially Quran and Hadith. But as a human being, I
believe our God will allow them to do prayer even though their tattoo is
still attached in the body (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).
Additionally, Muslim student association from Islamic State University invite Punk Muslims to perform their music and share their experiences on being a punker as well as a Muslim because they think their lifestyle is not normative but innovative. A coordinator of the student body shares:
Islam is not a single form but it can be expressed in various ways. Different
Rokib, M. and Sodiq, S. 2017. Muslims with Tattoos: The Punk Muslim Community in Indonesia. Journal of Islamic Studies. 55(1), pp.47-70.
opinion in Islam is real but we can conclude that Islam will accept their
(Punk Muslim) worships although there is tattoo in the body (Rokib and
Sodiq, 2017).
As for the punk Muslims, their attitudes towards their tattoos are mixed. Asepproudly displayed his tattooed hand in a live interview (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).They also feel confident to show their inked body in music performancesdepending on the context if there are not so many females (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017). However, during the Ramadhan month in 2013, Asep covered his hand with a jacket. Also, the negativity and harsh comments from their neighbors and online communities upset them (Rokib and Sodiq, 2017).
All in all, I think we should respect everybody’s choice to get inked or not, but I also understand the strong tie of the religion. Anyway, here is another perspective of tattoos from a marginalized community which is quite fascinatingand eye-opening. Hope this blog interests those who love various cultures and different dimensions of tattoos.
References:
