Monday, January 1, 2018

Melintasi Batas Identitas dan Kesarjanaan: Studi tentang Ahmadiyah di Indonesia

Jurnal Harmoni, 16 (2), 2017: 254-271

Abstract
Who is more authoritative in researching certain religious minorities, insider or outsider? How to apply the concept of ‘detachment’, ‘neutrality’, and ‘bracketing’ in studying religious groups officially declared by majority of ulama and mainstream religious organizations as deviant cults like Ahmadiyah? And how would the various concepts, methods, and scientific theories, such as ‘going native’ and ‘participant observation’ be applied in the field? How to negotiate between faith and science, our identity as part of religious mainstream and orthodox group in studying communities deemed ‘heretic’? How does researcher’s identity as a non-Ahmadi affect his research and judgment about Ahmadiyah? This paper intends to discuss the author’s experience in studying Ahmadiyah, in applying various theories and academic principles in the study of this community, and how to behave towards individual conflicts and controversies surrounding Ahmadiyah issues. This paper is based on seven-year experience of living with, studying, and participating in the activities of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, India, England, and the United States.

Keywords: Ahmadiyah, identity, insider vs. outsider, orthodoxy vs. heterodoxy, conversion, scholarship.


Abstrak
Siapa yang lebih otoritatif dalam melakukan penelitian tentang kelompok minoritas agama tertentu,Insider atau outsider? Bagaimana menerapkan konsep detachment, neutrality, dan bracketing dalam mengkaji kelompok yang oleh mayoritas ulama difatwakan and berbagai ormas keagamaan sebagai aliran sesat seperti Ahmadiyah? Dan bagaimana pula berbagai konsep tersebut dihadapkan dengan metode penelitian lapangan yang disebut dengan going native dan participant observation? Sejauhmana identitas peneliti sebagai non-Ahmadi mempengaruhi penelitian dan penilaian tentang Ahmadiyah? Tulisan ini merupakan refleksi akademik terkait pengalaman penulis dalam mengkaji Ahmadiyah, dalam menerapkan berbagai teori dan prinsip akademik dalam kajian tentang komunitas ini, dan bagaimana penulis bersikap terhadap berbagai konflik individu serta kontroversi seputar isu Ahmadiyah. Tulisan ini didasarkan pada tujuh tahun pengalaman hidup, bergaul, mengkaji, and berpartisipasi dengan beragam aktivitas Ahmadiyah di Indonesia, Singapura, Jepang, India, Inggris, dan Amerika Serikat.


Kata Kunci: Ahmadiyah, identitas, insider vs. outsider, going native, ortodoksi vs. heterodoksi pindah agama, kesarjanaan.

Makam Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (foto: Ahmad Najib Burhani)


http://jurnalharmoni.kemenag.go.id/index.php/harmoni/article/view/15