Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The pilgrimage process every year always brings interesting, but also dark, stories. One of the stories in the 19th and 20th centuries related to the many Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia who were exploited by Arabs until their money ran out.
How could that be?
Henry Chambert-loir in Going on the Hajj in the Past: Stories of Indonesian People on the Hajj 1482-1964 (2013) said that Indonesian pilgrims at that time became easy targets for Arabs in connection with fraud cases. This can happen because the majority of them do not master Arabic and do not understand the pillars, obligations and sunnah of Hajj.
As a result, whatever the Arabs say, the Indonesian congregation just believes it. In fact, wrote Chamber Loir, “they tend to admire everything Arab and despise everything Malay”.
Unfortunately, this kind of attitude creates an opening for Arab citizens to commit acts of fraud. Usually, Indonesian pilgrims are the object of blackmail from the Arab population, be it sheikhs, traders, or ordinary people. In fact, they have their own nickname for Javanese people who go on the Hajj.
“Arabs use derogatory epithets to denote Jawi people, viz farukha (plural words farkh“duck”) and Baqar“farm animals”,” wrote Chambert-loir.
The Dutch official who went on the Hajj, Snouck Hurgronje, was one of the people who highlighted this case. In 1931, when he went on the Hajj, many Indonesian pilgrims complied when told to carry out various activities by Arabs. Even though it is outside the Hajj agenda.
Call it like carrying out various kinds of pilgrimages and various strange rites. Of course, all of these activities cost extra money. Apart from that, Snouck also noted that Arabs are also good at seeing opportunities based on Indonesian mythological beliefs.
When going on the Hajj, quite a few Indonesians believe that being in Arabia is a means of cleansing themselves of various insults. As a result, they asked to be sprayed with Zamzam water three times when they arrived in Mecca and back and forth from Medina.
Well, said Snouck, Arabs see this as a way to make money. They ask Indonesians to pay money who don't know that Zamzam water is actually free. Apart from that, he also highlighted cases of fraud under the guise of depositing money.
Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia often bring money for travel supplies, for the Hajj pilgrimage, or to give to relatives in Mecca. This fact then made someone ask the congregation to entrust the money to the Hajj sheikh. However, once entrusted, the money is difficult to get back. Or even if it can be returned, the commission is often deducted and misused.
Apart from Snouck, the highlight of this case was also told by the Regent of Bandung, RA Wiranatakusumah, through his travelogue “A Regent on the Hajj”. While going on the Hajj in 1924, Wiranatakusumah saw many Indonesian pilgrims being fooled by Arabs until they were told to do things that did not make sense.
“In Mecca, it is very easy for fraudsters to carry out their tricks,” said Wiranatakusumah.
Once upon a time there were several people who were asked by a fraudster to collect money to donate to the mosque. Indonesians of course believe that waqf has great rewards. They just believed and gave money to the Arab.
The funny thing is, the Arabs made the pillars of the Grand Mosque a symbol of waqf. So, they “sold” the pole for 300 reals to Indonesians who wanted to donate it. At this point, fraud occurs.
“Thus the pole, which never moved, magically produced a sum of money which of course went into the fraudster's pocket,” wrote Chambert-loir.
In the end, the attitude of the Arabs, who used innocence as a means of deception, meant that much of the Indonesian congregation's money was lost. These cases then became a special note for the Hajj pilgrims the following year. In fact, RA Wiranatakusumah in the same note advised Indonesian pilgrims not to bring excess money to avoid cases of fraud.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(mfa/mfa)