Sastra Madura dan Kekerasan

Sastra Madura yang penuh dengan pesan, kesan, kritik dan ajaran-ajaran sempat lenyap dari permukaan , di masa lampau sastra lisan madura sangat diminati oleh masyarakat dari kalangan grass root (rakyat jelata) sampai kalangan elit (kraton), karena dengan sastra tersebut rakyat madura dapat mengeskpresiankan diri, menyampaikan pesan moral, gejolak hati, ajaran agama.

Orang Madura yang terkenal keras menghadapi hidup, maju menentang arus, masih sempat untuk mendendangkan sastra–sastra, dengan kondisi geokrafis yang panas, ombak lautan yang garang, maka sastra-satranya penuh dengan motifasi, pesan ajaran yang ketat.

Oleh Halimi Zuhdy LS

Di antara sastra Madura yang sangat di gemari antara lain, dongeng, lok-olok, syi’ir, tembang, puisi mainan anak-anak. Dungngeng Madura adalah cerita atau kisah yang di ambil dari cerita-cerita rakyat madura, yang mengandung beberapa pesan, dan harapan. Dongeng ini sering di dendangkan dalam pengajian, perkumpulan-perkumpulan. Sehingga hal tersebut di anggap primer dalam menumbuhkan kembangkan tradisi-tradisi yang ada dipulau madura. Dan dongeng tersebut merupakan cermin kehidupan pada masa lampau.

Sedangkan Syi’ir merupakan untaian kata-kata indah, dengan susunan kalimat-kalimat yang terpadu. Biasanya syi’ir ini di baca di pesantren-pesanten, majlis ta’lim, dan walimatul urs. Tembeng tidak jauh berbeda dengan syi’ir, biasanya tembang di baca ketika punya hajat atau akan mengawinkan anaknya, yang di baca oleh dua orang atau lebih sepanjang malam.

Sastra Madura yang akhir-akhir ini, disinyalir semakin melemah karena publik kurang memperhatikan sebagai mana diungkapkan oleh Prof Dr Suripan sadi Hotomo 'Sastra Madura' (modern) telah mati, sebab sastra ini tak lagi mempunyai majalah BM (Berbahasa Madura-Red). Buku-buku BM pun tak laku jual.

Dan, sastra Madura tak lagi mempunyai kader-kader penulis muda, sebab yang muda-muda umumnya menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Meskipun demikian dewasa ini sedikit, bahkan dapat dikatakan tidak ada, yang berminat menulis sastra dalam bahasa Madura. Bahkan tokoh-tokoh sastrawan Madura, seperti Abdul Hadi WM, Moh. Fudoli, dan lain-lain lebih suka menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia.

Sedangkan nama-nama penerjemah sastra Madura yang terkenal seperti SP Sastramihardja, R. Sosrodanoekoesoemo, R. Wongsosewojo kini telah tiada dan belum ada penggantinya. Mungkin hal ini merupakan sebuah proses sastra Madura sedang mengindonesiakan diri. Namun, meskipun demikian sastra Madura tidaklah lenyap dari peredaran tampa menyisakan bekas sedikitpun.

Meskipun ada pendapat modern yang menyatakan bahwa sastra tidak harus menjadi cermin masyarakat, tidak dapat di buat rujukan terhadap fenomena yang berkembang dalam masyarkat tersebut, dan juga sastra bukanlah merupakan gambaran dari kehidupan yang ada pada masyarkat tersebut, namun berbeda dengan sastra Madura yang justru menjadi cermin dari kesanggupan menghadapi kehidupan; alam yang keras, panas yang menyengat, lautan yang garang, dan berbatu cadas, disinilah sastra Madura menjadi cermin kehidupan di samping sikap terhadap Tuhan yang menciptakan alam semesta.

Selama ini orang Madura yang terkenal dengan kekerasaanya, baik watak, sikap, kemauan, berpendapat, dan segala bentuk kekerasan ditujukan pada orang Madura. Sehingga image tentang Madura dihadapan publik buruk dan jauh dari sikap santun dan damai. Sastra Madura dalam hal ini sangat memberikan kesan dan peran , bahwa anggapan publik selama ini tentang kekerasan yang sering diidentikkan dengan jahat, marah, amoral, kasar, tidak bersahabat tidaklah benar.

Kekerasan berbeda dengan keras, keras memang merupakan watak kebanyakan orang Madura, yang memang kondisi kultural dan geografisnya panas, ombak lautan yang garang, gunung-gunung yang terjal, bebatuan yang kokoh, menjadikan watak orang medura keras. Keras dalam hal ini, dalam kemauan, memegang prinsip, aqidah, dan keras terhadap ajaran-ajaran agama. maka sastra-satranya penuh dengan motifasi, pesan ajaran yang ketat, menentang kema’siatan, keras terhadap musuh-musuh yang mencoba menghancurkan aqidahnya. Sastra Madura (syair) , yang kebanyakan lewat pesatren dapat membuktikan bahwa isi dan kandunganya mengadung ajaran yang ketat.

Sosok Zawawi dengan celurit emasnya, mampu mengubah persepsi di hadapan publik bahwa celurit sebagai alat pembunuh menjadi alat yang bermamfaat bagi kehidupan orang Madura, yang memang menjadi ciri khas orang Madura. Yang jelas Sastra Madura mampu meluluhkan hati dan gejolak masyarakat Madura, dan menghilangkan kesan terhadap anggapan-anggapan bahwa orang Madura kasar, jahat dan amoral. Sastra yang selalu diindentikan dengan halus, indah maka demikian juga sastra Madura yang penuh dengan mutiara-mutiara kata, rangkain kalimat yang indah dan penuh dengan nuansa regilius.

Potena mata tak bisa ngoba karep
Biruna ombha’ abarnai kasab
Pangeran mareksane ngolapah ateh
Galinah batoh, tebbellah bhumi tak kobasa
Ngoba ngagalinah Pangeran

Halimi Zuhdi LS, Peneliti sastra, cerpenis dan Mahasiswa Pasca Sarjana PBA UIN Malang, Alumni Fakultas Humaniora Budaya, Jurusan sastra Arab UIN Malang, dan kini Ketua Linguistics and Literature Malang

Sumber: Penulis Lepas, 22/12/2005

Islam in Madura and tradition to use violence

Islam in Indonesia is deeply rooted in local communities and it is therefore impossible to find a common interpretation of the religion in this country of diverse ethnic groups. There are many Muslim communities, each with its own character. The different characteristics of each community mostly stem from different methods being used to interpret religious texts and are also closely linked with real socio-cultural situations.

Take the Madurese, for example.

Madura is part of East Java province and people outside Madura Island often assume that culturally the Madurese are the same as the Javanese. However, if we take a closer look into Madurese communities, there are clear socio-cultural differences that distinguish the religious character of the Javanese from the Madurese.

By Abdur Rozaki, Contributor, Madura Island, East Java

In Madura, there are common beliefs that reflect the social character and way of life of the people regarding certain issues perceived to be sacred and that command full respect. Among those issues are Islam, women and self-esteem and the three are closely intertwined. A disregard of any of the three will bring forth violent reprisal, popularly known as carok, which is the Madurese problem solving mechanism.

According to a study conducted by Wiyata (2002), sexual advances or harassment of other people's wives topped the list of conflicts between carok in Madura. Although religion values human life and advocates amicable solutions to conflicts, for the Madurese there is only a solution to a dispute involving a man's wife: kill the perpetrator. Moreover, Muslim clerics or kyai seem to give social approval of such a violent action. No case involving a dispute over women has ever been settled peacefully, despite the involvement of the kyai as a mediator.

There were even reports of a kyai resorting to carok when his wife was harassed.

Carok has become the common way to settle problems in Madura, especially with regard to a threat to human dignity and self-esteem, as it satisfies the Madurese' craving for justice, as compared to a court settlement. Madurese people have no trust in law enforcers. For the Madurese, to bring a case to a legal institution means to end up with greater losses. The case may not be settled, while the individual must also dig deep into his/her own pocket to cover the legal fees. Besides, it is a common belief that justice here belongs to the rich, not to the poor.

Madura's religious institutions are powerless to end this violent practice. The Kyai, too, in whose hands lies the power to interpret religion and promote nonviolent acts, seem to be powerless to end the practice of carok. They have been trapped into providing justification and social approval for this cultural phenomenon.

In most cases, carok has led to a vicious retaliatory cycle. It also form a vicious cycle of violence which is unbreakable as the kyai and religious institutions in Madura are unable to start a new tradition of conflict-resolution. Ironically, some kyai play a significant, albeit indirect, role in preserving the carok culture by practicing magic and selling religious symbols like amulets, spells, and offering other 'religious services'.

Why does violence as reflected in the carok tradition flourish in Madura?

There are several explanations to the question. First, the land is barren with limited water resources and yields limited agricultural produce. Poverty is rampant and discontent has made the people highly temperamental and emotional. Poverty has turned the eyes of the Madurese to immaterial things, including the value of dignity and self-esteem. Poverty has not made the people lose their social dignity. Hence, life is at stake when it comes to preserving their self-esteem, considered to be the last ""treasure"" owned by an individual. Ango'an pote tolang e tembeng pote mata"", literally translates as: ""It is better to have white bones than white eyes"", a local proverb meaning ... Life simply loses its meaning when a man or a woman is humiliated and loses their self-esteem.

Second, there is the blater tradition. In Madura, there is a community known as blater, or thugs that plays a prominent role in their community. As a blater, an individual must have courage, wit, and skill in handling all means of defense, like martial arts, weapons and debus (magic). Blater are very fond of cockfighting. In addition, these local thugs also belong to a place called remoh, where they get together to feast to enjoy music and alcoholic drinks. Blater each take turns to hold such meetings and contribute money to the host.

A blater will enjoy great influence and command respect from the people if he wins in a carok duel. The influence of blater is strong in Madura as most village heads or klebun come from the blater community or are at least a former blater.

Third, weakening governmental institutions. The impotence of the already corrupt government institutions has strengthened blater's presence in Madurese society and made them more powerful than government security forces.

Among these three social factors, Madurese Muslims seem to face a complicated social dilemma. On one hand, they are willing to create the basis for peaceful and tolerant values, but are faced with social-cultural conditions that provide a hotbed for violent traditions. In this context, Muslim Madurese are still dominated by local character rather than by Islamic teachings which are basically humanistic.

Hence, the best way to break the vicious cycle of violence is through: 1. Promoting a more pluralistic, tolerant, and humanist face of Islam through discussion because Islam that merely emphasizes symbols and texts promotes a violent expression of Islam; 2. Building a religious orientation which is deeply rooted in society by strengthening civil society to counter the structural and cultural domination that has tainted the religious elite, i.e., the kyai; 3. Tracing back the socio-cultural roots of the Madurese society to find a conflict resolution model that capitalizes on the people's social behavior and non-violent facets like humility, rampa'naong, baringen korong (life in the shadow of peace).

The writer is a post-graduate student of the school of sociology of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He is also writing a thesis on the Power relationship between kyai and blater in Madura.

Sumber: The Jakarta Post, Fri, 02/07/2003