Religious leaders and peace building: The roles of Tuan Guru and Pedanda in conflict resolution in Lombok - Indonesia

Abstract

In some situations where the state is too weak to gain trust from the people, religious leaders have a significant role in maintaining social harmony. In many cases of the social unrest as what happened in Lombok, Tuan Guru and Pedanda played important roles in building a peaceful condition. Tuan Guru and Pedanda with their authorities have vital influences in calming down their Muslim and Hindu communities respectively. With their own ways, they were able to localize conflict issues, so much so that the social conflicts did not escalate to become greater massive riot. This article describes a number of efforts made by Tuan Guru and Pedanda to establish peace in Lombok, such as: calming down the followers; localizing issue to reduce mass panic; reminding members of the family or community to resist social prejudice; socializing religious teachings especially the need to forge harmony; promoting "Semeton Sasak and Batur Bali" as a value of brotherhood among Balinese-Hindu and Sasaknese-Muslim; creating social sanctions against those who violated the agreements among communities; and improving the effectiveness of customary law known as awik-awik.