Magic and the Communist Revolt of 1926 in Banten: a Study on the Script of K.H. Muqri Labuan

Abstract

Studies on magic in civil revolts in Indonesia are remarkably scarce. The 
use of magic in Bantenese revolts are presented in the works of Kartodirdjo
(1966) and Williams (1982,1990). This article explains several aspects of
magic such as the form, the ritual, and thesources related to magic sourced
from the Script of K.H. Muqri Labuan, one of the important figures in the
communist revolt of 1926 in Banten, by using philological and historical
approaches. The Script was written byK.H. Muqri during his escapee from
Surabaya to Mecca when the Dutch colonial could defeat his rebellion in
Labuan. His script is 17,5x21 cm consisted of 540pages written in Jawiand
Arabic.  It mostly contains the magical formula and wird of severaltariqa. It
also comprises his genealogy, the magical licence (ijâzah)he obtained, his
journey notes to Mecca, his activities during living in Mecca, and the list of
his disciples.