A Psychosocial profile of Majelis Mujahidin :: A Study on the members and the followers

FUADI, Abdulloh, Dr. Alef Theria Wasim

2006 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Perbandingan Agama

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengungkap seluk beluk di balik keputusan seseorang untuk mengikuti gerakan fundamentalis semisal Majelis Mujahidin. Dengan demikian, objek penelitian yang dikaji adalah para pendukung (supporters) sebagai level grass roots dan bukan para elit intitutisi yang bersangkutan. Penelitian ini berdasarkan pada teori social movement-nya James L. Wood dan Maurice Jacson. Niat supporters untuk bergabung Majelis Mujahidin dapat dikategorisasikan menjadi 5 macam: panggilan agama, aspirasi politik, kritik social, kekecewaan dengan kelompok keagamaan yang lain dan empati internasional. Meminjam stratifikasi social Marx Weber, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa hamper semua supporters berasal dari kelas menengah dan sebagian dari kelas proletar (social class). Mereka mempunyai tingkat pendidikan yang memadai (status class). Meski demikian, mereka tidak berafiliasi dengan partai politik apapun (party class). Dengan menggunakan teori Cattell tentang group’s syntality (kepribadian kelompok), penelitian menemukan bahwa komunitas itu mempunyai kepribadian khusus dan unik yang mampu memenuhi kebutuhan psikologis para supporters-nya. Dengan kajian mendalam, penelitian ini juga menemukan bahwa profile psikologis lebih dominan daripada profil social dalam menggiring seseorang untuk mengikuti gerakan fundamentalis. Profil psikologi itu dibentuk oleh dua faktor: pendekatan transcendental dan wacana eskatologi. Disamping itu, rangsangan dari luar juga ikut mempengaruhi pandangan hidup para supporters, yaitu krisis di segala bidang yang melanda Indonesia sejak 1997 dan konflik internasional.

This thesis focuses on how the people are attracted to follow fundamentalist movement such as Majelis Mujahidin. The object of research is the supporters as grass roots level of the community of Majelis Mujahidin. The urgency of this research lies on its contribution to describe and explain social as well as psychological profile of the proponents of such movement. The community is analyzed by theory of social movement of James L Wood and Maurice Jacson. Emphasizing the third paradigm of the theory, socialpsychological paradigm, this thesis use the phrase: a psychosocial profile in this research. The social profile is traced by borrowing Max Weber’s formulation of class, while the psychological profile is traced by using Cattell’s theory of Group Syntality. Clifford Geertz’s theory of “thick description” is used to explain the profile in order to provide the meaning of the description. The background of the supporter is viewed through two aspects; family and education. Family background is assessed by six categories: The origin of region, relationship among members of family, the agresivity to call members of family to join Majelis Mujahidin, affiliation with established groups, affiliation with political parties, and income. Educational background is assessed by three categories: Type of educational institution, the influence of educational milieu on the decision to join Majelis Mujahidin, the goal of studying in an educational institution and the correlation with the activities in Majelis Mujahidin. The intention of the supporters to join Majelis Mujahidin can be categorized as follows: Religious call, political interest, social critique, disappointment with other Islamic sect, and international empathy. Borrowing Weberian class of social stratification, this thesis finds that almost all supporters are middle-class, although some are lower-class (social class). They are also educated people (status class). They are, however, not affiliated with any political party in Indonesia (party class). Using Cattell’s theory of Group Syntality, this thesis finds that the community has specific and unique syntality which is able to fulfill the psychological needs of the supporters. These two profiles (social and psychological) cannot be separated each other. The social profile depends on the psychological profile in which leads one to join fundamentalist movement such as Majelis Mujahidin. In other word, the psychological profile takes more role to influence one to join such institution. There are two factors shaping their psychological profile: trancencental approach and eschatological discourse. The type of human also influences their psychological profile . There are two types of human: sharpeners or clarifiers and levelers or simplifiers. Majelis Mujahidin community includes in the first group. They are actively looking for information to eliminate an ambiguity in their thought. The next influence is outside stimulus. The main outside stimulus is multi-crises of Indonesia which is happened since 1997. Another outside stimulus is international conflicts involving Muslims.

Kata Kunci : Majelis Mujahidin, Gerakan Sosial, Profil Psikologi