Indonesian Muslims calling tsunami warning from God
"LAMPAYA, Indonesia - (KRT) - For Hamdani Muhammad Amin, a devout Muslim, the Dec. 26 tsunami was a brutal reminder of the power of God and his own insignificance.
'Before the tsunami, I was quite confident in myself,' said Amin, 30, recalling the three beachfront snack stands, the parking lot and the changing room he operated just south of the city of Banda Aceh. 'I thought I could earn money without the help of Allah.'
In an instant, his livelihood was wiped away, and now he sat cross-legged in a tent that his family shares with three other families in a refugee camp.
'I don't really have faith in myself anymore,' he said. 'I am surrendering myself to Allah. I hope that Allah gives me good guidance.'
Across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, the devout are saying that the tsunami - which killed at least 85,000 people and left another 131,000 missing in Indonesia and, three weeks later, presumably dead - was a warning to be more observant Muslims.
That sentiment is particularly strong in the province of Aceh, where the tsunami did most of its damage. The Achenese generally are considered the most devout Muslims in the country.
Aceh is the only Indonesian province where Islamic law is enforced. The province is known as Indonesia's 'verandah on Mecca,' in part because of its location at the westernmost tip of the Indonesian archipelago, closest to the Middle Eastern holy city.
Few here think the push toward greater devotion is likely to fuel the more extremist brands of Islam that see a holy war against the West as the calling for every young Muslim man. Aceh, including its Free Aceh Movement guerrillas, has shown little sympathy for that movement. Richard Baker, an Indonesia specialist at the East-West Center in Hawaii, calls the rebels "a genuine nationalist movement."
Instead, the tsunami is more likely to push the devout toward greater piety.