When I got to the pesantren, I was instantly able to meet with Attahiri despite my lack of appointment. He invited me into his house, where we sat in his living room to do the interview. Maybe ten minutes into the conversation, I got sick. I was a hot mess. I think it was the fish curry I ate for lunch. I got sick twice during our talk. It was extremely embarrassing. That might have set the mood for the rest of the interview, as I was clearly not feeling well and not on top of my game. After my second wave of sickness finished, Attahiri had to leave - he had a class to teach. He told me not to worry, that I could stay in his home until he came back, and introduced me to his wife. "You can interview her," he told me.
Talking with his wife was pretty interesting. She told me a lot about the pesantren - she's in charge of the girls' division. She seemed tired though, and said that she was up all night tending to a "sick" girl who was apparently possessed. She told me that three girls have gotten possessed there within the past week and that they had to control them and make sure they didn't hurt themselves. We heard screaming and the sound of someone hitting a tin wall outside, and I was told that the noises I heard were of one of the possessed girls. She told me
"When you're close to God, the devil likes to try and torment you. When you're weak in faith, that's when they enter."Apparently this kind of thing happens fairly often, so they weren't too worried about handling the situation.
There are about 60 boys and 15 girls at the pesantren. It's a small place, and not very well developed or nice like the other ones I went to. They rely on donations and tend to take in boys and girls from broken homes, whose parents have passed away, or who are troublemakers. The age range of the kids there are from middle school to some college.
When Attahiri finally came back, I began to ask him more questions about the pesantren, their religious views, and what distinguished them from other pesantren, both modern and traditional. These questions, I felt, were pretty standard and could get interesting answers. But when Attahiri answered them, I felt that he wasn't really answering them at all - I couldn't get anything straight from him. So you can imagine that when I asked more questions about Jemmah Islamiyah and FPI (Islamic Defenders Front), it got a little confusing.
Back in February, some Jemmah Islamiyah members came to Aceh to try and establish a training camp here and went to Attahiri's pesantren to ask for his support. However, they were turned down. Attahiri said that when they came, he saw them as "stupid kids" and made it clear that he disagreed with their method of thinking.
I had also heard that he had been affiliated with FPI, which I had seen listed as a terrorist organization. Attahiri told me that he was the secretary for the Aceh division of this organization, and that it in fact is not a terrorist organization. He said that they concentrate on dawa and try to make sure that people are being good Muslims and acting appropriately. I asked my friend Cut later about FPI, and she confirmed what Attahiri said about it not being a terrorist organization, so it seems that I was wrong in thinking that it was.
I wish I could have stayed longer at Darul Mujahidin. I feel that if I had gotten to know them better over a longer period of time, that I would have better results in my interview. Cut even told me that once, when she was interviewing someone, it took 7 interviews over a span of 3 months to finally break through and get good information. I got a lot of political answers from Attahiri. I wonder how long I would have had to stay to break down the barrier and get better results.
After the interview, something weird happened: Attahiri took a couple of pictures of me on his cell phone...but without asking. It's pretty obvious when someone takes a picture of you on their cell phone, especially when it's done right in front of you. Plus, I heard the camera click. Also, after I had gotten out of his house, I was taking pictures of the pesantren and I saw him standing in front of his door, cell phone in hand, taking a picture. I wasn't sure how to handle this, so I didn't say anything at all. Cut told me that it was nothing to worry about, so I guess I won't worry about it - but it was still weird.
The pesantren
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