| Abstract: |
Sacred Javanese mosques in Indonesia are believed to have taken over pre-Islamic sources, resulting in various syncretic forms. Accordingly, mosque ornamentation should be investigated as to whether its idea and form were inherited from the local tradition or the new arriving one. To examine how these were formulated in mosques, a broad view of the mystical ideas in animism, Hindu-Buddhism, and Islam should all be taken into consideration. The political and religious Islamic movement in Indonesia can be divided into three periods: continuation of pre-Islamic influence to the transitory period (fifteenth century-1619 CE); European and Islamic influence during Dutch colonization (1619-1945 CE); and pure Islamic movement in the contemporary period (1945-present). Each period created syncretism – parallelism, adaptation, and creation – between pre- Islamic and Islamic cultures, based on mutual tolerance and flexibility. This paper examines this issue by looking at Islamic calligraphy, brought by traders and missionaries in the fifteenth century, in Javanese mosque ornamentation.
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