Al Makin Livres

This book is the first work that comprehensively presents the accounts of Lia Eden, a former flower arranger who claims to have received divine messages from the Archangel Gabriel and founded the divine Eden Kingdom in her house in Jakarta. This book places Lia Eden’s prophetic trajectory in the context of diverse Indonesian spiritual and religious traditions, by which hundreds of others also claimed to have been commanded by God to lead people and to establish religious groups. This book offers a fresh approach towards the rich Indonesian religious and spiritual traditions with particular attention to the accounts of the emergence of indigenous prophets who founded some popular religions. It presents the history of prophetic tradition which remains alive in Indonesian society from the colonial to reform period. It also explores the ways in which these prophets rebelled against two hegemonies: colonial power in the past and Islamic orthodoxy in the present. The discussion of this bookfocuses on Lia Eden including her biography, claims to prophethood and divinity, the development of her group Eden Kingdom, her challenge to Islamic orthodoxy under the banner of the MUI (Indonesian Ulama Council), her persecution by radical groups, her experiences in court trials and imprisonment, and public responses to her emergence. The discussion also covers other themes currently drawing public attention in Indonesia, such as pluralism, religious freedom, tolerance, discrimination against minorities, and secularisation.

This work claims that Musaylima served as a prophet for his own people in Yamama in more or less the same way as the Prophet Muḥammad in Mecca and Medina. However, unlike Islam, Musaylima’s religious movement did not survive. Here, a complete story of Musaylima – his claim of prophethood, qur’ān (reading), religious activities, followers, opponents, and defeat – is reconstructed. A critical reading of the sources that contain the accounts of Musaylima is performed. Additionally, this study reveals that the remaining fragments of Musaylima’s qur’ān bear substantial similarities to the early Meccan verses of the Qur’ān – in terms of diction, style, and pattern. To formulate the findings of this study, there was more than one prophet in the sixth-seventh century of the Arabian peninsula, as Umayya b. Abī Ṣalt, Abū ‘Āmir, Tulayḥa, Sajaḥ, Aswad, and Musaylima claimed prophethood. There was more than one qur’ān, as Musaylima also revealed his own qur’ān. It is possible that other prophets also did so. There was more than one mosque (masjid), since the followers of Abū ‘Āmir established their own, as did those of Abū Qays. So did the followers of Musaylima. There was more than one Abrahamic Ḥanīf monotheistic movement in the Ḥijaz and around the region, as some figures assumed the same mission.