`Funky' Sufis at Taman Cibodas

A teacher of the Maulawiyah order from the US introduced Sufistic mysticism and a typical dervish whirling dance. Executives, intellectuals and entrepreneurs joined the course.

March 25, 2003

AT first glance they looked like a weekend metropolitan group: clean, well-groomed, in a posh car. They spoke English like native speakers. Some even resembled European tourists, but they had Indonesian names and conversed in Indonesian. Several of the women among them were trendy, wearing jeans, tight white T-shirts and had blonde hair. Others were dressed in light-green kebaya (traditional blouses), red pants and red hair. Only four used ke

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