The Representation of Indonesia Pasca-1998 in Ar-Riḥlah ilā Indūnīsiyā Volume III by Abdullah bin Ahmad Al-Qadri Al-Ahdal

Hermawati Putri Dian Insani; Sangidu; Cahyaningrum Dewojati

doi:10.53639/ijssr.v7i3.412

Authors

Hermawati Putri Dian Insani Universitas Gadjah Mada
Sangidu Universitas Gadjah Mada
Cahyaningrum Dewojati Universitas Gadjah Mada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53639/ijssr.v7i3.412

Keywords:

Representation of Indonesia, Cosmopolitanism, Arabic Travel Writing, Carl Thompson

Abstract

This article examines the representation of Indonesia in 1998 in Ar-Riḥlah ilā Indūnīsiyā Volume III by Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Qadri al-Ahdal through Carl Thompson’s perspective on travel writing. It aims to explain how Indonesia is constructed as the “other” in the eyes of an Arab traveler and to uncover the ideological vision that shapes this construction. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive-analytical approach. The primary data consist of textual excerpts that represent Indonesia’s social, political, and religious conditions, while the secondary data are drawn from literature relevant to Thompson’s theory, al-Ahdal’s biography, and the context of post-1998 Indonesia. The findings show that Indonesia is represented as a Muslim country experiencing a crisis of leadership, the spread of secularism, and Western intervention, especially from the United States. In this text, al-Ahdal develops a form of critical cosmopolitanism grounded in transnational Islamic solidarity. These findings suggest that Arab travel writing does not merely record spatial experience; it also becomes a medium for articulating ideology, alignment, and political representation of Indonesia.

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