The paradijs-dood — the paradise-death — is the book’s — Oost-Indisch Journael by Merac (1947) — term for the goal of the djahat of the prang sabil (the holy war): the death in battle that achieves paradise and that is the goal “that underlies all resistance on any scale.” The paradijs-dood is the book’s — and Musket’s — argument for why the colonial army should have taken the djahats alive rather than killing them: taking them alive would have prevented them from achieving their goal, the paradise-death.
The djahat and the paradise-death
“Such djahats also do not hope for victory. They know in advance that they must lose, do not therefore shun the fight, but rather seek death. Their eye is not on the present, but on the hereafter.” Such djahats also do not hope for victory. They know in advance that they must lose, do not shun the fight, but rather seek death. Their eye is not on the present, but on the hereafter. The paradise-death — the death in battle that achieves paradise — is the goal that the djahat seeks: the djahat who is killed in combat achieves the paradise-death; the djahat who is taken alive suffers shameful imprisonment.
The book’s argument
“Especially for Atjeh this was true, because by [taking the djahats alive] one would prevent the achieving of the goal that underlies all resistance on any scale: the paradise-death. Instead, the shameful imprisonment would await the resistance-perpetrators.” Especially for Atjeh this was true, because by taking the djahats alive one would prevent the achieving of the goal that underlies all resistance on any scale: the paradise-death. Instead, shameful imprisonment would await the perpetrators. The book’s — and Musket’s — argument is that the colonial army, by killing the djahats in combat, had effectively achieved the goal for them: the paradise-death. The colonial army’s failure — in Musket’s argument — was to allow the djahat the paradise-death; the colonial army should have taken the djahats alive and reduced them to shameful imprisonment.
Glé Groetèë and the eight holy graves
The Verzet in Lhong (Resistance in Lhong) — the djahats annihilated at the Glé Groetèë — is the book’s set-piece of the paradise-death: the djahats who were annihilated at Glé Groetèë achieved the paradise-death they sought, and their graves became “eight holy graves, on which the white pennants would soon rise as erected signs.” The eight holy graves with the white pennants are the book’s marker of the djahats’ paradise-death: the annihilated djahats achieved the paradise-death and became sjahid (martyrs of the faith), and their graves became holy graves.
The Keumala attacker
The Keumala attacker — who attacked the elephant transport at Keumala without the ordinary motives — is the book’s other example of the paradise-death: the djahat who sought the paradise-death without the ordinary motives of the organised resistance. The Keumala attacker — who was immediately struck down and who, heavily wounded and crawling, still managed to deliver a parang-blow to the patrol commander — was the djahat of the paradise-death: the man who sought death regardless of ordinary motives.
Significance
The paradijs-dood is significant in Oost-Indisch Journael as the book’s — and Musket’s — term for the goal of the djahat of the prang sabil. The book’s central argument is that the colonial army, by killing the djahats in combat, was unwittingly granting them their ultimate objective. The book advocates instead for taking the djahats alive and condemning them to shameful imprisonment — a position that exemplifies the inter-war colonial critique of old military methods. The paradijs-dood thus serves as the book’s marker for the djahat’s goal: death in battle that achieves paradise.
See Also
- Musket
- Oost-Indisch Journael
- Verzet in Lhong
- Glé Groetèë
- Djahat
- Prang sabil
- Sjahid
- Atjeh-moord
- Keumala
- Atjeh-oorlog
Source
Oost-Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan-Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), chapter Sloebers and chapter Atjeh’s Transport-Olifanten.