On December 26, 2023, as Aceh remembered the nineteenth anniversary of the Tsunami, I found myself at Cek Yukee, a coffee shop where Jim Siegel and I often met between 2007 and 2015. We often spent our time there transcribing notes and contemplating our field
trip data. In those years, Aceh was just recovering from the tsunami, and there was also a euphoric moment with the peace agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government. Yet, there was worry about more Syari’ah (Sharia) laws being enforced in Aceh. Sharia was introduced to Aceh in 1999 by the central government as a political idea. The proposal aimed to garner support from the Acehnese and laid the groundwork for the central government’s response to, or intentional mischaracterization of, the GAM rebellion. After the establishment of peace, the political aspect of Sharia intensified. The criminalization of certain moral behaviors and the application of corporal punishment in the form of public caning set Aceh apart from the rest of the provinces in the country. Against this backdrop, my connection with Jim Siegel began in 2007
when, as the editor-in-chief, I was planning the new edition of Gelombang Baru journal
with the theme “Mesin Syari’at” (Sharia Machine). I sought one or two contributors who could offer a historical perspective on Syari’ah and politics in Aceh, particularly understanding the type of Syari’ah the Acehnese desired in the 1950s during the Darul
Islam revolt.