CLASSICAL BATIK TRADITION AND THE RIFA'IYAH WOMEN

This research is a qualitative research using the phenomenological method. The research sample is women – therefore called the Rifa’iyah women – who make batik in Rifa’iyah community in the district of Batang, Central Java. Data collection techniques are applied by conducting interviews and observation guidelines. Data analysis techniques are used by using descriptive analysis. Women in the Rifa’iyah community have a prominent role to play in the productivity of batik. The Rifa’iyah people place batik not only as an economic commodity but also as a place for women in the public sphere, no longer only in the domestic area. The Rifa’iyah batik is not as popular as Pekalongan batik. It is because of the distribution of the Rifai’yah batik is exclusively moving between the Rifai’yah people and the village of Kalipucang Wetan, Batang, Central Java. The tradition of making batik in the Rifa’iyah community is carried out by the Rifa’iyah women who are santriwati from the Rifa’iyah Islamic boarding school. Batik with a characteristic motif of the Rifa’iyah can be sustainable until now because of the role of women in regenerating batik skills. Based on the results of the study, the data show that the Rifa’iyah women have a critical role in the development and growth of the Rifa’iyah batik as a form of collective memory that handed down from generation to generation. Moreover, the Rifa’iyah women have the role and function of the development and growth of the Rifa’iyah batik. Therefore, it is recommended to the young generation of the Rifa’iyah to always preserve the Rifa’iyah batik so that it is increasingly known by the wider scope of society.


INTRODUCTION
Batik is one type of textile arts that is owned by almost all regions in Indonesia such as Pekalongan, Lasem, Cirebon, and other regions in Indonesia. Different batik patterns from each region characterize where the batik is from, for example: Cirebon batik is famous for its mega cloudy motifs, and Pekalongan batik is famous for its morning and afternoon motifs and three countries. Batang is an area adjacent to Pekalongan which also has a batik motif or pattern that is its trademark. Batang is famous for its batik patterns produced by a group of people who adhere to the Rifa'iyah order. The Batang people call this batik style and motif as the Rifa'iyah batik. The Rifa'iyah people have made at least 25 batik patterns. Pelo Ati is one style of batik that is much in demand by the public.
Making batik in the Rifa'iyah community means not only producing works of art but also becoming an inseparable part of religious rituals. When making batik, the people always do zikir 2 and selawat 3 addressed to God as the creator and ruler of the universe. Women are the figures behind the making batik activities of the Rifa'iyah. The Rifa'iyah women are not only housewives but also workers, batik artisans. The Rifa'iyah batik is suspected to have started since 1885. This condition is certainly interesting to study because at that time the Rifa'iyah women were more likely to work as housewives or work in the agricultural sector rather than industry. The Rifa'iyah women in their time were actively involved in the industrial sector together with the growth and development of batik in the Pekalongan region. The Rifa'iyah women are the figures behind the sustainability of the Rifa'iyah batik motifs. The Rifa'iyah women have developed batik through a long process that is through batik learning in the district of Pekalongan. The Rifa'iyah women learnt every day to make Pekalongan motifs and eventually developed their own motifs as the Rifa'iyah style. The Rifa'iyah women were able to develop different motifs from the Pekalongan batik motif. The development of Pekalongan batik motifs into the Rifa'iyah batik certainly required a process of transformation of knowledge and intelligence from the batik artisans. The motifs that have existed in Pekalongan batik are then distilled again into batik that has a different pattern from the Pekalongan batik. The Rifa'iyah women later called it Rifa'iyah batik.
The Rifa'iyah women, directly or indirectly, have created something different from the original, the Pekalongan batik motif. The Rifa'iyah batik is a modification of Pekalongan batik. Thus, the Rifa'iyah women have creativity and are given a role at the social level to develop. The role given by domestic work that is working in the house to make batik does not mean to impede the thinking power of the Rifa'iyah women. Having looked at this, therefore this study aims to scrutinize the role of women in the development of the Rifa'iyah batik up to the present.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Studies on women from various perspectives have been carried out by many experts from the aspects of sociology, anthropology, and psychology. The study is also conducted on the role of women in all professional fields. The figure of women in the cultural treasures in Indonesia is quite interesting to study. This victory is often caused by a paradox both due to customs and stereotypes carried out by some people. Fakih (2004, p. 21) states that gender identity is strongly influenced by determinative, highly varied, such as cultural values, traditions, understanding of religious teachings, social structures, and political systems. Discrimination against women is complex enough that it requires intervention on all sides to ensure equality of women according to their conditions. Raho (2016, p. 212) argues that gender is a trait or peculiarity associated with gender, both as male or female. Thus, a gender perspective is often viewed from the physical as the basis for distinguishing the type of work performed. In this society, this perspective still often arises so as to distinguish the roles and occupations between men and women. Sadli (2010, p. 27) states that gender identity is a definition of a person as a woman or a man, which is a complex interaction between biological conditions as a woman or a man. This shows that the most important aspect of men and women relationship is the awareness of their sex. This awareness has an impact on self-concept to determine its future. In certain cultures, the society places women higher than men. Minang community bloodline is from the mother not from the father. The Minang people adhere to mother's line rather than father's. This shows the pattern of relations based on gender is more influenced by culture. Apparently, culture determines the type of work done by women or men. Raho (2016, p. 221) emphasizes that this stratification based on gender that is evident that men are involved in jobs that require power while women are involved in jobs that do not require power.
The cities of Pekalongan, Batang, Tegal, Pemalang, Kendal and Semarang used to belong to the regentschappen strand area (coastal regencies) which were institutionalized by the Netherlands. Now this area is called the pintura lane or the north coast of Java. From the past until now, these coastal districts are specifically a source of labor in the field of batik art, this turns out as its own uniqueness. (Iwan Tirta, 2009) Javanese society is an agrarian society. Farming, especially planting rice in the fields is the main livelihood. Most of the time of the day is spent to manage rice fields. When waiting for harvest time, the free time is spent to increase their income. The women make use of their time by making batik -an ability handed down from generation to generation. Making batik activities are not only in the Javanese society among farmers, but also the nobles do it, like late R.A Kartini 4 and her younger siblings. Not a few batik cloths produced have the specificity that characterizes traditional Javanese batik (Iwan Tirta.2009) Although Batang is located not far from Pekalongan, but in terms of batik, the colors that are characteristic of coastal batik, especially Pekalongan, are not found in Batang batik. The motif and color of the Batang batik is very different from the Pekalongan batik, except for its traditional motifs. The development of Batang batik started from the priayi 5 regency's family (regents) and in terms of batik and coloring techniques following the methods carried out by batik makers, both Yogyakarta and Surakarta Palaces. That was caused by the batik in Batang referring to the inland batik pattern. In addition, Batang itself also has original batik, for example batik with grinsing pattern. The pattern of inland classical batik such as grinsing, kawung (Batang batik community called it kopi pecah, broken coffee), uket and machete also made by Batang batik artisans. (Asa, Kusni.2006) The distinctive characteristic of the Batang batik besides its not bright color is that the batik looks as if the color of the soga is mixed with other colors so that it becomes an old or shabby color. The decoration is made big so it looks rough. The Batang batik that was started by the regency's priyayi family used batik patterns from the interior or batik from wetan (east) as a reference. It was first made by the community around the district such as Kertonegaran Kauman village and around the Batang mosque then spread to the surrounding village, namely Tegal Sari. The making of Batang batik was mostly done by ordinary people (farmers) so that the Batik Craft artisans who are still running now have only a few who have good batik knowledge. Therefore, it has an influence on how they make batik. The motifs are not finely batik like when the Batang batik began to develop, namely when batik was made by priayi, everything was smooth but large so it looked rough like the characteristic in most of the villages.
Rustic batik cloth is not the same as that made around the palace or in production centers in 4 Prominent female figure in Indonesia who was a member of Javanese elite family 5 People who belong to the layers of society whose position is considered honorable Wetan has 4 hamlets, 10 RT and 2 RW 6 . The location is in the center of Batang city. Kalipucang Wetan village was founded in Dutch times, in the past there were many pucang and swamp trees, the life of the majority of farmers. At that time, many villagers were made forced labor by the Dutch colonialists to make the Deandles road which is now a Pantura road. Poor people's lives and low human resources made people unable to do anything with the invaders.
In colonial times, this village was made a hiding area because there were still many trees and gardens that were empty and there was a religious figure (Kiai Ilham Kalipucang) who was very influential at that time. The figure in the past had an intelligent mind and usually had a kanuragan (supernatural) soul. Its function is to fight enemy invaders. The figure is a wali (pious person), starting from that this village is often called Walipucang, and finally it is known as Kalipucang, while the Kalipucang village is divided into two namely Kalipucang Wetan and Kulon. In the Dutch era, the position of headman (lurah) was appointed by the Dutch government. After the Independence of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945, Kalipucang Wetan village was led by the headman as the time chosen democratically in that era, through the election of the headman, finally the village has a leader in accordance with the conscience of the community.
Making batik activities in the Rifa'iyah community in the village of Kalipucang Wetan, started in 1919. This is based on the calculation of one of the batik artisans who is still active in making batik, namely Mithakhutin. Mifthakhutin is the fifth generation of batik artisans in the Rifai'iyah Kalipucang Wetan community. The mother of Mithakhutin is Urip Lestari who is currently 66 years old. The calculation from one generation to the next is twenty years. As told by Urip Lestari, making batik is the work of the women and making colors of it using natural dyes is the work of the men. Natural dyes is obtained from indigo plants flourish in the stem area. As a farmer, making batik is a leisure activity while waiting for the harvest season. Another thing is meeting the needs of clothing for his family. Boys will be made batik gloves before the circumcision ceremony. The mothers or grandmothers in the Rifai'yah community will count the time to make batik until near the time of circumcision. (Asep Syadzirin. 2019) Nowadays, there are 70 active batik artisans of various ages in the village of Kalipucang Wetan, consisting of hard, semi-fine and fine batik. The criteria are related to the making batik techniques of each batik. At the age of 8, the Rifa'iyah girls learn to make batik from their mothers until the age of 20 and continue to be trained in the ability of written batik techniques. The Rifa'iyah community only makes batik using written techniques and will not be found the stamp & print technique (screen printing/ machine). The ability to make batik will be more visible when entering the age of 35 years to 45 years, fine quality batik is produced from the skilled hands of the Rifa'iyah women. Entering the age of 46 years, the ability will decline due to farsightedness, although the quality of batik can still be maintained but will gradually be increasingly seen in batik 6 Neighbourhood aged 60 years and older when the technique will return to the first time learning to make batik. The village of Kalipucang Wetan is currently designated as a batik tourism village by the Batang city government. There are different things if we compare with the atmosphere of other batik tourist villages like in Lawean-Solo, Kauman-Yogyakarta or in Trusmi-Cirebon that we can see directly from the bustle of batik workers. This is different from the atmosphere in the village of Kalipucang Wetan, when we come the atmosphere is quiet. No making batik activity in sight, we will be confused where we can buy batik because there are no workshops or batik workshops or showrooms where to sell batik. This is because batik for the Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan community is an activity to fill leisure time and as a media for worship. Fine batik cloth is done as fast as 6 months, and some even one year.
If batik artisans concentrate on making fine batik without being interrupted by the daily domestic chores, making batik can be done within 4 months. Fine batik made by the Rifa'iyah women is undoubtedly in terms of technique, beauty of motifs and strength. The strength of the fabric is produced by soaking the cloth with peanut oil so that the fabric fibers become strong and durable. Many insightful batik from the Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan community become the target of collectors.
Rough batik is batik with affordable prices, although it uses the written technique, the quality is not as neat as semi-fine and fine written batik. The drawing technique uses a large canting 7 so that fine lines will not be found on the motif. Motifs are made with thick lines, there are only two colors and are generally in the form of sarong (rarely a long cloth).
The long process of making batik is done by the Rifa'iyah women in Kalipucang Wetan, starting with the drawing, giving the night, coloring, to fading the night (pelorodan). The ancient technique in making batik is still done by batik artisans in Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan, including cotton sarong (white sarong) not directly drawn but soaked first with peanut oil (kethelan) for 3 to 5 days. Besides peanut oil, batik artisans can make use of kapok oil, castor oil or nyamplung oil. This is done so that the wax and coloring can be easily done in the making batik process. The Rifa'iyah batik is a product of creativity that combines the classic batik motifs of the Yogyakarta Palace and the Pekalongan batik with the teachings of KH. Ahmad Rifa'i. Bruneer (in Beetlesstone, 2013: 22) argues that acquisition of knowledge and understanding is something that has three different aspects, or forms of representation, namely characterization, iconic, and symbolic enactivity which is characterization based on action. Iconic is an act that is replaced by an image and symbolic is a way of expressing it in the form of language. The motif developed by women is one form of symbolic language to others. Ratna (2011: p. 34) states that beauty is energy, renewing the mental dimensions that have been experiencing stagnation and disturbance as a result of not fulfilling various desires in everyday life. So the Rifa'iyah batik motif is an energy that is realized in the form of batik motifs. Leslie White (in Ratna, 2011: p, 13) discusses that culture and civilization depend on symbols. The ability to use symbol can give birth and maintain culture. Without symbols, there is no culture, and without symbols, humans are only animals.
In the Rifa'iyah community, women are placed in the domestic sphere but are still given a role to work in public sphere. Making batik activity is a type of work that is not only related to creativity, economics, but also self-actualization of women to be able to work in accordance with the conditions of their times. The Rifa'iyah women are part of an important and contemplated social structure. Raho (2016, p. 68) states that social structure also means patterns that must be followed in behavior so that society as a whole can survive. Structure means elements or components that are more or less fixed enough to make something stand or survive as a whole.
Women in traditional societies have a role in social structures which must maintain traditional patterns. Women in traditional societies often occupy positions of respect in social relations. The profession of being a bridal makeup, for example, is a position taken by women. In this position women are highly respected by the community because they have expertise in bridal makeup but are also considered to have supernatural powers. The bride who is put some makeup on will look more beautiful than usual because of the touch of her makeup. Batik artisan profession is also assigned by women. This profession requires perseverance and accuracy so as to produce admirable batik art. Batik does not only appear in objects but also has an aura because the process of making batik is accompanied by prayers. The Rifa'iyah batik motif is a cultural product in the form of the teachings of the KH. Ahmad Rifa'i. The Rifa'iyah women interpret these teachings through symbols in the form of batik motifs. Interpreting teachings not only in the form of the symbol itself but also carried out through rituals with zikir when making batik. So producing batik is not only doing art product activities but is one of the media in worship, doing zikir. This is different from the making batik activities carried out by the community outside the Rifa'iyah. In the Rifa'iyah community, batik is a means of expression in worship in accordance with the values of the congregation that it believes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research uses a phenomenological approach. Data collection techniques are obtained by conducting interviews and observation. Data analysis techniques are applied using descriptive method. The research sample is the Rifa'iyah women who involved in producing batik.

DISCUSSION
The Rifa'iyah community is a term given to members of the public who adhere to the teachings of KH. Rifa'i. Adherents of this teaching reside in Batang, Central Java. KH. Rifa'i was the one who taught the science of the tarekat. Nowadays, the members of the tarekat spread in almost all regions such as Jabodetabek, Wonosobo, and other regions in Indonesia. The Rifa'iyah community, besides being known by the teachings of the tarekat, also produces a batik style that is different from the Pekalongan batik style. There are 24 Rifa'iyah batik patterns that have been made for almost five generations. Women are the most meritorious figure towards the preservation of the Rifa'iyah batik pattern. Based on the results of observations and interviews conducted, data obtained as follows: The Rifa'iyah women have a critical role in the social structure of both the tarekat and the economic sector of the society. This position is given to women through real business and economic movements. The Rifa'iyah women are still permitted to work but with a type of work that does not leave the house too long. Batik business is one of the choices given to women.
Making batik for Rifa'iyah is an activity carried out by women on the sidelines of time both while waiting for agricultural products and to make use of their leisure time. The process of making batik is so long done by the women of the Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan, from drawing, giving the night, coloring, to fading the night (pelorodan).
The ancient technique in making batik is still done by the batik artisans in Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan batik, including cotton cloth (white cloth) not directly drawn but soaked in advance with peanut oil (kethelan) for 3 to 5 days. Besides peanut oil, the Rifa'iyah batik artisans can also use kapok oil, castor oil or nyamplung oil. This is done so that the wax (wax) and coloring can be easily done in the batik process.
The process of making a sheet of classic batik by a Rifa'iyah woman has many stages and needs a period of time, three to eight months. This ability is rarely found in the batik process elsewhere. The process of making batik has now been affected by the rationalization that is so strong from the flow of modernization that making batik is a work that has been divided (devison of labor), each process or final stage has its own specialization. (MJA Nashir. 2017) The Rifa'iyah women play an important role in producing a piece of batik cloth, starting from making batik, sagging, to becoming cloth. Men usually only help providing natural dyes taken from the nearby forest where they live. In the Rifa'iyah community, batik is a hereditary culture which was passed on to girls. It is obligatory for Rifa'iyah mothers to teach about making batik to girls. It was taboo at that time if the daughter of the Rifa'yah could not make batik.
During the time of making batik, the Rifa'iyah women chant tarekat songs and zikir. In other words, they are praying while making batik. The Rifa'iyah women make batik activities as a way to get closer to the Creator. Two types of work are carried out at one time, namely making batik and remembrance. This is not done by batik artisans who work in batik centers in the Pekalongan and Batang regions. The values of the KH. Rifa'i is always remembered and recited through song. Likewise, the zikir is not only done after performing the five daily prayers but also when making batik. The Rifa'iyah women consider making batik not only to produce a piece of batik cloth but also to utter thousands of prayers and zikir.
Among the classical batik in Java, the Rifa'iyah batik motifs are continuously maintained by the community. When other regions began to abandon the classical design of the Rifa'iyah batik in Kalipucang Wetan, the Rifa'iyah batik artisans remain faithful to maintain it. The Rifa'iyah batik has developed in the city of Batang which is not known as a city of students like in Pekalongan.
Pekalongan is known as a city of santri but they do not make Islamic-style batik like the Rifa'iyah batik. (Mustika. 2017) Making batik activities also become a worship movement by chanting zikir and poetry about life lessons when making batik. (Miftakhutin. 2017) Some of the poems commonly sung by the Rifa'yah women are as follow: The making of batik by the Rifa'iyah community began to meet their own needs. It consists of a jarit (long cloth) and a sarong intended as clothing that functions to cover the nakedness. However, it developed into a characteristic of batik motifs from the the Rifa'iyah community due to consideration of moral values and politeness. After the Rifa'iyah batik trade developed, this batik was introduced to the Rifa'iyah community. In addition, the fingers or gloves can strengthen the kinship to those who wear it even though they come from different regions and did not know each other before. From the visual aspect, the Rifa'iyah batik has a high aesthetic value, although in its description not all objects can be a variety of motives.
Some motifs, patterns and colors resemble Pekalongan batik which is heavily influenced by foreign cultures such as China and the Netherlands. Batik motifs rarely describe the forms of living things. The forms of living things in batik ornaments have been distorted, for example the shape of a bird's foot is changed to resemble a branch or tree branch. The image of a chicken's head being replaced by a flower or a bird's tail is made long like a long leaf. According to Islamic teachings, the variety of decoration that may be used in this community is believed not to cause shirk to the maker or the wearer. The Rifa'iyah batik is believed by this community as a legitimate outfit for worship, prayer and recitation (reading the Qur'an). Model or form of clothing from the Rifa'iyah Islamic community is in a hooded, loose-fitting, long-sleeved and beaded shirt or sarong.
The Rifa'iyah batik is designed on both sides of the sarong (back and forth) or called a continuation. The color consists of two colors or so-called bangbiron (bang: red and biron: blue). There are also batik motifs that have three colors (three countries), namely red, blue and brown. In ancient times the coloring of Rifa'iyah batik used more plants which were found in the Batang area. The red color is used by the noni tree root (javanoni), the blue color is obtained from the tilapia plant, and to get the brown color the avocado leaves are used. Now batik is already using In term of Pekalongan batik, it is known morning and evening batik, where in one part the pattern can be used in the morning and the other part is used in the afternoon. In the Rifa'iyah batik, the division of motifs in the sarong is called 'tugelan'. Women play a role in selling batik. Batik production in the past before independence were more sufficient to meet the needs of family clothing and the surrounding community. The Rifa'iyah batik has not become a reliable economic commodity, the economy remains relied on the agricultural sector.
The Rifa'iyah batik became an economic commodity after independence when President Soekarno declared independence of clothing as a pillar of the nation's economy between 1950 and 1965. At that time, the Indonesian Batik Cooperative Association (GKBI) emerged. Batik production was not only in the north coast of the island of Java but also spread to other regions such as Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara and Sumatra. This condition also influenced the development of the Rifa'iyah batik. At that time, Batangan batik patterns were also known, namely batik motifs originating from Batang. This style distinguished the style from Pekalongan batik style. Dark brown and white colors characterize the Batangan batik.
The combination of colors and motifs both from Pekalongan batik motifs and from other regions is the result of the creativity of batik artisans. In some batik motifs found tendrils with symmetrical motifs fused into a unity. Symmetrical motifs are motifs that develop in the Solo and Yogyakarta regions while tendril motifs are found on coastal batik. The combination of these two motifs gives a new value to the Rifa'iyah batik motif. Rifa'iyah women always maintain the sustainability of batik, regeneration is done through girls. The Rifa'iyah women in the period before independence felt ashamed when they did not lose their batik skills to girls and girls felt ashamed if they could not make batik. Consequently, batik skills are passed down and taught through family education.
This has an impact on the Rifa'iyah batik, batik artisans who work on fine batik must compete with printed batik and batik printing motifs. Another thing is the batik artisans eventually prefer to work in the batik motif textile industry (making sarong in meter measurements) rather than working in a batik and stamp company. The decline in productivity of fine and stamped batik was also triggered by the affordable prices of batik motifs for textile sarong so that people could buy them as daily clothing products.
The manufacture of fine written batik which is done through a tiered process makes the price of written batik expensive and the product becomes exclusive because it is limited in number. Overcoming the relatively high prices in connection with the batik motifs created and the effects of the products produced, some batik artisans in Rifa'iyah Kalipucang Wetan batik make "Kendil batik" which is simple batik, depicting uncomplicated motifs with not many colors. Kendil has an understanding of where to cook rice, it is intended to keep their kitchen used (for cooking) to support their daily lives. (Miftakhutin.2017) There has also been a change in the use of colors in the Rifa'iyah batik which originally used natural dyes to chemical dyes. Considering the natural coloring process, it is quite difficult to do and the time required, apart from that it began to be difficult to find trees that produce natural or vegetable dyes. Vegetable dyes are dyes produced from leaves, bark, woody stems, tree roots. Tilapia leaves can produce blue or blackish blue, Noni tree roots are used for red, turmeric for yellow, high bark for red-brown and soga wood for brown. This era demands efficiency and is supported by technological developments that produce chemical dyes or synthetic dyes. The type of color that was originally difficult or impossible to make with natural dyes can be obtained easily by using synthetic dyes. Besides, it is practical to meet the batik production time. In fact, the color of batik being durable and it is not easy to fade.
The dynamics of the development of batik divide batik consumers into two. First, the fabricated batik has an affordable price and is used by the middle to lower classes as daily clothing needs. The second, the consumer is the upper middle class who make fine written batik as part of the collection and are used for official events.
The Rifa'iyah people consider the family as one of the first places of education and learning for women in making batik. Making batik for the Rifa'iyah women is a form of self-activation to show the community that the regeneration of batik skills has taken place. The development of the current era when the choice of professions increasingly diverse occurs also shifts in value in the younger generation. The Rifa'iyah girls no longer consider making batik as a profession but prefer to work in other services such as working in offices or industries. The younger generation of the Rifa'iyah is few in number who still carry on the tradition of ancestors becoming batik compared to the number of women. The shift in value has occurred along with the progress of time. The choice of professions that are economically more promising for the future is the choice of today's young generation. Parents cannot force girls to continue the tradition of making batik. Women today are more free to make choices especially for those who are highly educated.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Arts in the Rifa'iyah community are in the form of Javanese poetry or poetry in the Book of Tarajumah, Nadzam (poetry), Rebana, Calligraphy and the Rifa'iyah batik. These poems are echoed when the Rifa'iyah women making batik and it turns out as an expression of art. Islamic teachings from KH.Ahmad Rifa'i influenced the Rifa'iyah batik motif, which the prohibition of depicting living creatures other than plants (flowers, leaves, trees) or has been stylized. It becomes the basis and the main characteristic for the variety of decorative of the Rifa'iyah batik that seems sufistic. If there are forms of animal parts (fauna), it is always described as being no longer intact "cut" and disguised in the form of plants.
The Rifa'iyah community of Kalipucang Wetan village still maintain making batik as ancient traditions. The stages are designing batik on the outside of the fabric and the inside of the fabric. This tradition has long been abandoned by batik artisans in other regions because of the limited time and amount of production. In the past, the Rifa'iyah batik artisans never thought about the selling price of batik. Batik was originally produced to meet their own needs. Making batik activities were carried out behind closed houses. The Rifa'iyah women were guarded and not allowed to leave the house. The girls in the Rifa'iyah community of Kalipucang Wetan village were taught to make batik to practice patience and accuracy. In the Rifa'iyah batik motif, the placement of the motif is made differently on the right and left side so that it can be used on different occasions (morning-evening cloth). Aside from being empowered, the Rifa'iyah batik is a work of cultural art filled with messages and religious values. Batik becomes the medium of missionary endeavor in carrying out religious symbols written on beautiful poems and living in the life of a Rifa'iyah women embodied in the expression of batik art. The existence of batik, as one type of traditional cloth is an expression of the taste (art) of the individual or community, in this case the Rifa'iyah community in the village of Kalipucang Wetan. Making batik tradition developed among the Rifa'iyah community. The Rifa'iyah batik was initiated from interaction in its community without being limited by regional issues given the distribution of the Rifa'iyah people in several places. The Rifa'yah community, despite their different locations, could be united by a value in this case is teaching. The teaching values of KH.Ahmad Rifa'i as the founder of the boarding school of the Rifa'iyah, a religious teacher who lived in 1786-1869. The Rifa'iyah form of culture and art becomes a local identity and is a cultural binder among the Rifa'iyah community.
Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that; (1) the Rifa'iyah batik is the result of creativity that combines Pekalongan motifs with motifs that based on the teachings of KH. Ahmad Rifa'i; (2) the Rifa'iyah batik artisans forbid drawing lifeless creatures as a whole so that the motifs contained in batik are only certain parts such as the head, wings, legs, tail or animal fur; (3) there are 24 Rifa'iyah batik motifs as a result of the work of the women of batik artisans; (4) the Rifa'iyah batik motifs are an embodiment of the symbolic language of KH Ahmad Rifa'i's teachings through a variety of batik motifs. Having done this study, it can be recommended to still maintain and preserve the Rifa'iyah batik motifs. The preservation efforts on the Rifa'iyah batik are carried out with regeneration and education patterns. The regeneration of making batik is carried out on the Rifa'iyah community, specifically girls who live in the village of Kalipucang Wetan. They are introduced to making batik activities since elementary school age. Education on batik is carried out in primary, secondary, and advanced schools in the city of Batang in the form of extracurricular lessons so that the culture of batik can be possessed as special skills.