Mandailing Islam across Borders

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The Mandailing people originate from north-western part of the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia, today. They are relatively late corners to the Islamic faith, having entered the fold of Islam only during the Padri War (1821-38), some at the point of the sword. The Padri War paved the way to Dutch intervention in the Mandailing homeland and triggered the mass migration of the Mandailing into peninsular West Malaysia. By 1870s, the British had intervened in the peninsular states. On both sides of the Straits of Malacca, the Mandailings negotiated their identity in terms of their political and economic roles vis-a-vis the colonial powers. Possibly influenced by Hambali and Maliki ”madhhab” (school of jurisprudence), the Mandailing practice of Islam gives prominence to ”adapt” (customary law) and 'urf (common practice) as a form of public good, hence the saying ”ombar do adat dohot ugamo” (custom alongside religion). In their enthusiasm to learn about their new found religion, Mandailing participated in the knowledge networks of Minangkabau (province of West Sumatra, Indonesia), Kedah in the Malaysian peninsula, and the Middle-East especially Makkah (Mecca) and Cairo. This eventually brought indigenized 'Mandailing-Islam' closer in line with mainstream Islam, entailing their absorption into the dominant ”madhhab” (school of jurisprudence) in Southeast Asia, that of the Shafie. Growing participation in the Hajj transported the Mandailing from the margin to the 'centre' of the ”ummah” and exposed them to pan-Islamism as well as the idea of national liberation. Central to this movement is the idea of modernity and standardization; the Mandailing response to the demands of modernizing Islam necessitated the abandonment or suppression of traditional Islam. Subjected to both Dutch colonial rule in the Netherlands East Indies and British colonial rule in Malaya, the Mandailings experienced and negotiated within the framework of two different sets of state sponsored Islam. With ”merdeka” (national independence), state sponsored Islam is brought to its logical conclusion by enshrining Islam as the state or official religion in both Malaysian and Indonesian constitutions. Muslim conformity to statistic Islam is regulated through social-engineering, Islamic policing and national consciousness construction. Disenchantment with nationalism and modernist-reformist Islam has resurrected. 'Islamic fundamentalism' as well as revived 'traditionalist Islam'. Mandailing finds themselves on both sides of the spectrum. By contrast, an indigenized Mandailing-Islam still lingers especially in the homeland. This takes on a number of manifestations such as the kinship and clan-based social structure, ”tarombo” (genealogies), reverence for pre-Islamic ancestors and progenitors without differentiation, and the playing of the mystical ”Gordang Sambilan” music. This paper is in four parts, and discusses the practice of 'Mandailing Islam' in their homeland in Sumatra as well as in British Malaya (Peninsula West Malaysia today); Christian missionary activities in the homeland contributing to the consolidation of Mandailing cultural and religious identity in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaya. It also looks at Mandailing religious attitude in the East Coast of Sumatra, where significant numbers of Mandailings are concentrated. The period covered range from pre-Islamic to the present time and deals with the question of Mandailing cultural and Islamic identity.