Negotiation of Tradition, Islam, and Modernity in The Movement of The Kaum Mudo Islamic Reform in Minangkabau

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century when the modernism of Islam in Minangkabau was strengthened, many academics saw the Kaum Mudo Islamic movement in a paradoxical perspective. On the one hand, the movement is considered to be progress-oriented by negotiating and accommodating with adat and hence they are referred to as reformers. On the other hand, the movement is seen as opposing and eliminating the integration of the elements of local cultures (adat) and modern ideas into Islam. Therefore, they are also referred to as puritans. Employing Stella Ting-Toomeys’s identity negotiation theory, which refers to ethnic (traditional) and religious identities as primary identities, this article concludes that the Islamic Movement for the Kaum Mudo in Minangkabau is a reform movement rooted in Islamic customs and traditions and not a purification movement. It can be observed, among others, in the following cases: (1) the existing social groups contest each other and fight for their mutual influence; (2) the ethnic background of each character at that time required an attitude which gives room for negotiations; (3) the existing madrasa reform model negotiated between the traditional surau system and the modern Dutch school; and (4) there has been a synthesis of adat with Islam and modernity in Minangkabau which are also negotiating each other.