Pandangan R.O. Winstedt mengenai perwarisan harta di Tanah Melayu perbandingan keatas Undang-Undang Islam dan Adat Pepatih

Abstract

R.O. Winstedt was an orientalist who served in Malaya as a British administrator. His viewpoint is based on the philosophy of logical-empirical positivism, which is an understanding that fully emphasizes the use of common sense as the primary approach to obtaining a scientific fact based on systematic and thorough research methods. This philosophy rejects the proof of a fact using revelation sources because it is considered irrelevant in historical evidence. This article focuses on analyzing Winstedt's views on property inheritance in Malaya by making a comparison between Islamic law and Perpatih Custom. In addition, the observation aims to identify the orientalist's approach to evaluating Islam and the Malay community. The author uses historical, comparative, and content analysis methods to analyze the views. The results of the study found that Winstedt's orientalist approach to evaluating Islam, especially the legal system, showed a dubious point of view and biased judgment. In the issue of property inheritance, Winstedt believes that Islamic law and custom do not work conjointly because in the orientalist view, the Islamic system is not suitable to be practiced in Malaya due to differences in culture and place of residence. This is caused by the orientalists' incomprehension of Islamic law due to their Eurocentrism worldview. This thinking favors the European nation as a great and civilized nation over non-western nations to the point of being called "ambassador of civilization," which is the savior of nations that need to be civilized.