The Belief in the Existence of Supernatural Beings in the Community of Moslem Sundanese

Abstract

The Sunda Muslims today living with modernity in various aspects. In contrast, they are still embedded their minds in the spirits which come from the view of tradition and customs and teachings of Islam. The article discusses the conception of belief in the existence of spirits in today's Sundanese society. Described descriptively, the data is the result of micro-ethnographic research through in-depth interviews of selected informants. In addition to Allah, angels, demons, jinn and qarin (Islamic teachings), there are also spirits whose its existence is regarded as reality, namely the lelembut, the subtle creatures that existed before man including the gods, the devil and the dedemit. And the lelembutan that comes from the human spirit, namely ririwa, and sileman/karuhun. It is believed there are people who can interact for a variety of interests and motives including witchcraft and pesugihan (devil worship). This research provides a new perspective on the identity of Sunda Muslims today, as a basis in mapping the Sundanese with their thinking.