“Adatku”
Adat (Jawi: عادت), is the local customary law especially of Islamic-Malay tradition in Indonesia. It also means a custom or, accepted practice. The ‘-ku’ comes from the Malay word ‘Aku’ which means I or me. In the title, adatku literally means ‘my custom.’
I’m Aina. I’m a Malay Muslim also known as the predominant race of Malaysia. Malaysia was known as Tanah Melayu which directly translates to ‘Malay Land’ during their colonial days. Tanah Melayu has a long history of immigrants coming in especially during the colonial days when the Chinese and Indians migrated to Tanah Melayu while we were colonized by the British. However, one of the prominent migrations that slowly shaped Malaysia today is when Indonesians slowly migrated to Tanah Melayu.
You might be wondering, where do I come from?
To be honest, I never really questioned much about my ancestors nor had a chance to find out if any of my ancestors were of a different race or religion. All I knew is I was a Malay and a Muslim.
Ever since Professor Bass assigned our class to write about our family history, I was skeptical. Between my mom and dad side, I was a lot more connected to my mom’s side so I thought of writing about her ancestry instead.
I asked through Whatsapp, a popular messaging app in Malaysia, about where we come from. She answered, confused, and asked “What for? Why ask now?”
Me, baffled, I explained I have a paper to do about my family for this Thanksgiving. She then explained that her great-grandparents which are technically my great-great-great-grandparents were from Sumatra, a large island from Indonesia.
Sumatra is at the bottom of Malaysia and Singapore and Sumatrans are one of the few that are apart of the Malay ethnic group or ‘Orang Melayu’ which directly translates to Malay People. Malay people are mostly populated in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, some in Thailand, and diasporas can be found in places like South Africa and Sri Lanka.
However, my mother recommended me to talk to my grandma because she might know our history a lot better than her. As I asked my grandma the same question, she too doesn’t have the best details about our ancestry but she then told me to contact my grand uncle named Syed Noh. He married my grandma’s older sister and one of the few of the family who knows our family history well.
It took almost a day for him to answer due to the time difference. Malaysia is ahead by 14 hours so I didn’t expect a fast reply. However, what he answered was really interesting. Not only that my ancestors lived in Sumatra, but they were also Minangkabau descent and they were farmers in the Jambi province in Sumatra.
Minangkabau people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia and they are the largest matrilineal society in the world, with property, family name, and land passing down from mother to daughter, while religious and political affairs are the responsibility of men, some women also play important roles in these areas. The Minangkabau strongly profess to Islam while at the same time also follow their ethnic traditions, or what they call it as ‘adat’, as mentioned before. The Minangkabau adat was derived from animist and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs before the arrival of Islam, and remnants of animist beliefs still exist even among some practicing Muslims. The present relationship between Islam and adat is described in the saying "traditions [adat] are founded upon the [Islamic] law, and the law founded upon the Qur'an.
I then asked, “Why did they leave? Did they not enjoy their time in Indonesia?” He explained how it was a given that they moved due to family members and friends moved there since Sumatra and Tanah Melayu were just right next to each other. “The land in Tanah Melayu were fertile for farming since they lived in the hills, the ability to do simple trade by bartering and more importantly, spreading the teaching of Islam as the religion was quite new to the people that time,” said my granduncle. He also mentioned that the economy was a lot better than Jambi so it would make sense as to why they would move to Tanah Melayu. In general, they think living their life in Malaysia would be a whole lot better.
There was no telling when did our ancestors enter Islam, but most people were either in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Animism before the Islamization of the Malays. Indonesia was Islaminized earlier than Tanah Melayu but with the migration of freshly-converted Muslims to Tanah Melayu, it was one of the reasons why more than half the population of Malaysia are Muslims other than Arab traders coming to Tanah Melayu around the 12th century. My grand uncle even mentioned that my great-great-grandfather was a religious teacher when he moved to Lenggeng. He was also nicknamed “emam” which can mean the person who leads prayers in a mosque or an Islamic leadership position.
“When did our ancestors move to Tanah Melayu?”, I asked. He said right around the 1890s my great-great grandparents moved to a town called Lenggeng, at the state of Negeri Sembilan. He then further explained, “The Minangkabaus mainly settled in villages in today's Negeri Sembilan and even Singapore.” My great-grandfather named Mohd Harun was born in 1908 at Lenggeng and once he got married to my great-grandmother named Umi Kalthom, they left to move to many places in Malaysia including the capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
I also asked if there were any remaining relatives back in Sumatra and what he said was exceptionally cheeky. “Haha! With research, I am sure the will be, but to date, no one of has made any attempt [to contact us],” said my grand uncle. I was a little bitter because it would’ve been great to have more relatives there because if they do exist, I wouldn’t just visit for the sake of meeting my relatives but also see where my ancestors used to live their life. Considering the fact that now I can finally confirm that my ancestors were indeed farmers and Islamic propoganders.
In conclusion, my family’s migration is pretty interesting considering I thought we were one of the Malays that was always in Malaysia who just converted to Islam when the Arabs came. It’s eye-opening to see how back then many people move for a better life and how many Malays would go so far just to spread Islam even if it they have to leave home to do it. Back in high school I learnt that people migrate for 2 distinct reasons, which is for a better life and to spread their religion, and they did just that. Today people still do spread Islam but not as much as back then when people think of it as a huge obligation which is so fascinating to me, the fact that my family were apart of the reason why Islam is one of biggest religions out there today. What’s also really interesting is I’m Minangkabau descent. I never was skeptical enough about what type of Malay I am but I’m happy I know now. I’m glad I’m slowly learning about my identity every day.
AJRL 340: Family paper
This piece is written for AJRL340 Global Perspectives of the News class of Fall 2018. (Family paper)
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