Ceremonies and Rituals
The most important ceremonies are Idul-Fitr (the end of Ramadan), Idul-Adha (Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael), and Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawwi (The birthday of Muhammad).
Another ceremony of importance in this specific region is the annual sacrifice ceremony, Labuhan, held on the beach of Parantritis by the Sultan of Yogyakarta.
This is a ceremony where they make Hindu sacrifices with flowers, food, and incense to the Queen of the Indian Ocean, which is an example of how important spiritual things are in this area.
This mix of religions is called abangan or syncretism by academics, but the people regard themselves as 100% Muslims. But the Imam that we interviewed did not accept the practice of syncretism. We can compare the syncretism with the situation in Flores, where the Catholic ceremonies were related to religion, and the animist ceremonies were considered as cultural. But the religious leaders in Flores accepted this mixing of religion and tradition.
Universitetet i Agderpost@uia.no
Telefon: +47 38 14 10 00 Fax: +47 38 14 10 01
