Wetu Telu

Wetu Telu is a Muslim sect, which is mainly found in northern Lombok. It has its roots in the mountain village of Bayan. The people belonging to this faith call themselves Muslim, but the way of practice differs very much from the normal practise of Islam.

Wetu Telu is a mixture of Islam, Hinduism, and animism. The name Wetu Telu means tree times and refers to the numbers of times they pray during the day. The village leader does the prayer on behalves of the whole village. The same is during Ramadan, the village leaders are the only ones doing the fasting, and they only do it for tree days, which are the first, the 15th, and the last day of Ramadan. You will only find Wetu Telu in Lombok.

By other Muslims, members of Wetu Telu are looked upon as ‘lazy’ and not proper Muslims. In the beginning most of the people practiced Wetu Telu, but today most Muslims in Lombok practice Wetu Lima. Wetu Telu is not allowed at IAIN.

The village of Bayan has two sets of leaders, the local traditional leaders and the governmental leaders. During ceremonies and celebrations they split the responsibilities, the traditional leaders execute the ceremonies and the government leaders are responsible for the practical arrangements. The government leaders are elected, but for the traditional leaders the position is inherited from father to son. If the man has no sons, his brother or nephew will fill the position.

In addition to the mosque, the village had a Holy House. This was not actually a house, but several houses within an enclosed compound. Here there were special areas for storing food, different food in different areas, and places for cooking for special occasions like traditional ceremonies. There were also tombs for ancestors at the far end of the compound.

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