Padang – The Minangkabau is the largest matrilineal ethnic group in the world, but its members are predominantly Islamic, which is a patriarchal religion. These two contrasting systems – matrilineal and patrilineal – are thus the basic reference in the society. A famous Minangkabau aphorism captures the essence: “adat basandi syara’, syara’ basandi kitabullah (adat based on the Islamic law, the Islamic law based on the Qur’an).” In other words, the Minangkabau and Islamic system exist in harmony.
The relationship between adat (the Minangkabau matrilineal system) and Islam has stirred numerous debates and spurred considerable research. The debates are mainly about how a matrilineal society like Minangkabau can become one of the most thoroughly Islamized ethnic groups; how adat has survived under Islam, which has very different rules; and how the Islamic patriarchal system and the Minangkabau matriarchal system were integrated.
One knotty area is the inheritance of property. Minangkabau rules dictate that property is inherited by the women, but under Islam, it is the men who inherit. Property occupies a prominent position in Minangkabau, as it is the basis of the matrilineal society. The continuation of the Minangkabau matrilineal system depends on whether the property is passed down according to adat rules. For this reason, it is crucial that “adat basandi syara’, syara’ basandi kitabullah” be harmoniously implemented in this society.
Minangkabau and its Matrilineal System
Minangkabau is one of 140 ethnic groups scattered on more than 3,000 islands in Indonesia. The main area of Minangkabau, Province of West Sumatra, covers about 18,000 square miles, extending from north to south between the Indian Ocean and Bukit Barisan mountain range. The center of the Minangkabau tribe lies on a highland called darek, which is divided into three luhaks (districts): Tanah Datar, Agam, and Lima Puluh Koto. The area surrounding a darek is called rantau, and it is settled and colonized by the people from the darek. Padang, Pariaman, Pasaman, Pesisir Selatan, Negeri Sembilan, and the larger part of Riau and Jambi provinces are rantau.
Minangkabau luhak and rantau consist of independent political communities called nagari (village). Each village has its balai (the nagari council hall), surau (mosque), jalan (roads), and tapian (public bathing place). A nagari is governed by a penghulu (the head of a matrilineal political unit).
Minangkabau people have lived under adat, which they claim to be regulated by their ancestors. The rules had been handed down the generations through tambo (legend, folk story) and eventually written in Arabic-Malay script.
The matrilineal system has four characteristics. The principal characteristic is descent and descent-groups, which are organized according to the matrilineal line. Each nagari consists of several ideally exogamous matriclans (suku), such as Melayu, Piliang, Bodi Chaniago, and Jambak. One takes suku names of one’s mother and remains with the same suku for life. Another term, payuang, is also commonly recognized. Whereas suku refers to a group of related lineages sharing a common unknown ancestress, payuang means a group of related adat houses under the supervision of penghulu. The last term refers to paruik, which is a group of related people generally in one adat house.
Another characteristic is the penghulu, a ceremonial suku male head, who is elected ceremonially through the rituals of adat. Every suku in a village has its penghulu with a specific title; for example, Datuk Rajo Sampono or Datuk Rajo Alam. The penghulu manages the domestic and public issues in the suku. One example of a suku domestic issue is related to suku ancestral properties that are communally owned, including agricultural land, houses, fish ponds, heirlooms, and the suku adat title properties, which are inalienable. When a conflict related to these ancestral communal properties arises, the penghulu is supposed to solve it.
A third characteristic is the duo-local residential pattern. Marriage is always exogamic, and has retained the matrilineal form. After marriage, a husband moves to his wife’s house and stays there at nighttime. However, he continues to belong to his mother’s house, which he frequents during daytime.
The fourth characteristic concerns authority. Whether within a lineage or sublineage, authority rests on the mamak (mother’s brother, group head), not the father. Mamak literally means maternal uncles, such as the penghulu and tungganai rumah. The kin term which complements mamak is kamanakan (sister’s children).
Property (Pusako) in Minangkabau
Property in Minangkabau is referred to as pusako. In Sanskrit, the origin of the term, it means “those things that serve to sustain life.” In Indonesian, it means “inherited things” or “heritage.” Thus, in Minangkabau adat, the term pusako embodies the ideology of matrilineal descent and heritage.
In general, harato pusako is divided into pusako tinggi (ancestral property) and pusako randah (self-earned property). Pusako tinggi is property acquired by the ancestors at a time which is no longer remembered; it is handed down from generation to generation.
Pusako comprises immaterial and material property. Immaterial property consists of immaterial entities which belong to the heritage of a group, the most important of which is the title of the group’s adat-office holder. Meanwhile, material property (harato pusako) covers the forests and the land, wet and dry rice fields, and places for the living and the dead. This kind of property is not limited to territory; it includes movable items, such as the ceremonial costumes of the penghulu, valuable bridal costumes, and money or gold. The harato pusako has four categories. Harato tembilang ruyuang is property that has been cleared of trees and cultivated by the ancestors. Harato tambilang ameh refers to property that was acquired with gold (later, money) and harato tambilang basi, with iron (hoe). Harato pusako tambilang ka’itan or hiba is property that was obtained as a gift (hiba).
According to adat rules, property may be transferred only if money is tight. There are four instances wherein this is allowed; that is, when money is needed for: the wedding ceremonies of old single women (gadih gadang alun balaki), the reparation of the family house or construction of a new family house (rumah gadang katirisan), the installation of the penghulu of a clan, or education (mambangkik batang tarandam), and burial ceremonies (maik tabujua di tangah rumah). Harato pusako can be transferred by jual beli (selling) or pagang gadai (adat of pawning). However, the transfer of property has to be supported by all clan members.
Property Rights According to Islamic Law
The sources of the rules of inheritance according to Islamic jurisprudence are the Qur’an and Hadith. There are eleven verses of the Quran dealing with the rules of inheritance: the verses of al-Nisa’ 4:7-14, 33, and 176; and al-Anfal 8:75. There are numerous Hadith that also deal with the rules of inheritance. In sum, there are eight sharers who possess the right of inheritance: the husband, wife or wives, daughter/son, sister, father, mother, maternal brother, and maternal sister. Meanwhile a son’s daughter, grandfathers, and grandmothers are secondary sharers. These heirs do not automatically inherit the property of the deceased, because the right of inheritance is determined by certain rules. First, the nearer in degree excludes the more remote. Second, a person related to the deceased shall not inherit while that person is still alive (e.g., a son cannot inherit from his grandfather while his father is still alive). Third, there is no representation. Fourth, the strength of consanguinity determines preference (e.g., a full-blood relationship is preferred to a half-blood one). Fifth, if the degree of the relationship is equal, then as a general rule, a male sharer takes double the portion of a female sharer.
Solomonic Solution
The concepts of property of Minangkabau adat and Islam are patently different. The foundation of the Minangkabau adat rules of inheritance is communal and collective as regards the possession of property. In contrast, Islamic law supports individual ownership. Thus, the adat rules of inheritance, which had been implemented before the arrival of Islam, do not agree with Islamic rules. This contradiction had caused a lot of social conflict until Minangkabau adat and Islamic leaders reached the consensus that adat rules were to be implemented only to regulate the property of an ancestor (pusako tinggi) while Islamic rules were to be applied in managing self-earned property (pusako randah). The agreement thus allowed both rules to be simultaneously implemented in Minangkabau society.
The distinction between ancestral and self-earned property was introduced at the beginning of the 20th century. The argument behind the view that Islamic law must be applied to self-earned property (pusako randah) and adat rules, to ancestral property (pusako tinggi), is that ancestral property belongs not to the deceased, but to the clan members. Pusako tinggi does not belong to specific persons who hold the property. Since this kind of property is inherited from generation to generation. Islamic rules cannot be applied to it. However, since pusako randah is acquired by an individual, it automatically becomes a personal matter. As it is possessed by a deceased individual, the distribution of property has to be based on Islamic law.
However, adat has obviously been subordinated to Islamic law; the petatah-petitih adat (adat aphorism) states it plainly: “adat basandi syara’, syara’ basandi kitabullah (adat based on the Islamic law, Islamic law based on the Qur’an).” Nevertheless, these two different laws do coexist among the Minangkabau, the biggest matrilineal tribe in the world.
