Torajan Muslims

Tana Toraja is the name for the original area inhabited by Torajan people. Tana Toraja currently includes Tana Toraja Regency and North Toraja Regency; its territory lies in the north of South Sulawesi, Neighboring with many old civilizations on the island Sulawesi such as Luwu, Enrekang, Mandar, and Bone. In contrast to the surrounding areas, until the early 20th century, the people of Tana Toraja still adhere to a local belief called Aluk Todolo. The majority of the Torajan people still adhere to this belief until finally a large-scale conversion of the Tana Toraja population to Christianity occurs or zending activities supported by the Dutch East Indies government.[5]

Lembang Madandan is one of the villages whose residents first embraced Islam in Tana Toraja. In some historical records, Islam entered Tana Toraja in 1858 AD. The development of Islam in Tana Toraja is not growing rapidly like other regions in Indonesia, this is because the influence of Aluk Todolo is still attached to the Torajanese people.[6] According to Toraja Muslim figure in Lembang Madandan; Rahim Tambing, the development of Islam in Tana Toraja especially in Lembang Madandan began with the establishment of a mosque, namely Jami Madandan Mosque and then because of a marriage between a Muslim and a Torajan girl in 1876. Rahim Tambing said, "In 1858, Islam began to enter Tana Toraja brought by Siduppa from Teteaji Sidrap, after long preaching Islam and there was assimilation, Siduppa married a Torajan girl named Rangga in 1876, before getting married first Rangga was converted to Islam, thus Rangga was the first Muslim in Madandan, Tana Toraja".[7]

One of the reasons for the slow spread of Islam in Tana Toraja, Muslim populations in the lowlands attacked Tana Toraja in the 1930s. As a result, many Torajans who wanted an alliance with the Dutch converted to Christianity for political protection, and in order to be able to form a resistance movement against Bugis and Makassar who are Muslim. Between 1951 and 1965 after Indonesian independence, South Sulawesi was in turmoil due to rebellions launched by Darul Islam, which aims to establish an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The guerrilla war that lasted for 15 years contributed to more and more Torajans converting to Christianity.[8]

Some Torajan ethnic cultures conflict with Islamic teachings, one of which is rambu solo'. Rambu solo' is a tradition performed as a ritual of mourning or death. Rambu solo' is considered contrary to Islamic teachings, that is motivated by the Torajans who often keep corpses in their homes until the rambu solo' is carried out. Therefore, the Torajan people who adhere to Islam do not display rambu solo'.[9]

To overcome this conflict, some of the rules in the rambu solo' rituals were changed by Muslims in the Tarongko village, Makale district, Tana Toraja Regency. They held a rambu solo' ritual for their deceased family and the traditional rituals that were carried out were claimed to conform to Islamic law and different from the rambu solo' which are based on the teachings of Aluk Todolo. Even though it has claimed to have adapted to Islamic teachings, the implementation of rambu solo' for Torajan Muslim residents was met with opposition. Including among them MUI Toraja and PCNU Toraja who do not agree with Muslim residents holding a rambu solo'.[9][10]

• Torajan people

• Fuad Sy., Moch. (1985). Islam di Toraja: Posisi Sosial Religius dari Persekutuan Kultural Masyarakat Muslim Madandan Tana Toraja. Makassar: Hasanuddin University.
• Pajarianto, Hadi; Juhannis, Hamdan (2018). Muhammadiyah Pluralis: Relasi Muslim Puritan, Kristen, Dan Aluk Todolo Dalam Pendidikan dan Falsafah Tongkonan. Surakarta: Muhammadiyah University.