Browsing by Author "Aliza bt Yunus"

This study has examined the Malay customs that appear to contravene the Prophet’s (PBUH) Sunnah. The analysis is innovative in its espousal of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Tradition as a backdrop against which the Malay rituals in Malaysia have been appraised. The researcher has adopted an analytical approach geared mainly towards the evaluation of a number of cultural aspects which Malays preserve despite their perceptible contravention with the Islamic teachings. The study has found that the perseverance of these rituals is attributable to the Malays’ unawareness of the right injunctions ordained to address them or to their subscription to some Traditions (ahadith) which, upon scrutiny, turned out to be un-authoritative or fabricated. The sciences of hadith are not common in Malaysia, except among the students of Islamic studies whose knowledge is too superficial to make accurate judgments. Some of these customs appear to be originating from animism, Buddhism and Hinduism, or from deviant Islamic teachings. Among these unusual rituals is the belief that fairies (jinn), ancestors’ spirits, sorcerers, magicians and curers for examples have powers able to affect people’s lives favourably or adversely. Some of the Malay Islamic rituals have also been adulterated with the local pre-Islamic heritage which has infiltrated even a number of the Islamic practices and celebrations. The researcher’s mission has been to identify these deviant rituals and lay bear their origins in order to tell them apart from the authentic Islamic customs.

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