Pilgrimage to Bawakaraeng Mountain Among the Bugis- Makassar in Indonesia: A Contestation between Islamic Identity and Local Tradition

Abstract

This study discusses the contestation of Islamic identity and local traditions of the Bugis-Makassar people in socio-religious life. Tradition contains a belief with form and practices that can still be traced to the present. In this case, the identity of the hajj pilgrimage attached to Muslims has been adapted to the Bawakaraeng Hajj community in the South Sulawesi region. The current research employed a qualitative descriptive approach and field-based data collection techniques by conducting observations and interviews with key informants about the Bawakaraeng community. It was found that the Bugis-Makassar practice of carrying out a series of rituals on the summit of Mount Bawakaraeng is an old tradition indicating a contestation between Islamic identity and local traditions. The term Hajj, which is attached to the Bawakaraeng pilgrimage, is a media construct, alluding to the mainstream Hajj, due to the strong influence of Islamization in South Sulawesi. Contestation takes place in three forms. First, mild contestation that shows religion and tradition accept and complement each other. Second, open contestation that distinguishes religious practices and traditions. Third, contestation that seeks to impose influence upon one another - a frontal conflict between religion and local traditions. This paper suggests that the study of Islam and culture in Indonesia, as a multicultural nation, still needs to be explored contextually and comprehensively as an ever-changing social phenomenon.

Keywords

• contestation
• islam
• local traditions
• bawakaraeng hajj
• bugis-makassar