The Comprehension of the Orang Rimba Muslim Converts Towards the Quran

Abstract

As it happens on various indigenous communities or Komunitas Adat Terpencil (KAT) in Indonesia, Orang Rimba in Jambi converted to religion over the past few decades, especially into Islam as the religion of Malay majority people in Jambi. During the conversion, whether Orang Rimba knows well the Quran as authoritative sources of Islamic doctrine? Explanative qualitative research in Dusun Air Hangat and Dusun Nebang Parah indicates that the older generation of Orang Rimba only knew about the Quran symbolically as a sacred scripture of Islam. In the younger generation, the knowledge of the Quran is growing better by having lessons in reading the Quran and Islamic studies. However, this activity is still inadequate in both quantity and quality and encounters many obstacles so that it requires the support of local government institutions, especially the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia.

RIMBA SINKRETIS: The Intersection of Islamic Spirituality in the Local Beliefs of the Indigenous Peoples of Makekal Hulu in Merangin District, Jambi Province

“…At least three factors encourage this religious conversion: first, adaptation strategies to be integrated with outside life; second, the impact of Islamic da'wah or so-called Islamization of Christian missionaries; and third, the obligation to include religion on the Identity Card (KTP). 10 The Orang Rimba community who prefer to be two-faced in practicing a religion is known as syncretism as a pattern of merging, which refers to the Greek syncretize in theory which means to combine. It refers to the mixing or amalgamation of different philosophies of thought, religion, and culture.…”