Tabot Bengkulu in the Perspective of Islamic Legal Sociology: A Case Study about Ritual, Authority Customs, and Shift Meaning from Sacred to Profane

Abstract

Tabot is an annual ritual observed on 1–10 Muharram in Bengkulu to commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali at Karbala. Although introduced from outside the region, it has become embedded in local society over centuries and constitutes a marker of regional cultural identity. This study examines Tabot through the sociology of Islamic law, focusing on its operation as a living norm, changes in its meaning and authority, and its assessment within normative Islamic law. A qualitative, literature-based case study was employed. The findings identify three principal dynamics. First, in its sacred phase, Tabot functioned as living law through ritual rules, taboos, sanctions believed to involve supernatural consequences, and authority vested in the Tabot family. Second, festivalization since the 1990s, involving local government participation and the emergence of Tabot Pembangunan (Development Tabot), has generated competing claims over the authority to define the tradition. Third, assessment through principles concerning custom and the objectives of Islamic law (maqāṣid al-sharīʿah) requires distinguishing its sociocultural practices from its associated beliefs. Its sociocultural elements may be accepted as valid custom (‘urf) insofar as they do not contradict Islamic legal texts, whereas beliefs involving sacred and magical powers require theological correction. The study concludes that Tabot warrants a differentiated assessment attentive to its social functions, changing authority, and normative implications. It contributes a contextualized academic interpretation of local traditions that integrates sociological analysis with Islamic legal and theological considerations.