`Meunasah' play strategic role in the life of Acehnese

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

The off-white, two-story building looks conspicuous in the Peunyerat neighborhood in western Banda Aceh. From the rounded entranceway and the green steel doors, it is not all that obvious, but a miniature minaret outside gives it away.

For most people of Aceh, the meunasah is not the same as mushollah, the mini-mosque found in many villages in Java. Here in Aceh, the meunasah is the center of all community activities: from holding community meetings, making decisions affecting their lives, to performing marriages for members of the community.

Now, as Aceh prepares to rebuild the lives of some 600,000 people displaced by the Dec. 26 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami, some experts believe that building meunasah must be part and parcel of rebuilding Acehnese communities.

Rebuilding Aceh is not simply about the physical reconstruction of the villages. The culture of Aceh, and especially the place of meunasah in the life of people, must also be taken into consideration.

"The role of meunasah dates back to the time of the Islamic sultanate in Aceh in the 14th century. It is an institution that has been maintained to this day," Al-Yasa' Abubakar, head of the Aceh province's Syariah Office told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Meunasah helps to build character, behavior and the lifestyle of the people of Aceh. A decision made by the village head is not legal until it is endorsed in the meunasah. And it goes without saying that such decisions will be more quickly disseminated and supported.

Because of the important role it plays, for Acehnese, meunasah represents the community.

In 1979, the central government in Jakarta imposed standard administrative structures across the nation (village, district, regency and province).

This imposition distorted the structure that existed for hundreds of years in Aceh, which comprises the meunasah (equivalent to village), a ulee balang (equivalent to district) and raja (equivalent to regency), with the sultanate at the top.

"Of course, that structure was wiped out because of that ruling," Abubakar said.

The meunasah, however, have retained some, but not all, of their former functions.

Abubakar recalls that meunasah also functioned as centers of learning, both formal and informal.

The name meunasah has its origins in the word madrasah, the religious Islamic school.

It is not only a place where people go to learn, but also a place where learned people impart their knowledge to their respective communities.

In addition, once a son reached his teen years, he was expected to move and start living in meunasah and no longer with his parents.

The tengku, which is a title given to teachers in the meunasah, has the responsibility of guiding these teens until they become adults and are ready to get married.

Here, young boys received religious instruction and learned about morality, ethics and social relations, Abubakar said.

Azman Ismail, the grand imam of Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, lamented that meunasah had lost some of its meaning due to the process of modernization.

"Our young people today have been affected by foreign cultures. They are abandoning meunasah," he said. "This is the right time for us to restore the culture and tradition of meunasah and defend ourselves from the intrusion of foreign cultures."

Tengku Ibrahim Samahani, an ulema from Samahani village in Aceh Besar, said that foreign cultures included those brought by migrants from Java. "They build mushollah (mini-mosques) that are not the same as meunasah", he said.

What's in a name, some might ask.

"For me, the name is important because it also motivates people to observe its true functions," he said.

Muhammad Insya, who lives next to the meunasah in Peunyerat, admits that the facility today is used mostly to conduct prayers five times a day.

Young boys only come to sleep there during the Ramadhan fasting month. They would recite the Koran and then wake people up for the pre-dawn meal. But then, however, they go back to their homes, Insya said.

There was a time when people got married in meunasah, he recalls, citing that his two children were probably among the last to do so.

"There is a belief that if you don't get married in a meunasah, it could affect your life and marriage. You won't be so prosperous, and you may not even conceive a child," he said.

Andri, an economics graduate from the Syiah Kuala University who lives in the neighborhood, is one of many youths who are skeptical about the role of meunasah, given that today people go to formal schools.

"I don't think we should abandon praying in meunasah. But I don't think we (boys) need to sleep there before getting married. That's so outdated."