The djakeuet is the Atjehnese Islamic rice tithe — the zakat al-fitr or zakat on rice — levied on the rice harvest in the Atjeh rice economy. The djakeuet is a religious obligation, distinct from the secular taxes of the colonial state, and is documented by J. Kreemer in his *De rijstcultuur in het gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden* (1918) as one of the principal deductions from the rice harvest.
The Minimum Harvest
The djakeuet is due only on harvests above a specified minimum. Kreemer records the regional variation in this minimum:
- In Groot-Atjeh: 7½ goentja (= 75 naléh = 1200 arè).
- On the Oostkust: 6 goentja.
- In Pidie: differently again (the figure is not given in the surviving text).
- In Gajo for the Meergebied: 3 koentjo.
- In Gajo elsewhere: 4½ koentjo.
- In the Alasland: 10 parah (where 1 parah = 1 koentjo).
The minimum is thus the threshold above which the djakeuet becomes due; below the minimum, no djakeuet is owed. The minimum varies by region according to the local measure-system and the local conception of a subsistence harvest.
The Rate
The rate of the djakeuet is uniformly 1/10 of the harvest — that is, one-tenth of the rice harvested is owed as djakeuet. Kreemer expresses this as:
- In Atjeh: 1 naléh for every goentja harvested (since 1 goentja = 10 naléh).
- In Gayo: 1 gantang for every koentjo harvested.
- In the Alasland: 1 parah for every 10 parah harvested (i.e. 1 koentjo in 10).
The 1/10 rate is the canonical Islamic zakat rate on agricultural produce, derived from the Quranic obligation of zakat and from the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. The djakeuet is thus the Atjehnese form of the universal Islamic zakat al-fitr.
The Practice
Kreemer notes, however, that the djakeuet is “volstrekt niet regelmatig opgebracht” — by no means regularly paid. The actual payment is, in practice, “geheel aan de vrijgevigheid der betrokkenen overgelaten” — wholly left to the generosity of those concerned. The djakeuet is thus a religious obligation that is recognised in principle but is not enforced in practice; its payment depends on the individual’s piety and on the social pressure of the local community.
This practical laxity in the payment of the djakeuet is a recurrent theme in the Dutch colonial literature on the religious life of the Netherlands Indies Muslims, and is one of the features of the Atjehnese religious practice that distinguishes it from the more formalised zakat systems of the Ottoman or the Arab worlds.
Place in the Atjeh Rice Economy
The djakeuet is one of the principal deductions from the rice harvest, alongside the sharecropper’s share (under the mawaih arrangement) and the labourers’ wages (under the kòh peung-oepah arrangement). The djakeuet is paid out after the harvest has been measured (seumeukat) — the operation by which the djakeuet is set aside and the sharecropper’s share (if any) is calculated.
The recipient of the djakeuet is, in the Atjehnese practice, the religious official of the local community — typically the teungkoe or the imeum of the meunasah (the village prayer-house). The djakeuet is thus, in principle, a contribution to the support of the religious infrastructure of the village, and is one of the channels by which the rice-economy of the village is connected to its religious life.
Significance
The djakeuet is the principal Islamic rice-tax of the Atjehnese rice-economy, and is one of the principal deductions from the rice harvest. The djakeuet is significant for the encyclopedia of Aceh history as a documented part of the Atjeh rice-economy, recording the Atjehnese form of the universal Islamic zakat al-fitr and its regional variation in the minimum harvest, the rate, and the practice. The practical laxity in the payment of the djakeuet is one of the documented features of the Atjehnese religious practice, distinguishing it from the more formalised zakat systems of other Muslim societies.
See Also
- Rijstbouw in Atjeh
- Sawah
- Mawaih
- Toempoh
- Goentja
- Naléh
- Kreemer’s De rijstcultuur in het gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden (1918)
- J. Kreemer
- Teungkoe meunasah
- Groot-Atjeh
- Gajoland
- Alasland
- Pidie
Source
De rijstcultuur in het gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, by J. Kreemer (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1918), p. 15 (the djakeuet, its regional minimum and rate, and the practical laxity in its payment).