Adb’e Molot — the Achehnese popular name for the month of Rabi’ al-akhir, the fourth month of the Mohammedan year — is one of the three “lucky months” appointed by Achehnese adat for the solemnisation of marriage. As Snouck Hurgronje records in his account of Achehnese marriage customs, “the day for the marriage is fixed by the seulangke in consultation with the parents of the bride. Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-awwal), Adb’e Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-akhir) and Kanduri Bu (Sha’ban) are regarded as lucky months, and the 6th, 14th and 22nd of the month as propitious days.” The choice of Adb’e Molot for marriage is one of the most important practical applications of the Achehnese calendar of lucky and unlucky times.
The three lucky months
The three lucky months named by the seulangke run consecutively, in the latter part of the Mohammedan year: Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-awwal), the month of the Prophet’s birth; Adb’e Molot (Rabi’ al-akhir), the “younger brother of Mo’lot”, so called because the birth of the Prophet Mohammad is commemorated in this month also; and Kanduri Bu (Sha’ban), the month immediately preceding the fast. The 6th, 14th and 22nd days of any of these three months are considered especially propitious for the wedding itself. Within this framework of lucky times, the elaborate sequence of Achehnese marriage ceremonies — from the betrothal-gift through the gacha evenings, the formal contract by the teungku, the great day of the wedding, and the seven days of festivity that follow it — is set in motion.
Significance
The selection of Adb’e Molot as a marriage-month is the natural complement of its character as a festive month. A marriage solemnised in the “younger brother of Mo’lot” partakes of the blessing that the commemoration of the Prophet’s birth brings to all undertakings begun in this season. The same triad of Mo’lot-months is also that within which the Mo’lot feast, which the Achehnese regard as obligatory, may be held: “The Mo’lot, which the Achehnese regard as obligatory, must be held in all gampongs either in the month of Mo’lot (on or after the 12th day) or in one of the two following months. It is from this that the latter derive their names ‘Younger Brother of Mo’lot’ and ‘Final Mo’lot’.” The festive character of Adb’e Molot thus belongs, in Achehnese life, both to the religious obligation of the Mo’lot kanduri and to the domestic celebration of marriage.
Additional account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Adbe Mo’lot
Adbe Mo’lot is the Achehnese popular name for the month of Rabi’ al-akhir, the fourth month of the Mohammedan year. The name means literally “the younger brother of Mo’lot”, since the birth of the Prophet Mohammad is commemorated in this month also; in the same way, the following month — Rajab in the Arabic calendar — is called the “Final Mo’lot” or “last of the Mo’lot brothers”. Less commonly the month is also called Rabioy Akhir, the Achehnese pronunciation of the Arabic Rabi’ al-akhir. The whole triad of Mo’lot months — Mo’lot, Adbe Mo’lot, and Mo’lot Seumeulheueh — is “considered suitable for feasts” of every kind.
Place in the Achehnese calendar
The Achehnese names of the Mohammedan months run, in order: Asan-Usen (Muharram), Safar, Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-awwal, from Maulud, the feast of the birth of Mohammad; less commonly called Rabioy Awal), Adbe Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-akhir, i.e. the younger brother of Mo’lot, since the birth of the Prophet is commemorated in this month also; less commonly called Rabioy Akhir), and so on. The names show how the commemoration of the Prophet’s birth has, in popular Achehnese usage, displaced the Arabic names of three consecutive months: the month of the Maulud and its two “younger brothers” form, in effect, a single festive season that extends from the 12th of Mo’lot to the close of the month following Rajab.
The Mo’lot feast in Adbe Mo’lot
The Mo’lot feast that the Achehnese regard as obligatory “must be held in all gampongs either in the month of Mo’lot (on or after the 12th day) or in one of the two following months.” It is from this that the latter derive their names “Younger Brother of Mo’lot” and “Final Mo’lot”. The place where the Mo’lot is celebrated is the meunasah. The day is fixed year by year by the headman so as not to clash with the pursuits of the villagers; care is taken at the same time to fix the dates so that no two gampongs of the same name shall celebrate the Mo’lot on the same day or after too short an interval, “because all the people of the same mukim are invited to each feast”. Those who live in other gampongs in the same mukim are the guests of the whole gampong and receive a formal invitation through the imeum. The transposition of the Mo’lot feast to Adbe Mo’lot, or to the still later Mo’lot Seumeulheueh, is thus one of the chief practical uses of the three-month festive season: it allows a single mukim to spread its Mo’lot feasts over many weeks.
A lucky month for marriage
Adbe Mo’lot is one of the months regarded by the Achehnese as especially lucky for marriage. When the day for a marriage is fixed by the seulangke in consultation with the parents of the bride, “Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-awwal), Adbe Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-akhir) and Kanduri Bu (Sha’ban) are regarded as lucky months, and the 6th, 14th and 22nd of the month as propitious days.” The selection of Adbe Mo’lot as a marriage-month is the natural complement of its character as a festive month: a marriage solemnised in the “younger brother of Mo’lot” partakes of the blessing that the commemoration of the Prophet’s birth brings to all undertakings begun in this season.
See Also
- Adbe Mo’lot
- Mo’lot (Rabi’ al-awwal)
- Mo’lot Seumeulheueh
- Kanduri Bu
- Kanduri Mo’lot
- Tanda kong narit
- Prophet Mohammad
- Maulud (Mo’lot)
- Asan-Usen
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.