The Liha’i is the Achehnese form of religious recitation in which portions of the Quran are recited in chorus by the teungkus and leubes present at a kanduri or other pious feast. As C. Snouck Hurgronje records in his account of the Kanduri la’ot, the liha’i is one of three forms of consecration by which a kanduri may be opened: before the company proceeds to attack the good cheer spread before them, the feast is consecrated either by the like (Arabic dhikr), by the seulaweuet (the repetition of psalms of praise in honour of the Prophet), or by the liha’i — the recitation in chorus of portions of the Quran. The three forms appear to be alternative rather than complementary, and the choice between them is presumably determined by the character of the feast and the devotional preferences of those who give it.
The liha’i differs from the like and the seulaweuet in being a direct recitation of the Quran itself, rather than a pious exercise composed in its honour. The like is the Arabic dhikr, the rhythmic repetition of the divine name or of short litanies, often associated with the mystical orders of Islam; the seulaweuet is the recitation of ṣalawāt, the psalms of praise in honour of the Prophet Mohammad. The liha’i, by contrast, is the word of God itself, recited by those who have learned it by heart, and chanted in such a manner that the worshippers present may share in the merit of its utterance. The requirement that the reciters be teungkus and leubes — that is, persons of recognised religious learning — ensures that the recitation is performed by those qualified to discharge so solemn a duty.
The liha’i is mentioned by Hurgronje principally in connection with the kanduri la’ot of the pukat-fishermen, where it appears as one of the three possible forms of consecration. It is probable, however, that the same form was available for any Achehnese kanduri at which a sufficient number of teungkus and leubes were assembled. The recitation of the Quran is, of course, one of the most meritorious of all pious acts in Islam, and the communal recitation — in which the merit is shared by all who hear and all who join — is a natural way of opening a feast given for a religious purpose. The Achehnese preference for one or another of the three forms (the like, the seulaweuet, or the liha’i) probably reflects the composition of the company: a kanduri attended chiefly by teungkus and leubes would naturally be opened with the liha’i, while one attended by a more mixed company might prefer the seulaweuet or the like.
The liha’i, like the like and the seulaweuet, belongs to that class of Achehnese religious practices in which the universal forms of Islamic devotion are adapted to the purposes of the local kanduri. It illustrates the flexibility of the Achehnese religious system, in which a single feast — whether the annual kanduri of the fishermen, the memorial kanduri of the dead, or the domestic kanduri of a private householder — may be opened by any one of several forms of consecration, according to the means and the preferences of those who give it. The liha’i, as the most directly Quranic of the three, may be regarded as the most solemn; and it is therefore fitting that it should be recorded by Hurgronje in connection with the great annual kanduri of the fishermen, at which a buffalo is slaughtered and the whole lho’ of pawangs assembles to invoke God’s blessing on the year’s labours.
See Also
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.