The Malam dua ploh tujoh (“the 27th night”) was the Achehnese popular name for the night preceding the 27th of Ramadhan, which they identified with the Lailat al-Qadar or Night of Divine Decree. In Acheh it was on this night, rather than on the 21st (malam salikur, preferred in much of Java), that the greatest animation was displayed. The night was observed as the most probable anniversary of the night on which, according to Mohammedan teaching, the eternal Quran was sent down by Allah to the world below, to be revealed to Mohammad piece by piece through the agency of the Archangel Gabriel.
Before every housedoor was set a lighted lamp with seven mouths, or “eyes” as the Achehnese called them. The young amused themselves by letting off crackers (beudèe China, i.e. “little Chinese guns”). At sunset, persons of substance brought complete idangs to the meunasah, so that on this occasion the celebrants of the feast might enjoy a hearty meal instead of the preliminary mess of pottage with which they usually broke their fast. The display of lamps and fireworks gave the night a distinctly festive character, in pointed contrast to the sober devotions of the preceding days of the fast.
The tradition had it that during the qadar night the very trees bowed to the ground in awe in the direction of the kiblat—that is, toward the Sacred Mosque at Mecca. This was firmly believed by the Achehnese, though with the restriction that the phenomenon was rarely visible to the eyes of ordinary mortals. The young folk, however, made expeditions on the night of the 27th “to seek trees doing obeisance” (taja mita kayèe sujud), though, as Snouck Hurgronje warns, this popular expression must not be taken too seriously. The expedition was at once a jest and a half-pious outing, characteristic of the Achehnese talent for combining religious observance with social amusement.
The malam dua ploh tujoh marked the climax of the second half of Ramadhan, during which the bustle of the market, which had been almost entirely suspended in the first half, gradually grew greater and reached its zenith in the last three days. These last three days bore the same names as the last three of the previous month—urèe peutron, urèe pu’ah, and urèe seuneusèèk; they were also known as the urèe meugang, since the word meugang suggested the days which precede a feast. The slaughter of cattle at the end of the fast was almost as great as that before its commencement, while the trade in articles of dress and the like was much brisker. On the feast day which followed the fast all attire themselves in new garments, and the regard of a man for his wife and children was measured by the presents—known as “bringing home meat”—which he brought them from the fair.
The night thus stood at the meeting-point of two annual rhythms: the rhythm of the fasting month, with its progressive intensification of devotion culminating in the night of the qadar, and the rhythm of the agricultural and commercial year, with its market-fairs and its ritual slaughter of cattle. Through the malam dua ploh tujoh the two cycles were drawn together, and the most sacred night of the Achehnese religious calendar was made to coincide with the most lively of its popular festivals.
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.