Mo’lot (from Maulud, the feast of the birth of Mohammad) was the Achehnese name both for the month of Rabi’ al-awwal—the third month of the Mohammedan year—and for the great annual feast of the Prophet’s birthday which fell within it. The 12th of this month was, according to the now generally accepted tradition, the date both of the birth and of the death of the Prophet, and on this day many other important occurrences were believed to have taken place during the 63 years which separated these two events. Although the festival was not one of the two officially ordained by the law—since, as may be supposed, it did not begin to be observed until long after Mohammad’s death—it was in fact accepted as obligatory, especially in the Indian Archipelago, and entirely overshadowed the so-called “great feast” of the 10th of the 12th month.
The Achehnese regarded the observance of the Mo’lot as specially binding on the people of their country. To account for this they referred to a historical legend connected with a certain cannon, which before the coming of the Dutch to Acheh formed part of the defences of the Dalam. Native peoples commonly gave proper names to certain cannons, which they regarded more or less as personified and even worshipped as sacred after a time; in Acheh there were many such guns, among them one which bore the title Lada Sichupa (“a chupa of pepper”). The legend told of an Achehnese embassy to the Sultan of Turkey in the 16th century, which arrived in Constantinople with a cargo of pepper reduced by misfortune to a single chupa; the Sultan, having heard their tale, sent back the cannon and a letter directing the Achehnese to hold an annual Mo’lot feast. “Such is the explanation given of the fact that this festival has been so universally adopted in Acheh”, wrote Snouck Hurgronje.
The Mo’lot, which the Achehnese regarded as obligatory, had to be held in all gampongs either in the month Mo’lot (on or after the 12th day) or in one of the two following months—Adb’e Mo’lot (Rabīʿ al-ākhir, the “Younger Brother of Mo’lot”) and Kanduri Bu (Shaʿban, the “Final Mo’lot”)—from which the latter derived their names. The place of celebration was the meunasah. The day was fixed year by year by the keuchi’ so as not to clash with the pursuits of the villagers; care was taken at the same time to fix the dates so that no two gampongs of the same mukim should celebrate the Mo’lot on the same day or after too short an interval, because all the people of the same mukim were invited to each feast. Each head of family brought an idang to the meunasah; the cost of a single idang amounted to as much as four dollars, so that the less well-to-do families clubbed together, three, four or five at a time, to provide a single one.
The guests, who were of course all men, assembled in the meunasah usually in the forenoon. The Teungku and the leubes appeared a little earlier than the others, as they had to recite the Mo’lot—more particularly the Maulid sharaful ‘anam of al-Bakhārī, which bore the title of “Birth of the Glory of Mankind” and was called Charapha anam in Acheh. The recitation was called meulikè (from dhikr) in Acheh, just as the Javanese spoke of the dikir maulid. The prose pieces were recited by one person, but others of those assembled might take a turn to relieve the reader. About the middle of the Charapha anam came a hymn of praise which all the experts present raised in chorus, while the congregation handed them pieces of black thread in which they tied knots during the chant, the knotted threads being afterwards placed round the necks of children as infallible charms.
After the prayer, the people of the gampong and their guests commenced their onslaught on the good cheer that awaited them. A specially great kanduri Mo’lot was held on the actual Mo’lot day at the tomb of Teungku Anjong in Gampong Jawa—one of three annual kanduris at that shrine—on which occasion one or more buffaloes were slaughtered. The festival thus wove together three strands of Achehnese religious life: the universal Mohammedan devotion to the Prophet, the particular legend of Acheh’s homage to the Sultan of Turkey, and the local cult of the saints whose tombs sanctified the Achehnese soil.
Additional account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Molot
Molot was the Achehnese popular name for the month of Rabi’ al-awwal, the third month of the Mohammedan lunar year, and the month in which the great annual feast of the Prophet’s birthday—the Mo’lot or maulud—was held. Less commonly the month was called Rabioy Awal, the Achehnese pronunciation of its Arabic name. Its place in the Achehnese year was defined by the keunong reckoning: keunong limong (the 5th of the keunong series) fell in this month, corresponding to about the 16th of September in the solar year, and in this keunong the musem tiniu (the north-east monsoon) commenced and the second division of the seine-fishers celebrated their kanduri la’ot.
The month took its Achehnese name from the kanduri Mo’lot held in it, and from the recitation of the Maulid sharaful ‘anam which formed the central act of that kanduri. According to the now generally accepted tradition, the 12th of this month was the date both of the birth and of the death of the Prophet; on this day many other important occurrences were believed to have taken place during the 63 years which separated these two events. Although the festival was not one of the two officially ordained by the law, it was accepted as obligatory in the Indian Archipelago, and entirely overshadowed the so-called “great feast” of the 10th of the 12th month. The Achehnese regarded the observance of the Mo’lot as specially binding on the people of their country, referring the obligation to a legendary Achehnese embassy to the Sultan of Turkey and the cannon Lada Sichupa which formed part of the defences of the Dalam.
As a month, Molot was one of three consecutive lucky months in the Achehnese calendar, together with Adb’e Mo’lot (Rabīʿ al-ākhir, “Younger Brother of Mo’lot”) and Kanduri Bu (Shaʿban, “Final Mo’lot”). The Mo’lot had to be held in all gampongs either in this month (on or after the 12th day) or in one of the two following; the latter derived their names from this extension. The day for the kanduri was fixed year by year by the keuchi’ so as not to clash with the pursuits of the villagers, and care was taken that no two gampongs of the same mukim should celebrate the Mo’lot on the same day or after too short an interval. The 6th, 14th and 22nd of the month were regarded as propitious days for marriage, and Molot was accordingly one of the months in which Achehnese weddings were most often celebrated.
Beyond the great feast of the Prophet’s birthday, the month was marked by the third of the three annual kanduris held in the dè’ah (prayer-house) at the tomb of the great saint Teungku Anjong in Gampong Jawa, which took place on the night before the 14th of Ramadhan but was anticipated by some of the devotional associations attached to the Molot season. Through these several observances the month of Molot wove together the universal Mohammedan calendar of devotion with the particular cycles of Achehnese agriculture, fishing and saint-worship—a pattern characteristic of the way in which Islam had been naturalised in Achehnese soil.
Sources
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.
See Also
- Maulid sharaful ‘anam
- Kanduri Mo’lot
- Kanduri Bu
- Embassy from Acheh to the Sultan of Turkey
- Teungku Anjong
- Kanduri la’ot
- Musem Tiniu
- Keunong
- Maulud
- Kanduri
- Gampong Jawa
- Sultan of Turkey
- Prophet Mohammad
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.