当報告の内容は著者の著作物です。
International Workshop on Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia
Organized by: Kota Kinabalu Liaison Office, ILCAA in TUFS
Date:

Sunday, September 11,

Time:

14:00-18:00

2011

Venue:Manukan Room, Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu,

Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, Sinsuran, Kota Kinabalu, 88000, Malaysia

The Wedding ceremony as an Expression of Modern Muslim Identity:
The Case of Central Java
Momo Shioya(The University of Shimane)This paper examines the recent change of Muslim wedding ceremonies in Central
Java, Indonesia. Recently, the trend of wearing a veil is popular in Indonesia, especiallyamong the middle class and high educated women. This trend is caused by manyreasons, for example the Islamic revival, the withdrawal of restrictions on wearing veils
in public schools and the public offices, fashion trends and so on. Linked with thesetrends, Muslim wedding ceremonies are also changing. Two phenomena can be seen in
the Muslim Wedding ceremony, the former is the change of wedding dress and the latteris the change of wedding ceremony.
The recent Muslim wedding apparel style changes can be seen in the wearing ofMuslim-style veils, long-sleeves and long dresses. Some full-colored fashion magazines
and tabloids for Muslim brides are also influential. Many modern Muslim wedding
dresses which are based on ethnic wedding dresses are featured. Some dresses are
based on western white wedding dress and the groom wear a suit. English words are
obvious in the magazine, for example, trendy, simple, elegant and so on. And an
Indonesian word is also prominent that is the word “modern” or modern in Indonesian.
Some brides who do not wear veils daily, also wear the Muslim style veil at thewedding ceremony. So, this act is not only to emphasis the Muslim style but issometimes simply based on a fashion trend. And wearing a veil is more efficient than
the traditional Javanese wedding style.
Javanese women put up their hair in sanggur style on formal occasions, including
wedding ceremonies.

But, recently many women, not only the bride but also therelatives and guests, tend to wear veils at the wedding ceremony. The dressing of

sanggur hair takes time, so wearing a veil is sometimes considered more efficient since
they can save the time and money that is needed to go to the hair salon to put their hairup for sanggur

style.

The second, the change of the wedding ceremony is based on the emphasis ofMuslim style. At my study site in Central Java, some component of ritual, which

includes mainly offerings to the spirits, is no longer common since it is perceived to beand explained as a non-Islamic component. Some Javanese ceremonial acts which takeplace at the wedding ceremony are also omitted. Because of this, some Muslim wedding
ceremonies have become simple and can be completed in a short time. The preparationsfor Muslim-style wedding also can save time, money and labor since the Javanese stylewedding is full of ceremonial acts and is more complicated.
The wedding can be conceived of, as an occasion to show their identity sinceJavanese weddings are very large-scale and it is not rear to invite hundreds of guests tothe ceremony. The recent change of the wedding is based on the emphasis of Modern
Muslim identity especially among the middle class Muslims. And this style of weddingis more suitable to their modern life-style since it is more efficient than the traditional
one.