Talk:Abangan

I've put a few musings on this topic, and comments by an Indonesian friend, on my scratchpad. --Singkong2005 03:42, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Word origin

Re this claim:

Abangan come from Arabic word aba'a, which mean "not obey", because the Abangan believe shariah should be interpreted figuratively rather than obeyed literally.

Interesting, but possibly wrong. There is nothing at all that I can find to support this claim, and elsewhere it is claimed that it's fom the Javanese for red (though I don't know what the connection is). Googling the terms finds only this article and mirrors of this article. If anyone knows a source for this claim, please provide it.

Incidentally I haven't heard Indonesians use this word - they usually refer to kejawen, Javanese traditional religion, which I think refers to the same people as abangan --Singkong2005 08:34, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

I think you are right my friend. Abangan is somewhat pejorative. Meursault2004 19:30, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

"Abangan" is taken from the javanese word "abang" or "red". it was originally and commonly used related to mock lower quality golden jewelry. golden jewelry with low gold content will turn reddish after few weeks. So it is pejorative, it is a way to say that the "Abangan" has low content of islamic spirit within their hearts.

Finding a book

I'm looking for a book written by a Singaporean official (most likely a foreign minister who traveled often to Indonesia). That book explains some of the Hindu and Buddhist aspects of the Malay World (in relation to Islamic traditions). --Komitsuki (talk) 13:31, 16 July 2010 (UTC)