Adat - what is it? Definition, meaning of a word

Adat is (Javi: عادت) - a general term borrowed from the Arabic language to describe the diverse local customs and traditions performed by Muslim communities in the North Caucasus, Central as well as Southeast Asia. Despite its Arab origin, the term "adat" is widespread throughout the entire sea-coast of Southeast Asia, where, because of its colonial influence, it has been used systematically in various non-Muslim communities. In the pre-Islamic period of history, there were many legal norms regulating the life of communities, and one of them was adat. The meaning of the word "adat" was often opposed to sharia law

The essence of adat

In the legal field, adat are the norms of customary law, rules, prohibitions and orders of the leadership regarding the conduct of an individual as a member of the Muslim community and sanction for their violation. Also, these are forms of addressing different segments of the population for whom these rules and regulations are drawn up. They are quite conservative and strict. Adat also includes a set of local and traditional laws, dispute settlement systems, through which society has existed for centuries.

Adat in the North Caucasus and Central Asia

Before the advent of Islam, the peoples of the North Caucasus and Central Asia had long established norms of criminal and civil law, which in the Islamic period began to be called adat. In traditional societies of Central Asia, it is established and supervised by authoritative members of the community, usually by the council of aksakals. It is based on a tribal code of conduct and on centuries of experience in resolving conflicts between individuals, communities and tribes. In the Northern Caucasus, with respect to traditional values, the adat code ruled that the teip (clan) is the main reference point for loyalty, honor, shame and collective responsibility.

The colonial administration of the Russian Empire did not interfere with the legal practice and delegated control at the level of local communities to the Councils of aksakals and teips. So did the Bolsheviks in the first years of the 1917 revolution. Adat practiced among the inhabitants of Central Asia and Caucasians until the early 1930s, until the Soviet government banned its use and replaced it with civil legislation.

Adat in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia, the concept of "adat" and its meaning were first formulated in an Islamized Malay-speaking world. Apparently, this was done to distinguish between traditional and Muslim norms. In the 15th century, the Malaykay Sultanate developed a code of international maritime law, as well as civil and economic codes, which had a clear influence of the law under the name "Sharia." Adat also had a very strong impact on these legal documents. These codes later spread throughout the region and became full sources of law for local jurisprudence in such large regional sultanates as Brunei, Johor, Pattani and Aceh.

Adat in the East Indies and its study

In the first decades of the twentieth century in the Dutch East India the study of adat arose as a specialized field of study. Although this is related to the needs of the colonial administration, the study nevertheless generated an active scientific discipline that affected different systems of adat comparisons in different countries. Among the outstanding scientists involved in the study of adat, Dutch Van Vallenhoven, Ter Haar, and Snouck Hungronche are listed. Several key concepts that are still used today under customary law exist in modern Indonesia. They include the "law of the adat," "the law of the adat circles," "communal right to land or their use," and "community law." The adat law was used by the colonial government as a legal term for normative law, which was represented by an independent legal direction, in addition to canon law. Local laws and customs of all ethnic groups, including non-Muslims, began to be collectively referred to as the "adat" - a word that had a broad legal meaning. Its norms and provisions were coded in the legal documents of these countries, according to which legal pluralism was introduced in the territory of the East Indies. According to this scheme, on the basis of the classification of the adat systems as a cultural and geographical unit, the Dutch divided the entire East India into at least nineteen legal zones.

Modern influence of adat

Adat is still used in the courts of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia (countries where the state religion is Islam) as civil law in some aspects. In Malaysia, the Constitution of each state has authorized Malayan government representatives, such as the Head of Islam and the Malayan customs. The Councils of the States, known as the Mejlis of Agama Islam dad Adat (the Council of Islam and the Malayan customs) are responsible for advising state leaders, as well as for regulating the affairs of Islam and adat.

Judicial regulation of sprees using customary law

Judicial proceedings on issues relating to Islam and adat cases (for example, the sharing of joint property of spouses and their common children) are carried out in the Shariah court. The adat law is that in most cases it regulates civil and family relations in the Muslim part of Southeast Asia. In the states of Sarawak and Sabah, the collection of adats of the non-Malaysian indigenous community of Malaysia was legalized by creating special courts known as Mahkamaha Bumiputra and Mahkamah Anak Negeri. There is also a parallel system for ethnic Malays, which is called Makhkamah itself, but it has very limited jurisdiction.

In Indonesia, the adat law continues to have great legal significance in some areas, especially in most Hindu villages on Bali, in the Tengger region and in the Sultanates of Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

Adat in the post-Soviet space

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the practice of adat in Central Asia began to revive in the 1990s among Muslim communities in rural areas. This was largely due to the breakdown of law and law enforcement institutions in most areas of the Central Asian region. The emergence of new Constitutions in the republics also contributed to this process, as it expanded the capacity of some traditional institutions, such as councils of elders (aksakals). Some administrative bodies are also often guided by adat norms.

Caucasian and Chechen adats

For centuries, the traditional clan system of community self-government existed in the North Caucasus. Chechen adats emerged under Shamil. Word "Adat," the definition and translation of which denotes the concept of "custom or habit," plays a colossal role for the North Caucasian peoples. After Stalin's times, he again began to operate in secret (from the 1950s of the twentieth century). For Chechens, adat is an unshakable rule of conduct in the family and society. Any decent Chechen family shows respect and care for the older generation, especially about the parents. Older parents live with one of their sons. Because of the repression of Islamic scholars during the Stalin years, the adat, which existed in Chechnya and Dagestan, practically did not contain elements of Islamic law. However, a growing number of Muslim scholars published in the collections of adats, whose materials are used in making important decisions in village councils and district administrations.