KATOBA: A RITE OF PASSAGE IN MUNA SOCIETY, INDONESIA

La, Taena and Asliah, Zainal, and Sudarmi, Suud and La, Anse and Murni, Nia (2018) KATOBA: A RITE OF PASSAGE IN MUNA SOCIETY, INDONESIA. THE EASTERN ANTHROPOLOGIST.

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Abstract

As an archipelago country, Indonesia consists of more than 15 thousand islands which are habituated by more than 300 different ethnics. Each of them has their own ritual regarding the life cycle. This paper presents katoba, a tr aditi onal r ite of passage r el ated to the tr ansition fr om childhood to adolescence in Muna society, one of the large ethnics located in Southeast Sulawesi, central region of Indonesia. The rite of passage for Muna children consists of three cycles, namely kangkilo (circumcision), katoba (ritual of Islamizing) and karia (seclusion). Data garnered from observation, interview, and scripts or personal communication indicates that the ritual of katoba is the central and pivotal ritual among those three. Katoba, the ceremony of being Muslim (upacara pengislaman), is the initiation ritual performed on boys and girls around the age of 7-14 years. The ritual is considered as public ceremony because whether it is performed on one child or more children, it involves the nuclear family, relatives, and the society as a whole. Every child in Muna must undergo the ritual and it is the obligation for parents to hold katoba for their children as part of a way to purify them (ali kita). In the procession of katoba, the main practice is the verbal symbol containing the pledge repentance and testimony of faith (syahadat) as an entry point to becoming a Muslim, and the advices passed on from imam to the children. The advic es i nc l u de the obedi enc e to p ar ents and r espec t to other s (lansaringino), the way of cleansing (ka’ alano oe), and protection of human belonging (hakkunaasi). In general, the advic es maintain the traditional and religious morality as pivotal components of personality development to shape character and behavior as adults in their daily life. Indeed, the practice of katoba is not only a ritual to assert the faith as Muslims. Moreover, it contains both lessons and advices rooted in local wisdom as an educational channel that could help children during their integration into the community.

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