Why Bidayuhs Don’t Want to Become Muslim: Ethnicity, Christianity, and the Politics of Religion

Abstract

Shortly after starting fieldwork, I got into a convivial conversation with Paka and his wife, Sumuk Meroi, about marriage adat before the coming of Christianity. Over sweet coffee and biscuits, the couple coyly recalled their brief teenage courtship and subsequent wedding: a boisterous, full-blown, villagewide celebration that lasted all night. But weddings today, they mused, were different: People got married in church in an altogether less rami (merry, raucous, crowded) fashion. Moreover, going to church was only one of many possible marriage options in the moden world, because Bidayuhs were now marrying more people from other bangsa (ethnic groups or races)¹ who might do things differently. Drawing with a modicum of pride on personal memory, they reeled off a list of people whom Bidayuhs could wed: Iban, Orang Ulu, Chinese, Indians, and Europeans. Impressed, I remarked that it sounded like Bidayuhs could marry anyone in the world. At this, Paka’s face grew dark. “But there is one bangsa that Bidayuhs cannot marry,” he said quietly, “Bidayuhs cannot marry Malays—Islamic people.” Not entirely surprised by this observation, having heard anti-Malay rumblings elsewhere in the village, I pressed him on why this was so. “Because,” he replied immediately, “they do not eat pork.”