Faktor Penghambat Integrasi Budaya Arab-Melayu di Palembang: Endogami dalam Perspektif Historis dan Sosial-Budaya Factors Hindering Arab-Malay Cultural Integration in Palembang: Endogamy from Historical and Socio-Cultural Perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRAK: Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis bagaimana praktik endogami memengaruhi proses integrasi budaya Arab–Melayu di Palembang serta menjelaskan faktor-faktor historis yang memperkuat keberlangsungan praktik tersebut. Penelitian menggunakan metode sejarah yang meliputi heuristik, verifikasi (kritik sumber), interpretasi, dan historiografi. Data diperoleh melalui studi pustaka yang didukung oleh sumber lisan melalui wawancara. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa praktik endogami pada masyarakat Arab, khususnya golongan Sayid, pada dasarnya merupakan tradisi yang telah dibawa dari Hadramaut sebagai upaya menjaga kesinambungan nasab (ahl al-bayt). Namun, dalam konteks Palembang, praktik tersebut mengalami penguatan melalui dinamika sejarah. Pada masa Kesultanan Palembang Darussalam, kedudukan sosial-politik masyarakat Arab yang relatif tinggi mendorong terbentuknya pola pernikahan dengan kalangan elite. Selanjutnya, pada masa kolonial Belanda, kebijakan penggolongan penduduk dan segregasi permukiman semakin memperkuat eksklusivitas komunitas Arab. Kondisi tersebut menyebabkan praktik perkawinan endogami tetap bertahan sebagai norma sosial yang membatasi integrasi melalui institusi pernikahan. Meskipun proses akulturasi budaya Arab–Melayu berlangsung dalam berbagai aspek kehidupan, seperti agama, bahasa, ekonomi, dan tradisi, integrasi melalui hubungan kekerabatan berkembang secara lebih terbatas. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa keterbatasan integrasi budaya Arab–Melayu tidak semata-mata disebabkan oleh praktik endogami, melainkan oleh proses historis yang memperkuat dan mempertahankan praktik tersebut sebagai bagian dari identitas sosial komunitas Arab di Palembang.
Kata Kunci: Integrasi Budaya; Arab-Melayu Palembang;endogami; Sosial-Budaya.

ABSTRACT: This study aims to analyze how endogamous marriage has influenced the process of Arab–Malay cultural integration in Palembang and to explain the historical factors that reinforced the persistence of this practice. The research employs the historical method, consisting of heuristics (data collection through archival research and interviews), source criticism, interpretation, and historiography. The findings reveal that endogamy among the Arab community, particularly the Sayyid (Ba'Alawi) group, was not a tradition that originated in Palembang but had been inherited from Hadramaut as a means of preserving genealogical continuity (ahl al-bayt). Within the Palembang context, however, this practice was reinforced by historical developments. During the Palembang Sultanate, the relatively privileged socio-political position of the Arab community encouraged marital alliances with the local aristocracy. Subsequently, under Dutch colonial rule, legal classification of the population and residential segregation further strengthened the exclusivity of the Arab community. These historical processes contributed to the institutionalization of endogamy as a social norm that limited cultural integration through intermarriage. Although Arab–Malay cultural interaction developed in various aspects of public life, including religion, language, commerce, architecture, and religious traditions, integration through kinship relations remained relatively limited. This study argues that the limited cultural integration between Arabs and Malays in Palembang should not be understood solely as a consequence of endogamous marriage itself, but rather as the outcome of historical processes that reinforced and sustained endogamy as an important component of Arab communal identity.
Keywords: Cultural Integration; Arab-Malay Palembang; Endogamy; Socio-Cultural.