Negotiating Hybridity through Marriage Rituals: The Bimanese Muslim Diaspora in Catholic Manggarai, Eastern Indonesia

Abdul Wahid (Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram)
Atun Wardatun (Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram)
Fransiska Widyawati (Universitas Katolik Indonesia Santa Paulus Ruteng)
Syukri Syukri (Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram)
Syaban Abdul Karim (Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram)
Nur Dafiq (Universitas Katolik Indonesia Santa Paulus Ruteng)

Jurnal Ilmiah Al-Syir'ah
Vol 24, No 1 (2026)

This study investigates the presence of Muslim diasporas within a predominantly Catholic society in eastern Indonesia, focusing on the Bimanese Muslim diaspora community in Manggarai. Despite growing scholarship on Muslim minorities in Catholic-majority regions of Indonesia, how everyday ritual practice mediates cultural identity at the contact zone between diaspora communities and host societies has received little systematic attention. This article focuses on their matrimonial customs and the determinants influencing their evolution and persistence, highlighting that marriage rite functions as a mechanism for negotiating identity and maintaining intercultural coexistence in a minority-majority religious setting. In such situation, social processes emerge as identity negotiations created and enacted by cultural agents within diaspora populations. This study adopts an interpretive paradigm and qualitative methodology, employing ethnography as its primary technique to conduct a thorough analysis of the Bima community and culture in Manggarai, encompassing West Manggarai, Manggarai, and East Manggarai districts. Drawing on the theory of cultures of hybridity, this article reveals a dynamic cultural hybridity shaped by three diasporic models: commercial, institutional, and da'wah. Through nuanced negotiations, the community navigates dual identities, fostering intercultural solidarity and redefining cultural boundaries. The coexistence arises from an interplay between the local community's "code of honor" and the diaspora's cultural-religious "code of conduct", creating a dynamic of mutual respect and adaptation. By balancing these codes, the Bimanese Muslim diaspora integrates into the host culture while preserving their religious identity. This study contributes to underscore that life cycle rituals, especially marriage, serve as a pivotal social performance and a powerful medium for intercultural dialogue, underscoring the agency of diasporic communities in shaping multicultural landscapes.