Uang Panai' Tradition and Household Resilience of Bugis Muslims: A Study of Islamic Law and Local Culture

Tradisi Uang panai’ dan Ketahanan Rumah Tangga Muslim Bugis: Kajian Hukum Islam dan Budaya Lokal

Abstract

The uang panai’ tradition a customary prestatory payment made by the groom’s family to the bride’s family in Bugis society of South Sulawesi, Indonesia occupies a contested position at the intersection of Islamic family law and indigenous cultural practice. This article examines the extent to which uang panai’ contributes to or undermines household resilience among Bugis Muslim couples, evaluating the practice through the frameworks of Islamic law (ʻadat-shariʻa relations), the doctrine of ʻurf (customary practice), and contemporary sociological understandings of marital stability. Employing a normative-juridical methodology supplemented by secondary sociological data, the study finds that uang panai’ functions ambivalently: while it reinforces social dignity, mutual commitment, and family honor that may support long-term marital resilience, its escalating monetary demands increasingly generate economic distress, delayed marriage, and class-based exclusions that destabilize family formation. The article concludes that Islamic ʻurftheory and the maqasid al-shariʻaħ framework together provide normative resources for reforming uang panai’ practices in ways that preserve cultural identity while aligning them with Islamic principles of facilitation (taysir) and the prevention of harm (darʼ al-mafsada).