As I sat on my veranda at Lake Maninjau, watching two iguana’s play in the waters, I contemplated Minang culture and the influence of Islam on it. Minang culture is matrilineal, meaning the women are in charge. But Minang culture is also Islamic. The matrilineal aspect dates from pre-Islamic times, and the introduction of Islam didn’t change that. In a sense it is a strange mix, since Islam, like nearly all religions, is patriarchal. How can those two opposites be reconciled I wondered. How did it work? Just by looking at the people, one would not guess the matrilineal nature of the Minang. It is not as if the men are slaving away in the fields, while the woman sit smoking a cigarette in the shade, chatting to friends. No quite the opposite, as elsewhere in
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