Abstract
The Minangkabau of West Sumatra are devout Moslems and at the same time followers of matrilineal adat (tradition). Scholars have long been perplexed over this seemingly contradictory combination of patrilineally-oriented Islam and matriliny : like the proverbial Chinese merchant who tried to sell an allegedly unbreakable lance and an impenetrable shield in a single deal, isn't Minangkabau society contradicting itself? The Minangkabau "paradox" has remained unexplained, since scholars tend simply to compare Islamic legal principles with matrilineal adat laws and practices. This paper looks rather at the paradox in its historical context, aiming to find out what Islam signified to Minangkabau society in the process of its Islamization. A crucial influence was the Padri movement, an Islamic reformism which rocked Minangkabau society between the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century. Islam, together with matrilineal adat , came to be perceived as offering a new basis of Minangkabau identity and solidarity against the encroachment into the "Minangkabau World" of two infidel foreign powers, the Dutch and the Batak of northern Sumatra.
