Adat Perpatih, the unique custom of Negeri Sembilan

I have been prompted by Pakcik Hasan of Al-Manar, a friend from Trengganu to write something on Adat Perpatih which is the custom practiced by the Malays largely in Negeri Sembilan which had its origins from "Tanah Mengandung" which is the term denoting to the region settled by the Minangkabaus in West Sumatera.
                       Having been born in Negeri Sembilan, I suppose people presume that I ought to know  about the custom compared to those from outside who are normally referred to as practisisng the "Adat Temenggong". In fact, from the day I was born, I became a member of the "suku"  which is a term describing to which clan one belongs as there are twelve clans altogether  or "suku" indicating one's roots. I am from the 'suku biduanda' which means that I come from the ancestors who were regarded as the original inhabitants of Negeri Sembilan traced from the mother's roots as is practised in the matriarchial society of the "Adat Perpatih". That means my descendants from my mother's side were not immigrants from Minangkabau, although by marriage the man's side might have been from ' Tanah Mengandung '. Thus when my late grandmother said that her roots were from the original inhabitants, she added that it could be adduced that we had a close blood ties with the Jakuns and the Semangs (negritos) who first populated the Peninsula when I learned from the history books of Malaya during my schooldays on the Proto-Malays.
                         The most significant part of the 'adat ' is the well-defined system of 'kinship' as traced from the matrilineal system and it follows the rights and obligations of the members of the society therefrom. The most popular perception of outsiders from the "Adat" is that if a man who marries a woman from a certain suku, (marrying a woman from the same suku is taboo) is widowed owing to separation by divorce or death of the woman, he leaves home and goes back to his clan only with the shirt on his back,so to speak. This is somewhat untrue, because if the man and the wife had lived separately from the woman's customary home (inherited through the mother's customary property) and acquired the house by his sweat and tears, that property does not fall within the customary property and he has the right to continue staying, provided the land on which the house was built belongs to him.
                    Another popular saying which has quoted on the adat is "Biar mati anak jangan mati adat " which to many from outside Negeri Sembilan as being cruel. That saying is a way of impressing upon the followers of the adat, that if the society does not hold fast to it, than the society will disintegrate, as it is the adat that binds them together through good and bad times. It is a figure of speech and not to be taken literally. There are many more sayings that denote the social cohesiveness of the adat as follows;

Bulat air kerana pembetung
Bulat manusia kerana muafakat
Kegunung sama didaki
kelurah sama dituruni
Hati gajah sama dilapah
Hati kuman sama dicecah


Another misconception that is normally attributed to the adat is that the customary land law governing the property passed on through the women's family side is against Islamic law. The origins of this special provision only apply to land which had been inherited by the woman's side through generations and does not apply to land which had been acquired through the efforts of the man and the woman which is regarded as 'harta sepencarian' or property acquired through the work and savings of both. Thus the saying from the adat is thus quoted here;

Patah tumbuh hilang berganti
Pusaka bergilir,soko berwaris
Adat bersendi hukum,hukum bersendi
                                        kitabullah
Syara' mengata adat mengikut
Adat dan syara' sandar menyandar

                I hope my short write-up here, dispels the myths which by and large been held by those outside the adat and most probably by those from Negeri Sembilan who are completely ignorant of the Adat and thus not bothered to correct them whenever such misconceptions arise during small talk at wedding functions and other social gatherings. As there other aspects of the adat which I have not covered, I will do so in future.