Sacrificing Catfish as Marriage Tradition in Indonesia in �Urf Perspective

Abstract

The paper examines the Indonesian community's marriage tradition in Yogyakarta, the-so-called Mbeleh Lele (sacrificing catfish), which has been implemented for several generations. This marriage tradition requires a couple who will marry to slaughter a pair of catfish beforethe ceremony of a marriage contract. This empirical legal research uses the socio-legal approach with the interview as primary data and related books as secondary data. This study applies a descriptive analysis method with the �urf (Islamic theory of tradition) as the tool of analysis. Finally, the research shows that the Yogyakarta community's views towards Mbeleh Lele Tradition are divided intotwo types: prominent leader and general people. The prominentleaders firmly believe that there will be a negative effect if the tradition is not implemented. Meanwhile, the general people say that they obey the culture when they experience the adverse effect. In the �urf perspective, the Mbeleh Lele tradition can be categorized as the �urf sahih (correct tradition) because it meets the required condition.