HAMKA Thought on Marginalization of Father's Position in MInangkabau Matrilineal System

Abstract

Minangkabau already has an established social concept in placing women as the key to its social system, through the matrilineal system. On the one hand, the implication of this kinship system is that it puts women in a strong position, but on the other hand, according to HAMKA, it weakens the position of men, especially as fathers in the household. Therefore, this article aims to discuss HAMKA's view on the marginalization of the position of men in Minangkabau families that apply the matrilineal kinship system. This study uses the content analysis method, where the author looks for HAMKA's thoughts in his writings related to his criticism of the matrilineal concept in Minangkabau, then analyzes how HAMKA views the position of men in the Matrilineal kinship system in Minangkabau. The results of this study indicate that the implication of the matrilineal kinship system in Minangkabau according to HAMKA causes the position of men as fathers to be very weak. This is because the father in the Minangkabau family does not have full power over the household, especially over his children. Therefore HAMKA offers another alternative in adat, namely a parental family system consisting of father, mother, and children, to return the father’s position in a family.