Pamali as Living Hadith: The Vernacularization of Prophetic Time-Ethics in Sundanese Society, Lebak-Banten

Abstract

The pamali tradition includes prohibitions on leaving the house at particular times such as before sunset, before dawn, and at midday. This study examines these prohibitions among the Sundanese Muslim community of Kampung Cibeunyeur Hilir, Parakanbeusi Village, Lebak-Banten, as a case of living hadith, and analyses the extent to which they can be read as a vernacularization of Prophetic teachings. Using a qualitative living-hadith approach and Ronit Ricci's theory of vernacularization, data were gathered through in-depth interviews across generations and religious actors (ustadz, kyai, kasepuhan, parents, and children) and through a study of relevant hadiths and their classical commentaries. Rather than treating every pamali as a uniform derivation from hadith, the study argues that the three prohibitions exhibit different degrees of correspondence with Prophetic teachings: a strong textual linkage in the Maghrib case, a thematic correspondence in the midday case, and a largely interpretive correspondence in the pre-dawn case. The analysis further traces a plausible mediating chain toward hadith, classical Islamic texts (kitab kuning), kyai and weekly pengajian, and oral parental transmission — through which Prophetic values are localized into taboo language (sandekala, tangange, hahalaeun) and cultural narratives (kelong wewe, kulit kendor). The findings suggest that certain pamali practices demonstrate substantive affinities with Prophetic teachings and are interpreted by some religious actors as culturally mediated expressions of Islamic values, while others function primarily as local ethical and protective norms. Pamali thus emerges as a living-hadith phenomenon of graded textual proximity