The Banjar Community's Understanding of Banjar Mantras with Qur'anic Verse Fragments

Abstract

Oral literature that conveys local wisdom is the main subject of this research. Mantras are one of the oral traditions that survive and develop in society, especially in Banjar society. The purpose of this research is to find out the mantras that are paired with Qur'anic verse fragments and the Banjar community's understanding of a mantra with a Qur'anic verse that is believed among the Banjar community. The purpose of the descriptive-qualitative ethnographic method in this research is to understand different lifestyles from the perspective of a community. The data collection methods used in this research are interviews and observation. The most interesting aspect of the oral literature of the Banjar community is its mantras, which are fragments of certain verses from the Qur'an. The use of Qur'anic verse fragments in mantras is inseparable from the belief in the miracle of the Qur'an, which is considered to be able to provide penetrating power for the mantras that are chanted so as to achieve the purpose for which they are chanted. This is a form of interaction between the Banjar community and the Qur'an. Although the Banjar people practice a very strong religiosity. In other cases, however, they include fragments of Qur'anic verses in their oral literature. For example, the antidote mantra. This antidote mantra is an alternative treatment for diseases that are often encountered in life (singgugut and so on). In addition to antidote mantras, there are mantras that function to make people enamored with the mantra reader. There are even mantras for fishing, whose function is to make the fish eat the bait, and many more mantras created in the Banjar community.