Musi in Indonesia

The Musi have only been reported in Indonesia
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Musi people group live throughout the regencies of Musi Banyuasin and Musi Rawas. Their name comes from the Musi River along which they live. In the Musi Banyasin Regency, the Musi people live in the districts of Sekayu, Sanga Desa, Sungai Keruh and Babat Toman. In the Musi Rawas Regency, they live in the Muara Lakitan and Muara Kelingi districts. There are also many Musi people living in Palembang who tend to live in groups together with other Musi people. The Musi Rawas Regency is a very isolated area, and the roads are not good.


What Are Their Lives Like?

The means of livelihood among the Musi is often strenuous work including farming, hunting and fishing. They also work in a variety of other fields such as forestry, transportation, construction, education and government work. Those living in the city of Palembang work as university professors, research specialists, land developers, shipyard workers and bicycle rickshaw drivers. Many of their traditional raised platform houses, both above land and water, are being replaced with modern style homes. This is happening because of many factors, one being that the wood materials for the raised platform are difficult to maintain. In Musi culture, a young, engaged woman becomes the responsibility of her fiance. He must pay for all her needs except food which is still her parents' responsibility. The Musi use the patrilineal system for their line of descent. Within the family, the husband is responsible for making a living and protecting his family. The wife's responsibilities are to take care of the tidiness and harmony of the home so that the husband can say, "My home is my heaven." Musi Sekayu families prefer male children because they believe males guarantee the continuation of their hereditary line.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Almost all the Musi follow the religion of Islam. Building a house of worship other than a mosque is not allowed in the Musi area by the local government.
The Musi have two differing opinions concerning changing one's religion. The first opinion is that changing one's religion is not allowed by a Musi Muslim for any reason. The other opinion is that changing one's religion is an individual right, so it would not be a problem for a person to change. Marriage between people of different religions is also not allowed. The non-Muslim partner must change their religion to Islam which can be done by saying the sentence which professes faith in Islam and, if he's a man, he must also be circumcised. If one of the partners does not want to change their religion, then the marriage is considered invalid.
The reason Musi people are Muslim is because their ancestors were Muslim. They follow the Islamic religion because it has been passed down to them and is a part of their culture and not because they understand it or have faith in it. Because of this, religious worship is not an important factor in their lives but rather, it is a part of their identity.


What Are Their Needs?

Musi livelihood consists of only small rice and rubber crops. Rice can only be planted and harvested once a year even though the average Musi person lives along the Musi River. The Musi River is a very large river that empties into all the other rivers in South Sumatra. Because of their dependence on rice as their livelihood, the Musi people need irrigation technology so they can make use of the river water for irrigating their rice farms to have two or three harvests a year.


Prayer Points

Pray that the few Christians among them will be faithful witnesses to the goodness of Christ to all those around them.
Pray the Musi people will gain no satisfaction from following a religion of works, and instead will yearn to know the love of a God who will relate to them on a relational basis.
Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers to disciple the Musi people in the ways of Jesus.


Scripture Prayers for the Musi in Indonesia.


References

IPN, 2011 Copyrighted © Used with permission


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Musi
People Name in Country Musi
Pronunciation moo-SEE
Alternate Names
Population this Country 696,000
Population all Countries 696,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 14
PeopleID3 19645
ROP3 Code 108799
Country Indonesia
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 42  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Sumatera Selatan Province, widespread in northern 2 thirds of province; Musi river upstream to Bukit Barisan mountains, downstream to eastern coastal swamplands; into northeast Lampung Province; a few small border areas in Jambi and Bengkulu provinces.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Indonesia
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 42  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Sumatera Selatan Province, widespread in northern 2 thirds of province; Musi river upstream to Bukit Barisan mountains, downstream to eastern coastal swamplands; into northeast Lampung Province; a few small border areas in Jambi and Bengkulu provinces..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Map of Musi in Indonesia Ethnolinguistic map or other map

Primary Religion: Islam
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.07 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
99.93 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Musi (696,000 speakers)
Language Code mui   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Musi (696,000 speakers)
Language Code mui   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Musi

Primary Language:  Musi

Bible Translation Status:  Unspecified

Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Musi Jesus Film Project
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Anonymous  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source People Group location: IMB. Map geography: ESRI / GMI. Map design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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