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an intermediary. This intermediary serves to bridge
the personal view with collective action. The
mediator can be both symbols and values: religious
symbols, democracy, values of justice, freedom,
equality, and so on. Political ethics is critical of the
manipulation or misuse of these values and symbols.
Political ethics deals with issues of social, political,
economic, and cultural structures that conditioned
collective action.
4.2 Leadership Model
Leadership based on the cultural Minangkabau
proverb known as Tungku nan Tigo Sajarangan or
Tali nan Tigo Sapilin. The leadership model in
Minangkabau society is in harmony with the
egalitarian and democratic Minangkabau social
system, and therefore in Minangkabau community
leadership is known division of labour with
functionally divided tasks. Because of its egalitarian
and democratic nature, decision-making is not done
by an individual as is applicable in a feudal or
dictatorial-totalitarian social system, but through a
process of deliberation of elements of equal but
complementary and mutual need of leadership.
A leader must always be with and in the midst of
his people and be equal to the people he leads. Based
on the concept of Minangkabau leadership, a leader
is a person who is only "ditinggikan seranting dan
didahulukan selangkah." A leader is respected not
only by rank or blood and his descendants, but
because of his leadership qualities. Because
leadership is divided according to their respective
functions, then outside the field of function he is not
a priest but a successor. In addition, leaders in
Minangkabau are not escaped and are immune from
the law. As in the Malay culture in general, in
Minangkabau also apply the expression: "Raja adil
raja disembah, raja lalim raja disanggah." (The
king of the righteous king is worshiped, the tyrant
king is refuted). The meaning of this expression that
the worshiped is essentially just, and the true act of a
king, not the king himself. The Minangkabau
proverb proves that: "Kamanakan barajo ka mamak,
mamak barajo ka panghulu, panghulu barajo ka nan
bana, nan bana badiri sandirinyo." It is clear that
what is meant by the king in Minangkabau is
essentially not a person but a nan bana (the truth).
The end of all that is true is none other than the one
who has the absolute truth that stands alone, that is
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, Allah Almighty God.
In ancient times, in Minangkabau the name of
the king or leader was not one, but three, but the
three were in a unity of leadership, which is called
by "Tungku nan Tigo Sajarangan". In Minangkabau
there are three known namely; King of Nature,
Customary King, and King of Worship. Each king
has a function in accordance with the predicate. Raja
Alam is a leader who takes a step ahead and elevated
a twist from the other two who governs the kingdom
inward and maintains the relationship with the
outside world. The proper king governs the customs
and intricacies of culture, and the religious king
regulates matters relating to religion.
At Nagari level the concept of Tungku nan Tigo
Sajarangan consists of: Ninik Mamak, Alim Ulama
(religious leader0 and intellectual. Ninik Mamak,
associated with customs and inward relationships
within the tribe and tribe and out in the nagari and
inter-nagari. Alim Ulama, as the name implies,
relates to the "book," meaning religion, while smart-
clever man with its intellect, whose minds and ideas
are needed by society.
These three forms of leadership coincided with
the history of the Minangkabau people themselves.
Initially there was only leadership in the field of
culture only, but then after the entry of Islam to
Minangkabau, then the Islamic religion contributed
to the view of the Minangkabau’s live. With the
influence of Islam, there are many new born leader
in the religious field called alim ulama. Because of
reality and their acknowledged, alim ulama are
included to lead the social unity of society in culture.
The third element of the leadership is clever. The
intellectual at the same time with the birth of ninik
mamak leadership in the sense of being the leader of
people. The intelligent people of a multitude. Clever
in indigenous knowledge and other general
knowledge. They are the ones who are classed as
smart clever even though they never go to school. In
other words, this clever leadership has existed
before, and it is not true to say that clever leadership
emerges after formal education as it is now.
These three styles of leadership have a distinctly
differed status in indigenous peoples. The leadership
of ninik mamak is acknowledge as traditional
leadership, in accordance with the pattern outlined
by tradition. The leadership of ninik mamak takes
place continuously, with the meaning of the word
"patah tumbuah hilang baganti" in every tribe or
nagari. A person will not function as ninik mamak in
indigenous peoples, if he in his own family does not
have the title of the noble blood or the inherited
people. The leadership of the clerical and clever
scholars can be obtained by anyone without
distinction of origin and descent. The leadership and
charisma of a clever and clever scholar is not limited
to a particular society, and in fact his role is far
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