ISSN (Print): 1412-7075 ISSN (online): Manarul Qur’an |63 THE TRADITION OF TAHLILAN (THE PRAY FOR THE DEAD): IS IT A LOCAL CULTURE? Anwar Salafuddin Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Semarang m.anwarsalafudin@gmail.com Abstrak This article discusses the tradition of Tahlilan in Indonesian which has always been the pros and cons. some people claim that Tahlilan is a Hindu and Buddhist heritage and it does not originate from Islam. This research shows that Tahlilan is not a local Javanese product and Hindu and Buddhist heritage but it comes from the Middle East, especially Yemen, which is the land of the Walisongo ancestors, where the Walisongo were spreader Islam in Indonesia. Tahlil and the ritual of praying for the dead is a Sunni tradition and it is carried out in several countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Yemen. To analyze this problem the author adjusts to the historical approach. The data are taken from media, books and research results related to the tradition of Tahlilan. Key Words: Tradition, Tahlilan, Pray, pray for the dead, Local Culture Introduction This paper will discuss the Tahlilan tradition in Indonesia, where this tradition has been running for a long time and is an ongoing debate. Tahlilan has been studied by many people, Tahlilan is seen from the social side by Risprabowo 1 , Warisno, 2 Warisno and Tabrani. 3 Tahlilan was seen from the 1 Dinar Risprabowo, “Fakta Sosial Pada Tradisi Tahlilan Dalam Masyarakat Islam Jawa Di Kelurahan Gedong Kecamatan Pasar Rebo Kota Jakarta