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recommended for use as Satariah often along with salasilahs in which the names of Abdurraʾuf and Aḥmad Qushāshi appear.
The work of Abdurraʾuf is, however, in accord with orthodox doctrine, albeit his attitude has excited the jealous or envious sneers of many a pandit.
It might cause surprise that the name of Abdurraʾuf should appear in the salasilahs of Qushāshi's teaching not alone in Sumatra but also to a great extent in Java, since as a matter of fact both Javanese and Sundanese imported this ṭarīqah directly from Arabia. But apart from the possibility of Abdurraʾuf's having initiated fellow-countrymen or those of kindred race before leaving Arabia, after he had received permission to form a school, we must remember that before sailing ships were replaced by steamers as a means of conveyance for visitants to Mekka, Acheh formed a great halting-place for almost all the pilgrims from the Eastern Archipelago. The Achehnese used to speak of their country with some pride as "the gate of the Holy Land". Many remained there a considerable time on their way to and fro, while some even settled in the country as traders or teachers for the remainder of their lives.[1] Thus many Javanese may on their journey through, or in the course of a still longer visit, have imbibed the instruction of the Malay teacher.
In the extant copies of his writings Abdurraʾuf is sometimes described as "of Singkel," and sometimes "of Pansur," but it is a remarkable fact that his name is almost always followed in the salasilahs by the words "who is of the tribe of Ḥamzah Pansuri"[2]. I have nowhere indeed found it stated that Abdurraʾuf expressly opposed the teaching of Ḥamzah, but the spirit of his writings shows that he must have regarded it as heretical. One might have supposed that under these circumstances he would at least have refrained from openly claiming relationship with Hamzah. The only explanation I can give of this phenomenon lies in the extraordinary popularity of the name of Ḥamzah, which may have
- ↑ As may well be supposed, such sojourn was the reverse of favourable to the good feeling of the Javanese etc. towards their European rulers. An example of this in our own times was Teungku Lam Palōh, who died not many years since. He was a Javanese of Yogya, who married and had a family in Acheh, and without much ciaim to learning came to be regarded as a saint by a certain coterie. This presumptuous pretender to sanctity borrowed his name from the gampōng (within the "linie") where he had his abode.
- ↑ The expression is (
Arabic characters).
