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have been practised in Acheh. There are just as many at the present day as in earlier times, who have reached a moderate degree of proficiency in this triple learning, and the branch that is studied with especial zeal is the Law, which is also that of the greatest practical utility. Some gather their knowledge in their native country, others undergo a wider course of study in the Straits Settlements or at Mekka.
Learning in Acheh in ancient and in modern times.Whether learning advanced or declined in Acheh during the historical period of which we have some knowledge cannot be definitely ascertained. The fact that such an extraordinary number of Malay writings on the teaching of Islam appeared in Acheh during the 16th and 17th centuries was merely the result of the political condition of the country, as that period embraces the zenith of the prosperity of the port-kings. Among the authors of these works or among the most celebrated mystics, heretical or orthodox, we do not find a single Achehnese name, but only those of foreign teachers. Learned Mohammedans have at all times sought countries where their attainments commanded solid advantages in addition to honour and respect.[1] The activity of these champions, who fought their learned battles in the capital, had but little significance in regard to the scholarly or religious development of the people of Acheh.
Value of the learned writings of Achehnese.It may well be supposed that there were formerly as well as at the present time some teachers of Achehnese race who gave the necessary enlightenment to their countrymen in Malay or Achehnese writings The fame of such works of the third rank, however, is not wont long to survive their authors[2]; and to this must be added the fact that they were always compiled to meet the requirements of a definite period and of a definite public. Pamphlets like those of Teungku Tirò or Teungku Kuta Karang, and books and treatises such as those of Chèh Marahaban (to be more closely described in Chap. II) will not be so much as spoken of half a century hence.
There is one treatise in Malay apparently written by an Achehnese
- ↑ Even up to the present time teachers and exponents of mysticism occasionally come, chiefly from Mekka, to make a profit of their learning or their sanctity among religiously disposed chiefs in various parts of the country.
- ↑ The writings of Teungku Tirò (Chèh Saman) and of Chèh Marahaban, both of whom were (before the war) among the most highly esteemed teachers in the country, furnish us with a good gauge wherewith to measure the highwater-mark of learning in Acheh. Like those of all their predecessors among their own countrymen, their productions have not the smallest significance or value outside the narrow limits of their own land.
