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Authoritative law-books.Applying this principle to Acheh, we arrive at the conclusion—a conclusion fully justified by the facts—that the chief objects of study in that country are the authoritative Shafiʾite works on the learning of the law (Arab. fiqh, Ach. pikah). As these books are the same in all Shafiʾite countries, and the choice of any particular one of them does not affect the subject-matter of study, I consider it superfluous to give a list of this pikah-literature. I confine myself to observing that Nawawi's Minhāj aṭṭālibīn (Ach. Mènhòt) and various commentaries thereon such as the Fatḥ al-Wahhāḅ (Ach. Peuthōwahab), the Tuḥfah[1] (Ach. Tupah) and Maḥalli (Mahali) enjoy great popularity.
Study of dogma.The Usuy (Uçūl or Tawḥīd), i. e. "doctrine", is next in importance to the Pikah. Both branches of learning are studied simultaneously; the former may even precede the latter if circumstances so require. The differences of the four schools or maḍhabs exercise no influence on this score, as they do in regard to the interpretation of the law. Thus even in a Shafiʾite country preference is by no means always given to such Usul-works as have Shafiʾites for their authors.
In Acheh the same works are employed for this branch of study as in other parts of the Archipelago, and especially those of Sanusi with their accompanying commentaries.
Mysticism.The great Moslim father al-Ghazali (ob. 1111 A. D.) describes the study of the law (Ach. Pikah) as the indispensable bread of life of the believers, the dogmatic teaching (Usuy) being the medicine which mankind, threatened with all manner of heresy and unbelief, is constrained to use as preventive and as cure. Lastly he considers mysticism (Arab. taçawwuf, Ach. teusawōh) the highest and most important element in man's spiritual education, since it serves so to digest the bread of life and the medicine, that a true knowledge of God and of the community of mankind with the Creator may spring therefrom.
Many works on the law and on dogma contain here and there mystic points of view, but expressly mystic orthodox works are also studied in Acheh.
The more popular kind of mysticism.Yet these works on mysticism cannot be said to be popular in Acheh. As we know, a sort of heretical mysticism found its way into the E. Indian Archipelago simultaneously with the introduction of
- ↑ The Tuḥfah and the Nihāyah are the authoritative works par excellence for the Shafiʾites. Where the two agree, departure from their common tenets is prohibited, where they differ, the later commentators decide the question.
