Moris, Megawati
(2010)
Making knowledge useful: 'Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani's application of al-Ghazzoli's teachings in the Malay world.
In: World Philosophy Day Congress 2010, 21-23 November 2010, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani, an eighteenth century
scholar of Malay-Arab descent wrote a Malay-Jawi text entitled
Siyar al-salikin ila ‘ibadat rabb al-‘alamin. The Siyar al-salikin is a
translation-cum-commentary of the Mukhtasar ihya’ ‘ulum al-din
written by Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali. It has been acknowledged that
with this work, ‘Abd al-Samad successfully transmitted al-
Ghazzali’s teachings to the Malays which left a great impact on
their religious life and thought. Of greater significance however,
and which is more our concern in this paper, is his application of
al-Ghazzali’s teachings in his attempt to solve the problems of an
intellectual and religious nature faced by the Malay community
during his time. ‘Abd al-Samad perceived the basic problem faced
by the Malays was their confusion on the orthodoxy of the Sufi
tradition as intellectually adhered and religiously practiced by
some of the Malay scholars and their followers in the Sufi orders
(turuq). He connected this problem to two main factors: first, the
lack of knowledge among the Malays on the essential teachings of
tasawwuf; and second, the scholars who suffered from selfdelusion
and who misled their students. In this paper, I will show
how in the Chapter on the Censure of Self-Delusion (ghurur;
terpedaya) in the Siyar al-salikin, ‘Abd al-Samad approached the
problem and gave his solutions. Firstly, he used his authority and
knowledge with the support of other scholars in the al-
Ghazzalian tradition of Sufism to validate the orthodoxy of these
groups. Secondly and more creatively, by using his encyclopedic
scholarship he provided an extensive bibliography of over a
hundred titles of works on Sufism and categorized them for each stage of study to ensure qualification to access esoteric
knowledge as well as avoiding misunderstanding of doctrines. In
this way, ‘Abd al-Samad made al-Ghazzali’s spiritual teachings
relevant and useful to the Malays in their attempt to discern
truth from falsehood when dealing with various currents of
thought and beliefs prevailing at that time. It is evident that the
problems faced by Malay-Muslims three hundred years ago
remain relevant and important today. Hence, following Shaykh
‘Abd al-Samad’s footsteps, we can like him respond creatively and
draw from our Islamic intellectual tradition to solve our present
predicament.
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