A Digital Atlas of Sacred Geography
1113 records · Page 4/47
Saints whose death anniversary falls this Hijri month (sourced).
KH Dalhar (1870-1959) was born at the Watucongol Darussalam pesantren in Muntilan, Magelang, which he continued to lead; he is remembered as a saintly scholar regarded across the Nusantara as a reference in learning, Sufism and struggle, and he took part in resistance to colonial rule. His grave in the Gunungpring cemetery of Muntilan is heavily visited by pilgrims.
Indonesian scholar and one of the leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama . He played a decisive part in the organisation's adoption of Pancasila and in its return to the religious and social line of its founding statute of 1926, and from 1984 until his death he was general chairman of its legislative body. He was born on 24 January 1926 in the town of Jember into an influential family of scholars. His father, Muhammad Siddiq, was the founder of the Siddiqiyya Pesantren, a traditional institution of religious education in Jember. He received his first religious education at his father's pesantren. When his father died suddenly while he was nine, he grew up under the protection of his elder brother Mahfudz Siddiq , one of the leading figures of the Nahdlatul Ulama founded in 1926, who was its general chairman between 1937 and 1942. He then continued his studies at the Tebuireng Pesantren in Jombang, where he studied under Hasyim Asy'ari , one of the founders of the Nahdlatul Ulama, and became a friend of his son Abdul Wahid Hasyim. Besides his formal schooling at secondary level, he was largely self-taught. Three activities stand out in his career: his work as a senior official in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, his political activity, and his teaching at the pesantren founded by his family. He was secretary to Abdul Wahid Hasyim during the latter's term as Minister of Religious Affairs in 1949-1952, and was then appointed head of religious affairs for the ministry's East Java region. In the Nahdlatul Ulama he became first deputy chairman and then chairman of the East Java branch. From 1977 he headed the Siddiqiyya Pesantren founded by his father and contributed significantly to its growth. His interest in politics began at a young age. In 1945 he became coordinator of the Indonesian Islamic Youth Movement for the Jember and Besuki regions and supported the independence movement. From the early 1950s he took an active part in politics; he was elected a member of parliament in the general election of 1955, which the Nahdlatul Ulama contested as a party, and served two terms in parliament, in 1955-1957 and 1971-1979. He concentrated on the country's fundamental political questions and national strategies rather than day-to-day politics; towards the end of the Sukarno era, and particularly in the early 1960s, he was a fervent anti-communist. When the Suharto government announced at the beginning of 1983 that all social and religious organisations must adopt the state philosophy of Pancasila (belief in one God, just and civilised humanity, nationalism, democracy, social justice), many members of the organisation opposed it, but Achmad Siddiq took a positive view. In the same year, at the "Situbondo Munas" national consultation held in the East Javanese town of Situbondo, he argued as a senior scholar that Pancasila does not conflict with Islamic law, citing as evidence the Prophet's conduct towards non-Muslims and the Constitution of Medina , which gave legitimacy to a multi-religious political community. In his view Pancasila should be a final choice for multicultural Indonesian society, accepted for religious rather than political reasons. With the support of the four great scholars of the time — KH As'ad Syamsul Arifin, KH Mahrus Ali, KH Ali Maksum and KH Masykur — the Nahdlatul Ulama declared that it adopted Pancasila as its ideological foundation. The meeting also resolved that the organisation return to the religious and social line of its 1926 statute and withdraw completely from political activity. In December 1984, at the XXVII Congress of the Nahdlatul Ulama, again held in Situbondo, he was elected general chairman of the legislative body and Abdurrahman Wahid chairman of the executive body; the earlier decisions were confirmed, and the congress opened a new period in the organisation's history. At the XXVIII Congress held in Yogyakarta in 1989, opened in the presence of President Suharto, both were re-elected. He held this office until his death. He died in Surabaya on 23 January 1991. In accordance with his will he was buried in the Dukuh Tambak Cemetery in Kediri, where the resting places of many Javanese kiai devoted to Sufism are found. His Circle of Influence — With his conciliatory personality he served as a bridge between the older generation trained in traditional religious education and the new generation of Nahdlatul Ulama members who had also received modern education. Under his leadership the organisation approached other religious groups in a spirit of brotherhood and established close relations above all with the Muhammadiyah, despite their differences in religious understanding. His religious and intellectual formation is said to show the influence of his brother Mahfudz Siddiq, of Hasyim Asy'ari and his son Wahid Hasyim, and of the scholar KH Abdul Hamid of Pasuruan; his political attitudes that of Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir. His Poetry and Sufi Line — This slot carries not his poetry but his scholarly and intellectual line. Using the concepts of traditional Islamic thought — "wasat/tawassut, i'tidal, tawazun" — he brought to the fore the principles of moderation, the middle way, balance, calm and gravity. In his view these principles teach acceptance of human diversity, respect for others and the effort to understand them; in politics they require the preservation of the state, respect for the head of state so long as he does not openly contravene God's commands, and the correction of governments' mistakes by proper means. At the same time he urged constant vigilance against ideas and movements that might endanger the spiritual and religious life of Muslim society. The most effective statement of these views is Khitthah Nahdliyah , which he presented in 1980 as the organisation's line of action. His Works — ① Disekitar Soal Idjtihad dan Taqlid (Jakarta 1950): on ijtihad and taqlid. ② Pedoman Perpikir NU (Jakarta 1969): his first work, on the organisation's structure and aims. ③ Khitthah Nahdliyah (Bangil 1980): his most important work, setting out his basic views; first printed in 1979 and compiled from his lectures and speeches, it was, despite its small size, accepted as a guide for a reform movement among the organisation's cadres. ④ Pemulihan Khitthah Nahdlatul Ulama (Jakarta 1983). ⑤ Islam, Pancasila dan Ukhuwah Islamiyah (Jakarta 1985): writings on the compatibility of Islam and Pancasila and on Islamic brotherhood. ⑥ Dhikr al-ghafilin : a short treatise on Sufism. He also wrote Arah Perjuangan NU dan Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaah , on the organisation's Sunni line.
Hizir Bey was born around 810/1407 in Sivrihisar near Eskişehir, the son of the kadı Celâleddin Efendi. He taught in Sivrihisar, Bursa and at the Üç Şerefeli Mosque Medrese in Edirne, and was called "the second Ibn Sina" for his mastery of theology and logic. Immediately after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror appointed him the new capital's first kadı (chief judge). Because he regulated municipal, security and urban-development affairs as well as the judiciary, he is also remembered as Istanbul's first "mayor." He left works on kalam, most famously the "Kaside-i Nuniyye," and raised scholarly sons such as Sinan Paşa and Ahmed Paşa. He died in Rebiulevvel 863 (January 1459) and was buried in the cemetery in the Vefa-Zeyrek quarter.
Born in 1905 in the village of Bojong Meron, Cianjur, KH Abdullah bin Nuh earned the title 'the Ghazali of Cianjur' for his depth in Arabic literature, jurisprudence, legal theory and Sufism. He founded the Al-Ghazaly school, taught the Ihya Ulumuddin for years, and left many written works. He died in Bogor on 26 October 1987; his tomb is a site visited by students and admirers.
Abdullah Nidai al-Kashghari came to Istanbul from Kashgar in East Turkestan and became one of the leading sheikhs of the Naqshbandi order. Writing Sufi poetry under the pen name "Nidai," he gathered a wide following through his learning and spiritual guidance. He carried out guidance for many years at the Kashgari Lodge named after him in Nişanca, Eyüp. He died in 1174/1760 and was buried in his tomb in the cemetery of that lodge. His tomb stands in the same complex as the grave of the lodge's founder, Yekçeşm Ahmed Murtaza Efendi, and is visited to this day.
Shâzelî Ali Dede was a 17th-century Sufi sheikh of the Shâdhiliyya order. According to the sources he came from Africa to Istanbul (Erenköy), then settled near the Halîlürrahman complex in Urfa where he founded a lodge; he is said to descend from Abu'l-Hasan al-Shâdhilî, founder of the order. An inscription in his tomb records that Sultan Murad IV visited his lodge in 1639 during the Baghdad campaign, and a decree of Mehmed IV and a 1651 diploma recognized him as a pîr of the Shâdhiliyya. His tomb lies in the cemetery east of the Halîlürrahman Mosque, and his descendants served the lodge with the title 'Sheikh of Halîlürrahman.'
Born in 1710 in the village of Lok Gabang, South Kalimantan, Muhammad Arsyad al-Banjari is one of the greatest Shafi'i scholars of Southeast Asia. After more than thirty years of study in Mecca and Medina, he returned to Banjar and founded a circle of learning that became the region's centre of jurisprudence. He is renowned for his work 'Sabil al-Muhtadin', which served for centuries as a foundational fiqh manual across the Malay-Indonesian world and gave its name to the Grand Mosque of Banjarmasin. He served as mufti of the Banjar Sultanate. He died on 13 October 1812 and was buried in the village of Kalampayan in Astambul; his tomb, known as 'Datu Kalampayan', is one of the largest pilgrimage sites in Kalimantan.
Himmet Efendi (d. 1095/1684), born in Bolu, was a mystic of Bayrami-Shamsi origin regarded as the founder (pîr) of the Himmetiyye branch. Having studied the religious sciences in Istanbul and served as a professor, he turned to Sufism and became a disciple of Hacı Ahmed Efendi of Bolu. He preached at the Davud Paşa Mosque in Üsküdar and for a long period at the Kasımpaşa Mosque, becoming known for his distinctive method of dhikr. He died on 3 February 1684 and was first buried at the tomb of Bezcizâde Muhyiddin Efendi in Divitçiler, Üsküdar; his grave was later relocated to the courtyard cemetery of the Küçük Selimiye Mosque.
Syekh Muhammad Thahir Barulak (d. 1851) was an influential Mecca-returned scholar who made the village of Barulak in Tanah Datar a major 19th-century center of Islamic learning. He trained leading regional ulama, including Syekh Muhammad Jamil Tungkar. His grave, in the mihrab area of Masjid Taqwa Barulak, continues to be visited annually.
Syekh Ibrahim Musa Parabek ("Inyiak Parabek," 1884–1963) was a reformist scholar and expert in comparative jurisprudence, born at Parabek near Bukittinggi. He studied in Mecca under Ahmad Khatib al-Minangkabawi, and on returning founded the Sumatera Thawalib Parabek madrasa, becoming a pioneer of modern Islamic education. He died on 25 July 1963 and is buried in front of the Jami' Parabek mosque, a visited pilgrimage site.
Syekh Muhammad Jamil Tungkar (d. 1890) was a noted Minangkabau teacher and a foremost student of Syekh Muhammad Thahir Barulak. After receiving his teacher's ijazah he devoted himself to teaching religion. His grave lies beside his teacher's in the mihrab of Masjid Taqwa Barulak and is a site of visitation.
Syekh Sulaiman ar-Rasuli, known as "Inyiak Canduang," was a traditionalist (Kaum Tua) Shafi'i scholar born in Agam, West Sumatra, in 1871. In 1928 he co-founded the Persatuan Tarbiyah Islamiyah (Perti) and established the Madrasah Tarbiyah Islamiyah (MTI) at Candung. He authored works on jurisprudence, theology, Sufism and Minangkabau custom, including Aqwal al-Mardiyyah. He died in 1970 and is buried within the MTI Canduang complex, a site of pilgrimage.
Imam Sayyid al-Idrus was a scholar of Yemeni (Hadrami) origin who served as the chief teacher of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin I of Palembang. He taught the sultan hadith, Shafi'i jurisprudence, and Naqshbandi Sufism, and helped spread Islam in the Komering region. He is buried in the first dome (cungkup 1) of the Kawah Tekurep cemetery, alongside the sultan. His exact year of death is not recorded in the sources; his grave is a regularly visited pilgrimage site.
Tuanku Nan Tuo (c. 1723–1830) was a leading scholar and teacher of the Minangkabau ulama, based at Cangking in Ampek Angkek, Agam. He trained many prominent students, including Tuanku Imam Bonjol and Tuanku Nan Renceh, and championed a peaceful, gradualist approach to Islamic reform. During the Padri War his surau was attacked and burned by radical factions, marking him as a scholar-teacher rather than a combatant. His grave at Cangking is a site of visitation.
Syekh Muhammad Jamil Jaho ("Inyiak Jaho," 1875–1945) was a Naqshbandi scholar and teacher from the village of Jaho in Tanah Datar. He founded the Madrasah Tarbiyah Islamiyah (MTI) Jaho and in 1928 co-founded the Persatuan Tarbiyah Islamiyah (Perti). He wrote on legal methodology, logic and Sufism, including Tadzkiratul Qulub fil Muraqabah. He died in 1945, and his grave at Jaho is a key stop on the Tanah Datar ziarah route.
Sheikh Haji Musthafa Husein Nasution al-Mandili (1886–1955) was among the foremost ulama of Mandailing. In Mecca he studied under great scholars such as Sheikh Ahmad Khatib al-Minangkabawi and Abdul Qadir al-Mandili. The madrasa he began at Tano Bato in 1912 he moved to Purba Baru in 1915, founding the Musthafawiyah pesantren — the oldest surviving Islamic boarding school in Sumatra. His grave, in the cemetery opposite the pesantren, is a site of visitation.
Shaikh Abdurrahman Siddiq al-Banjari (1857–1939), known as "Tuan Guru Sapat," was a scholar of jurisprudence and Sufism descended from the celebrated Syekh Muhammad Arsyad al-Banjari. He served as Mufti of the Indragiri Sultanate and authored Asrar as-Salat (fiqh of worship), Risalah 'Amal Ma'rifah (Sufism, 1914) and treatises on Islamic creed. A pioneering teacher who organized Islamic education across Indragiri Hilir, he drew students from Malaysia, Singapore and Kalimantan. His tomb at Sapat (Teluk Dalam village) is a major pilgrimage site visited daily by pilgrims from the archipelago and neighboring countries.
Tengku Muhammad Saleh (1909–1966) was a scholar, Sharia judge and poet of the Riau-Lingga royal house, regarded as the last-generation ulama of the Riau-Lingga Kingdom. Born in Kampung Damnah, Daik, he authored Nur al-Salah (1954) on prayer and the Tajweed of al-Fatihah, still taught at the Sultan Lingga Grand Mosque. He served as a Sharia court judge in Daik during the Japanese occupation and refused posts under the Dutch. He died and was buried in Daik, Lingga; the exact grave plot is not firmly documented.
Sheikh Abdul Wahab Rokan (1811–1926) was among the foremost mursyid (spiritual guides) of the Naqshbandi–Khalidi order in Riau and East Sumatra across the 19th–20th centuries. Having received his ijazah from Sheikh Sulaiman Zuhdi, he bore the title al-Khalidi an-Naqsyabandi. In 1883, on land endowed by the Sultan of Langkat, he founded the village of Babussalam (Besilam) complete with a mosque and lodge. His grave, beside the Babussalam Mosque, draws thousands of pilgrims from across Asia each year at his death anniversary (haul).
Maulana Syekh Abdurrahman al-Khalidi Kumango ("Beliau Kumango," birth name Alam Basifat, d. 1932) was a major Sufi scholar based at Kumango, Batusangkar. In Medina he received ijazah in the Sammaniyah order from Sayyid Muhammad Amin ibn Ahmad Ridhwan, and back home founded Surau Subarang to teach the Sammaniyah and Naqshbandiyah-Khalidiyah paths. He is also the originator of the Sufi-infused martial art Silek Kumango. His grave near Surau Subarang is a Sufi pilgrimage site.
Indonesian Muslim scholar, educator and reformist leader (1879-1945); one of the pioneers of the reform movement in the Minangkabau region of West Sumatra. In his youth he was known as Muhammad Rasul, and after his return from the pilgrimage he became famous under the name Haji Rasul . Hamka, who wrote his biography, was his son. He was born on 10 February 1879 at Sungai Batang in the Minangkabau region. His father, Shaykh Muhammad Amrullah, was a Naqshbandi shaykh. Like the children of many scholarly families, in reaction to the Dutch colonial administration he studied not in colonial schools but in institutions giving traditional religious education, learning the Qur'an, religious subjects and Arabic. At fifteen he went to Mecca to further his studies. Together with Indonesians who would later champion a reformist understanding of religion in Sumatra, such as Muhammad Jamil Jambek and Muhammad Tahir Jalaluddin of Minangkabau origin, he became a pupil of the Minangkabau scholar Shaykh Ahmad Khatib , who at that time also served as an imam of the Masjid al-Haram. He also studied with teachers of Malay and Arab origin such as Abdullah Jamiuddin, Uthman Sarawaki, Hamid Jiddawi and Sa'id Yamani. In 1901 he returned home; in 1903 he went to Mecca again and began teaching in his house in the Shamiyya quarter. Among his students were Indonesians such as Ibrahim b. Musa Parabek and Muhammad Zaim Simabur. When his students multiplied, his teacher Ahmad Khatib asked him to teach in the Masjid al-Haram; when the imams of Arab origin objected, he continued teaching in a house near the Haram. At this time he lost his wife and newborn child. After performing the pilgrimage in 1906 he returned to Sumatra, teaching first at Maninjau and then at the Surau Jembatan Besi in Padang Panjang. Through his work the Surau Jembatan Besi, a traditional institution, became a modern educational institution; renamed Sumatra Thawalib in 1918, the school extended its influence as far as South Tapanuli and the west coast of Aceh. After his father's death in 1907 he strove to reform the Naqshbandi practices that he believed had become corrupted over time. While his teacher in Mecca, Ahmad Khatib, was more decisive in shaping his religious views, he is also held to have known the views of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh and M. Rashid Rida. He became the Sumatran representative of the reformist journal al-Imam , printed in Singapore; when it closed in 1909 he and his friend Haji Abdullah Ahmad began publishing, from 1 April 1911, the journal al-Munir in Padang along the same line. The journal opened an open debate in Minangkabau between the traditional scholars known as the "old generation" and the reformist "young generation"; it found readers in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Singapore and the Malay peninsula. Kiai Haji Ahmad Dahlan, founder of the Muhammadiyah, became its representative in Yogyakarta. For lack of resources the journal could appear only until 1915. In 1919 he played an active part in founding the Union of Islamic Religious Teachers (Persatuan Guru-Guru Agama Islam). On his second visit to Java in 1925 he met Haji Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, leader of the Sarekat Islam, and Kiai Haji Ahmad Dahlan; on his return he founded a religious organization called Sandi Aman in his home village of Sungai Batang. He later turned it into the West Sumatra branch of the Muhammadiyah, which soon became the largest and most influential religious organization of the region. In 1926, together with Abdullah Ahmad, he attended the World Islamic Congress held in Cairo to discuss the question of the caliphate; after speeches that won acclaim, a doctorate in the religious sciences was conferred on them on the proposal of a commission that included Shaykh Abd al-Aziz al-Tha'alibi. Though keeping away from active politics, he criticized the colonial government's education policies and encouraged the opening of modern private schools; he supported the Normal Islam college opened in Padang in 1931. In 1925 he prevented the passage of a law placing religious teachers under the supervision of local authorities, and in 1932 he led the opposition to the law known as the "Wild Schools Ordinance". The Dutch administration interrogated him twelve times and arrested him several times; finally, on 12 January 1941, he was arrested and exiled to Sukabumi in West Java. Freed with the Japanese occupation, he settled in Jakarta with his family and was appointed adviser to the Centre of the People's Power (Putera) and the Office of Religious Affairs set up by the Japanese administration. In this period he objected to the Japanese bow from a standing position called saikeirei , on the grounds that it resembled the ruku' of prayer, and wrote an article entitled "Hanna Allah" (to God alone) to show that it was contrary to Islam. While still serving as adviser to the Office of Islamic Affairs he died in Jakarta on 2 June 1945 and was buried there in the Pemakaman Umum Karet cemetery . His Circle of Influence — The Sumatra Thawalib school he built and the student organization founded under the same name played an important role in the religious and political developments of the region until the end of the colonial period. When his standing in the scholarly circles of West Sumatra and Indonesia rose with the doctorate, he worked with the other teachers of the young generation to develop the Muhammadiyah and spread his reformist views. Throughout the 1920s he struggled against the supporters of communism and socialism who were influential at Sumatra Thawalib, but he did not prevail against the young teachers of his own school who supported Islamic socialism. His Poetry and Sufi Line — While accepting the importance of Sufism, he opposed various practices of the Naqshbandiyya influential in Minangkabau: he held that rabita has no place in Islam, that regarding shaykhs as intermediaries between God and people is equivalent to associating partners with God, and that works such as Tanbih al-ghafilin , Durrat al-wa'izin and Nuzhat al-majalis are full of baseless reports. He rejected the understanding in the line of wahdat al-wujud , very influential in Indonesia in the early periods, and found al-Ghazali's moderate Sufism more reasonable. Opposing the adat practice in Minangkabau by which only daughters inherited, he demanded that inheritance be divided according to the rules of fara'id . He criticized sectarian bigotry and blind imitation, and said that the gate of ijtihad is open until the Day of Judgement. He considered practices such as wearing amulets, magic, the talqin at the graveside, delivering sermons only in Arabic and holding feasts in memory of the dead to be innovations. His Works — Twenty-seven books by him are recorded. His first book, Izhar asatir al-mudillin (1906), contains his criticism of polytheism and of Sufism. 'Umdat al-anam fi 'ilm al-kalam (1908) deals with the twenty attributes of God and with divine unity; Riqab al-mulhidin (1910) concerns the Naqshbandi practices in Minangkabau. Sulal al-usul (1914) is on the principles of jurisprudence and al-Ifsah (1919) on marriage; al-Burhan (1922) is a commentary on the last part of the Qur'an. In al-Qawl al-sahih he examines sound and fabricated reports; Cermin Terus (1929) contains his views on women. al-Kawakib al-durriyya (1940) criticizes a scholar who forbade delivering the Friday sermon in Indonesian. His most important work on legal theory, Pengantar Usul Fiqh (1966), was published by his son Hamka.
Kiai Marogan (real name Masagus Haji Abdul Hamid bin Mahmud) was one of the most renowned scholars and Sufis of 19th-century Palembang. A shaykh of the Sammaniyya order, he received the path from his parents, who had studied under Shaykh Muhammad Aqib and Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani. A successful merchant, he devoted his wealth to spreading Islam and building mosques, including the Muara Ogan Mosque in Kertapati and the Lawang Kidul Mosque in 5 Ilir. He died in 1901; his tomb at the mouth of the Ogan River is among Palembang's most visited pilgrimage sites, drawing up to 500 visitors a day.
Syekh Muhammad Dalil Bayang ("Syekh Bayang") was a Naqshbandiyah tarekat leader and author, born in Bayang, Pesisir Selatan, who later settled in Padang. At Ganting he opened study circles and taught the Qur'an, and he wrote works such as Targhib ila Rahmatillah. He was a leading figure of the Naqshbandi movement in Padang. He is buried in the cemetery behind Masjid Raya Ganting, a visited site. His exact death year is not firmly established across sources.
Teungku Chik Muhammad Pante Kulu (b. 1836) was among Aceh's great ulama and poet-scholars, author of the celebrated Hikayat Prang Sabi (Epic of the Holy War). After studying the Qur'an and religious sciences, he trained at Dayah Tiro under Teungku Chik Muhammad Amin, then studied four years in Mecca, earning the title Sheikh. On his voyage home from Jeddah he composed the Hikayat Prang Sabi, a spiritual epic that kindled the spirit of jihad against Dutch colonialism. His grave lies in Lam Leuot village, Aceh Besar, and is visited.
