A Historical Account on Ibn Arabi’s Doctrine in the Indonesian in Archipelago the 1700s and 1800s

Abstract

Ibn 'Arabi is a well-known Sufi whose teachings and influence have reached almost every Muslim country. Although he is considered a Sufi figure with a controversial doctrine of Sufism, his teachings have been adopted and further elaborated by his followers worldwide, including the Malay-Indonesian archipelago. There are two objectives of this article: firstly, to provide a historical account of the spread of Ibn 'Arabi's teachings in the Malay-Indonesian archipelago in the 1700s and 1800s; and secondly, to show the adoption and reaction of the Malay religious scholars to Ibn `Arabi’s teaching. This essay employs a historical method based on historical data contained in the Kitab Jawi, a Malay religious book written in Arabic and Malay. This writing proves that the teachings of Ibn 'Arabi reached the Malay-Indonesian archipelago as early as the fifteenth century AD. Ibn 'Arabi's teachings were recorded in the works of Malay religious scholars (Malays: ulama), and their writings were instrumental in spreading the teachings among the Malay population in the archipelago.