Nur al-Din Research Articles

Kitab Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqim Oleh Shaykh Nur Al-Din Al-Raniri: Satu Sorotan

Syeikh Nur al-Din al-Raniri, known as al-Raniri was a prolific author on various disciplines of Islamic studies such as teology, fiqh and governance. Among of his out standing works are Hujjah al-Siddiq Li Daf‘ al-Zindiq, al-Tibyan fi Ma‘rifah al-Adyan, Hall al-Zill, al-Sirat al-Mustaqim and Bustan al-Salatin. As far as the al-Sirat al-Mustaqim is concerned, it is considered the oldest and earliest work on fiqh by Muslim scholars of Southeast Asia. This article endeavours to elucidate the importance of this work by revealing works, literatures and sources pertaining to al-Sirat al-Mustaqim.

Représentations du monde dans le golfe du Bengale au XVIIe siècle : Ālāol et Rānīrī

This article explores the contrasting visions of world geography prevailing around the Bay of Bengal in the 17th century, namely in Aceh and Arakan. After a preliminary study of the geographical horizons of Bengali and Malay literature, the authors proceed to an analysis and comparison of the world descriptions of the religious scholar Nur al-Din al-Rānīrī and of the Bengali poet Ālāol, having worked respectively in Aceh and Mrauk-U. This inquiry into the perceptions of the world is conceived as a first step toward a deeper understanding of the attitudes towards regional cultures in the 17th century, at a time when cosmopolitan languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian gave way to regional languages, such as Bengali and Malay.

Charity, Endowments, and Charitable Institutions in Medieval Islam (review)

Charity, Endowments, and Charitable Institutions in Medieval Islam. By Yaacov Lev. (Gainsville: University Press of Florida. 2005. Pp. x, 215. $59.95.) Charitable institutions-hospitals for the sick, homes for orphans, asylums for the aged-did not exist in Classical Greco-Roman civilization nor in Germanic or Celtic cultures of northern Europe. Christianity created these institutions in the fourth century in cities such as Antioch, Alexandria, Caesarea (Cappadocia), and Constantinople in the Eastern Mediterranean.The rapid development of these philanthropic institutions into specialized facilities for needy people was no doubt linked to the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the process of Christianizing the Roman state. Historians have traced the subsequent evolution of Christian philanthropic institutions in the Eastern Christian society of Byzantium and their slower development in the Western Latin provinces. Scholars of European civilization, however, have largely ignored the history of charity and charitable institutions in the Islamic world, although medieval Muslim hospitals, orphanages, poor houses, and free schools represent an important element in a continuous history of charity which began with the fourth-century Christian foundations. Yaacov Lev's monograph is the first attempt in English to fill this lacuna by summarizing the history of Islamic charity from its origins in the Koran to the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Lev begins by discussing the basis of Muslim charity found in the Koran, zakat and sadaqa. Zakat was an obligatory payment to benefit the poor paid by believers; sadaqa a voluntary contribution for the needy, offered by Arab tribes allied with Mohammed. In the wake of the Muslim conquests and the formation of the caliphate, zakat evolved into a tax paid to the government, not given directly to the poor. By 1171, the government of Saladin in Egypt collected zakat as a port tax in Alexandria, and used its proceeds not for the needy, but for holy war against crusaders. The concept of sadaqa (voluntary aid to the needy) proved more effective in helping the poor, the sick, and others in need of society's support. Like Christianity, Islam emphasized that voluntary deeds of charity atoned for sins. Thus, in 972 the Fatimid Calif al-Muizz expiated his cruel execution of rebels by conspicuous acts of charity. Personal acts of charity also helped to legitimize a new ruler's authority. Nur al-Din, the Turkish beg who seized power in Syria and Egypt (1100's), justified his de facto independence of the Caliphate through his impressive charitable foundations. Sadaqa proved to be an effective concept for supporting charitable institutions because early on it was supported by a flexible legal institution called a waqf. …

La confrerie ni‘matullahiyya en Iran

The Ni‘matullahiyya Brotherhood was founded in Uzbekistan by Shah Nur al-Din Ni‘matullah in 1360 before being transferred to Iran. Its current master is Dr Javad Nurbakhsh who has been responsible for the opening of several assembly houses. Every house has the same structure and organisation with two weekly assemblies. The relation with the master is fundamental and the novices perform rituals which bind them to the brotherhood. Focusing on the interiority of the Way, the brotherhood shows little interest in the outside world.

Nur Al-Din, the Qastal al-Shuʿaybiyya, and the “Classical Revival”

Nur Al-Din, the Qastal al-Shuʿaybiyya, and the “Classical Revival”

NUR AL-DIN, THE QASTAL AL-SHU‘AYBIYYA, AND THE “CLASSICAL REVIVAL”

NUR AL-DIN, THE QASTAL AL-SHU‘AYBIYYA, AND THE “CLASSICAL REVIVAL”

The Qu'ran Manuscripts in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem

Founded in 1922 and moved to al-Haram al-Sharif in 1929, the IslamicMuseum in Jerusalem houses artifacts covering nearly all oflslamic historyand originating in North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and theMiddle East.This beautifully illustrated volume, published with the support ofUNESCO in both English and Arabic, treats a small part of the Museum'scollection: a selection of its Qur'an manuscripts. The work, divided intothree parts, first introduces the Islamic Museum and its collection, thenprovides background information concerning relevant textual and art history,and finally presents 3 I Qur'an manuscripts in detail.Part One, "The Islamic Museum," gives an overview of theMuseum's holdings, including wood, metalwork, ceramics, glass, tex tiles,coins, stone inscriptions and architectural elements, and documents.Most of the artifacts are material salvaged from repairs to the haram areaor objects from the endowments of the Aqsa mosque and madrasahs inJerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. The collection includes many exquisitepieces: Umayyad floral woodwork panels from the al-Aqsa Mosque, astriking glass mosque lamp of the Mamluk amir Tankiz from Hebron, andthe salvaged remains of Nur al-Din's pulpit, built in Aleppo in 564/1168and brought to the Aqsa Mosque in 583/1187 by Salah al-Din after hisconquest of Jerusalem. (Unfortunately, the ornate wooden pulpit wasnearly destroyed by arson in I 969.)Part Two, "Background," treats Arabic calligraphy, illumination,bindings, and the textual history of the Qur'an. Kufic, an old, squarescript said to derive from stone inscriptions, is used for the text of the old estQur'an manuscript in the collection and for headings and panels inlater manuscripts.The bulk of the manuscripts are written in the more cursive Naskhiscript, which became popular by the tenth century, and the similar buttaller Thuluth and Muhaqqaq. A number of the collections manscriptsfrom North Africa are written in Maghribi script, which derives fromKufic and differs significantly from the common eastern scripts. This volumeallows the reader to view some stunning examples of illumination ...

The Ulama in Aceh: A Brief Historical Survey

This article is a survey primarily concerned with the social and political roles of some leading ulama in Aceh, one of the most important areas for the development of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago. As the work of Azyumardi Azra argued, Aceh emerged as the leading center of Islamic learning in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Malay-Indonesia; The leading ulama originated from Aceh and Islamic thought mainly developed there. Hamzah al-Fansûrî and Nur al-Din al-Raniri-to mention but a few-were among the Acehnese ulama who contributed to the Islamic intellectual development during the periode concerned. They were responsible for the spread of, respectively, heterodox sufisme wahdat al-wujûd and neosufisme in Malay-Indonesian Islam.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v8i1.694

Ma’ālimu al-Fikr al-Islāmī qabl Ẓuhūr al-Ittijāh al-Salafī bi Indūnīsīyā

After Sunni had triumphed over Shi'i, a new conflict arose between philosophical Tasawuf and pantheism. The dominant figures in the pantheist camp included ?amzah al-Fan?uri and Shams al-D?n al-Sumatrani. This madhhab was supported by the elites in the Aceh Kingdom. Shaykh Nur al-Din al-Raniri and Shaykh 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Singkili introduced Sunni Tasawuf into the kingdom in order to eradicate philosophical Tasawuf in influence. In the end, Shaykh Nur al-Din al-Raniri and Shaykh 'Abd al-Ra'uf succeeded in annihilating philosophical Tasawuf. DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v16i3.476

‘Alāqat Ḥarakat Nashr al-Islām wa al-Tarbīyah al-Islāmiyyah fī Ṣultanah Aceh

The emergence of such great 'ulama' in the Sultanate of Aceh, north of Sumatra, as Hamzah Fansuri (Hamzah al-Fansuri), Syamsuddin Sumatrani (Shams al-Din al-Sumatrani), Nuruddin Arraniri (Nur al-Din al-Raniri) and Abdurrauf Singkel ('Abd al-Rauf al-Sinkili) could lead one to pose an important questions. Why they emerged in the Sultanate of Aceh and not in other part of Nusantara. This study argues that that their emergence had closely to do with the fact that activity of Islamic learning was strongly supported by the Acehnese sultans.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v3i1.815

The Malay Founder of Medieval Malacca

It is many years since at an Oriental Congress in Paris Dr. C. O. Blagden started the comparative study of the genealogy of the Malay rulers of medieval Malacca, comparing the account in the then best known version of the Sejarah Melayuor “ Malay Annals ” with the list of rulers recorded in Chinese sources (Essays Relating to Indochina, 2nd series, vol. 1, Notes on Malay Archipelago and Malacca, W. P. Groeneveldt) and in d′Albuquerque′s Commentaries (Hakluyt Soc, 1927). Since Dr. Blagden wrote his paper, there have been pubKshed under my name two other Malay sources for the genealogy of the Malacca dynasty: a chapter from a MS. of the Bustan al-Salatin by Shaikh Nur al-din (JRAS., Straits Branch, 1920, No. 81, pp. 39–47) and an earlier version of the “ Malay Annals ” (JRAS., Malayan Branch, 1938, No. 16). There is also new material in the Suma Orientalis of Tomé Pires (Hakluyt Soc., 1944, vol. ii, pp. 229–259). And there is a valuable paper on the Founder of Malacca by P. V. van Stein Callenfels (JRASMB., 1937, pt. ii, pp. 160–6).