Religious Merit Research Articles

Gus Dur’s Enduring Legacy: Accruing Religious Merit in the Afterlife

<p>Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), Indonesia’s fourth president (1999–2001) and leader of the traditionalist Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (1984–1999), continues to influence Indonesia in positive and meaningful ways despite his death in 2009. He proved that Islam and a pluralistic political culture were compatible and that Indonesian Islam had a global role. His legacy continues through the Wahid Foundation, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the National Awakening Party. The Wahid Foundation operates under the directorship of his daughter, Yenny Wahid, and is dedicated to improving Islam and Indonesian society through documenting religious intolerance and injustice and by issuing recommendations. Following Nahdlatul Ulama’s National Congress in December 2021, its leadership has been dominated by Gus Dur’s allies, including his wife and four daughters, and his former presidential spokesperson Yahya Cholil Staquf, all of whom have a deep commitment to his values. Gus Dur’s former political party, the National Awakening Party, remains another institution which supports pluralism and secular inclusiveness. However, the relationship between Gus Dur’s allies and this party remains fractured, just as it was before he died. Despite an impeached presidency, a fallout with the National Awakening Party, and the considerable time that has passed since his death, he has produced an enduring legacy. Public deference to the late Gus Dur is reminiscent of the nine saints who Islamised Java half a millennia ago. This is because traditionalist Muslims believe that one’s deeds which produce on-going benefits to society will, in the afterlife, continue to accrue religious merit, and millions visit Gus Dur’s grave every year to demonstrate this.</p>

“Brief history of Mongols” Compiled by A. Dorzhiev (1853–1938)

The article provides a source analysis of the historical work by Agvan Dorzhiev entitled as “A brief history of the Mongols according to the Mongolian chronicle Huhe Debter (Blue Book)”. Two editions of A. Dorzhiev’s work have been analyzed and their comparison with the chronicle “Huhe Debter” (Blue Book) from the collections of the library of St. Petersburg University was carried out. The methods of source studies, historical-descriptive and historical-comparative methods are used in the work. It is revealed that the text of A. Dorzhiev almost completely repeats the logic of the narration, as well as the history and genealogy of the Mongolian khans according to the third part of the handwritten chronicle “Huhe Debter”. In the publication of A. Dorzhiev, minor corrections and additions are observed. Separate insertions relate to the religious merits of the Mongolian Khagans, their activities in spreading the Buddhist religion, as well as the history of the Olets and their genealogies, which are given in two versions. This work has been strongly influenced by Buddhist ideology, for example, for confirming the idea of the incarnation of Bodhisattva Ochirvani in Genghis Khan, a small excursion into Buddhist doctrine is given. In substantiating the heavenly predestination of the birth of Genghis Khan, the formation of the cult of Genghis Khan, and the appointment of the descendants of Boorchu as caretakers of the tomb of Genghis Khan in Ordos are outlined. The dating of some historical events can also be attributed to Buddhist influence. This publication of “A Brief History of the Mongols” by A. Dorzhiev draws attention to the little-known Mongolian chronicle “Huhe Debter”. Both texts are interesting as historical and literary works, as sources on the Mongolian chronicles, the history of Mongolia and Mongolian Buddhism.

“Lord of the Gold Turtle”, or The Myanmar Lacquers’ Inscriptions from the State Museum of Oriental Art Collection

Features of the peculiar “lacquer epigraphy” of Myanmar, i. e. lacquer inscriptions are considered in the paper on examples of artworks from the collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art. The appearance of inscriptions in lacquer art, called pan-yun in Myanmar, dates to the ancient tradition of accompanying cult monuments with donor texts, which was largely associated with the Buddhist idea of acquiring merit that affects a person’s future life. In the medieval period, lacquerware’s inscriptions were applied mainly to religious objects, and only in the 20th century did they become traditional in the domestic sphere as well. The “lacquer epigraphy” contains good wishes, comments on pictorial narratives, messages about the traditional and high quality of products, the place of manufacture, the name of the workshop, customer, or master, and less often, the date of production. An analysis of the inscriptions leads the author to the conclusion that, overall, they remain within the Buddhist paradigm of accumulating and passing on religious merit.

The Ludibrium of Living Well

In the present article a new case will be made for the philosophical and religious merit of the Xiang’er commentary to the Laozi. Throughout the text there is a normative emphasis on reaching sagehood and the levels of obedience and cultivation that this entails. The Xiang’er prescribes a preparatory morality that readies Daoist practitioners for the eventual return to the Dao from which everything sprang. While this creates a temporary equilibrium in which commoners are held in check by a matrix of morality, this is but a stepping stone towards the ultimate dismantling of the edifice of human consciousness and the cosmic return to the Dao, as of yet the prerogative of sages. This creates a grim religious worldview in which humans are tasked with muting the clamour of the species in order to restore the original calm and stillness of the cosmic Dao.

The Sacred Asian Gate Tradition in Europe (Symbolic Crossings from the Mundane to the Sacred)

The Sacred Asian Gate Tradition in Europe (Symbolic Crossings from the Mundane to the Sacred)

La gran recompensa en el otro mundo: esclavitud y manumisión en Tetuán (1800-1956)

Este estudio analiza la práctica de la manumisión de esclavos y esclavas entre los notables de Tetuán entre 1800 y 1956, a partir de fuentes notariales inéditas combinadas con fuentes orales y coloniales. Esta documentación nos permite concluir que la manumisión formaba parte de un mecanismo moral según el cual los propietarios esperaban adquirir un mérito religioso antes de morir para asegurarse una recompensa y un lugar en el paraíso. La liberación contenía también una dimensión pública y ritual. En sus testamentos, los notables, tanto hombres como mujeres, expresaban su generosidad redistribuyendo su riqueza entre los pobres y otorgando dinero en metálico o el usufructo de sus residencias a sus libertos. Este material notarial permite analizar las desigualdades en la estructura social marroquí desde el punto de vista de los propietarios, pero también ofrece valiosas informaciones sobre las características físicas, nombres y estatus de sus esclavos y esclavas, así como de sus trayectorias una vez liberados.

Новый фрагмент санскритской Саддхармапундарика-сутры из Хотана

Introduction. The collection of Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra is a richest one in the Serindian Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (RAS, 27 call numbers). Most of the fragments of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection belong to the Central Asian edition, including the famous Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky that is the most extensive version of the Sutra (about 400 folios) and the core of the Sanskrit manuscripts containing the text of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’. Most of the Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra in the Serindian Collection were compiled in the southern oases of the Tarim Basin and made in poṭhī format. The texts of these manuscripts were written in Southern Turkestan Brāhmī in black ink on paper. According to paleographic data, these manuscripts can be dated to the 8th–9th centuries AD. Goals. The article seeks to introduce into academic circulation a new fragment of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection of the IOM (RAS). The new unpublished fragment of the Lotus Sutra stored under call number SI 6584 has been identified relatively recently. It is an excerpt from Chapter XVIII of the Lotus Sutra (‘The Chapter Describing the Religious Merit [Obtained through] Joyful Participation [in Dharma]’, ‘Anumodanāpuṇyanirdeśaparivartaḥ’). According to paleographic and codicological characteristics, the new fragment is very close to another previously published manuscript of the Lotus Sutra stored in the Serindian Collection under call number SI 1934. The article describes the external features of both manuscripts (SI 1934 and SI 6584), transliterates, translates and compares fragment SI 6584 to the other well-known texts of the Lotus Sutra. The paper also contains a facsimile reproduction of fragment SI 6584. Conclusions. As compared to other texts of the Lotus Sutra, fragment SI 6584 belongs to the Central Asian edition of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’, and its text is almost identical to that of the Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky (fol. 335b–337a).

Vasubandhu. [“The Great Compassion and the Perfections of All Buddhas”]. A Fragment of the Seventh Part of Abhidharmakośabhāṣya

The paper presents a commented translation of the fragment Jāna-nirdeśa (The doctrine of knowledge) from the seventh part of the exegetic compendium Abhidharmakośabhāya ascribed to the eminent medieval Buddhist thinker Vasubandhu (4th5th centuries AD). The fragment can be used as a historical source for the study of evolution of the image of the Buddha in post-Canonical treatises where the real Śakyamuni was invested with the attributes of a transcendental object of religious cult. The text explicates the conceptual differences between the great compassion (mahākāruā), treated as the Buddhas attribute, and compassion (kāruā) as a characteristic trait of enlightened ascetics (śravakas and pratyekabuddhas) and explains the postulate of identity of all buddhas perfections (the perfection of religious merits and knowledge, the perfection of the Dharmic body, the perfection of serving all sentient beings). This is the first translation based on the Sanskrit edition by P. Pradhan (Pradhan 1967: 414416).

Al-Dāraquṭnı̄'s (d. 385 ah) Faḍā’il al-Ṣaḥāba: Mild anger and the history of emotions in religious merits literature

AbstractThis essay analyses the sole extant chapter of a fourth/tenth-century Faḍā'il al-Ṣaḥaba work by the ḥadı̄th critic and scholar Al-Ḥasan ʿAlı̄ ibn ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad Ibn Mahdı̄ ibn Masʿūd al-Dāraquṭnı̄ (d. 385/995). As scholars have noted, faḍā’il literature beyond the chapters on religious merits of the Companions in the Ṣaḥı̄ḥayn is among a number of sub-genres of tradition-based literature (alongside, for example, targhı̄b wa tarhı̄b), which tends largely to be comprised of weak, non-canonical ḥadı̄th. This has generally been interpreted as evidence of the acceptability of “lower standards” for the inclusion of ḥadı̄th in exhortatory or edifying literature (lower when compared to standards for the authentication of ḥadı̄th in relation to law). This conceptualization both centres law as the dominant lens through which to view the reception of ḥadı̄th in general, and contributes to the marginalization of faḍā’il literature as merely folkloric. Using a history of emotions perspective to elucidate the nature and mechanisms of edification and pious instruction in faḍā’il texts, this essay argues that far from being marginal, faḍā’il works were central to the formation of emotional communities and to the construction of pious subjects in the Būyid period. Al-Dāraquṭnı̄'s fragmentary text reflects how a well-known and highly respected fourth-century ḥadı̄th scholar capitalized on the emotional resonances and sectarian ambiguities made available by the abundance of non-legal and non-prophetic ḥadı̄th generated during the second and third centuries ah.

The Materiality of Sound, Mediation, and Practices of Listening: Observations from Historic and Contemporary Muslim Practices

In his book on the etiquette of listening, the eleventh-century scholar Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī develops a scenario which includes the context, the performer, and the listener who all contribute to turn listening into a transformative experience by which the soul of the listener is moved, his or her inner qualities are revealed, and his or her transactions with the Divine are set in motion. This paper explores in what way these elaborations are relevant for contemporary performers of religious chanting in Arab Sunni communities in the Eastern Levant. It understands chanting in Muslim religious practice as “sensational forms” (Birgit Meyer) that serve religious mediation. These sensational forms are both authorised and contested, and al-Ghazālī’s ideas constitute an eminent reference for many practitioners. The paper captures al-Ghazālī’s elaborations in two aspects: first, his conditioned licence of listening to music and singing as a way to engage with the Divine and earn religious merits. Second, an understanding of music’s materiality that is not necessarily bound to sonic properties but becomes evident in the effect music has on listeners. Taking the concept of sorrow (ḥuzn) as an example, I show how al-Ghazālī’s understanding of mediating sorrow, rooted in the appropriation of ancient Greek music philosophy, has given way to a broader understanding of how to convey and evoke sorrow among contemporary performers.

Regenerating Life: The Power of Reproducing People in Desert Turkmenistan

In Turkmenistan, Islamic charitable alms (sadaka) are a central part of daily life in the desert villages surrounding Gökdepe town, about five hours drive from the capital, Aşgabat. Adults give sadaka for reasons of religious merit, in order to pay respects to deceased family members and prior to major life-cycle events such as weddings. This article links Turkmen sadaka to other life-cycle ceremonies noted in the surrounding Central Asian countries. Life-cycle ceremonies have been theorised in two broadly different ways, as either concerned with prestige and status or as ethical projects. I bring these two approaches into conversation through the notion of social reproduction. Using long-term ethnographic research, I argue that Turkmen sadaka reveals how the economics of daily life and social reproduction are directly dependent on divine gifts. It is an ethical project for those participating that, at the same time, has recognised social consequences in terms of status and prestige.

Building for the Buddha: Patrons in the Pa-la Kingdom

In conventional historiography, kings of the Pa-la dynasty are celebrated for upholding the last bastion of Buddhism in early medieval eastern India. The article demonstrates, on the basis of epigraphic evidence, that along with royal patrons, there were other categories of benefactors actively involved in the building and sustenance of Buddhist establishments. In fact, compared to the brief epigraphic history of royal patronage, there is a more sustained record of support provided to Buddhist establishments by subordinate rulers and Buddhist monks in the Pa-la domain. Through a close analysis of two twelfth-century stone inscriptions, an attempt is made to track continuities and changes in the nature of patronage provided by these two categories in a milieu defined by the presence of Buddhist institutions of trans-regional renown and participation of patrons from other realms. By paying attention to the inscriptional vocabulary, the article also highlights a typology of Buddhist monastic establishments within an eastern Indian sector and a range of devotional activities open to donors to acquire religious merit at these centres.

Merit and Virtue – Buddhist and Daoist Foundations in China (500–1500 CE)

Religious foundations in China (500–1500 CE) were largely characterized by the interaction of Buddhist and Daoist institutions with the state (court) and the populace. The present contribution tries to offer some preliminary insights into the endowment culture of traditional China, which is still an understudied and not well-understood area of endowment studies. The peculiarities of Chinese culture and history require a special approach to the topic as well as a basic knowledge of the relevant Chinese terminology. The endowment culture of traditional China was fundamentally influenced and shaped by monasticism, its key impulses obviously coming from Buddhism. I thus propose that in principle all monasteries in traditional China, including Daoist institutions, were foundations. Furthermore, I will introduce basic terms of the Chinese endowment culture, with a special focus on the key notion of religious merit (gongde).

Historiography in the Service of the Muftī: Ibn Taymiyya on the Origins and Fallacies of Ziyārāt

AbstractThis essay demonstrates Ibn Taymiyya’s engagement of historiography in iftāʼ. It draws upon fatwās on pilgrimage to Ascalon, travel to shrines of al-Ḥusayn in Ascalon and Cairo, and visits to Jerusalem and Hebron. Ibn Taymiyya weaves sophisticated historical narratives into his legal reasoning against visiting tombs of prophets and Ahl al-Bayt. He exposes lacunas, contradictions and unreasonable assertions in truisms about bodies of prophets and saints and their cults. He argues against ziyāra to such sites, blaming Shīʿīs for spreading the innovation at a particularly vulnerable time for Islam. His attack on notions of the religious merits of Jerusalem and of murābaṭa hinges upon his reconstruction of the history the Dome of the Rock and of the Islamic frontier. History leads him to stress the temporality of territorial definitions and their dependence on context. His argumentation resonates in works of later writers, demonstrating the continuing relevance of his fatwās.

Living Qur’an of Kempekan at Pesantren Babakan Ciwaringin, Cirebon: Transmission and Transformation of the Qur’an Recitation

This present study aims to explore the phenomenon of the Qur’an recitation by employing a ‘Kempekan’ model, which is transmitted at Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) Babakan. Kempekan is a style of tartil (a proper manner) recitation of the Qur’an promoted at Pesantren Kempek. A qualitative approach was designed in this ethnographic study. The data were collected through observation and interviews. The findings demonstrate two important points obtained from the living Qur’an of Kempekan. Firstly, the phenomenon of Kempekan which has emerged amid the pesantren not only to maintain the originality of the Qur’an recitation, but also to shape a new tradition of both its transmission and transformation patterns. It can be noticed from the development of the practice of today’s Qur’an recitation in Indonesia. Secondly, the surge of Kempekan has pervaded a plethora of cultural aspects occurring in Babakan. This can be evidenced from communities in the so-called Region III Cirebon, namely: Majalengka, Kuningan, Indramayu, and Cirebon, who attended the khatm al-Qur’an. The transmission and transformation of Kempekan raise the dialectical model of the Qur’an and its distinctive culture. The recitation of the Qur’an is not only limited to the rituals of ubuddiyah (religious merits), but also impacts on aspects of culture, economy, the structure of society, and a new model of piety.

Buddhist merit in the West: a case study from Australia’s Nan Tien Temple

ABSTRACTThe Buddhism that was introduced into China proposed that secular puṇya follows wholesome religious deeds intended to achieve happiness and prosperity in the human world or rebirth in heavenly realms. Buddhism then assimilated the classical Chinese fude and emphasised the merit field and transfer of merit. With the popularity of Mahāyana Buddhism, the cultivation of fude reached new heights. In the West, the Buddhist concepts of puṇya and fude did not take off. This article explores the extent to which Buddhist merit may be accepted in the West, and the mechanism by which it can be presented for easy acceptance. Australia’s largest Buddhist sanctuary, Fo Guang Shan Nan Tien Temple, hosts over 200,000 visitors and a public festival that attracts over 1,000 volunteers annually for more than 20 years. The studies in this article indicate that religious merit is attractive to those seeking blessings for a healthier, happier and more peaceful future as well as to those who wish to cultivate altruistic behaviour. Blessings and voluntarism may serve as skilful means to meet human needs in the short term as well as to introduce karmic merit and selfless bodhisattva aspiration in the long run.

The Sweat of the King

Abstract Eighteenth-century Javanese sources indicate that in pre-colonial Javanese kingdoms, a distinction was drawn between the monarch’s personal wealth—called monies that were ‘pure in intent, from the sweat of the king’—and the revenues of the kingdom as an institution. The distinction was probably of Islamic origin. It seems probable that only such personal royal wealth was acceptable for funding acts of personal religious merit.

Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills by Kirin Narayan

Reviewed by: Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills by Kirin Narayan Victoria M. Dalzell Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills. By Kirin Narayan. (Big Issues in Music.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. [xxiv, 254 p. ISBN 9780226407562 (paperback), $25; ISBN 9780226407425 (cloth), $75; ISBN 9780226407739 (e-book), price varies).] Forward, illustrations, bibliography, index. The region of Kangra in northwestern India is the abode of goddesses—Parvati is the daughter of the mountains, and a network of shrines dedicated to Sati connects the region. Yet the "singing goddesses" that Kirin [End Page 677] Narayan alludes to in her book's title are in fact upper-caste Hindu women, on whom this book focuses. Appending devi (goddess) to their names after marriage, these women disseminate an oral repertory of songs that invoke the goddesses and make these deities present in the lives of their communities. Though the women are known for their songs, their primary identity is not that of singer, but rather of daughter, sister, wife, or mother. This book is about how these women embody the songs of the goddesses that they sing and thus cultivate their own lives as well as the lives of the communities in which they live. One of the book's strengths is its limited scope. Narayan spent decades conducting ethnographic research in Kangra and published extensively on songs and folktales from that region of India. Her choice to limit the amount of material included in this book prevents the reader unfamiliar with these traditions from being overwhelmed. To organize the chosen material, Narayan employs the metaphors used by the "singing goddesses" to talk about parts of a song as growing plants: chapters 1 and 2 are the "base," and chapters 3 through 6 explore the "fruits" of singing. She ends with a reflection on the benefits of singing, which acts as the "head" of the work. A commonly sung coda outlining some of these benefits orders the internal chapters. Each chapter expounds on a benefit by examining songs about a particular god or goddess and focuses on a specific woman singer as a main character. Each also looks at a particular genre of song that correlates to women's life stages: wedding songs for younger women and new brides, ballads about everyday life as a householder, or devotional songs sung by older women to gain religious merit. Limiting the material allows Narayan to pay close attention to the particular roles the songs play in these women's lives. Narayan's choices on organization and content allow her to make the case for "everyday creativity"—the book's key theoretical contribution. She modifies creativity with everyday to take away the assumption that creativity equates innovation and instead draws attention to the women's resourcefulness in curating and reconstructing oral material. Many singers do not recite memorized texts but rather choose elements within storylines to emphasize or embellish. For this reason, each rendition of a song is different. Narayan's transcriptions of these oral texts are one way that she demonstrates the creativity of the women. The song transcriptions within her book all stem from a particular performance and do not represent every performance of that song. In a few instances, she includes transcriptions of the same song from two different singers; she traces how certain verses become inserted into different songs, or how the same character or event appears in songs across genres. These instances demonstrate the creativity involved in curating oral material. Even as Narayan focuses on the musical choices of individual singers, she does not lose sight of the cultural context in which this creativity occurs. She briefly provides background on where and when these songs are sung and what role they fill in community life. She also places the songs within a larger tradition of sung stories about deities and devotees within Indian religions that cross oral and written bodies of work. Narayan's writing, however, continuously forefronts the personal pleasure that the women derive from curating and singing these songs. So, as Narayan examines oral literature—a common topic in anthropology and ethnomusicology—she constantly reminds the reader that its significance derives from the people who...

Il re nella "Kādambarī". Regalità, Fato e Fortuna nella "Kādambarī" di Bāṇa

After some observations about the importance attributed to the king in the most authoritative texts of Brahmanic tradition, this essay illustrates the role of the sovereign in Kādambarī , the famous novel by Bā ṇ a. The king embodies the force that permeates and sustains the whole world. He is the first principle of the universe and thus the axis mundi. Extremely problematic is the relationship betweenindividual value and “fate” (karman), to which the very sovereign is subject, although he himself is defined as the “source of fortune”. The king’s value depends on his firm dedication to Dharma and on his ability to lead all creatures to consciousness of their own sacredness. The protagonists of this novel are linked by religious merit, the only element that can change fate.

L’ospedale, il denaro e altre ricchezze. Scritture e pratiche economiche dell’assistenza in Italia nel tardo medioevo

The section contains contributions focusing on the practices and records relating to the economics of hospitals in late medieval Italy. Experts from different disciplines – economic historians, historians of the document, historians of the Middle Ages and of welfare institutions – offer a significant overview of hospitals situated in the north, the center and the south of the Italian peninsula between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. They investigate the mechanisms of funding of charities, the social and public implications of hospital care, the techniques and the accounting systems of revenue and expenditure, and finally, the religious merits connected not only to the care of the poor and sick, but also to the scriptures that recorded this activity.