The Transmission of Sufi Tariqa in Thailand

DRAFT ONLY – Not for citation

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The Transmission of Sufi Tariqa in Thailand

Dr Christopher M. Joll1

Centre for Ethnic Studies and Development (CESD)

Chiang Mai University

Paper presented at the 12th International Thai Studies Conference

University of Sydney

April 22-4, 2014

Abstract This paper is part of a historical ethnography of sufi orders (turuq) between the

Thailand’s Central plains and Malay far-south. In contrast to the modernist, reformist,

and revivalist Islamic movements firmly embedded in Thailand’s religious landscape,

next to nothing is known about these movements, for a variety of reasons. In Thailand

sufi practitioners lack the numbers found in other parts of Muslim Southeast Asia, and

most sufi tariqa are now marginal to the Muslim mainstream. Although in some parts of

the country some still resemble secret societies, in others they engage through websites,

social media, and TV channels. I begin with a prolegomena pointing out that despite its

long history in South Thailand, sufism has almost been entirely neglected by scholars. In

four substantive sections, I consider the personalities and processes that between the late

1800s and 1920s contributed to the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah established a presence in the

Thai/Malay Peninsula. Although my interests are predominantly in connections with

Patani/Pattani, I also reveal that Ahmadiyyah influence reached Bangkok through

another curiously – and circuitous – route which highlights the importance its influence

in the Hijaz as late as the 1940s.

Introduction This paper presents elements of a historical ethnography of sufi networks, rituals, and litanies

present in Muslim communities between Thailand’s central plains and Malay-dominated

southern provinces. I begin with a prolegomena in which I suggest reasons for the almost

complete neglect of sufism by scholars of Islam in Thailand, despite its long history. The

limits of space and wealth of material require concentrating on two branches of the

Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah order in Thailand, and the contribution of personalities with direct

links with Patani.2 Whilst important connections exist between them, I consider the careers of

Tuan Tabal, Wan Musa, Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi, and Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani in

separate sections. These shed new light on the processes through which this tariqa

established a presence in the Thai/Malay Peninsula between the late 1800s and 1920s.

Notwithstanding my interests in connections with Patani/Pattani, I also reveal Ahmadiyyah

influence having reached Bangkok through another curiously – and circuitous – route that

highlights its influence in the Hijaz in the 1920s.

Studying Sufism in Thailand Whilst modernist, reformist, revivalist, and “radical” Islamic movements in Thailand have

been extensively studies, why has next-to-nothing has been written on sufism in Thailand?3

As I reveal below, the reasons are many.

1 The author can be contacted on [email protected] and +66894659082.

2 In this paper, Patani specifically denotes the Malay Kerajaaan which covered the present-day Thai provinces.

of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, while Pattani specifically refers to the Thai amphur (province). 3 Uman Madaman wrote a doctoral dissertation on Thai tariqa (Madaman 1999) and Rajeswary Brown has

includes fascinating material on a range of turuq in her Islam in Modern Thailand: Faith, Philanthropy and

Politics (2013, 54-56, 69-74, 91-52,123-128, 185-128).

mailto:[email protected]


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In Thailand sufi practitioners lack the numbers found in other parts of Muslim

Southeast Asia. Their numbers have dwindled since the Japanese occupation during WWII

for a number of reasons. Some of the modernist and reformist movements that have impacted

Islamic thought and practice in the Malay World over the last century have targeted certain

“sufi” practices. In many parts of Thailand where tariqa where active, Muslims wishing to

grow in knowledge and piety, are now more likely to join the Tablighi Jama’at. Most tariqa

are led by tok guru (PM. religious teachers) or babo (PM. pondok school owners) possessing

permission to function as sufi masters (PM. murshid) who induct students (PM. anok murid)

in to an order. The conversion of pondok schools that provided a religious education, into

private schools teaching Islam (PSTIs) which also taught the Thai national curriculum,

reduced the level of contact and influence of teachers who taught and practiced tasawwuf (Ar.

mysticism). Notwithstanding some sufi Imams, tok guru, and babos remaining positions in

some local Islamic councils, most tariqa are now marginal to the mainstream Islam.

Particularly in the far-south between Chana (in Songkhla Province) and the Golok

River some turuq resemble secret societies. This complicates achieving contact, rapport, and

the permission required to ethnically undertake a study based on extensive ethnographic

fieldwork.4 Given the ease with which a number of turuq can be located north of Chana and

south of the Kelantanese border, this is in large part related to elements of insurgents

performing practices associated with sufi orders. Although in the Malay far-south some

tariqa resemble secret societies, those further north engage with the public sphere through

websites, social media, and TV channels.

Other more concerning reasons have led to the dearth of studies on Sufism in

Thailand. Thailand’s traditionalist majority has generally been neglected in favour of their

reformist interlocutors. The study of sufism requires a rigorous reading of the range of

secondary literature produced by historians of Southeast Asian Islam, a working knowledge

of Islamic texts and traditions, and – above all – fieldwork. Scholarly silence on sufism is

largely related to the lack of fieldwork presently being conducted among rural traditionalist

in Narathiwat and Yala where sufism is the strongest. Two ethnographies based largely in

Sungai Golok are the any doctoral dissertation of Narathiwat that I am aware of (Pas-Ong

1990; Tsuneda 2006). Portraits of rural Malay communities (Cornish 1997; Patya 1974) are

equally rare – and increasingly dated. Although I have personally contributed to this trend

(Joll 2011), most studies of southern Malayness are based on fieldwork conducted in Pattani.

The significance of this is that Pattani’s Malay population has been most impacted by Thai

modernity and Islamic reformism led by Dr Ishmael Lutfi Japakia (Braam 2013; Muhammad

Ilyas Yahprung 2014).

Another trend is that the involvement of some scholars from Patani in sufism has been

downplayed –- even ignored – by recent biographers.5 Once more, my treatments of Sheikh

Daud bin Abdullah bin Idris al-Fatani (Sheikh Daud al-Fatani) and Sheikh Wan Ahmad b.

Muhammad Zain Mustafa al-Fatani (Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani) (1856-1908) (Joll 2011, esp.

35-40, 42-50; 2012) have unintentionally contributed to this trend, emphasizing the latter’s

involvement in reformism with no reference to sufism. At the time I had neither heard of the

Ahmadiyyah and that some sufi orders active during the careers of both these influential

personalities.

My recent re-reading of Perayot Rahimmula’s study of Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani

(Rahimmula 1990) contains some valuable glimpses into the importance of the Shattariyyah

and Ahmadiyyah.6 For example, he relates that while still a child in Patani, Sheikh Daud bin

4 Most of the fieldwork on which this study is based began in October 2012.

5 The following are some recent exceptions (Lukmanul Hakim Darusman 2010; Narongraksakhet 2010).

6 I wish to thank Ibrahim Wongtanee for providing me with a searchable PDF version of Rahimmula’s

enormous work which contains translations of some of Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani most important fatwa.


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Abdullah bin Idris al-Fatani (Sheikh Daud) had an encounter in with a “great Sufi from

Yemen.” The Shiekh rubbed the young Daud’s head and prayed a dua. The Sheikh revealed

that he had asked Allah to bless this child, and to make him a “glittering star, a full moon, a

shining sun and the greatest ‘ulama of the Malay soil" (Rahimmula 1990, 200). Sheikh Daud

al-Fatani was far from first ‘alim from Patani to have arrived in Mecca. His first tok gurus

there were Patani scholars who led hallaqah (Ar. study circles) in Mecca’s al-Haram

Mosque. Among them was a certain Sheikh Muhammad Saleh bin Abdur-Rahman al-Fatani,

who Perayot Rahimmula describes as a “learned man in both Shariah and Tasawwuf” (of the

Shattariyah tariqa). In addition to functioning as a Shattariyah murshid, Sheikh Daud had

also been inducted into the Samaniyyah.7

Another was Sheikh Ali bin Ishak al-Fatani who

was a Samaniyyah (Rahimmula 1990, 193, 203). He may even have firsthand contact with

Sheihk Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Samman al-Madani, after whom the order is named

(1990, 204).

Tariqa sufism was extremely active during the nineteenth century which Michael

Laffan as suggested could be referred to as a “sufi century” (Laffan 2014). On the subject of

the Ahmadiyyah presence in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, Rahimmula comments this to

have had a large following in the past. That this was almost certainly the case, is partly

related to Patani’s traditionalist leadership both been related to each other, and drawing from

similar sources of knowledge (Rahimmula 1990, 402). It is well known, for example, that

Sheikh Daud al-Fatani was an important leader of the Shattariyyah during the nineteenth

century. Ibrahim Narongraksakhet draws attention to Sheikh Daud al-Fatani’s habit of

combining more than one field of knowledge in one title complicating clear distinctions about

whether its contents were fiqh, usul aldin, or tasawwuf. He claims that nine of his works

specifically dealt with tasawwuf (2010, 8 these are listed on p. 268).8 Francis Bradley argues

that sufism was the primary focus of works penned by Sheikh Daud al-Fatani between 1817

and 1834.9 These were a mixture of original works and translations by luminaries like Abu

Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058–1111). One of the best known is his translation of

Imam al-Ghazali’s Minhai al ‘Abidin which is still widely studied in the Patani’s

traditionalist pondok. Bradley summarises Al-Manhal al-Ṣ āfī fī Bayān Ramz Ahl al-Ṣ ūfī

(Pure Spring in the Explanation of Sufi Symbolism) to have “served as a primer to many

basic Sufi doctrines”. Its short glossary suggests its use by students new to the Shattariyya. It

also dealt with details of the martabat tujuh, or seven stages of Sufi consciousness (Bradley

2013, 5).10

The intensification of Patani’s political woes after 1832 led him to return once

more to writing on fiqh and addressing social problems.

Rahimmula described that throughout the east coast tok gurus and babos were

“individually initiated into Tarikat Ahmadiyyah or Shattariyyah”. Their ultimate aim was

“spiritual perfection”, and the pursuit and propagation of “esoteric knowledge.” Although all

tok guru are expected to “possess or access efficacious formulas”, some are believed to

possess “mystical power”, referred to as berkat (blessing) that may manifest itself in the

ability to cure, repel sorcery, locate lost objects […], provide protection, and anticipate future

or distant events – even cause injury or sickness” (Rahimmula 1990, 403). This referred to

7 The Shattiriyyah trail started when I heard about a movement in Nongjook (East Bangkok) called the “Sotok”.

A research assistant in Kota Baru suggested that this might be the Shattiriyyah. Many Pattani Malays would

pronounce “Shattiriyyah” as “Sotoriyyah”, but this had obviously been further contracted. I confirmed that this

was the case after being taken to meet the local 70-year old murshid . He had been inducted by his grandfather,

who had been received an ijazah to spread the Shattiriyyah from Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani, who had been

inducted by the even more famous Sheikh Daud al-Fatani (Fieldnotes Dec 12, 2014). 8 For Narongraksakhet’s list see (2010, 268).

9 Bradley specifically mentions the following works by Sheikh Daud al-Fatani (1818, 1824a, 1824b, 1825, 1828,

1829, 1834a, 1834b, 1913, nd). 10

For more on Al-Manhal al-Ṣ āfī see MHD Zain bin Abdul Rahman (2000).


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locally as orae karamat.

When I first mentioned my interest in studying sufism in South Thailand, my Malay friends –

who had been born and raised in Pattani – informed me that this would be impossible. Sufi

tariqa had all but disappeared, and their remnants would be tremendously difficult for

someone like me to track down. I had lived in South Thailand for ten years before meeting

my first bona fide sufi. He was a disciple (Ar. murid) of a Malaysian sheikh (Ar. sufi master)

who was known as Sheikh Mahmud al-Majzub.11

He led what could best be referred to as

branch of the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-Dandarawiyyah originating from Lundang Paku on the

outskirts of Kota Baru in Kelantan, with the Qadriyyah that he had encountered while

studying India.

I remember thinking “if they were wrong about this, what else had they been wrong

about?!” Changing the questions I asked and where I asked them opened the door into a

parallel universe. The following section is the first of four which consider the contributions of

well known Malay scholar involved in the establishment of Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah on the

east coast of the Thai/Malay Peninsula.

Tuan Tabal and Ibrahim al-Rashid Mark Sedgwick’s Saints and Sons (2005) is without doubt the most comprehensive treatment

of turuq influenced by the famous Morrocan Sheikh Sidi Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi (1760-

1837).12

The terms “Idrisi” and “Ahmadi” for Sedgwick denote “devotional practices, sufi

orders, and individuals which can be traced back to Ahmad ibn Idris and perpetuated by his

followers”. In light of the “confusing variety” of names which are often “loosely applied”, he

suggests the following as the three most important Idrisi/Ahmadi traditions:

(1) Ahmad ibn Idris' direct descendants that provided 'Idrisi' or 'Ahmadi' sheikh in the Sudan

and Egypt. This includes the short-lived 'Idrisi State' of 'Asir in the Yemen at the start of the

twentieth century.

(2) Ahmad ibn Idris’ Sudanese student Muhammad 'Uthman al-Mirghani (1793/4-1852/3)

who established the Mirghaniyya/Khatmiyya.

(3) Two other students, Muhammad ibn al-Sanusi (1787-1859) and Ibràhìm ibn Salih ibn

'Abd al-Rahmadal-Duwayhi (1813-1874), known as Ibrahim al-Rashid who established the

Sanusiyya and Rashidiyya orders. The latter is sometimes referred to as the Ahmadiyya

(1997, 350).

One of the directions in which the Ahmadiyyah spread from the mid-late 1800s, was to the

Malay World where sizable followings in Singapore and the Malaysian state of Seremban

still exist. As I have already commented above, this is also well known throughout the east

coast of Thai/Malay Peninsula.13

Other important orders on the peninsula are the

Naqshabandiyya and Qadriyyah . However, these are stronger along the Melaka Straits and in

upcountry (hulu) Perak (Farrer 2009; Laffan 2014, 34; Syed Muhammad Naguib Al-Attas

11

For a hagiography of this Sheikh published by his disciples see (Madrasah Nurul Iman Hulu 2009). 12

Readers interested in the accounts of the career of Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris should consult the following (Bang

1997; O'Fahey, Rex Seán 1990; O'Fahey, Rex Seán and Ali Salih Karrar 1987; Thomassen and Radtke 1993;

Vikør 2004; Voll 1973) 13

Tariqa Ahmadiyyah may sometimes refer to Tariqa Muhammadiyya, or orders emphasizing union with the

Prophet. In Kelantan, the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah might be confused with the Ahmadiyyah-Badawiyyah, an

order whose devotional practices are linked to the Egyptian Sheikh Ahmad Badawi (1200-1279). This was the

tariqa that Haji Abdullah Tahir (1897-1961) dispensed ijazah to pious students from his Madrasah Ahmadiyyah

located on the outskirts of Kota Baru in Bunut Payong. Since the 1960s, through the charismatic teaching and

teaching careers of Tok Khruu Ae, Koh Yao Noi (an island east of Phuket) and Tok Khruu Loh (Huay Un,

Songkhla), this is now one of the three largest tariqa in Thailand, and the largest in Thailand’s Southern Thai-

speaking upper south.


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1963).14

Branches of the ‘Alawiyyah are most numerous in former Straits Settlements where

Hardrami creole communities are most numerous. Remnants of an ‘Alawiyyah branch

referred to locally as the al-Haddad may still be found among South Thailand’s Syaid

communities.15

The importance of both Ibrahim al-Rashid and his student Muhammad ibn `Ali al-

Dandarawi (1839–1911) cannot understated. The Rashiddiyah branch of the Ahmadiyyah-

Idrisiyyah (sometimes referred to as the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-Rahidyyah) is named the

latter. It was Ibrahim al-Rashid who inducted Haji Wan Abdul Samad bin Wan Muhammad

Salih bin Wan Abdul Latif al-Fatani (1840–91). “Tuan Tabal”, as he was most commonly

known was the first Malay to have received permission (Ar. ijazah) to both practice and

propagate the way of Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris in Kelantan.

More than any of his other murid, Ibrahim al-Rashid preserved Sheikh Ahmad ibn

Idris’ avoidance of conventional organizational forms, something that greatly undermined the

success of the al-Rashìd’s Ahmadiyyah (2005, 80). Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris’ biographer, Rex

S. O’Fahey (2004, 281-282) comments that although some students established orders such

as the Sanusiyyah and Mirghaniyyah, this enigmatic saint was a Shadhiliyyah with no

intentions of establishing yet another tariqa. Similar to his rejection of mazhabs (in favour of

the Qur’an and hadith), his advocacy for Tariqa Muhammadiyya meant that he inducted

murid into the Shadhiliyyah of his native Morroco.16

In addition to the Shadhiliyyah, Sheikh

Ahmad ibn Idris also taught his murid the tahlil al-kabir (see fig. 1), istighfar al-kabir, and

salawat azeemiyya that he had received in a dream from the Prophet and Nadi Kadr. Along

with the Ahmadiyyah manual Kunùz al-jawàhir, the presence of these prayers represent the

most reliable indications of Ahmadiyyah influence – both past and present. As I reveal

below, this is included in the devotional repertoire of Thailand’s Shadhiliyyah presence in

Nongjook, East Bangkok.17

Figure 1: Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris tahlil al-kabir

Tuan Tabal’s hometown was the village of Tabal, located in the northern side of the Golok

River. Following the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, this became one of the border towns

that the Siamese renamed Tak Bai (Ahmad Zaki Berahim Ibrahim, Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor

et al. 2012, 1250-1251). Tuan Tabal’s mother (Tok Cu Mah) was a Malay from Pattani and

14

For more on sufism in Malaysia, see Bousfield (1993) and Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid (Ahmad Fauzi Abdul

Hamid 2013; 1999, 2001a, 2001b). 15

Fieldnotes Oct 11, 2011. 16

For Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris’ position on the mazhabs see Bernd Radtke (2000, 95-132). On Tariqa

Muhammadiyya, see Sedgwick (2005, 27-49) and Valerie Hoffman-Ladd (1992, 1999). 17

Follow the standard confession of faith (La ilaha ill’Allàh; Muammadun rasùl Allàh), the tahlìl al-kabir states

“fi kuli lamhatin wa nafasin 'adada mà wasi'ahu 'ilm Allàh”, or “with every glance and breath, the number of

which is known only to God.”


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his father (Haji Wan Leh) was an influential local imam whose extended family produced

many of Patani’s ‘ulama besar.18

Haji Wan Leh is buried in Pangkalan Kubor on the

Kelantan side of the Golok River .19

Tuan Tabal’s popularity and influence following his return to Kelantan in the late

1860s, has been described and explained by a number of commentators (See Ahmad Zaki

Berahim Ibrahim, Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor et al. 2012; Muhammad Ali 2006, 2007; Pauzi

Haji Awang 2001; Wan Muhammad Azam Muhammad Amin 2013). He brought back to the

east coast the latest scholarship from the Hijaz, including “a new form of sufism” at a time

when the Shattariyyah was the most wide-spread tariqa.20

According to Werner Kraus (1999,

154), by the end of the nineteenth century, this had become contaminated by a range of

unorthodox beliefs and practices.21

Muhammad Ali also argues that the influence of

reformists in late nineteenth century Malaya can only be grasped in the context of local

perceptions of the “‘ulama as “successors of the prophets (al-ulama warisatul anbiya)”.22

Graduates from Mecca were viewed as “blessed human beings' (manusia yang diberkati)”

from whom the general populace sought “blessings in this world and the hereafter.” The

return of someone from Mecca was eagerly anticipated.

When Tuan Tabal arrived to Kelantan, he was welcomed by Kelantanese elites and

orang kampong alike. He was offered one leader's daughter in marriage, and was granted a

waqf in the form of land on which a pondok could be constructed (2006, 49). Muhammad Ali

may have referred Tok Semian on whose wagf, a small zàwiyya (known as Surau Tuan

Tabal) and Pondok Tok Semian were constructed. Tuan Tabal married his daughter with

whom he had six children. Three of the best known are Haji Wan Muhammad, Haji Wan

Abdullah, and (arguably the most important) Haji Wan Musa that I will deal with below.

Notwithstanding his involvement in the Ahmadiyyah, Sedgwick described Tuan

Tabal as primarily a scholar “who was also an Ahmadi.” In addition to authoring a number of

books, he conducted the Ahmadi aurad (Ar. wirid (pl.)) and inducted students into the

Ahmadiyyah.23

Murid were expressly forbidden to visit his grave to seek baraka” (2005, 77)

(fig. 1 & 2). Tuan Tabal lived “modestly and often went to a lonely place to meditate”. He

might have been a sufi, but was also an expert in traditional Islamic sciences such as Arabic

and Islamic law (fiqh), and was a great admirer of Imam Al-Gazhali and his Ihya' ulum al-din

(Revival of Religious Sciences) (2006, 43).24

His reputation as the Sufi ‘ulama attracted a

huge following at his pondok in Kubang Pasu.

18

Those interested in the detailed genealogies of these families should consult (Rahimmula 1990). For my

analysis of these creole or peranakan Arab dynasties see (Joll 2012). 19

Ahmad Zaki Berahim Ibrahim etal specifically mention Sheikh Daud bin Abdullah al-Fatani, Sheikh Zainal

Abidin bin Muhammad al-Fatani, Sheikh Muhammad bin Ismail al-Fatani, Sheikh Ahmad bin Muhammad

Zain al-Fatani (2012, 1251). 20

The Naqshabandiyya and Qadriyyah had larger followings along the Melaka Straits and Perak (Farrer 2009;

Syed Muhammad Naguib Al-Attas 1963). For more on Sufism in Malaysia, see treatments by Bousfield (1993)

and Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid (Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid 2013; 1999, 2001a, 2001b). 21

Cited in Sedgwick (2005, 80). 22

For more on this important issues see Muhammad Qasim Zaman (2002). With respect to present-day

Kelantan and role of Nik Abdul Aziz bin Haji Nik Mat, see Farish Noor (2003). 23

A list of his best known works are include in the bibliography (1868, 1870, 1878, 1882, nd-a, nd-b, nd-c) 24

According to Michael Feener, the enduring importance of Ihya' ulum al-din is not only that it is widely

recognized in its “original form”, but also that numerous “commentaries, adaptations (mukhtasar), and

translations into local languages also exist (1998, 580).


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Figure 2: Tuan Tabal’s Grave in Kota Baru, Kelantan (photo by author, Feb 21, 2014)

Figure 3: Sign to Tuan Tabal’s Grave in Kota Baru, Kelantan (photo by author, Feb 21, 2014)

Wan Musa and Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani The Ahmadiyyah presence established in the east coast by Tuan Tabal continued in Kelantan

under his sons 'Abd Allàh, Ahmad, and Wan Mùsà (1874–1939), and students such as

Muhammad Yusuf b. Ahmad (1868-1933), or Tok Kenali. Along with Hakim Nik Abdullah,

Tok Kenali became a prominent leaders in Kelantan (See Abdullah al-Qari bin Haji Salleh

1974). Tuan Tabal’s son Ahmad might have inherited his father’s surau (zàwiyya), but Wan

Mùsà carried on the Ahmadiyya – the first significant occurrence of “hereditary succession in

the Rashìdi Ahmadiyya since the establishment of the Salihiyya” (Sedgwick 2005, 123).

It was not from his father that Wan Mùsà took the Ahmadiyya, but from the famous

Sheikh Ahmad ibn Muhammad Zayn ibn Mustafà al-Fatàni (1856–1906/8) with whom he

studied in Mecca (See Ahmad Fathy al-Fatani 2009; Joll 2012; Rahimmula 1990). Like his

father, Wan Musa was better known as a scholar than a Sufi. In 1916, the minutes of the

Majlis Ugama of Kelantan stated the ‘Ahmadiyya Shàdhiliyya’ as his tariqa (Sedgwick 2005,


8

123). Muhammad Salleh bin Wan Musa comments that Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani inducted

Wan Musa into the “practices of the sufi tariqa of Abu Hasan Ash-Shadhili” (1974, 155).

Decades later while in Trengganu under the patronage of the chief minister, Haji Ngah, Dato

Amar di-Raja, he spread teachings of the “Ahmadiyyah-Shazuliyyah tariqa (1974, 158).

Wan Mùsà established his own surau after his return from Mecca. This was located

nearby his father’s house in Merbau Road, Kota Bharu. He translated al-Rashìd’s 'Iqd al-

durar al-nafìs into Jawi, taught in his surau, and led the Ahmad hadra. He “neither described

himself nor acted as a shaykh […] nor did he run a tariqa in the standard sense. He was

scholar first, Sufi incidentally” (Sedgwick 2005, 124). In 1909, at the relatively young age of

34, Wan Mùsà was appointed the first State Mufti of Kelantan (2005, 133).25

Commentators convinced about the impossibly of reformist or modernist sufism may

well be surprised by Wan Mùsà’s enthusiasm for Muhammad 'Abduh, and condemnation of

‘un-Islamic’ practices perpetuated by the Malay populace. He even wrote letters to Rashìd

Ridà’s al-Manàr (Sedgwick 2005, 125). Muhammad Ali describes his opposition to the

religious establishment at the time. This is hardly surprising given Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani’s

influence. He disagreed with traditionalists on a number of issues. These included

Questions of niat (outward intention in prayer), utterance of the 'talking over the dead'

after burial, recitation of tahlil in the house of the deceased, and the rituals to

celebrate the Prophet's Birthday (Maulud Nabi). Haji Wan Musa regarded these

practices as innovation (bid’ah) (Muhammad Ali 2006, 44).

Wan Musa’s 'reformist' stance was at a time when the term kaum muda was little unknown

(Roff 1967). Nevertheless, he placed equal importance to sufi mysticism (tasawwuf) as law

(fiqh), alleging that no practice could be wholesome without being performed with heart-felt

purity. His tasawwuf rejected the blind acquiescence (taqlid) of most Malay ‘ulama at the

time that he viewed as leading to stagnation (MHD Salleh bin Wan Musa and (with S.

Othman Kelantan) 1974, 160). The arrival of student from another branch of the Ahmadiyyah

led this tariqa in a very different direction than that established by Tuan Tabal and Wan

Musa.

Muhammad Sa'ìd ibn Jamàl al-Dìn al-Linggi and Muhammad al-Dandarawi The significance of Wan Mùsà in the history of the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah in Tanah Melayu

is also related to the assistance offered by him to two murid of Dandaràwi Ahmadi shaykhs.

These were Sheikh Ahmad bin Muammad Sa'ìd Al-Linggi (1874–1926) and Abù Hasan al-

Azhari (d. 1939) who arrived in Kelantan from the Hijaz.26

Muhammad Sa'ìd ibn Jamàl al-

Dìn al-Linggi was born in Mecca in 1874. His father was an established Meccan scholar from

Negeri Sembilan and his mother hailed from Patani where he lived until 17. Sedgwick states

his “only personal knowledge of the Malay world” was from Patani. Although I personally

unaware of him being widely “claimed” by anyone in Pattani as one of the ‘ulama besar

(Ahmad Fathy and Kelantan. Majlis Ugama Islam dan Adat Istiadat Melayu. 2009), he had

links there (through his mother), as well as with Kelantan (through his wife), Mecca (his

birthplace), and Ngerei Sembilan (where his father’s family was from). In 1892, the young al-

Linggi returned to Kelantan. Apart from a stint at al-Azhar that he cut short due to his distaste

for its modernist environment climate, he studied in Mecca until 1900. Laffan claims that he

studied under the “restrained Zayn al-Din Sumbawa, Nawawi Banten, Ahmad Khatib al-

25

Sedgwick comments this having been an important position created by the British wishing to transform a

position of influence to formal control and which placed the areas of religion and custom under the control of

the Raja. 26

Space does not permit a treatment of al-Ahzari.


9

Minankabawi.” He was also a student of Shaykh Ahmad al-Fatani.

Not only was Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi less enthusiastic about Muhammad ‘Abduh

and Al-Manàr, but after his return to Mecca in 1899 he was inducted into the Ahmadiyya –

not by Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani – but the unlettered Egyptian murid of Sheikh Ibrahim al-

Rashid, Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Dandarawi (1839–1911). Al-Dandaràwi, who was revered as

a wali, had encountered the Ahmadiyya through disciples of al-Rashìd.27

He was conscripted

into the Egyptian army that took him to Mecca where he met al-Rashìd. Shortly afterwards he

deserted. Following al-Rashìd’s passing when al-Dandaràwi was in his mid-thirties

(Sedgwick 2005, 92), he was eventually acknowledged as al-Rashid’s successor. Sedgwick

relates the following incident that occurred while al-Dandaràwi was traveling with his

followers who informed him that they had run out of food.

Shortly afterwards, they entered a mosque where there was much lamenting because

the mother of the [local] commander had died. One of al-Dandaràwi’s followers

remarked that al-Rashìd had dealt with such problems […]. He then went into the

house and […] looked hard at the corpse, and those who had been preparing it [for

burial] left in fear. Al-Dandaràwi then said to the commander, “Don’t worry about

your mother, and don’t hurry,” and to those in the mosque: “I am the son of Ibràhìm

and the successor of Ibràhìm,” at which they smiled. But when they went to get the

corpse from the house, the commander found his mother also smiling, and sitting up.

The commander gave half his money to al-Dandaràwi’s followers [thus enabling them

to eat] (Sedgwick 2005, 102).

Sedgwick refers to al-Dandarawi’s “ecstatic and populist interpretations” contrasting Sheikh

Ahmad ibn Idris’ scholarly and sober preferences evident in the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-

Rashiyyah which Tuan Tabal and Wan Musa spread to Kelantan and South Thailand. In

1900, Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi returned to Kelantan where he opened a surau on Jalan

atas Banggul, just outside Kota Bharu. This was the base from which he spread the

Dandaràwi branch of the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah. The Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-

Dadarawiyyah soon became the most important Ahmadiyyah chapters under al-Linggi’s

leadership. Although others exist, this now represents the numerically most significant form

in Singapore, Seremban, Kelantan and South Thailand (Sedgwick 2005, 122). Sedgwick

describes the Ikhwan that congregated at Jalan atas Banggul.

Came from all walks of life, to the extent that an unsympathetic observer (presumably

a reformer) complained that it was joined by people “irrespective of sex or age

including those with sound religious knowledge or ignorants who . . . have never

performed their regular prayers. Even the princely class and sons of a minister” joined

him, as well as some previously associated with Tuan Tabal (2005, 127)

Between 1903 and 1906, allegations were made that his followers experienced majdhùb and

that during his hadra, people behaved strangely.

During Friday prayers, people were observed to shout “Allàh”, after which other

followers would respond in kind. There were claims of inkishàf al-ghayb (knowledge

of the unseen), such as seen God Himself sitting in a tree. Some were in a state of

majdhùb for three days, “during which period he recited dhikr without stopping. In

Negeri Sembilan, a devotee was so affected by the dhikr that he had been

27

For stories about al-Dandarawi’s karama, see Hans Winkler (2009, 58-60).


10

participating in, that he jumped into a well beside the mosque. Muhammad Sa'ìd was

also alleged to have propelled himself into the Kelantan River to chase away a white

crocodile reputed to possess magical powers (2005, 128).

Notwithstanding this being the first controversy concerning majdhùb in the (then young)

history of the Ahmadiyya-Idrisiyyah, criticism of both the wide range of followers vis-à-vis

age and religious education, and the mixing of genders resembles criticisms of the

Sanùsiyyah, another tariqa initiated by students of Sheikh Ahmad ibn Idris. This is,

furthermore, the only evidence of majdhùb among al-Dandaràwi’s followers which leads

Sedgwick to speculate about its origins. If not from the Hijaz, was it from “the backgrounds

and expectations of Muhammad Sa'ìd’s followers”? Should this be the case, this represents

the first clear case in Ahmadiyyah history of “the followers of a shaykh influencing the

remaking of a tariqa”. Like al-Dandaràwi, Muhammad Sa'ìd was widely regarded as a wali.

Over and above his Patani pedigree and Meccan education, this reputation was enhanced by

the black jellaba which he was fond of dressing in (2005, 129).

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani Majzub Fatwa Initially Wan Mùsà protected the controversial Muhammad Sa'ìd and refused to write a fatwa

condemning him. In 1905, this led Raja Muhammad IV to request a fatwa from Shaykh

Ahmad al-Fatani.28

Sedgewick comments that there was no indication that the sultan was

aware of either Wan Ahmad’s connection with the Ahmadiyya, or that he had taught both

Wan Musa and Muhammad Sa'ìd. If he had been, this may suggest an attempt by him to calm

a public controversy by obtaining a fatwas from a respected source. I have reproduced the

letter below.

In this year (1323 A.H./1904 A.D) there came a tarika Shaykh by name of Haji Encik

'Id bin Haji Encik Din Linggi, a disciple of Shaykh Muhammad Dandarawi. Due to

the large number or students, young, old, men and women, becoming madjzub, and

there are those who believe in tarika approving the tarika or Encik 'Id while some

others disapprove of it. Would you please explain clearly to me about madjzub that

has happened. Is it really possible to become madjzub within two or three days? Also,

they are able to get children who has not reached puberty to achieve madjzub very

quickly what acre to those who are intelligent and matured. It is not that I do not

believe it but I have never heard and never known of any such acts of devotion before

in the state of Kelantan. Hopefully, you can provide evidences with text from Kur'an

and Hadith and elaboration concerning this matter (Rahimmula 1990, 878-879).29

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani’s fatwa to– one of the longest contained in his Al-Fatwa al-

Fattaniyya (1957) – was generally supportive of the Ahmadiyya and Sufi practices. He

begins by stating that questions concerning people who are majzub, should best be directed to

the ‘ulama al-Sufiya. These are located between the “Shari’ah and hakika” (Rahimmula

1990, 879). Before mentioning that majzub was beyond the realms of his personal

experience, he states that he had been “initiated into Tarika Ahmadiyyah which is the tariqa

in the question.” He confesses the difficulty he has had in achieving clarity on this question,

as he was unable to consult an ‘alim who was expert in both Shari‘aah and hakika

(Rahimmula 1990, 880-881).

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani comments that he had received many questions – including

some from Siam – regarding similar controversies. These included claims about sheikh being

28

This exchange is commented upon by Laffan (2010, 20-23). 29

This letter has also be reproduced by Pauzi Haji Awang (2001, 260-264).


11

a wali, and that rather than the religion of the Prophet Muhammad, those of previous

Prophets had been advocated. News of other “misguided innovations” by tarikat in Perak had

also reached him. One was the performance of “Gabiyyah" which originated from “the

people of tarikat” who had gone astray due to a lack of proficiency in the shari'ah and

spiritual knowledge. This prevented him from giving “proper supervision to his followers.”

These resembled performances known as ''Hadara" which originated from “the practice of

Hadrami Sheikh reciting Arabic poems praising the Prophet. People would gather around

them. Some Sheikh exclaim “the prayer for peace, salvation, and prosperity upon the Prophet

[…]”. They would then perform a dua by “lifting up and stretching out both hands”. These

are taught to “the ignorant”. Over time, these degrade into gatherings of “youth dressed in

beautiful clothes with singing, dancing and clapping hands”. Another example cited was “the

transformation of the recitation known as Maulid zikr sharaf ul-anam: into competitions

between people who shout and scream wile beating a big drum “at the expense of prayer”.

(Rahimmula 1990, 893-894). Nonetheless, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani states

The ‘ulama including the ‘ulama of tasawwul said, "Fiqh can stand on its own

without tasawwuf, but tasawwuf cannot stand without fiqh. The Jurists can reject the

people of tasawwuf, but the people or tasawwuf cannot reject the jurists. It is

necessary for tasawwuf to refer to fiqh. […] You should be a jurist first before a

person of tasawwuf, and a person of tasawwuf before a jurist. The person or tasawwuf

who starts with fiqh first is safer than the Jurist who starts with tasawwuf.

(Rahimmula 1990, 902).

He continues by reiterating that Sidi Ahmad ibn Idris’ credentials as a scholar of the Shari’ah

was firmly established before being inducted into the Shadhaliyya. Both “scholars of

shari’ah” and “hakiqat scholars” attended his lectures. Some were also Shadhaliyya sheikhs.

There was also “strong evidence” that some or his successor were saints. This makes it

possible to “recognize the authority of the pious whose words, deeds, and circumstances

showed their decree and do not contradict with shari’ah”. He cautions against degrading

followers of tariqa – either murshid or murid – especially those known to have studied the

shari'ah prior to joining turuq. He adds that “even if some […] happened to act in

contradictory to shari’ah, we still cannot discredit them” (Rahimmula 1990, 911).

Laffan comments this fatwa revealing Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani having been immersed

in a “world of learning in which the tariqas and their practices could intersect and be accepted

as conforming to orthodoxy” (2010, 22). More tariqa-related controversies – some including

majzub – followed. These dominated the pages of the Singaporean reformist newspaper Al-

Imàm (See Abu Bakar Hamzah 1991) shortly before closing down in during the 1908 , the

excesses of his Ahmadiyya were cited. (See treatments by Laffan 2010; 2011, 182-186).

Perhaps as a result of hostility in Kelantan, Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi relocated his

operational base to Negeri Sembilan, where his Ahmadiyya flourished. There were a number

of reasons for its success. The importance of his reputation as a wali should not be

underestimated. Stories circulated about banana trees swaying in time to the rhythm of his

dhikr. Whilst his charisma permitted him to perform all the roles of a popular tariqa shaykh

in model of the Dandariyyah Ahmadiyyah way, he also possessed the scholarly credentials.

This meant that he was personally able to translate al-Rashìd’s 'Iqd al-durar al-nafìs, print a

Malay version of the Ahmadi award that contained translated sections of Sheikh Ahmad ibn

Idris’ Kunùz al-jawàhir – the tariqa’s basic text. Al-Linggi also enjoyed something in

Seremban that was withheld from him in Kelantan – the favor of the Sultan. For a number of

decades, most of the Negeri Sembilan’s State Muftis have been Ahmadiyyah including the

Mufti given the privilege of praying the dua at Malaysian merdeka.


12

Sedgwick points out that the Ahmadiyya’s position in both Damascus and Kelantan

had been impacted by conflicts between conservatives and reformers. Whereas the

Ahmadiyya benefited from support by conservatives and avoided opposition from reformers

in Damascus, this was not the case in Kelantan. In Seremban, the Ahmadiyyah enjoyed links

with a range of religious and political institutions in the state (2005, 137, 161). Finally, and

most importantly, under Tuan Tabal and Wan Musa, the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-

Rashidiyyah represented “a Meccan tariqa with a presence in the Malay world.” In

Seremban, the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-Dandarawiyyah developed into an authentically

Malay tariqa with “increasingly loose connections with its origins”. Following the death of

Muhammad al-Dandarawi’s most influential Malay murid in 1926, this tariqa was

transmitted “from Malay to Malay without reference to the Arab center.” The strength of the

Ahmadiyya was one aspect of wider developments in the Malay World. When Tuan Tabal

first returned to the Thai/Malay Peninsula in the 1960s, Malays under increasing pressure by

British and Siamese influences looked to external centers of scholarship, prestige – and even

foreign walis (Sedgwick 2005, 161).

The Ahmadiyyah-Shadhiliyyah of Central Thailand

Figure 4: Anatomy of a Ahmadiyyah-Shadhiliyyah Sticker


13

Figure 4 is a sticker is one an example of material used by followers of one of the three most

visible and viable turuq in Thailand, the Shadhiliyyah.30

Many murid attach them to the

screens of their cars and doors of their houses.31

The principal operational centre for the

Shazuliyyah in Thailand is a zawiyya called Baan Yai (Th. the big house) in Miniburi that

other chapters in Phuket and Satun retain close links with. There are others in the community

of Baan Khra some 30 kilometres along the Saen Saab Canal which have broken of contacts

following the appointment of Sheikh Zerot al-Bakri, a young man in his early 30s.32

Sheikh

Zerot is the grandson of Hadrami Sheikh Khalid al-Bakri who travelled from the Hijaz to

Siam in late 1929 (see Fig 5). Sheikh Khalid al-Bakri’s father (Sheikh Hussein al-Bakri) had

lived in Baan Khrua during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (1853-1910).

Figure 5: Pages from photocopied version of Sheikh Khalid al-Bakri’s passport (obtained by the author Jan 26,

2013,

Riyad Mustafa’s fascinating study of place-making in Baan Khrua relates local histories of

the arrival of Shazuliyyah Sheikhs (2011, 106-110). The first arrived in the early twentieth

Century, and became associated with Darulfalah Mosque through the construction of a shrine

(Ar. maqam) where the son of Sheikh Hussein, Ahmad al-Bakri, is interned. Sheikh

Hussein al-Bakri and his brother had both settled in Baan Khrua where Sheikh Hussein

married a local woman, with whom he had two sons. He transmitted his sacred knowledge to

senior members of his wife’s clan. Sheikh Hussain eventually returned to the Middle East.

Before doing so, he informed his Thai wife that she should expect their youngest son to die.

A few days later, he died and was buried, although without following instructions to bury a

green cloth with their child. Mustafa relates that Sheikh Hussein’s wife urgently called for

the grave to be opened, but the child’s body had disappeared. This led to the grave being

converted into a maqam whose popularity increased as the story of the Arab and the green

cloth spread.33

This is one of the reasons for this order being most commonly known as the

30

The other two are the Ahmadiyyah-Badawiyyah of Koh Yao Noi and Huay Un, and the Qadriyyah of

Ayutthaya. 31

Fieldnotes, Dec 13, 2013. 32

Fieldnotes, Jan 20, 2014. 33

When its authority was threatened, it claimed the grave of this Shazuliyyah sheikh. The grave was even

placing on top of its roof where it stayed until the 1950s when the mosque was renovated. I have heard stories

that during WWII Muslims, Thais, Chinese, as well as Japanese occupiers sought refuge as near to the maqam

as they could during American bombing campaigns, believing that its karamat would prevent bombs from

exploding. The shrine was shifted to just outside the mosque’s wall – although intriguingly in the direction of


14

Phaa Khiaw (Th. green cloths). The other is that green cloths are given to murid at their

induction by the Shadhiliyyah Sheikhs. Nevertheless, at the bottom of the sticker (figure ??)

are following words written in Jawi: alaman dalam tariqa Ahmadiyyah wa Shadhiliyyah

(rituals of the Ahmadiyyah-Shudhiliyyah tareqa). That this is the Ahmadiyyah of Sheikh

Ahmad ibn Idris Al-Fasi is beyond dispute, as his famous Tahlil Al-Kabir is prominently

placed at the top of the green sticker. How could this be? As with so many other aspects of

Ahmadiyyah-Rashidiyyah history, the best explanation is provided by Sedgwick. He relates

that in the 1920s (before Sheikh Khalid al-Bakri came to Siam), the strength of the Idrìsi

presence in the Hijaz was such that even the Sharìf Husayn (who became the first king of the

Hijaz) may have been an Idrìsi, although primarily for political reasons. A British intelligence

report by one Captain M. Fazluddin records his desire that all descendants of the Hasa b. 'Ali

follow the “same tariqa” so as to live in “peace and amity” (2005, 73).

Conclusion

Figure 6: Ahmadiyyah-Rashidiyya lineage

Figure 6 summarizes the personalities with connections to Patani who from the late 1800s

contributed to the establishment of the Ahmadiyyah-Rashidiyyah to the Thai/Malay

Peninsula. The presence of the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-Rashidiyyah and Ahmadiyyah-

Idrisiyyah-Dandarawiyyah confirms both the importance of this order, and the close

connections between Pattani and Hijaz. These stories presented above remind students of

religious change on Southeast Asia that strange things are best said by familiar people. Just as

it was not Arabs straight from Aden who preached Islam in Aceh, the first Ahmadiyyah were

mobile mediators comfortable on both sides of the Indian Ocean. I have shown that central to

the success of the Ahmadiyyah-Idrisiyyah-Dandarawiyyah is Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi’s

the pulpit in the direction of prayer (qiblah). Mustafa comments how charismatic religious leaders were resisted

by locals resorting to rival religious leaders claiming greater power, and that “different factions borrowed Sufi

concepts but translated them locally to create new rituals and practices”. Many were practiced secretly, such as

“elaborate initiation rites to pledge allegiance to a religious leader” (Mustafa 2011, 111)


15

willingness to adapt what he had adopted. This is one of numerous examples of tariqas not

only changing whenever leadership and location do, but that any one order possess numerous

lineages (Ar. silsilah) which. It is not enough to know the tariqa, one must enquire about

which branch is followed. Notwithstanding the Ahmadiyyah having been brought to Tanah

Melayu by Malays, under Muhammad Sa’id al-Linggi’s leadership the Seremban

Ahmadiyyah developed from an Arab order with a presence in the Malay world, to a Malay

tariqa. Finally, many of the Ahmadiyyah ‘ulama described above challenge what might be

referred to as “binary balony”: Sufis come in all shapes and sizes and include scholars

concerned with reform and modernization. Reformist orders such as the Ahmadiyyah

remained influential in the “Wahabi” heartland decades after other more esoteric and

extravagant order were forced out. Sheikh Ahmad al-Fatani recognized the need to reform

and modernize, but he advocated these, along with the continuation of traditions through

which Malays in Pattani and the wider Malay World could benefit from the centuries of

devotional practices preserved and refined by a range of tariqa. As the famous Sheikh

Ahmad ibn Idris once said, “A scholar without taqwa (Ar. God fearing) is merely a donkey

carrying books.”

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