The “prince of mystics,” who died A.D. 1166 and is regarded as one of the foremost champions of mysticism in the Mohammedan world. Founder of the Qadiriyyah tariqa, he is especially revered in Acheh, where dishes of yellow glutinous rice are offered to him and his biography circulates as a popular devotional hikayat.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Abdul-Qadir Jilani
Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani (also written Abdul-Qadir Illani or Abdulqadir Jilani) was the renowned 12th-century Sufi saint and founder of the Qadiriyyah mystic order, whose name is invoked in the prelude of all the sultans’ edicts of Acheh and who occupies a singular place in the devotional life of the Achehnese. He is described in Achehnese documents as “the glorious Pole of the world and the brilliant framework of the skies, the immutable knower, the true Beloved, the lord Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani,” and is specially named as the prince of mystics in the preamble of the sarakata (royal edicts) where the blessing of Allah, of the Prophet, of the saints and of the deceased kings of blessed memory is invoked upon the Sultan’s decree.
The sultans’ edicts — particularly those bearing the chab sikureung or nine-fold seal — open with a formulaic preamble in which the blessing of the Prophet “the Lord of Men” and of his four companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali (may they be pleasing unto Allah) — is followed immediately by the blessing of “the glorious Pole of the world” Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani, and then by the blessing of all the devout walis of God from the Eastern to the Western portions of the Earth, and finally by the blessing of the mediation of the deceased sultans — beginning with Meukuta Alam Iskandar Muda and Tajul-alam Sapiatodin and continuing through the line of royal ancestors. The placement of Abdul-Qadir Jilani between the four Companions and the universal company of the walis marks him out, in Achehnese usage, as the supreme saint of Islam after the Prophet and his Companions.
Snouck Hurgronje notes that the reverence paid to this teacher, who founded the order of Qadiriyyah, is the principal organised Sufi devotion to which the Achehnese are attached. As in other parts of the Mohammedan world, the veneration of Abdul-Qadir Jilani has both a learned and a popular form. The learned know him as the author of devotional works and as the eponym of the Qadiriyyah tarekat (mystic way); the common people know him chiefly as a wonder-worker and intercessor, whose name suffices to give solemnity to the most formal of royal acts. In Achehnese mystic practice, his name is invoked alongside those of the Prophet and the four Companions in the consecration of vows, the recitation of dhikr, and the formal openings of all documents proceeding from the Sultan’s court.
The place of Abdul-Qadir Jilani in the Achehnese system of saint-veneration is second only to that of the Prophet himself. While the great saints of Acheh — Teungku Anjong of Gampong Jawa, Teungku di Kuala and others — receive annual kanduris and local vows, the name of Abdul-Qadir Jilani is invoked universally, in every edict and at every formal act of the Sultan’s government. His order, the Qadiriyyah, is not known in The Achehnese Vol. I to be specifically organised in Acheh (as it is in some other parts of the Indian Archipelago, where the ratib saman of the Qadiriyyah-Rifa’iyyah is publicly performed), but his personal cult is so rooted in Achehnese usage that no sultan’s decree was considered complete without invoking his blessing.
See Also
- Abu Bakr
- Acheh
- Ahmad Rifa’i
- Ali
- Cheh Saman (Shaikh Samman)
- Mohammad (the Prophet)
- Omar
- Sultan Meukuta Alam
- Sultan Tajul-alam
- Teungku Anjong
- Uthman
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The “prince of mystics,” who died A.D. 1166 and is regarded as one of the foremost champions of mysticism in the Mohammedan world. Founder of the Qadiriyyah tariqa, he is especially revered in Acheh, where dishes of yellow glutinous rice are offered to him and his biography circulates as a popular devotional hikayat.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Abdul-Qadir Jilani
Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani (also written Abdul-Qadir Illani or Abdulqadir Jilani) was the renowned 12th-century Sufi saint and founder of the Qadiriyyah mystic order, whose name is invoked in the prelude of all the sultans’ edicts of Acheh and who occupies a singular place in the devotional life of the Achehnese. He is described in Achehnese documents as “the glorious Pole of the world and the brilliant framework of the skies, the immutable knower, the true Beloved, the lord Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani,” and is specially named as the prince of mystics in the preamble of the sarakata (royal edicts) where the blessing of Allah, of the Prophet, of the saints and of the deceased kings of blessed memory is invoked upon the Sultan’s decree.
The sultans’ edicts — particularly those bearing the chab sikureung or nine-fold seal — open with a formulaic preamble in which the blessing of the Prophet “the Lord of Men” and of his four companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali (may they be pleasing unto Allah) — is followed immediately by the blessing of “the glorious Pole of the world” Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani, and then by the blessing of all the devout walis of God from the Eastern to the Western portions of the Earth, and finally by the blessing of the mediation of the deceased sultans — beginning with Meukuta Alam Iskandar Muda and Tajul-alam Sapiatodin and continuing through the line of royal ancestors. The placement of Abdul-Qadir Jilani between the four Companions and the universal company of the walis marks him out, in Achehnese usage, as the supreme saint of Islam after the Prophet and his Companions.
Snouck Hurgronje notes that the reverence paid to this teacher, who founded the order of Qadiriyyah, is the principal organised Sufi devotion to which the Achehnese are attached. As in other parts of the Mohammedan world, the veneration of Abdul-Qadir Jilani has both a learned and a popular form. The learned know him as the author of devotional works and as the eponym of the Qadiriyyah tarekat (mystic way); the common people know him chiefly as a wonder-worker and intercessor, whose name suffices to give solemnity to the most formal of royal acts. In Achehnese mystic practice, his name is invoked alongside those of the Prophet and the four Companions in the consecration of vows, the recitation of dhikr, and the formal openings of all documents proceeding from the Sultan’s court.
The place of Abdul-Qadir Jilani in the Achehnese system of saint-veneration is second only to that of the Prophet himself. While the great saints of Acheh — Teungku Anjong of Gampong Jawa, Teungku di Kuala and others — receive annual kanduris and local vows, the name of Abdul-Qadir Jilani is invoked universally, in every edict and at every formal act of the Sultan’s government. His order, the Qadiriyyah, is not known in The Achehnese Vol. I to be specifically organised in Acheh (as it is in some other parts of the Indian Archipelago, where the ratib saman of the Qadiriyyah-Rifa’iyyah is publicly performed), but his personal cult is so rooted in Achehnese usage that no sultan’s decree was considered complete without invoking his blessing.
See Also
- Abu Bakr
- Acheh
- Ahmad Rifa’i
- Ali
- Cheh Saman (Shaikh Samman)
- Mohammad (the Prophet)
- Omar
- Sultan Meukuta Alam
- Sultan Tajul-alam
- Teungku Anjong
- Uthman
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.