Imam as-Shafi’i (Muhammad ibn Idrīs ash-Shāfiʿī, 767–820 CE) was the founder of the Shafi’ite school of Mohammedan law, the ritual (madhhab) followed by the Achehnese and by the Malays of the Archipelago more generally. He is referred to reverently by Achehnese kalis as “our imam (as-Shafi’i)”, in contradistinction to the imam Abu Hanifah whose school is followed in many other Mohammedan lands.
The Achehnese, as C. Snouck Hurgronje explains, are strict Shafi’ites, and the Achehnese kalis conduct their office in accordance with the Shafi’ite ritual. The doctrine of the taqlid — the partial following of another school in certain isolated cases — is resorted to in Acheh in precisely those matters where the Shafi’ite ritual conflicts with deeply-rooted Achehnese adat. The most important example is the marriage of maidens who have lost their fathers and grandfathers (their proper walis) before reaching maturity. According to the Shafi’ite school, only the agnates in the ascending line have the right to give a maiden in marriage without her consent; in the absence of such ascendant relatives, the marriage of a maiden is impossible under the Shafi’ite ritual, since the refusal or consent of a minor has no force. The Achehnese adat, however, is “universally and deeply-rooted” against allowing a maiden to remain unmarried till she attains majority.
In such a case, the wali who desires to give the maiden in marriage according to custom first communicates with the kali, who replies: “According to our imam [as-Shafi’i] it is not permissible to give this maid in marriage in the absence of her father and grandfather; this can only be done according to the teaching of the imam Abu Hanifah”. Thereupon the wali and bridegroom reply: “We will follow your decision, oh Teungku!” The practice, as Snouck Hurgronje notes, is in form improper — for in case of taqlid there should be no mention of “following the decision of a third party” — but it has become established custom in Acheh.
The recognition of the imam as-Shafi’i by the Shafi’ites is itself called taqlid in the broader sense of that word, since the disciples of any given school recognise the authority of that school and its founder. The Shafi’ite school permits its disciples to follow another ritual in certain isolated cases; the most common applications of this permission in Acheh concern the direction of the qiblah, the fulfilment of neglected religious duties on behalf of deceased persons, and — above all — the marriage of maidens without proper Shafi’ite walis.
See Also
Source
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.
Imam as-Shafi’i (Muhammad ibn Idrīs ash-Shāfiʿī, 767–820 CE) was the founder of the Shafi’ite school of Mohammedan law, the ritual (madhhab) followed by the Achehnese and by the Malays of the Archipelago more generally. He is referred to reverently by Achehnese kalis as “our imam (as-Shafi’i)”, in contradistinction to the imam Abu Hanifah whose school is followed in many other Mohammedan lands.
The Achehnese, as C. Snouck Hurgronje explains, are strict Shafi’ites, and the Achehnese kalis conduct their office in accordance with the Shafi’ite ritual. The doctrine of the taqlid — the partial following of another school in certain isolated cases — is resorted to in Acheh in precisely those matters where the Shafi’ite ritual conflicts with deeply-rooted Achehnese adat. The most important example is the marriage of maidens who have lost their fathers and grandfathers (their proper walis) before reaching maturity. According to the Shafi’ite school, only the agnates in the ascending line have the right to give a maiden in marriage without her consent; in the absence of such ascendant relatives, the marriage of a maiden is impossible under the Shafi’ite ritual, since the refusal or consent of a minor has no force. The Achehnese adat, however, is “universally and deeply-rooted” against allowing a maiden to remain unmarried till she attains majority.
In such a case, the wali who desires to give the maiden in marriage according to custom first communicates with the kali, who replies: “According to our imam [as-Shafi’i] it is not permissible to give this maid in marriage in the absence of her father and grandfather; this can only be done according to the teaching of the imam Abu Hanifah”. Thereupon the wali and bridegroom reply: “We will follow your decision, oh Teungku!” The practice, as Snouck Hurgronje notes, is in form improper — for in case of taqlid there should be no mention of “following the decision of a third party” — but it has become established custom in Acheh.
The recognition of the imam as-Shafi’i by the Shafi’ites is itself called taqlid in the broader sense of that word, since the disciples of any given school recognise the authority of that school and its founder. The Shafi’ite school permits its disciples to follow another ritual in certain isolated cases; the most common applications of this permission in Acheh concern the direction of the qiblah, the fulfilment of neglected religious duties on behalf of deceased persons, and — above all — the marriage of maidens without proper Shafi’ite walis.
See Also
Source
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.