Author of a popular maulid — a hymn in honor of the Prophet’s birth — recited at the religious festival of Muhammad’s birthday and on other ceremonial occasions in Acheh.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Ja’far al-Barzanji
Ja’far al-Barzanji was a Muslim poet and author of two of the most widely used maulids — poems in praise of the Prophet Mohammad — in the devotional life of the Eastern Archipelago and the wider Muslim world. He is mentioned by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese in the chapter on the kanduri Mo’lot, the Achehnese feast celebrating the birth of the Prophet.
Ja’far al-Barzanji is the author of two of the three maulids contained in the popular collection published in handsome lithographed form at Cairo by Hasan at-Tochi Ahmad. One of these is in rhyming prose alternating with songs of praise in verse; the other is entirely in verse. Both are in use in Acheh, alongside the Maulid sharfal ‘anam of Bukhari, which is the favourite at official kanduris. The publication of these texts in a single volume, Snouck Hurgronje notes, “enjoys the greatest popularity both at Mekka and throughout the whole Indian Archipelago.”
The maulids of Ja’far al-Barzanji, together with that of Bukhari, are recited at the Achehnese kanduri Mo’lot by the teungku and the leubes, who appear a little earlier than the other guests in order to perform the recitation. The recitation itself is called meulike in Achehnese (from the Arabic dikr); similarly, the Javanese speak of the dikir maulud. About the middle of the Charapha anam (the Achehnese name of Bukhari’s maulid) comes a hymn of praise which all the experts present raise in chorus, rising from their places while incense is burnt in their midst. The kanduri Mo’lot closes with a long prayer found at the end of the Charapha anam. The maulids of Ja’far al-Barzanji, though less prominent than Bukhari’s at the official kanduris, are also widely recited in this devotional setting.
The diffusion of Ja’far al-Barzanji’s maulids through the printed edition of at-Tochi is a characteristic instance of the way in which devotional texts standardised in late-nineteenth-century Cairo and Mecca came to regulate the religious observance of Muslims in the farthest corners of the Indian Ocean. In Acheh, the verses of Ja’far al-Barzanji formed part of the regular round of religious life: they were recited at the kanduri Mo’lot, copied and studied by pious householders, and used as charms and amulets — the knotted black threads tied by the leubes during the recitation being placed round the necks of children “in the firm conviction that they constitute infallible charms.”
The popularity of Ja’far al-Barzanji’s maulids extended, and extends, far beyond Acheh. The same poems are recited from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Malay Archipelago, and are among the most widely diffused devotional texts of Sunni Islam. Snouck Hurgronje’s brief reference in Vol. I of The Achehnese thus opens a window onto a much wider world of popular devotion, in which Acheh was simply one — though a particularly lively one — among many Muslim societies whose collective religious life was shaped by the verses of Ja’far al-Barzanji and his fellow maulid-authors.
See Also
- Acheh
- Al-Bukhari (maulid author)
- Cairo
- Hasan at-Tochi Ahmad
- Java
- Kanduri Mo’lot
- Sarapulanam)
- Maulud (Mo’lot)
- Mecca
- Mohammad
- Prophet Muhammad
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.
Author of a popular maulid — a hymn in honor of the Prophet’s birth — recited at the religious festival of Muhammad’s birthday and on other ceremonial occasions in Acheh.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Ja’far al-Barzanji
Ja’far al-Barzanji was a Muslim poet and author of two of the most widely used maulids — poems in praise of the Prophet Mohammad — in the devotional life of the Eastern Archipelago and the wider Muslim world. He is mentioned by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese in the chapter on the kanduri Mo’lot, the Achehnese feast celebrating the birth of the Prophet.
Ja’far al-Barzanji is the author of two of the three maulids contained in the popular collection published in handsome lithographed form at Cairo by Hasan at-Tochi Ahmad. One of these is in rhyming prose alternating with songs of praise in verse; the other is entirely in verse. Both are in use in Acheh, alongside the Maulid sharfal ‘anam of Bukhari, which is the favourite at official kanduris. The publication of these texts in a single volume, Snouck Hurgronje notes, “enjoys the greatest popularity both at Mekka and throughout the whole Indian Archipelago.”
The maulids of Ja’far al-Barzanji, together with that of Bukhari, are recited at the Achehnese kanduri Mo’lot by the teungku and the leubes, who appear a little earlier than the other guests in order to perform the recitation. The recitation itself is called meulike in Achehnese (from the Arabic dikr); similarly, the Javanese speak of the dikir maulud. About the middle of the Charapha anam (the Achehnese name of Bukhari’s maulid) comes a hymn of praise which all the experts present raise in chorus, rising from their places while incense is burnt in their midst. The kanduri Mo’lot closes with a long prayer found at the end of the Charapha anam. The maulids of Ja’far al-Barzanji, though less prominent than Bukhari’s at the official kanduris, are also widely recited in this devotional setting.
The diffusion of Ja’far al-Barzanji’s maulids through the printed edition of at-Tochi is a characteristic instance of the way in which devotional texts standardised in late-nineteenth-century Cairo and Mecca came to regulate the religious observance of Muslims in the farthest corners of the Indian Ocean. In Acheh, the verses of Ja’far al-Barzanji formed part of the regular round of religious life: they were recited at the kanduri Mo’lot, copied and studied by pious householders, and used as charms and amulets — the knotted black threads tied by the leubes during the recitation being placed round the necks of children “in the firm conviction that they constitute infallible charms.”
The popularity of Ja’far al-Barzanji’s maulids extended, and extends, far beyond Acheh. The same poems are recited from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Malay Archipelago, and are among the most widely diffused devotional texts of Sunni Islam. Snouck Hurgronje’s brief reference in Vol. I of The Achehnese thus opens a window onto a much wider world of popular devotion, in which Acheh was simply one — though a particularly lively one — among many Muslim societies whose collective religious life was shaped by the verses of Ja’far al-Barzanji and his fellow maulid-authors.
See Also
- Acheh
- Al-Bukhari (maulid author)
- Cairo
- Hasan at-Tochi Ahmad
- Java
- Kanduri Mo’lot
- Sarapulanam)
- Maulud (Mo’lot)
- Mecca
- Mohammad
- Prophet Muhammad
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.