Mohammad

Properties2
tagsperson, prophet, religious-figure, islam, religious, islamic, acehnese, aceh
aliasesMuhammad, Prophet Muhammad, the Apostle of God, the Lord of Men, Prophet Mohammad, Mohammad (the Prophet), the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet of Islam, Sayyidina Muhammad, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Rasulullah, Prophet of Islam

16 min read

The Prophet of Islam, referred to throughout Acehnese religious literature as the Apostle of God. His Sunnah, the Quran, his family and companions, and the rules he ordained form the backbone of religious learning in Acheh. The Achehnese recite maulids in his honor at the mawlid festival, and his nocturnal journey to heaven (Me’reuet) is the subject of a popular hikayat. His daughter Fatimah’s marriage to Ali and his instructions to her on wifely duty are frequently cited in popular literature.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Mohammad (the Prophet)

Mohammad (also Muhammad) — the Prophet of Islam, “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men” — is the central religious figure invoked throughout the religious life of Acheh as described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese. The Achehnese, in common with Muslims everywhere, regard the observance of his precepts and the commemoration of his life as the foundation of their devotional calendar, but in Acheh several of these observances have assumed peculiarly local forms.

The 12th of Rabiʿ al-awwal — known in Acheh by the Malay-Arabic name Mo’lot — is universally accepted as the date both of the Prophet’s birth and of his death, and on this day, according to tradition, many other important events of his 63-year life are also said to have occurred. The celebration of the Mo’lot, though not one of the two feasts officially ordained by Islamic law, is treated in Acheh as specially binding. A local tradition explains this by a story that the Sultan of Turkey, having regard to the great length of the journey between his empire and Acheh, declared that “the faithful observance of a religious custom in your country” should take the place of the yearly tribute elsewhere due to a suzerain: “Let there be no village in Acheh where the inhabitants do not publicly hold a Mo’lot feast; that shall be your tribute to the lord of the Faithful.” In former times the headman of a gampong who failed to provide for the holding of this annual feast was fined by the uleebalang for neglect of duty. The two months following Mo’lot are called in Achehnese “Younger Brother of Mo’lot” and “Final Mo’lot,” because the commemoration of Mohammad’s birth may be held in any of them.

The precepts of the Prophet (his sunat) govern, in Achehnese eyes, every act of religious life. The ulamas of Acheh insist upon his sunat in matters of dress, ritual, and personal observance; the maulids — declamations by learned men in verse or rhymed prose dealing with events in the Prophet’s life and concluding with a prayer and a feast — are held on many occasions, including funerals, and are followed by a Mo’lot. The favourite Achehnese maulid texts are those composed by Ja’far al-Barzanji and by the author known as al-Bukhari.

The veneration of Mohammad extends naturally to his descendants. The sayyids of the Indian Archipelago, who trace their descent from the Prophet through his grandson Husain (son of Ali and Fatimah), occupy a peculiarly high position in Acheh, where they “command a deeply-rooted respect and fear.” Snouck Hurgronje observes that the Shi’ite conception of the persons of sayyids and sharifs as sacred, inviolable and entitled to the reverence of all Believers, gradually became part of orthodox teaching, and that this veneration reaches perhaps its highest pitch in Acheh, where the absence of European counterpoise allows it free scope. Marriages of sayyid daughters with non-sayyids are almost unknown; it is thought certain that the vengeance of God would overtake such a union even in this life.

The name of Mohammad is invoked in the prelude of the sultans’ sarakata (edicts), together with those of Abdul-Qadir Jilani and the four Companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali — whose blessing is pronounced over the Sultan’s letters-patent. The sickness to which the Prophet succumbed in the third month of the year is said to have first shown itself in Safar, giving rise to the universal Muslim belief that Safar is pregnant with evil and to the Achehnese Rabu Abeh (“Final Wednesday”) bathing festival with which that month closes.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Muhammad

Muhammad — the Prophet of Islam, “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men” — is the central religious figure of Achehnese life as described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese. The Achehnese, in common with Muslims everywhere, regard the observance of his precepts and the commemoration of his life as the foundation of their devotional calendar; the present article is concerned with one specific aspect of his place in the work — namely, his role as the chronological and doctrinal anchor of Achehnese legal learning.

The mention of the Prophet on p. 379 occurs in Snouck Hurgronje’s discussion of the qualifications of the qadhi or religious judge. The ideal qadhi, as portrayed in the books of the law, “should be guided entirely in his pronouncements by the Quran, by tradition, and by what according to his (the qadhi’s) view is derived from both these sources by the consensus of the infallible community of Islam.” It is, however, “admitted without hesitation that it was only in the first two centuries after Mohammad that there were any who came up to this standard, and that now-a-days such a phenomenon would be esteemed a miracle.” The Prophet thus marks, in the legal theory of Islam, the beginning of a brief golden age of legal interpretation, after which the direct inspiration of the early generations gave way to the scholastic interpretation of the established schools.

The admission that no teacher of the present age, “no matter how great he be, can do more than simply interpret the law-books of his school,” is one of the foundational observations on which Snouck Hurgronje’s account of Achehnese legal practice rests. It explains, on the one hand, the great authority accorded to the books of the Shāfiʿī school — the Tuhfah, the Shark al-wiqayah and similar works — which the Achehnese kalis and teungkus are content merely to interpret; and, on the other, the comparative freedom with which Achehnese practice departs, in matters of adat, from the strict letter of the religious law. If no living qadhi can claim to derive his rulings directly from the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet, the field is open for the operation of custom, and for the practical compromises by which Achehnese jurisprudence has long been characterised.

The Prophet is, in this sense, doubly present in Achehnese law: present as the founder of the religion whose law is in theory supreme, and present as the historical figure whose death opens the era of interpretation, in which alone the present age can move. The “first two centuries after Mohammad” — the period of the salaf or pious ancestors — are the unattainable ideal to which all later jurisprudence looks back; the present age is one of taqlīd, of submission to the authority of the established schools. The Achehnese, in their legal practice, are no exception to this general condition of post-classical Islam.

The name of Mohammad is invoked elsewhere in Vol. I in the prelude of the sarakata or royal edicts of Acheh, together with those of ʿAbdul-Qādir al-Jīlānī and the four Companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali — whose blessing is pronounced over the sultan’s letters-patent. His birthday is commemorated by the great annual feast of the Mo’lot (the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal), and his sickness and death are remembered in the Achehnese Rabu Abeh bathing festival, which closes the month of Safar. For a fuller account of these observances, see the related article on the Prophet in this work.

Sources

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.

Mohammad (Arabic Muḥammad), “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men,” is the founder of Islam and the central religious figure of the Achehnese Mohammedan world. In Vol. I his name is invoked at every turn — in the formal preambles of the sultans’ edicts, in the prayers and litanies of the Achehnese calendar, and in the daily formulas of blessing and salutation. This article treats of those references to the Prophet that cluster around the calendar and festival chapters of Vol. I; for his invocation in marriage and legal rites, see Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad (Arabic Muḥammad; Achehnese Muhammad or Mohammad) — “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men” — is the founder of Islam and the central religious figure of the Achehnese Mohammedan world. In the marriage, legal and domestic-rite chapters of Vol. I his name is invoked at every turn: in the marriage contract, in the formulas of blessing pronounced over bridegrooms, in the precepts handed down by him as the basis of the religious law, and in the small domestic offerings made “in honour of the Prophet.” For his invocation in the calendar and festival chapters, see Prophet Mohammad. 20260707_232246_DLP-54-Een_16de_eeuwse_Maleise_vertaling_van_de_Burda_van_al_Bu_s_i_ri_OCR.txt, pp. 37‑39. 16th‑century Malay translation of the Burda of al‑Busiri, DLP‑54, “Een 16de eeuwse Maleise vertaling van de Burda van al‑Busiri”, pp. 59‑65, 20260707_232246_DLP-54-Een_16de_eeuwse_Maleise_vertaling_van_de_Burda_van_al_Bu_s_i_ri_OCR.txt. DLP‑54 – Een 16de‑eeuwse Maleise vertaling van de Burda van al‑Busiri, digitised manuscript, pages 73‑79, 20260707_232246_DLP-54-Een_16de_eeuwse_Maleise_vertaling_van_de_Burda_van_al_Bu_s_i_ri_OCR.txt. 16th‑century Malay translation of the Burda of al‑Busiri, manuscript, pages 52‑58, DLP‑54, digitised as 20260707_232246_DLP-54-Een_16de_eeuwse_Maleise_vertaling_van_de_Burda_van_al_Bu_s_i_ri_OCR.txt.

See Also

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 Prophet of Islam, referred to throughout Acehnese religious literature as the Apostle of God. His Sunnah, the Quran, his family and companions, and the rules he ordained form the backbone of religious learning in Acheh. The Achehnese recite maulids in his honor at the mawlid festival, and his nocturnal journey to heaven (Me’reuet) is the subject of a popular hikayat. His daughter Fatimah’s marriage to Ali and his instructions to her on wifely duty are frequently cited in popular literature.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Mohammad (the Prophet)

Mohammad (also Muhammad) — the Prophet of Islam, “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men” — is the central religious figure invoked throughout the religious life of Acheh as described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese. The Achehnese, in common with Muslims everywhere, regard the observance of his precepts and the commemoration of his life as the foundation of their devotional calendar, but in Acheh several of these observances have assumed peculiarly local forms.

The 12th of Rabiʿ al-awwal — known in Acheh by the Malay-Arabic name Mo’lot — is universally accepted as the date both of the Prophet’s birth and of his death, and on this day, according to tradition, many other important events of his 63-year life are also said to have occurred. The celebration of the Mo’lot, though not one of the two feasts officially ordained by Islamic law, is treated in Acheh as specially binding. A local tradition explains this by a story that the Sultan of Turkey, having regard to the great length of the journey between his empire and Acheh, declared that “the faithful observance of a religious custom in your country” should take the place of the yearly tribute elsewhere due to a suzerain: “Let there be no village in Acheh where the inhabitants do not publicly hold a Mo’lot feast; that shall be your tribute to the lord of the Faithful.” In former times the headman of a gampong who failed to provide for the holding of this annual feast was fined by the uleebalang for neglect of duty. The two months following Mo’lot are called in Achehnese “Younger Brother of Mo’lot” and “Final Mo’lot,” because the commemoration of Mohammad’s birth may be held in any of them.

The precepts of the Prophet (his sunat) govern, in Achehnese eyes, every act of religious life. The ulamas of Acheh insist upon his sunat in matters of dress, ritual, and personal observance; the maulids — declamations by learned men in verse or rhymed prose dealing with events in the Prophet’s life and concluding with a prayer and a feast — are held on many occasions, including funerals, and are followed by a Mo’lot. The favourite Achehnese maulid texts are those composed by Ja’far al-Barzanji and by the author known as al-Bukhari.

The veneration of Mohammad extends naturally to his descendants. The sayyids of the Indian Archipelago, who trace their descent from the Prophet through his grandson Husain (son of Ali and Fatimah), occupy a peculiarly high position in Acheh, where they “command a deeply-rooted respect and fear.” Snouck Hurgronje observes that the Shi’ite conception of the persons of sayyids and sharifs as sacred, inviolable and entitled to the reverence of all Believers, gradually became part of orthodox teaching, and that this veneration reaches perhaps its highest pitch in Acheh, where the absence of European counterpoise allows it free scope. Marriages of sayyid daughters with non-sayyids are almost unknown; it is thought certain that the vengeance of God would overtake such a union even in this life.

The name of Mohammad is invoked in the prelude of the sultans’ sarakata (edicts), together with those of Abdul-Qadir Jilani and the four Companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali — whose blessing is pronounced over the Sultan’s letters-patent. The sickness to which the Prophet succumbed in the third month of the year is said to have first shown itself in Safar, giving rise to the universal Muslim belief that Safar is pregnant with evil and to the Achehnese Rabu Abeh (“Final Wednesday”) bathing festival with which that month closes.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Muhammad

Muhammad — the Prophet of Islam, “the Apostle of God” and “the Lord of Men” — is the central religious figure of Achehnese life as described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese. The Achehnese, in common with Muslims everywhere, regard the observance of his precepts and the commemoration of his life as the foundation of their devotional calendar; the present article is concerned with one specific aspect of his place in the work — namely, his role as the chronological and doctrinal anchor of Achehnese legal learning.

The mention of the Prophet on p. 379 occurs in Snouck Hurgronje’s discussion of the qualifications of the qadhi or religious judge. The ideal qadhi, as portrayed in the books of the law, “should be guided entirely in his pronouncements by the Quran, by tradition, and by what according to his (the qadhi’s) view is derived from both these sources by the consensus of the infallible community of Islam.” It is, however, “admitted without hesitation that it was only in the first two centuries after Mohammad that there were any who came up to this standard, and that now-a-days such a phenomenon would be esteemed a miracle.” The Prophet thus marks, in the legal theory of Islam, the beginning of a brief golden age of legal interpretation, after which the direct inspiration of the early generations gave way to the scholastic interpretation of the established schools.

The admission that no teacher of the present age, “no matter how great he be, can do more than simply interpret the law-books of his school,” is one of the foundational observations on which Snouck Hurgronje’s account of Achehnese legal practice rests. It explains, on the one hand, the great authority accorded to the books of the Shāfiʿī school — the Tuhfah, the Shark al-wiqayah and similar works — which the Achehnese kalis and teungkus are content merely to interpret; and, on the other, the comparative freedom with which Achehnese practice departs, in matters of adat, from the strict letter of the religious law. If no living qadhi can claim to derive his rulings directly from the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet, the field is open for the operation of custom, and for the practical compromises by which Achehnese jurisprudence has long been characterised.

The Prophet is, in this sense, doubly present in Achehnese law: present as the founder of the religion whose law is in theory supreme, and present as the historical figure whose death opens the era of interpretation, in which alone the present age can move. The “first two centuries after Mohammad” — the period of the salaf or pious ancestors — are the unattainable ideal to which all later jurisprudence looks back; the present age is one of taqlīd, of submission to the authority of the established schools. The Achehnese, in their legal practice, are no exception to this general condition of post-classical Islam.

The name of Mohammad is invoked elsewhere in Vol. I in the prelude of the sarakata or royal edicts of Acheh, together with those of ʿAbdul-Qādir al-Jīlānī and the four Companions — Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali — whose blessing is pronounced over the sultan’s letters-patent. His birthday is commemorated by the great annual feast of the Mo’lot (the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal), and his sickness and death are remembered in the Achehnese Rabu Abeh bathing festival, which closes the month of Safar. For a fuller account of these observances, see the related article on the Prophet in this work.

See Also

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.

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