The year in which Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī began the composition of the *Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm*, the Malay handbook of religious duties that he was to complete only ten years later, in 1644. The date is established by Djajadiningrat in TBG 69, pp. 109–111; it corrects the earlier assumption of Voorhoeve (BKI 107, p. 357) that the Ṣirāṭ had been composed before Raniri’s arrival in Acheh. The knowledge of Malay letters displayed in the Ṣirāṭ need not, therefore, have been acquired before 1637.
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Account from Over Maleise Literatuur (1947) — 1634
In Hooykaas’s survey of Malay literature, the year 1634 is the year in which Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī began the composition of the Sirāṭ al-mustaqīm — the Malay handbook of religious duties (fiqh) of the Shāfiʿite school. The date was established by Djajadiningrat in TBG 69, pp. 109-111, and corrects the earlier assumption of Voorhoeve (BKI 107, p. 357) that the Sirāṭ had been composed before ar-Rānīrī’s arrival in Atjeh (which is dated to 1637).
The Beginning of the Sirat al-mustaqim
The Sirāṭ al-mustaqīm — begun in 1634 and completed only in 1644 — is the principal Malay-language fiqh handbook produced at the Atjehnese court. Its composition, begun three years before ar-Rānīrī’s formal arrival in Atjeh in 1637, suggests that ar-Rānīrī had begun his Malay fiqh project before his formal appointment at the Atjehnese court — perhaps during an earlier visit to the region, or in correspondence with the Atjehnese court from his native Gujarat.
The Place in ar-Raniri’s Project
The 1634 beginning of the Sirāṭ falls in the early part of ar-Rānīrī’s Atjehnese period — the period that would culminate, in 1638, with the composition of the Sirāṭ (completed in March 1638), the Bustān as-Salāṭīn (1638), and the Bad’ khalq as-samawat wal-arwah (1638). The three works together constitute the literary apparatus of ar-Rānīrī’s orthodox reform of the Atjehnese court — the reform that targeted the Wujudiyyah mystics who had been patronised under Iskandar Muda.
The Correction of Voorhoeve’s Dating
The 1634 date — established by Djajadiningrat — corrects the earlier assumption of Voorhoeve that the Sirāṭ had been composed before ar-Rānīrī’s arrival in Atjeh. The correction establishes that “the knowledge of Malay letters displayed in the Sirāṭ need not, therefore, have been acquired before 1637” — that is, ar-Rānīrī could have learned the Malay letters he needed for the Sirāṭ after his arrival in Atjeh, not before.
Source: Over Maleise Literatuur, by Dr. C. Hooykaas, Hoogleraarte Batavia; Tweede Druk (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947), chapter 19 (“Twee Moslimse exemplo-boeken als vorstenspiegel”), p. 173.
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.
Twee Maleise geschriften van Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī: in facsimile uitgegeven met aantekeningen door P. Voorhoeve. Uitgaven van de Stichting De Goeje, No. 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1955.
See Also
- Raniri
- Sirat al-mustaqim
- H. Djajadiningrat
- P. Voorhoeve
- Acheh
- Bahasa Djawi
- Ranir
- Raniri’s arrival in Acheh (1637)
- Nur al-Din al-Raniri
- Bustanu’s-Salatin
- Sultan Iskandar Muda
- Over Maleise Literatuur (1947)
- Dr. C. Hooykaas
- 1637
- 1638
Sources
Twee Maleise geschriften van Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī: in facsimile uitgegeven met aantekeningen door P. Voorhoeve. Uitgaven van de Stichting De Goeje, No. 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1955. 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. Over Maleise Literatuur, by Dr. C. Hooykaas, Hoogleraarte Batavia; Tweede Druk (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947).