Shaykh `Abd al-Qâdir al-Jîlânî and the Qâdiriyya in Indonesia

Abstract

The Qadiriyya is presently represented in Indonesia in the form of the composite order Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya, which appears to be specifically Indonesian and has hundreds of thousands of devotees. The Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya was founded by — or, in any case, introduced into Southeast Asia — by a `âlim and Sufi from West Borneo who lived and taught in Mecca in the early 19th century, Ahmad Khatib Sambas. There were earlier incursions of the Qadiriyya into Indonesia; its presence can be documented with certainty from the 17th century on, although it does not appear to have gained a mass following before the 19th century. One can also attest the presence of a cult of Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir, in the form of regular readings of the saint's manâqib and the invocation of his assistance in danger, in healing wounds or in acquiring invulnerability. This cult is often associated with the Sufi order but has also existed apart from it, and it may in fact predate the spread of the Qadiriyya as an organised order in Indonesia.