This work contains many terms comprised of both precise and corrupted (Javanised) Arabic. In this context the transliteration issue is rather problematic. At the academic level there are, currently, no less than nine Latin-Arabic transliteration systems known in Indonesia. Among these systems two are worth mentioning: (a) the system announced by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in 1979 and (b) the system announced jointly by the Minister of Religious Affairs and the Minister of Education and Culture in 1987. The former legitimated the predominating contemporary transliteration system, the latter considered a much wider spectrum, including the systems used by the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. The immediate aim of the 1987 joint decree system was twofold: precision and practicality in the sense that within one stroke of writing (typing) a transliteration symbol can be produced which represents a precise Arabic sound. Unfortunately this practical aim, in particular, was difficult to be achieved. Until now there is not a typewriter or computer which meets this practical need. The result is that the older systems, especially the 1979 system, are widely used with some inconsistent degree of application.

At the popular level inconsistency is even greater because at this level Latin-Arabic transliteration is dictated more by common sense and common understanding where most people rely more on context than on symbols. A simple example for this is the Arabic word: (meaning prayer), which is written as shalat, sholat, salat or solat. In the case of: (let us go to prayer), however, this word is written as shalah, sholah or solah, but rarely as, salah, because the latter could be confused with the Indonesian word meaning wrong'.

As the main concern of this work is to capture genuine local popular traditions, including oral, literary and verbal traditions, this work follows what was prevailing in the traditions (in which the context is more important than the transliteration symbols). With some variations and inconsistencies, the general features of this transliteration system employs no symbol that distinguishes long and short vowels; uses “h” to represent either ح or ە; uses a double consonant to indicate a shaddah; puts the definite article “al-” before words beginning with a lunar (Qamariyah) letter but when encountering words beginning with a solar (Shamsiyah) letter the -lam- (l) of the article is mostly changed into that solar letter to conform with its proper pronunciation (cf. Danner 1988:vi). In many cases an aposthrope of either (') or (‘) is used to indicate either ء (hamzah) or ع (‘ain).

In most cases, transliteration for some crucial Arabic letters are, as follows:

The Islamic law is frequently referred to as syari'ah or syari'at. The word referring to the Islamic Holy Book is “(al-)Qur'an”; my short reference to it is “QS” which stands for “Qur'an Surah”, followed by the number of the referred verse. Thus QS 2:43, for example, means Qur'an Surah 2, verse 43. My own saying to mean the Tradition of the Prophet, which is locally written as “Hadits”, when read as part of my narrative, “Hadith” is used. Most non-English words are put in italics, while some fairly “precise” Arabic (for explanatory purposes) are put in bold type. Unless indicated otherwise, the English translation of the Holy Qur'an that appears in this work is based on The Holy Qur'an: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, Medina: King Fahd Holy Qur'an Printing Complex (1411/1990).

The reference of “field-notes” is used to the records from the field that I put in my own words, whereas “interview” or “in-depth interview” is used to the translation into English of informants' words. In most cases the original Javanese words are put into the referred notes.

A.G. Muhaimin