The centre of the Tarekat Shiddiqiyah is in the northern region of Jombang. Kiai Muchtar Mu‘thi, the murshid of this tarekat was a student of Kiai Abdul Fatah of Pesantren Bahrul Ulum. His educational background indicates that Kiai Muchtar was mostly influenced by NU culture. Why he formed a tarekat separate from the NU's is a difficult question to answer. The Tarekat Shiddiqiyah is classified not mu‘tabarah from NU's point of view. The tarekat is hence marginal compared to other tarekat in Jombang. By marginal I mean that most NU members in Jombang are affiliated with either Tarekat Rejoso or Tarekat Cukir, but not Tarekat Shiddiqiyah. It is also marginal, because members of this tarekat are not involved in NU activities, whereas the main stream of Islam in Jombang is represented by NU.

Researchers such as Dhofier (1982) have noted that the origin of this tarekat is not clear. The tarekat emerged for the first time in 1958 in a district of Ploso, in the northern part of Jombang. According to Dhofier, this tarekat does not exist in other countries. Kiai Muchtar, however, maintains that he is not the founder but inherited the leadership of this tarekat from Kiai Syu‘aib, who went abroad. In addition, according to Dhofier, Kiai Muchtar is also well known as a dukun, a person who can cure certain diseases.

The shortage of research about this tarekat is due to several factors. Firstly, since this tarekat is not classified as mu‘tabarah, and is not involved in the cultural network of NU in Jombang, it may be regarded by some as unimportant. Secondly, the tarekat is regarded as being rather exclusive. The impression of exclusiveness is acknowledged by many people in Jombang. Kiai Muchtar does not respond to questions about his tarekat ^[33].

In addition, Kiai Muchtar is also regarded as controversial in regard to Friday prayer. NU kiai maintain that Friday prayer is performed at the mosque as a substitute for that day's zuhr prayer ^[34]. Those who perform Friday prayer feel that their obligation to conduct zuhr prayer for Friday has been met. Nevertheless, Friday prayer is not merely considered as an alternative which can be substituted for zuhr, but rather it is seen as an additional obligation which stands by itself. Only certain people, such as those who are sick, are allowed to perform zuhr instead of Friday prayer. Kiai Muchtar, on the other hand, contends that those who perform Friday prayer still have to conduct zuhr prayer. Kiai in Jombang have tried to discuss the problem with Kiai Muchtar. They have also invited Kiai Muchtar to explain his tarekat, since NU has indicated an intention to examine it. I was told by a kiai that Kiai Muchtar has never responded to such an invitation.

The exclusivity of Kiai Muchtar also impressed me when I tried to visit him at his house. Unfortunately he was not at home when I called. It was then recommended that I meet Kiai Muchtar's assistant, who lives nearby. What was surprising to me was that the assistant told me that I must have Kiai Muchtar's approval to get information about his tarekat, and refused to give me information. After a few days of waiting I was told by the assistant that Kiai Muchtar refused to be interviewed and had not given me permission to research either his tarekat or his pesantren. Kiai Muchtar had reasons for his refusal. According to the assistant, some university students had come to research Kiai Muchtar's tarekat and pesantren, but their description (in their theses) had deviated from the facts. Kiai Muchtar contended that such attitude was unfair and dishonest, and that he would feel it sinful to give me a chance to act in a similar way to the previous researchers. I understood enough of his reasons and appreciated them. I thus had to be satisfied with information about this tarekat gained from outside the Tarekat Shiddiqiyah followers.

This does not mean that Kiai Muchtar never reacts to negative responses from kiai and Muslims criticising his tarekat. He has written some short risala (lit. writing). Kiai Muchtar insists that he did not create a novel tarekat. His tarekat, he maintains, is similar to other (mu‘tabarah) tarekat which have chains of murshid to the Prophet Muhammad. His risala can easily be obtained by anyone who is interested. Although the risala are provided for his followers, they are also sold publicly on big ritual occasions. In his risala entitled Informasi tentang Thoriqoh Shiddiqiyah (Information on Tarekat Shiddiqiyah), Kiai Muchtar explains that his tarekat traces its chain to Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, one of the main four companions of the Prophet Muhammad. He claims that his tarekat was also practised by such a great sufi as Al-Syadhili, the founder of the Tarekat Syadhiliyah (Mu‘thi, 1992:24).

The word shiddiqiyah is related to Abu Bakr, who was called Al-Shiddiq by the Prophet Muhammad. This was because Abu Bakr accepted as true everything spoken by the Prophet in regard to the Prophet's mi‘raj ^[35] (lit. to ascend). Shiddiqiyah, according to Kiai Muchtar, is nothing but a silsila through which the wird practised by followers were passed from the Prophet Muhammad through Abu Bakr. This standpoint is derived from Mu‘jam Al-Buldan written by Sheikh Al-Imam Syihabuddin Abi Abdillah Yaquti Ibn Abdillah Al-Rumi (Mu‘thi, 1992:16). It is said in this book that a great sufi, Sheikh Muhammad Amin Al-Kurdi Al-Ibrili mentioned that the silsila which started with Abu Bakr and passed down to Sheikh Thoifur Ibn Isa Abi Yazid Al-Busthomi was called Shiddiqiyah. Kiai Muchtar explains further that the silsila of Shiddiqiyah was passed from Abu Bakr through either Ali Ibn Abi Thalib or Salman Al-Farisi.

With this explanation, Kiai Muchtar shed light on the origin of his tarekat, but he did not explain how the murshidship of this tarekat was passed to him. As commonly emphasised by those involved in the tarekat, proper silsila through which (the wird of) the tarekat is passed on is a necessity. Otherwise, the tarekat will be regarded as munqati (cut off). The silsila is one prerequisite that determines whether a tarekat is mu‘tabarah or not. 

The Silsilah of Mursyidship of the Tarekat Shiddiqiyah (through Salman Al-Farisi)

Thoriqoh Shiddiqiyah

Thoriqoh Ath-Thoifuriyah

Thoriqoh Al-Khuwaajikaaniyyah

Thoriqoh An-Naqsyabandiyah

Thoriqoh Ahroriyah

Thoriqoh Mujaddadiyah

Thoriqoh Kholidiyah

(Source: Mu‘thi, 1992:19– 21)^[36]  

I need to describe briefly the tarekat-like movement known as Penyiar Sholawat Wahidiyah, since it has some followers in Jombang. The Penyiar Sholawat Wahidiah or the Wahidiyah is not a sufi order. It is a religious movement which emphasises the moulding of society by encouraging its followers to perform wird by reciting salawat (prayers for the Prophet Muhammad). Like a tarekat movement, the Wahidiyah aims at approaching Allah in different ways. In Jombang, the centre of the Wahidiyah is located in a village in the Ngoro district in southern Jombang. The founder of the Wahidiyah was Kiai ‘Abdul Madjid, who was from Kedunglo, Kediri. Kiai ‘Abdul Madjid introduced this religious movement in 1963. In Jombang, the Wahidiyah is led by Kiai Ihsan Mahin, the owner of the Pesantren at-Tahdzib.

The formation of the Wahidiyah began when Kiai ‘Abdul Madjid had a dream in 1959. In his dream it was as if an angel whispered to him. He was urged to improve the moral aspect of society and to mould the inner aspect of religious life. He had the same dream again twice in 1963. The third dream demanded that he act immediately. The tone of the dream alarmed Kiai ‘Abdul Madjid greatly (see Sanusi, 1993). As a result, he became determined to encourage the society to practise salawat. He then created a number of wird, especially the salawat. A major difference between Wahidiyah and other tarekat is that its wird focus on reciting salawat, while the tarekat's focus on reciting dhikr. Another difference is that the tarekat is usually a long established religious movement, transfered from one murshid to another, starting from the Prophet Muhammad, while the Wahidiyah is a new and local religious movement. Its wird were created by Kiai ‘Abdul Madjid one by one or he amended an earlier version (see, Sanusi, 1993).

The Wahidiyah has a very special character in terms of its ritual practices. The followers of Wahidiyah usually perform their wird in a sorrowful manner. In their wird, they try to acknowledge and realise their sins. In their view the essence of their dhikr is to ask Allah forgiveness (tauba). According to them, this is the main reason for the practice of dhikr in Islam. Because of their mode of ritual practice, one can hear the mourning of the Wahidiyah followers in the night when other members of society are sleeping^[37].

The Wahidiyah initially received a rather negative response from some kiai. Kiai Machrus Ali from Kediri warned his santri not to join this Islamic religious movement. It is also important to note that while NU indirectly organised several tarekat movements classified as mu‘tabarah, according to a kiai, it never accepted Wahidiyah as an Islamic organisation under its umbrella. Despite this fact, however, the Wahidiyah draws followers from various regions of Indonesia. Its followers vary from lay Muslims to government officers or even kiai. In Jombang, followers include the younger santri of Kiai Ihsan Mahin. The kiai has encouraged his santri to practise the Sholawat Wahidiyah rituals. In contrast to the tarekat, the Wahidiyah does not make any bai‘a for those who want to practise its wird.

In brief Wahidiyah is a terakat-like movement, which receives an increasing acceptance from Muslims in Jombang and other cities. Its followers range from farmer Muslims to businessmen and Islamic organisation activists. In terms of follower attachment, this Islamic movement is different from tarekat. In the latter, followers’ attachment either to the tarekat or to their murshid is stronger.