Table of Contents
Sufism, or tasawwuf prescribes not only ascetic rituals but also provides a model of social practice. As a social practice, it is in intensive contact with other branches of Sufism and with local traditions which impact upon its articulation. This can be seen in the development of various Sufi orders, or tarekat, in which divergent paths of development become salient features. Some Sufi orders, for example, have had to modify their teaching and organisation in order to be able to attract new followers and to gain political support from local authorities (Muhaimin 1995: 231; Zulkifli 1994: 232) while others have lost followers because they failed to reformulate their positions in a changing society.
One of the most important phenomena shaping the development of Sufi orders is the silsilah or the intellectual genealogy of Sufi masters. Silsilah are of special significance in providing the orders with cultural legitimacy and doctrinal authenticity. Tarekat have an international character. Through their silsilah they trace their origins and development across national and cultural boundaries as well as across time.
The role of the silsilah parallels that of the isnad, the chain of transmitters that authenticates a hadith, or tradition relating to the Prophet Muhammad. As in the Sufi orders, the authenticity of a hadith is established from its chain of transmitters going back to the Prophet Muhammad. Both the silsilah in Sufi orders and the isnad in hadith literature are regarded as foundations for the development of Islamic knowledge (Voll 1980: 246-73.). A silsilah characteristically involves a number of leading ulama, or Muslim scholars, in the transmission of a facet of Islam, specifically mystical knowledge. The line of transmission traces back to the ulama credited with founding the order. A silsilah therefore gives form to an intellectual community and plays a crucial role in the establishment and continuing cohesion of further intellectual networks, not only within Indonesia but also those linking Indonesian ulama with those of the Middle-East (Azra 1995).
Therefore, the silsilah plays a major role in determining the existence of a Sufi order. To some extent, it can also be seen as presenting an argument and an ideology, enabling the order to be socially accepted and religiously justified. The Shattariyyah tradition in Pamijahan is a good example of the dynamics of a particular Sufi tradition in Java, especially with regard to the role in it of a silsilah-based narrative centred on a Sufi master.
To date there has been no adequate description of the Shattariyyah tradition in West Java, particularly in Pamijahan, which has been a famous Shattariyyah centre from early times. The present study will contribute to our knowledge of the Indonesian Shattariyyah tradition in general, and this chapter will focus on the silsilah of the Shattariyyah in Pamijahan, exploring its implications for the village culture where, as has been outlined above, all kinds of narratives are subject to negotiation.
The veneration of wali is widespread in the Muslim world. I argue in this chapter that in Pamijahan the silsilah of the wali functions to perpetuate the teaching of the master and connects the valley of Safarwadi to the wider world of Sufism. It is important to emphasise that in the case of Pamijahan, the silsilah is used not only for tapping into the master’s blessing, barakah, but also for framing and shaping social practice in the village.