There is no known source in Pamijahan regarding Paqih Ibrahim’s life. The Babad Tanah Jawi indicates that there was a penghulu from Karang who taught Islam in Kartasura (personal communication, Professor Merle Ricklefs, 1997). This might have been Paqih Ibrahim. Rinkes (1996) however doubts this possibility but does not provide reasons for his doubt. However, if we trace back the silsilah of the Shattariyyah from Central and East Java we often come across mention of a son of Abdul Muhyi named Paqih Ibrahim. There is evidence that he settled in the north coast area and there propagated the Shattariyyah. Local narratives in Pamijahan also note that, unlike Abdul Muhyi’s other sons, only Paqih Ibrahim lies buried outside the village. As suggested above, it is possible that during his lifetime he made contact with Kartasura. The Shattariyyah manuscripts from Kartasura (Leiden Cod. Or. 7486b, and Cod. Or. 7446) support this possibility. In these manuscripts Paqih Ibrahim delivered Shattariyyah initiation to one Tuan Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmân from Kartasura, who in turn taught Kiai Muar Ibnu Syahid, who in turn taught Kiai Muar Ibn Syahid or Kiai Mustahal, who in turn taught Kiai Muhammad Rajudin from Salakarta Adiningrat, who taught Bagus Nasari Malang, who finally taught Purwamenggolo from Pamukan, Salakarta Adiningrat. Furthermore, some manuscripts indicate that Emas Paqih Ibrahim not only had followers from his own village and neighbouring villages but also from as far away as Cirebon and Garut. Indeed, according to Ricklefs (p.c. 1997), Paqih Ibrahim was reported to have collaborated with rebels in the court of Kartasura and then was exiled to Jakarta.

Most manuscripts which I found in Pamijahan during my field work narrate Haji Abdullah’s silsilah. Through his line, the Shattariyyah silsilah is linked to the Penghulu of Bandung, who in turn taught Haji Abdullah bin Abdul Malik who lived at Pulau Rusa in Trengganu, who then taught Lebai Bidin son of Ahmad, an Acehnese (see also Al-Attas 1963, 29).

Another of Abdul Muhyi’s sons, Dalem Bojong, had followers mainly from his own village, Nagara, in Sukapura, from Mandala, and from Bandung, and Garut. The current followers of the Shattariyyah in the village of Machmud in Bandung connect their silsilah to Dalem Bojong. According to a manuscript from Pamijahan (discussed below) Dalem Bojong provided the authorisation, or ijazah of the order to Kiai Mas Hijaya from whom Kiai Mas Haji Abdul Daud in turn obtained authorisation. After that Kiai Mas Haji Abdul Daud of Pamijahan taught Mas Haji Hanan who later authorised Muhammad Akna of Pamijahan. Beben Muhammad Dabas, Muhammad Akna’s son, has now taken up his family’s Shattariyyah tradition and is perpetuating it in Pamijahan (see below).

It is important to note here that besides these three famous sons of Abdul Muhyi who are recognised, after Abdul Muhyi himself, as initial propagators of Shattariyyah, there is another name which is also significant. Ekadjati explains that in a manuscript found in Limus Tilu, Garut, there is reported to be another son who propagated Shattariyyah, a certain Kiai Haji Abdul Muhyidin. The appearance of his name contradicts information in Rinkes’ study and in local narratives, none of which mentions that Abdul Muhyi had a son named Kiai Haji Abdul Muhyidin. If the name is correct, then in full it should read Kiai Haji Mas Nida (Muhammad) Abdul Muhyi or Kiai Bagus Muhammad Abdul Muhyidin, who, according to the Pamijahan manuscripts, was the son of Dalem Bojong and a grandson of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi. Local manuscripts also state:

Beben Muhammad Dabas is the current leader of the Shattariyyah in Pamijahan. He derived his Shattariyyah silsilah from his father, Haji Muhammad Akna, who was known by villagers as a practitioner of the Shattariyyah. He told me: “My father, Muhammad Akna, died in 1982. He said to me that I should carry on the Shattariyyah in this village.” Before he was initiated by his father, Beben spent time in a pasantren school in Pekalongan on the north coast of Central Java. His family was surprised by his ability to study and to lead a tarekat because the Beben they knew as a child had been a naughty boy. After spending time in the pasantren, he returned to Pamijahan and established a new Shattariyyah chapter, registering his association with the Attourney General of Tasikmalaya on April 4, 1991.

Some prominent members of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s family consider Beben Muhammad Dabas to be too young to be the leader of the Shattariyyah in the village. The most prominent custodian of Pamijahan and the owner of several Shattariyyah manuscripts, Ajengan Endang expressed an opinion representative of such attitudes. He explained that theoretically it is very difficult to obtain an ijâzah in the Shattariyyah order because its teaching is the wali’s own and can be fully comprehended only by those of wali-like stature. Thus, says Ajengan Endang, there are only a few people in contemporary West Java able to practise the Shattariyyah properly. For his part, Beben himself seems to reject such criticism. In his view, as long as one has the true niat, or intention to learn the Shattariyyah, one can receive an ijazah from a master. It does not matter if the conferrer or the recipient of the ijazah is still young.

Beben’s’ silsilah, which he obtained from his father, is legitimate, not only from the requirements of the tarekat but also from the government’s point of view. His full claims to legitimacy, however, are more complex than this.

By hereditary privilege, Beben is connected to his father, once recognised as the foremost local figure in the practice of Shattariyyah. Beben has also made use of a manuscript, apparently collected by his family, to confirm his status as a legitimate master. In this manuscript, he has added his own name to the Shattariyyah silsilah. Evidently, he did this after a period of study under one Ajengan Sukawangi of Singaparna, the murshid or most authoritative Shattariyyah master in the district, who initiated him into the order and bestowed the ijazah on him. It should be carefully noted, however, that the way Beben Muhammad Dabas inserted his name into the silsilah after that of his father is ambiguous. Traditionally, he should have listed his name after that of Ajengan Sukawangi, his initiator into the Shattariyyah practice.

To recapitulate, Beben argues that his father bequeathed him the Shattariyyah, and that it is by virtue of this fact that it is legitimate for him to continue the tradition. He also made the Shattariyyah oath of allegiance to the order, talqin before the Ajengan Sukawangi in the traditional way. Finally, Beben has listed his tarekat officially in the office of the Attorney General and this is the third source of his legitimation.

Official, “political” recognition of Dabas’ tarekat community has come from the local Attorney General’s office (kejaksaan) in Tasikmalaya. It is somewhat odd that a Sufi tarekat should be registered with the government, as if it were a kebatinan, or spiritualist group. In a certificate given by the Sekretariat Umum Team PAKEM, Beben Muhammad Dabas is recognised as the leader, pimpinan of the group. The main objective of his group, which is written on the certificate, is to develop Islamic instruction through the teaching of right religion, tauhid in order to gain personal peace in this world and in the hereafter (‘mengembangkan ajaran Islam melalui ajaran Tauhid demi tercapainya bahagia dunia dan akherat’’). The government certificate of authorisation also states that the source of the tarekat is “teaching based on Al-Qurân, Hadîth, Ijmâ’ ulama and Qiyâs’’ – all orthodox principles. Perhaps the most important feature of the certificate can be seen under its Point 6, in which it confirms the history of the order. The brief history goes as follows:

Beben’s blood relationship with the wali through his father, his silsilah, and government approval for his group act as significant proofs to some villagers that Beben Muhammad Dabas is indeed a legitimate Shattariyyah leader.