Initiation, or baiah, is crucial in Sufi practice. The ritual brings new disciples to the world of inner space. Accordingly, they need special guidance from the master otherwise the journey on the long path will lead to confusion and even, quite literally, to the destruction of the soul and mind of the pupils. Sufism, as stated by Beben, is like a journey up a steeply sloping riverbank or Safarwadi (safar al wadi) - a term also used by the villagers to refer to the sacred place founded by the Wali. The path has internal obstacles that gradually become harder as one proceeds to the objective of Sufism. The baiah of the Shattariyyah provides an initial map and direction for the mystic ‘travellers’. It is also a license to practise within the order.

As seen previously, the Kitab Wali reveals five important themes: (1) the silsilah, (2) the ijazah, (3) dikir, (4) the types of novice (murid), and (5) the metaphysical doctrine specific to the Shattariyyah. It was surprising to me that since the manuscripts of the Shattariyyah are preserved in the hands of other custodians and some village elders, only a few have mastered all of these five elements of the Kitab Wali. One of them is Beben.

Even though Beben often talks about his activities modestly, as a simple taburakan gathering, that is ‘to seek barakah with barakah’, the method and the goal are full of blessing. The gathering is a way to tap the blessing of the Wali and the tabarukan itself is a recitation, which it is believed has been internally touched by the blessings of the masters whose names are recited in the tabarukan. In fact, he also applies a standard procedure that is also found in other established orders: the baiah, or initiation. He requires this ritual of new disciples who desire to make the mystical journey under his guidance.

What Beben applies has been known for centuries. Traditionally, the orders in popular mysticism have three levels of devotees. These are the shaykh or the master, the wakil or khalifah, who is the representative of the founding master, and the murid or students. (Trimingham 1998: 170-179) It is the case that Beben acts as the one with the authority to initiate new Shattariyyah followers. During my field work I observed such a ritual initiation, baiah, or as it is sometimes called, talqin in the Shattariyyah mode. However, Beben confesses that he is not a Shaykh of the Order with the quality of murshid (a true master) of the Order. Rather he is a humble man who simply wants to perpetuate the heritage of the ancestor, kakantun karuhun (see Chapter 3). In Beben’s case, his rituals and the adherents he claims, are only a small part of a mystical association. It is not an organisation. Beben realises that a Sufi brotherhood needs a powerful master, or a shaykh al-murshid. In spite of this, the perpetuation of the Kitab Wali is crucial for him and he feels he does not need to wait until one of the Wali’s family in the village becomes a murshid. In his own words, “we are now learning the kakantun karuhun,” or we are still practising the ancestor’s teaching “Urang mah nuju diajar ngamalkeun kakantun karuhun”. (personal communication, Beben 1997) Through his discourse, in fact, Beben is able to take on a small part of the role of the murshid in order to initiate his new adherents.

Baiah then is the ‘vow of allegiance’. A murid approaches the Shaykh of the order asking him to pass on his knowledge about the inner world. According to Trimingham (1998:14) in the early period of Sufism, initiation was very difficult to acquire because at that time the Sufi was not a teacher with followers but a lonely ascetic in search of a personal knowledge of the inner world. Later, when Sufism emerged with a larger range of social organisation, some orders, in fact deliberately sought followers, often competing with one another and vying about their qualities. Some of the orders designed an exclusive method to find new followers by proposing the condition that their new members quit all previous linkages. As we know, it is just as common that the seeker can affiliate with various orders as much as he desires. However, Muhaimin (1995:342) in his study of Cirebon found that the Tijaniyyah order, in fact, applied a restriction on new devotees requiring them to cut their affiliation with any previous order. For Muhaimim, this requirement is part of the competition between orders.

Beben does not require his new followers to forsake any previous order if they want to affiliate with the Shattariyyah under his tutelage. Often, in his sermons, in front of his followers, he states that all Sufi orders, by nature, are the same. They provide us with proper guidance for seeking a way to the inner world. Thus, in Beben’s terms, one is permitted to affiliate with any method of guidance, as long as it is able to lead to the inner world. At the time of my fieldwork Beben himself was in fact in the process of setting up a new branch of the Qadiriyyah-Naqshabandiyyah Order of Surialaya, which is the largest order in West Java and probably in Indonesia at the moment.

Organising mystical associations means the establishment of certain rules. Later, these become the characteristic of the order. One of the important rules is found in the baiah. According to one Shattariyyah follower from Cirebon who made a ziarah pilgrimage to the shrine of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi, and whom, coincidently, I met during my fieldwork, was initiated into the order after fasting for a period of seven days. On initiation, he also had to provide a cone of fragrant, festive rice and accompaniments (nasi tumpeng), a length of white cotton cloth, a samak or woven grass mat, as well as perfume of different kinds.

However, in Pamijahan, Beben makes no such requirements. The baiah often takes place at the night after Beben has conducted the mystical congregation with his followers. I observed four married couples who asked Beben to initiate them into the Wali’s tarekat. Instead of asking the novices to bring materials of various kinds, he only asked them to clean their bodies in ritual ablution (wudu) in the mosque which stands not far away from his house. The new members then gathered in a small, dark room. They stood solemnly facing Beben. They were asked to hold Beben’s hands. After that, Beben requested them to follow his words, line by line. He recited the following:

The new murid should realise that baiah is meant to establish an important allegiance. Should he neglect his vows, access to the mystical journey under the leader’s guidance will be denied. Conversely, he will reap the benefits if he meets his commitments. After this, Beben instructed the pupils to make other allegiances. The next recitation connects them formally with the linkage of the predecessors of Shattariyyah, or the silsilah. Beben rehearsed the statement and the followers recited it. The testimonial said:

The theme of loyalty and humilty were uppermost in this ceremony. Next, the guru and the murid recited together the following supplication:

Then the guru and the murids also recited the creed of Islam three times: ‘There is no god but Allah’, after which the new followers pronounced a recitation of the Shattariyyah 100 times. After that, the baiah session was closed with this final supplication:

Only then were the new members fully recognised by the guru as disciples of Shattariyyah. They had the right to recite the dikir of the Shattariyyah and the obligation to follow the Shattariyyah mystical journey.