Manuscript > ‘Umdat al-muḥtājīn

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Title: ‘Umdat al-muḥtājīn
Full Title: ‘Umdat al-muḥtājīn ilā sulūk maslak al-mufradīn
Author: ‘Abd al-Raūf ibn ‘Alī al-Jāwī al-Fanṣūrī
Place, Date of Birth: Aceh, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 1615
Place, Date of Dead: Aceh, 1693
Place of Activity: Aceh
Language: Malay
Script: Jawi
Subject Matter: Sufism
Genre: Prose
Date of Autograph (century): 17
Found in : Abdullah 1991: 123-131; Fakhriati 2007: 103; Nur Rahmah, 2011: 258
Notes: ‘Umdah al-Muhtâjîn, (the support of the needy), explains the road to the practice of Sufism. It contains the description of Islamic metaphysics and the practice of dhikr performance. It also contains a codicil that is predictably made by Abd al-Rauf himself comprising of notes on his journey studying with many prominent ulamas in the Arabian Peninsula. In this note, he mentions fifteen ulamas with who he studied Islamic disciplines. He maintained intellectual contacts with many scholars in Mecca, Jedda, Bayt al-Faqih, Zabîd, Madinah, etc, the most important one being his intellectual contact with Ahmad al-Qusyasyî of Madinah, a 17th century prominent teacher and sufi leader from India and his successor, Ibrahim al-Kurani, who certified him to teach and spread Sufi order in Acheh (Riddell, 1984: 20-21; Riddell, 2001: 126). Quoted from Johns (1975: 46), Riddel states that the significance of this work lies in the note describing the network of Abd al-Rauf apart from its main content on Sufism aspect.