Institute of the Malay World and Civilization

This paper will investigate the nature of Persian mysticism as it is seen in a little known text, the Certified faith of the Verifiers (Haqq al-Yaqin fi aqidat al-muhaqqiqin) written by the Malay Sufi writer Shams al-Din al-Sumatra'I (d.1630). The transmission of Persian mysticism to southeast asia has always been a mystery. However their writings had become known in this region since the earliest writings of mysticism that had come from the pen of the infamous Hamzah Fansuri (d.159?). Hamzah’s main student was Shams al-Din al-Sumatra’I and he similar to Hamzah was well versed in Persian. In the Haqq al-Yaqin, Shams al-Din had quoted from two main Persian writers i.e. Mahmud Shabistari and Abdul Rahman al-Jami. In this paper however we will analyse the usage of these quotations from Shabistari’s Gulshan-I Raz and its commentary (sharh Gulshan-I Raz) by Muhammad Lahiji Gilani. The main questions which would drive this paper are, was Shams al-Din’s usage of these quotations similar to Shabistari’s usage of them? If they are can we say that Shams al-Din had followed and was influenced by him in his own mystical teachings? The aim is then to find out whether Shams al-Din was an imitator of Persian mystical writings and commentaries? My paper will be a reflection on both the teachings of Mahmud Shabistari and Shams al-Din. Such findings are crucial towards understanding how muslim scholars of the past viewed text and interpretation of them as part of their individual identity as scholars. Such findings are also useful in demonstrating the successful dialogue between the Persian Islamic world with the Malay Islamic world via tasawwuf or irfan.

"This paper investigates the concept of ‘presence of God’ according to Shams al-Din-al Sumatra|‚ (d. 1630), a seventeenth-century Malay Sufi scholar and a member of the court of the illustrious Sultan Iskandar Muda of Acheh (d. 1636). He is known to have been a follower of Hamza Fansuri, but where Hamza was a master of utilizing poetry in his teachings, Shams al-Din utilized prose. The teachings of Shams al-Din discussed here are
taken from a newly discovered manuscript attributed to him, Haqq al-yaqin fi aqidat almuhaqqiqin. The overall structure of this text is presented here for the first time in English.
The content of this work are a mixture of theoretical and practical Sufism. This paper focuses on the theoretical part in which Shams al-Din expounds the views held by the
verifiers (muhaqqiqin) in regard to the conception of God and God’s relation to the world.How does God manifest Himself to the world? What is the meaning of the world (alam) to
the verifiers? What is the difference between Shams al-Din’s view of the presence of God and that of the main exponent of Ibn `Arabi, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi? Was Shams al-Din a
mere imitator of the writings of Muhammad ibn Fadl Allah al-Burhanpuri‚ via the Tuhfa al-mursala ila ruh al-Nabi‚ as some have asserted? These are some of the questions raised in the article, which includes an annotated translation of the relevant chapter of Haqq al-yaqin.
What is found in the end is that, even though influence of Persian–Arabic mysticism permeated Malay mysticism, Shams al-Din managed to produce a fresh, original synthesis of metaphysical teachings and insights."

This article examines hikma as it was practiced by Sadr al-Din Shirazi, or Mulla Sadra (d.1640), in explaining the connection between the divine names and the attributes of God. This is done via a translation of the fourth part of his al-Mazahir..(The loci of divine manifestations in the secrets of the knowledge of perfection). Hikma, islamic philosophy as it is defined here, is the combination of rational demonstrations and spiritual unveiling. Shirazi's philosophy is a synthesis of Ibn al-'Arabi's school of metaphysical unveiling, the ishraqi school led by Suhrawardi and the rational school of the Peripatetics. The text is translated here for the first time, and includes annotations.

An analysis of the development of the orientalist venture into Qur'anic studies right up to the modern day Wansbroughian school. This book includes a critique of some of the fundamental assumptions of that school from the viewpoint of experts in the field.

Textbook which outlines development of Islamic law and legal thought in the Sunni and Shia world. From the beginning of legal ideas which led to the formation of the four sunni schools of law and present day challenges to ijtihad; the development of Shii legal tradition after the occultation of the 12th Imam, usuli-akhbari, rise of usuli school to the establishment of the marja'iyyah in the 19th century.