Ulumuna

227-248

Authors: A. Khudori Soleh

Irfani, which has been developed and used in Sufism, is one of Islamic epistemologies well known in Islamic tradition in addition to bayani and burhani. Unlike bayani, which is based on scripture, and burhani, which is built on reason and logic, irfani builds on gnosis as its method of acquiring knowledge. The knowledge is transmitted directly from God and implanted in one’s heart without intermediary of logic and analysis. Such transmission occurs only through spiritual paces (maqâmât) and inner experience (hal). The irfani knowledge is classified into two categories: the unsaid and the said knowledge. The unsaid knowlege can only be exclusively understood by the person gaining it as extraordinary spiritual experience. Meanwhile, the said knowledge can be acquired through two ways: qiyas irfani and shattah. Unlike qiyas bayani that puts scripture as the origin and empirical experience as the branch, qiyas irfani places scripure as the branch of empirical spiritual experience

271-298

Authors: Mutawalli

In any discourse of religion, the existence of God is central because God is the ultimate Being, from whom all creatures come to exist. However, religious perceptions of God have never been unified. In Islam, especially Sufis believe that God is present in all creatures because they are regarded to be the manifestation of God. This stance leads to a divinely-dominated view. This Sufi perception deviates from the maintream thought of Muslim who reject such a view since it reflects pantheism. As the view is common in Sufism, Ibn Arabi, one of the greates Sufi, holds the similar view and introduces a new concept of wahdat al-wujûd. This essay examines the conceptual framework of Ibn Arabi’s Sufi theology and reveals his epistemology. It begins by tracing Ibn Arabi’s socio-intellectual background. It then proceeds to explain his method and view of the union of existence and the concept of God.

323-240

Authors: Hamidah

Sufism is an esoteric dimension of Islam, which differs from the outer aspect of Islam known as shari’a. This view did not emerge at the early time because Sufism was not regarded as the inner manifestation of Islam, as it is so now. Rather, it was seen as Islam itself. Tarekat in its initial phase constituted associations of people who wanted to escape from a worldly life. However, this orientation shifted since the associations broadened their roles into socio-political life by engaging in revolts against colonialism as it occurred in Banten in 1888. This peasant revolt movement was not an independent move without a significant contribution from the sufi brotherhood since actors in the revolt were members of tarekat. According to Banten Residen, almost all of the employees in his office including police were the members of tarekat. One salient feature of the movement is concerned with the xenophobic spirit that rejected the presence of foreigners and advocated a holy war.