Abd al-Rauf al-Sinkili


Abd al-Rauf ibn Ali al-Fansuri al-Sinkili was a well-known Islamic scholar and the mufti of Aceh Sultanate. He was the confidant of Sultana Safiyat al-Din. He was considered the first person to spread the Shattari Sufi order in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Many of his students also became disseminators of Islam.
Al-Sinkili was believed to be a native of Singkil, a town on the western coast of Aceh. Beside being called Al-Sinkili, his other attribution was Al-Fansuri, which relates him to the town of Barus. He could be related to another prominent Sufi poet and writer from that town, Hamzah Fansuri.

Education

Al-Sinkili was thought to depart to Arabia around 1642. He studied various knowledge of Islamic teaching for around twenty years in many places, including in Doha, Yemen, Jeddah, Mecca, and mostly Madina. He listed in his book Umdat al-Muhtajin ila Suluk Maslak al-Mufridin 19 teachers and 27 other scholars with whom he had personal contacts. His two most respected teachers were Ahmad al-Qushashi and Ibrahim al-Kurani. Al-Qushashi gave Al-Sinkili authorization as the formal successor for Shattariyya and Qadiriyya. After Al-Sinkili went back to Aceh, he maintained correspondence with Al-Kurani, and asked for Al-Kurani's opinions regarding religious matters.

Works

Al-Sinkili wrote in Malay and Arabic, with topics including Qur'anic interpretation, scholastic theology, sufism, and Islamic jurisprudence. He wrote around twenty-two books. One of his famous book was titled Mir'ât al Thullab fi Tasyil Ma'rifah al Ahkâm al Syar'iyyah li al Mâlik al-Wahhab. The book discusses the many aspects of fiqh, such as rules and issues concerning marriage, financial transactions, and inheritance.
Some selected titles of his works, as follows:
His interpretation shows tendency of neo-sufism, and combining exoteric and esoteric aspects of Islam. As a sheikh of the Shattariyya, Al-Sinkili did not approve of wujudiyya teaching, but he did not openly oppose it like Al-Raniri.