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since in the 1940s Shaykh Muda Waly al-Khalidy disseminated its tenets.
After his death in 1961, his elder son, Abuya Shaykh Tgk. Muhibbuddin
Waly, was appointed the murshidʿamm of the Naqshabandiyah in Aceh.
When Muhibbuddin Waly died in 2012, he was replaced by his younger
brother, Abuya Tgk. Jamaluddin Waly.²³ Tgk. Ibrahim Bardan (Abu
Panton), chairperson of huda, was also a member of this Sufi order, but
not a murshid.²⁴ The Naqshabandiya is an orthodox Sufi order which
tries to bring mystical teachings and practices into conformity with the
precepts of Islamic law. Weismann even says that although many ulama
emphasised the basic compatibility of Sufism and orthodoxy, ‘none,
however, combined and implemented the two tenets in so consistent a
way as did the masters of the Naqshbandiyya.’²⁵
The Qadiriyah wa Naqsabandiyah (tqn), of which the current head-
quarters are located in Tungkop, Aceh Besar, is led by Tgk. Sulfanwandi
Hasan. It organisespengajian(religious instruction gatherings) anddhikr
meetings every Thursday evening in the mosque of the dayah Yayasan
Raudhatul Qurʾan Darussalam, which he leads. Most who attend have
an urban background and come from Aceh’s capital, Banda Aceh. The
meetings usually emphasise soul purification by way of dhikr, rather than
by Sharia byelaws. According to Tgk. Sulfan, Muslims can enjoy religion
by practising dhikr, and not by implementing laws in the form of qanuns.
Dhikr is spiritual food for humans that should be continually renewed
so that human spirituality survives. Therefore, it is Islamic spirituality
and not Islamic laws that should be revived.²⁶
The Naqshabandi Haqqani brotherhood of Aceh is led by Teungku
Muhammad Zamhuri al-Hafizh (askhalifa), one of the imams of the
Baiturrahman grand mosque in Banda Aceh. Teungku Zamhuri leads
dhikr meetings every Wednesday night at the mosque of Gampong
The other murshids are Teungku Haji Adnan Mahmud Bakongan, Teungku
Haji Abdul Hamid Meulaboh, Teungku Haji Hasan Abati Lamno, Abu Matang
Peureulak, Abu Karimuddin Baktya, Teungku Haji Nasir Waly, Waled Hasanul
Basri Pimpinan Dayah mudi Mesra Samalanga, Abu Muhhamad Tayeb Batee Lhee
Lhoksukon dan Tgk. Zuhdi, the son of Abu Karimuddin: ‘Dayah Darussalam:
Pusat Kajian Tauhid dan Tasawuf Tertua di Pantai Barat Selatan Aceh’, http://
http://www.dokumenpemudatqn.com/2013/09/dayah-darussalampusat-kajian-tauhid
-dan.html.
Communication with Tgk. Faisal Ali, secretary general of huda, 20 November
2013.
Itzchak Weismann,The Naqshbandiyya: Orthodoxy and Activism in a Worldwide
Sufi Tradition(London etc.: Routledge, 2007), vii.
Communication with Sehat Ihsan Shadiqin, who sometimes attended the
pengajian of tqn, 5 January 2011.