neo-sufism, shariatism, and ulama politics 237
woman to become a true Muslim so that he or she can be on friendly
terms or associate with both the Creator (khaliq) and creatures (makhluq),
and have a noble character (akhlaq) and affection. The result will be the
unity of the commmunity (umma) who follow the Prophet and are true
Muslims.’⁵⁶
According to Amran Waly, it is such knowledge that has been neglected
by most ulama in Aceh, Indonesia and Southeast Asia. That is why he
makes such a great effort to develop and spread Tauhid-Tasawuf teachings
through the mptt in Southeast Asia.
4.3Wahdat al-Wujudandal-Insan al-Kamil: Reinterpreting IbnʿArabi
through Al-Jili
In November 2009, Amran Waly publishedSekelumit Penjelasan tentang
Ajaran Tauhid-Tasawuf Abuya Syekh H. Amran Waly & Penjelasan
beberapa ucapanʿAbdul Karim al-Jili dalam Kitabnya al-Insanul-Kamil fi
Maʿrifatil-Awakhir wal-Awaʾil(Brief Clarification of the Teachings of
Tauhid-Tasawuf of Abuya Syekh H. Amran Waly and an Explanation of a
number of Remarks byʿAbd Karim al-Jili’s in his Book al-Insanul-Kamil
fi Maʿrifatil-Awakhir wal-Awaʾil). The book was controversial because
it discusses the opinions ofʿAbd Karim al-Jili (d. 1428),⁵⁷ whom many
Sharia ulama accuse of expressing the ‘deviant’ teaching ofal-Insan
al-Kamilwhich in fact contains the teaching of IbnʿArabi of wahdat
al-wujud.ʿAbd Karim bin Ibrahim al-Jili, a Sufi master from Yemen, was a
descendant of the famous SufiʿAbd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166) and entered
the Qadiriyya order. He was a disciple of Shaykh Sharaf al-Din Ismail
Ibid.
ʿAbd Karim bin Ibrahim al-Jili wrote about 30 books and treatises, of which
al-Insān al-Kāmil fī Maʿrifat al-Awākhir wa al-Awāʾilis the best known. It is
based on IbnʿArabi’s concept of Insan Kamil in which he discussed three
stages for the perfect man. The first,badaʾah(beginning), when a human
is given his divine attributes; second,tawassut(intermediate stage), when
the perfect human being, who is both human and divine, can understand
both human and divine realities and receive all knowledge (both seen and
unseen); third,khitam(end), when the perfect human being is given power
that can be used in the natural world and gives him or her power over any
other being; Reynold A. Nicholson,Studies in Islamic Mysticism(Richmond,
Surrey: Curzon Press, 1994), 81; H. Ritter, ‘Abd al-Karīm, Kutb al-Dīn b. Ibrāhīm
al-Jīlī’,Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., P. Bearman, T. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth,
E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (eds.) (Leiden: Brill, 2014). Reference. 08
July 2014, http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam
-2/abd-al-karim-kutb-al-din-b-ibrahim-al-djili-SIM_0099.