West.  It  carried  on the traditions  of Judaism and  Christianity  .... The  Is- 

lamization  of  the  Malay-Indonesian  Archipelago  should  therefore  not be 

compared, it  seems to me, with the earlier Hinduization, as has been traditio

nally  done. It would be more relevant to  compare the Islamization  process 

with Western elements" (p. 191). The  most  important  phase was  the  second 

one:  from  the  fifteenth  century  up to the  end of the  eighteenth century, be

cause  it is then that, through Sufism,  "the highly intellectual and rationalistic 

religious  spirit  entered  the receptive  mirds  of the people, effecting a rise of 

rationalism  and  intellectualism not  manifested  in  pre-Islamic  times"  and 

turning  away  the Malay-Indonesian world view from "a crumbling world of 

mythology  to  the  world  of intelligence"  (p. 194),  so  that,  "finally,  it 

prepared  the Malay-Indonesians,  in a  sense,  for  the modern world  to  come" 

(p. 195).  "Sûfis were  the disseminators of Islam  in the Archipelago" (p.201) 

and the  role of  India  and  Indians has been magnified :  in  fact,  "India was 

the  springboard  for  the  Middle-Eastern  missionaries,  large numbers  of 

whan  came  from  the  Hadramaut in  South  Arabia".  As  for  the  spiritual 

Islamic  influence,  its  sources were  either Arab  or  Persian  (p.  199). 

"One of the most  important  single  cultural phenomenon directly caused 

by  the  influence of  Islamic culture, and  especially effected during the second 

phase  of  the  Islamization  process,  was  the  spread  and  development  of  the 

Malay  language  as  a  vehicle,  not  only  for epic,  romantic and historical  l

iterature,  but  even  more so for philosophical discourse. The use  of Malay as 

the  language of Islamic philosophical literature in the Malay-Indonesian Ar

chipelago  enriched its vocabulary and technical terminology considerably and 

was  one  of  the  paramount  factors  that displaced the hegemony of  Java

nese"  (p. 197).  New view-points, new angles are always interesting,  but the 

thesis  presented  by  Professor  Syed  Muhammad  Naguib al-Attas, about 

"The Mysticism  of Hamzah  Fansûrî" is evidence of  insight, sincerity and 

courage:  three major virtues which nobody who knows him can deny him. 247 

of Hamzah. Indeed, they are  the  earliest  evidence  in  which  the  usage  of 

ada reveals  a semantic  change reflecting a new world view — a Sûfi  world 

view, which  though no doubt introduced with the coming of Islam,  achieved 

its  full definite  and  systematic Malay  expression  in  them"  (p.  165).  As  for 

din,  its  basic  meaning  in  Malay refers  to  both  the  visible being  and  the 

human  individuality  or  ego.  In  other  words,  in  Hamzah  diri  means  as 

the  Self  as  well  as  the  Universal  Soul. 

In the last Chapter (VI), Professor Al-Attas  brings  out many important 

and  stimulating  conclusions.  According to him,  "Hamzah  Fansûrî must be 

regarded as the first man to  set in Malay all the fundamental aspects of Sûfi 

doctrines,  and his writings must be regarded as the earliest of the kind in Mal

ay, and,  for that  matter, in any other languages of the Malaysian  Archipe

lago  .  .  .  The  fact that Hamzah says he writes the (Sharâb) book in Malay so 

that  those  .  .  .  who  do  not  understand Arabic and Persian may be  able to 

discourse upon the subject  seems  to me to  show clearly that  before Hamzah 

wrote  such  a book, all known books  on the subject  were  written in  Arabic 

and  Persian"  (p. 180).  Hamzah's  texts remain the best  and most  lucid  texts  on 

Sûfism,  predominated as they are by  the Persian influence. The  methodolog

ical  approach chosen by Dr. Syed M.N. al-Attas  is a modern semantic analys

is,  which has opened "before our vision other horizons intimately connected 

with the historical problem of  Islamization of  the Malays  At  the outset 

I declare my  agreement with van Leur  that Hinduism, as  the Malay  Indones

ian  peoples practised it, was merely a superstructure maintained by the rul

ing  group  above  an  indifferent  community  The  Malay-Indonesian 

society was therefore not a Hinduized society; rather the  Malay-Indonesian 

ruling  groups  were  legitimized sacrally by an  Indian hierarcy. .."Professor 

Al-Attas  suggests  that  "What  (Hindu-Buddhist)  philosophy  they  took 

they  transformed  into  art  at the  expense  of the  rational  and  intellectual 

elements  As  far as  I  know  there  has  been no  Javanese  translation 

of the Upanishads  .... ,neither has there been  any  translation of works  of 

Buddhist  theology and philosophy  in Malay. The Qur'ân, however, has been 

fully  translated  with  commentary in  Malay  in  the second half of  the XVII 

th  century"  (p.  187).  For the  general  public,  "the  philosophical-mystical 

world view envisaged by  the poets of  Old  Javanese literature was glimpsed 

in  the  wayangs (theatres); filtered,  as  it were, again through  the medium of 

art"  (p.188).  "Neither the Hindu-Malay  nor the Buddhist-Malay, as far as 

we know, have produced  any thinker or philosopher of note" (p. 190). 

And here is the challenge: "the reputation spread abroad of  the Malay- 

Indonesian peoples—  particularly  in Java  —  as being refiners of great cultures, 

who excelled in syncretizing the great pre-Islamic religions such as Hinduism 

and Buddhism, in the sense of  fusing and blending them, has no firm  basis .  . 

Perhaps  "parallelism" would better describe the fact"  (p.  190). On the con

trary,  "unlike Hinduism and Buddhism, Islam  is traditionally  linked with the 246 

way or other studied  Hamzah's mysticism  have never  failed  to  label  it pant

heistic"  (p.  66). Discussing Hamzah's metaphysics and  teachings,  Professor 

Al-Attas makes  it  clear  that  "Hamzah's rejection  of  the  doctrine  of  creatio 

ex nihilo  in  the  sense  he  means  is  not  an  affirmation  of the  doctrine of 

the  World":  for  him,  in  fact,  God  is  eternal,  He  exists  in  all things that 

He  brought  into  being, and  the Universe — Creation — is  not  an illusion. 

Hamzah  says  that  the  things God knows  exist "because of His  knowledge 

of them — the  condition  of  the  waves  is  determined by the  sea. "In  deed, 

"in  Hamzah  the  clear-cut  distinction  between  gnosis  and  knowledge  is 

vividly  stressed  in  his  crnsis'ent  use  of  the  Malay word kenal  to translate 

macrifah  and tahu  to  translate  Him  throughout  his  writings"  (for  this,  see 

the  often  quoted  saying  of the  Prophet: Man carafanofsahu,fa-qad carafa  Rabbahu  — "Whosoe\er  knows  his  self  knows  his Lord").  "One  of  the  most important  concepts  ...  is that of human freedom  {ikhtiyâr)  .  .  .  Man,  in  Hamzah's  analogy,  is  the  keris  (Malay  dagger)  whose  "action"  ... is 

non-voluntary.  God  is  the  wielder  of  the  keris"  (p.  100-102).  And  Syed 

M.N.  Al-Attas  remarks  how  "it  is  unfortunate  that  many  scholars  of 

Sûfism,  particularly  the  Western  orientalists,  have  tended  to  regard  the 

Sûfi  account  of the  vexed  question  of  determination  and  freedom  in  a 

rather  naive  manner,  posing philosophical problems and  exposing  contra

dictions  out of the formulation of Sûfi  concepts  which they themselves have 

constructed"  (p.  102).  "Finally, it  is consistent with the cosmologicalandon- 

tological pattern  set forth  in Hamzah's mysticism that  the key word  kehen- 

dak,  when  applied  to  human will and desire in relation  to  the  Divine, does 

not convey  a real meaning, but a metaphorical one,  since man as "phenome

non"  does  not have himself  as the determining ground of his  will"  (p.  140). 

After  this  analysis  revolving  around  the  conceptual  structure  of  the 

Malay  word hendak (Chapter  IV), the author deals  in Chapter V with  the key 

words  in Hamzah's  mystical concepts.  In Hamzah's  vocabulary,  there are 

three  major focus words: wujûd,  ada and diri.  "No suitable word presented 

itself  in the  Malay  language,  during  the  period  of cultural  change  in  the 

history  of  the  Malays  initiated  by  the  coming  of  Islam  among them,  as 

an  equivalent  of  the  abstract  concept  of  Being  denoted by  the  Arabic 

wujûd.  As a result  of  this,  Malay  Sûfi  writers  and  translators  have 

kept  the  word  wujûd untranslated,  and have adopted it into the vocabulary 

of  the  Malay  language"  (p.  148)  In  "Malay,  ada  conveys  basically 

the meaning  "to be" or  "existing",  with a very  close semantic relationship 

with the Malay word m" (content). But  "in Hamzah there are  seven  differ

ent  uses of  the word ûûto  in the  relational  sense,  each  defining  a particular 

concept".  It  is  extremely  interesting  to  note  that  "the  development 

towards  philosophical  abstraction  in  the  Malay conception  of  being  or 

existence,  as reflected in  the Malay  language, is first found in the  writings  

bulary  employed  does  not  mainly  consist  of new  words;  they  are  Malay 

words that were all  in existen  e even perhaps in  pre-Islamic times. But it will 

be  demonstrated  that  the  conceptual network  imposed upon these  already 

existing words is  new and  significant".  More than that,  "this book represents 

the  first  undertaking  of  such  a  task".  Nobody,  so  far,  has  succeeded  in 

placing  Hamzah  Fansuri  in  his  rightful  position.  It  is  from  the  point  of 

view  of  tafstr,  in  addition  to  the  point of view of the  history of ideas,  that 

Professor  al-Attas's  works  should  be  evaluated:  the  Hamzah  Fansuri he 

knows  was never  known  and never  even  revealed  himself. 

The  author,  Professor Dr.  Syed  Muhammad Naguib  al-Attas,  is  cur

rently  Professor  of  Malay  Languange  and  Literature  and  Dean  of the 

Faculty  of Arts,  The National University  of Malaysia  (Kuala Lumpur).  As 

for  every  outstanding personality,  his  opinions  may  be  discussed  eagerly 

and  even  sometimes  frowned  upon.  But  one cannot  ignore  them  and  one 

has  to  weigh  them,  to  consider  and  finally  to decide  that  this  book  is 

important  and  stimulating,  because  facts  and  concepts  are  studied  from a 

new  angle,  by  a Malay  philosopher  and  linguist,  who  is  himself  from  a 

family  of well  known  Sufis,  both  from  his  father's  and  mother's  side 

—  and  even  a  master in  the  difficult  art  of Arabic  calligraphy  (the  cover 

design  represents  the  Basmalah,  in  the  form  of  a  kingfisher).  For  him, 

"Sufism  is  the  true  light  of Islam". And  once I heard  him  say  that  the 

purpose  of any  secular  State  is  to  form  good  citizens,  whereas  the  ideal 

of Islam  is  the  Perfect  or  Universal Man (in Arabic: al-insân  al-kâmil;  in 

Malay:  orang  kamil  or  manusia  sempurna). Maybe  it  is necessary  to  be  a 

genuine  Malay  Sufi  to  see  through  Malay mysticism,  a perequisite  some

what  discouraging  and  even  crippling  for  foreign  scholars — if they  are 

unaware  of  the  influence  of Browne,  Nicholson  and Arberry and  even of 

Professor  T.  Izutsu  (Keio  University,  Tokyo)  whose  lectures  Syed M.N. 

Al-Attas attended  in  Mc-Gill University  (Montréal, Canada). 

In  Chapter  II,  allegations  concerning  the  "heresy"  levelled  against 

Hamzah by Nûr ad-Dîn Rânîrî are critically  examined. Raniri, who died  in 

1666,  came  in  1637,  from  Gujerat  (India)  to  Atjeh  in  North  Sumatra. 

Rânîrï, who  branded  Hamzah with  "infidelity",  is  famous  and celebrated 

to-day  in  Atjeh, but  Hamzah Fansuri's writings  are  nowhere  to be found 

(let  us  seize  this  opportunity  to  praise here  the  excellent Ph.D. presented 

by Miss Tudjimah,  in  1961, in  the University of Jakarta, on the manuscript 

of Asrâr  al-Insan,  whose  author  is  Rânîri  himself).  Syed  M.N. Al-Attas 

insists  on  Rânîrï's  point  about  Hamzah's  "materialistic  pantheism".  It 

appears  to  him  that  "the  fundamental  issue  which  lies  at  the  bottom of 

Rânîrï's  distortion  or misconception  is  the  question  of the  definition  of 

Being".  In  short,  one  cannot help but come to  the conclusion that  "Râmn 

is  in  fact  saying  the  same  thing as what Hamzah has more  clearly  said". 

As  the author remarks in Chapter III, "all Western scholars who  in some .L. 

Syed  Muhammad  Naguib  AL-ATTAS, The Mysticism  of Hamzah  Fansûrî, 

University  of Malaya  Press,  1970, XVII-556 p.,  including an  annotated 

romanized  Malay  edition  of  Hamzah's  three  prose  works  and  an 

annotated  English  translation of  the  texts,  followed by  appendices,  a 

facsimile  of  the  manuscript of  Al-Muntahî  in  Arabic  script,  a  bibli

ography  and  an  alphabetical index  of the  semantic vocabulary  in  Hamz

ah's  mystical  system. 

This  book  is  a Doctoral  thesis,  presented  in  1966  to  the  University 

of  London.  It  deals with  the  mystical  ideas  and  teachings  of  Hamzah 

Fansuri,  a Malay  Sufi poet of the  16th  century  who  lived in Barus  (Fansûr, 

in  Arabic)  on  the west  coast  of North  Sumatra,  the  country  of camphor 

(kapur),  had  been  born  in  Siam  (in  Shahr Nawi,  which  means  New Town 

in  Persian),  and  was most  likely  dead before  1607. Hamzah travelled  in the 

Middle  East and  in  Java,  he  had  been  in  Siam  and  in Malaya  ha  spoke 

and  wrote  fluently  Malay  and  apparently  also  Arabic  and  Persin e  He 

belonged to  the Qâdirî  Order and his writings reveal the  paramount  influence 

of Ibn  'Arabi  from Cordoba (who  died in  1240) and of Al Insân  al-Kâmil by 

'Abd-al-Karîm Jîlî from  Baghdad (who died  in  1428).  In  fact,  Hamzah  Fans

uri was not  unknown  to  the specialists,  since  the dissertation  on  De Gesch 

riften  van  Hamzah  Fansoeri,  published  in  1933,  in  Leiden, by  J.  Doorenbos. 

But  the aim of Professor Al-Attas  is different.  He uses here a general linguistic 

and  semantic  approach.  According  to  him,  "in  Hamzah's  system  the voca- 

3)  R.  Soekmono, Gurah  the  link between the  central and the  east-javanese  arts,  Bulletin  of 

the  Archaeological Institute  of the Republic of Indonesia,  Djakarta,  1969.