Inquiry into Coexistence Based on the Idea of ‘Asian Islam’
Final Report of the Program“The Idea of Coexistence and its Practices in Asian Islam based on Sufism”(Asian History Research Project conducted by the JFE 21st Century Foundation)

JFE21 世紀財団・アジア歴史研究助成「スーフィズムに基づくアジア型イスラームの共生思想とその実践」
最終報告書

CONTENTS
Editor’s Note
(TONAGA Yasushi) ••••••••••••• 2
Islam of Mercy and Compassion(TONAGA Yasushi) ••••••••••••• 5
Interreligious Coexistence and the State:
The Problem of the Use of the Word kāfir in Indonesia(ARAI Kazuhiro) •••••••••••• 14
Understanding the Relations between Christians and Bektashis:Interconfessionalism and Supraconfessionalism(Thierry ZARCONE) •••••••••••• 24
After Criticism of Ma Dexin against Veneration of Saints:
Rethinking Chinese Elaboration of Islam(NAKANISHI Tatsuya) •••••••••••• 40－ 147 －Inquiry into Coexistence Based on the Idea of ‘Asian Islam’
Editor’s Note
TONAGA Yasushi(Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University)
We started our project titled “The Idea of Coexistence and its Practices in Asian
Islam based on Sufism” under the auspices of the Asian History Research Project
conducted by the JFE 21st Century Foundation in January 2019. This project aims
to promote a new notion of “Asian Islam,” whose main basis is found in Sufism, andcontribute toward changing the general image of Islam, which has been perceived as
being violent and aggressive. This negative image mainly originates from the factthat mass media only concentrates on and overemphasizes the acts of terrorism,
wars, and civil wars destroying the Islamic world, overlooking the peaceful daily lifeof Muslims. This project tentatively names this negative image as that of “ArabIslam,” which is primarily based on strict observance of the commandment of Islamic
law. The project juxtaposes the image of love, peace, and coexistence with the imageof enmity, violence, and hostility.
Sufism has often been translated as “Islamic mysticism.” However, most of
the contemporary specialists of Sufi studies have raised questions concerning thevalidity of this translation1. I have proposed a “three-axis framework of Sufism,”
which is made up of ethical, mystical, and popular axes2. It is well known that Sufism
was a part of mainstream thought, at least during the pre-modern Islamic era. Evenin the modern and contemporary period, Sufism still occupies a central role in theso-called “marginal” Islamic world, which can be nearly equated with the non-Arabic
world. I believe that it is important to utilize this heritage of cultural coexistence inthe contemporary world. In this project, we concentrated on Asia, the continent towhich Japan belongs. This is the reason we named our topic “Asian Islam.” Here
“Asian Islam” refers to a type of Islam that (1) is primarily based on Sufism (oftenside by side with Islamic Jurisprudence); (2) has spread in the Asian Islamic world,
except the Middle East, which is sometimes referred to as “West Asia”; and (3) has abasic idea of cultural coexistence, which is found among the believers of various
religions and sects. Sufism, right from its origin, has emphasized inner spirituality,1
2

For example, see [Ernst 1997: xvii; Chittick 2000: 1-2].
See [Tonaga 2006].

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rather than outer commandments. This is why it is often said that Sufism played an
important role in spreading Islam in the “marginal” world, including Southeast Asia
and

South

Asia,

where

traditional

spirituality

spreadwithout

Islamic

commandments. It is logical to assume that it was Sufism’s emphasis on innerspirituality that enabled the local people to accept Islam. We can also assume that
Sufism created a new religious attitude, which we have come to call “Asian Islam”
in this project. This new religious attitude bore the wisdom of cultural coexistencewith other religious traditions, for the local people had their own religious traditions
before the arrival of Islam.
We selected the following countries to verify the validity of our notion of“Asian Islam”: (1) Indonesia, which is the largest country in the world with apredominantly Muslim population; (2) Turkey and the Balkans, which were at thecenter of the Ottoman Empire; and (3) China, which has a Muslim population of over
20 million. In these countries, the idea of cultural coexistence, based on Sufism, andthe movements of cultural coexistence, based on saint veneration, have flourishedgreatly.
The project was conducted by four specialists. They are: TONAGA Yasushi
of Kyoto University, a researcher of Islamic studies (particularly Sufi studies), who
led the project; ARAI Kazuhiro of Keio University, a historian of Southeast Asia (inparticular Indonesian Islam); Thierry ZARCONE of Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, Paris, an anthropologist and historian of Turkic (Turkish and Central
Asian) Islam; and NAKANISHI Tatsuya of Kyoto University, a historian of Chinese
Islam.
This special feature titled “Inquiry into Coexistence Based on the Idea of‘Asian Islam’” is an outcome of this joint project. The study has a total of four articles.
The first article, titled “Islam of Mercy and Compassion,” is written by TONAGA
Yasushi. The article begins with a general survey of cultural coexistence in theIslamic creed and history, and then goes on to discuss Sufi theory and practices. Thisis followed by a depiction of the case study of Indonesia. The second article, titled“Interreligious Coexistence and the State: The Problem of the Use of the Word Kāfirin Indonesia” is written by ARAI Kazuhiro. As opposed to the first article, this article
starts with a concrete case description of Indonesia, dealing with the subject of how
to name non-Muslims. The article then continues with a general analysis. The third
article, titled “Understanding the Relations between Christians and Bektashis:Interconfessionalism and Supraconfessionalism,” is written by Thierry ZARCONE.
In this article, he discusses the relationship that exists between Bektashis and－ 149 －

Christians in Turkey and the Balkans, and analyzes the two facets of thisrelationship, namely “interconfessionalism” and “supraconfessionalism.” The fourth
article, titled “After Criticism of Ma Dexin against Veneration of Saints: Rethinking
Chinese Elaboration of Islam,” is written by NAKANISHI Tatsuya. The article deals
with the trial of a Chinese Muslim thinker that took place in the 19th century. The
article brings out the positive and negative aspects of this trial, which was an
attempt to harmonize Muslims and non-Muslims during the Qing Dynasty.
The project proposes a new idea of “Asian Islam” based on Sufism, which
can pioneer a new type of Islamic coexistence. All four articles in this special feature
discuss this possibility. At the same time, it is important that we do not optimisticallyoveremphasize its possibility. The articles by TONAGA and ARAI, which deal withIndonesian cases, are diligent in pointing out the limitation of their propositions,which are applied only to the respective country, without generalizing them to theentire Islamic world. ARAI’s article also brings out the insufficiency of the role of
Sufism in the movement. While what the third article by ZARCONE elucidates isstriking and interesting, we cannot easily generalize this harmonious coexistence tothe whole of Islamic society, because the case of Bektashi-Christian coexistence could
be a marginal case found only in Turkey and the Balkans. The fourth article by
NAKANISHI clearly brings out the negative aspects of the so-called “coexistent”
movement among religions, which has been responsible for fragmentation in Chinese
Muslim society.
It will be our great pleasure if our humble first step in this special feature
paves the way for a new research field on cultural coexistence in the Islamic world.
[References]
Chittick, William C. 2000. Sufism: A Short Introduction. Oxford and Boston:
Oneworld Publications.
Ernst, Carl W. 1997. The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. Boston and London:
Shambhala.
Tonaga, Yasushi. 2006. “Sufism in the Past and Present: Based on the Three-axis
Framework of Sufism,” Annals of the Japan Association for Middle East

Studies 21(2), pp. 7-21.

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Islam of Mercy and Compassion
TONAGA Yasushi(Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University)
Abstract
This paper looks at coexistence in Islam and Sufism, and takes
Indonesia as a case study. It is divided in three parts. The first part
explains the basic idea of cultural coexistence in the Islamic creed andhistory — the former includes an explanation on the two faces of Allah,
anger and love, and the teachings of the Quran on coexistence with nonMuslims; the latter explains the “Protection (Dhimma) system” and“Millet system” as concrete examples of coexistence. The second part isdedicated to inquiry into coexistence in Sufism — it elucidates thetheories of “oneness of being (waḥda al-wujūd)” and “oneness of religions(waḥda al-adyān),” and the practice of saint veneration as examples. The
third part is on inquiry into coexistence in contemporary Indonesia. It
introduces the policy for religious equality based on Pancasila, thenotion of “religious moderation (Moderasi Beragama),” that of“Indonesian Islam (Islam Nusantara),” and the “Convey Indonesia
Program” conducted by Syarif Hidayatullah State University Jakarta;
it concludes with the active role of Sufism in this inquiry.
Introduction
Islam has a general image of violence and exclusiveness. That is why we easily
imagine that we do not have anything to learn from Islam about coexistence. Islamic
society, however, has undergone majority-minority problems and intersect
contradiction, and therefore has learned many lessons from its history.
This paper is divided into three sections. In the first section, we provide arough overview of the Islamic creed and look at the wisdom of coexistence in Islamic
history. The second section deals with the wisdom of coexistence in Sufism. In thethird section, we will discuss the trial of coexistence based on Islam and Sufism incontemporary Indonesia. I believe the case of Indonesia will give us a good exampleof the quest for coexistence through “Asian Islam,” which is mainly based on theIndonesian tradition of Sufism and saint veneration.

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1. The Bases of Coexistence in Islam
1-1. Two Faces of God in the Islamic Creed
While the God of Judaism is often depicted as the god of anger and jealousy, that ofChristianity is ideated as the god of love. The God of Islam, Allah, is often said tohave both sides of god, i.e. anger and love. First, we will look at the face of anger. In
the notion of Allah, justice (‘adl) is considered as important as unity (tawḥīd). Allahis himself just and commands mankind to be just. When humankind is against thisjustice, Allah shows his anger (ghaḍab), with which mankind is destined to go to hell.
Muslims are requested to pay attention to this fact and to live a just life every day.
Common Muslims can be said to follow the commandment neither to meet this anger
nor to enter hell. The guideline for this justice is a commandment and forms the socalled “six creeds and five pillars.” This commandment is gathered and compiled as
Islamic jurisprudence (sharī‘a).
There were people who meditated on the anger of Allah. They were ascetics(zāhid, pl. zuhhād), who appeared in the 8th century. They were fearful of Allah.
Fear is called taqwā. They fear Allah to contemplate the existence of themselvesrather than to avoid punishment in hell in the hereafter. Here, we find the notion ofsin, which can be considered to be near to the idea of original sin in Christianity.
Allah has another face of love and salvation. His attribute of raḥma (mercy
or compassion) symbolizes this face of Allah. All the chapters except one of the Quran
begin with the passage of “In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate(bism Allāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm).” Ascetics and the first generation of Sufis meditatedthe raḥma more deeply. They believe that the existence of Allah Himself is full ofmercy and compassion, and they are happy if they are given mercy and compassion.
Here appears the notion of thankfulness (shukr). Its antonym is infidelity (kufr),
whose original meaning is ungratefulness.
A couple of notions of loftiness (jalāl) and beauty (jamāl) fully shows these
two faces of Allah. The two attributes are contrary to each other but are combined in
Allah. That is why Allah has both names of the Lofty (al-Jalīl) and the Beautiful(al-Jamīl). If we adopt the notions of the love of anger and that of love, the Lofty
represents the former and the Beautiful represents the latter. While Allah has bothsides, the face of love and beauty has been emphasized more. The expression of ḥadīth:“Allah said ‘My mercy precedes My anger’ ” is a good example. This notion of mercy
is the basis of the ideal of coexistence among various people in the Islamic world.

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1-2. The Teachings of the Quran
Although the word ta‘āyush, which is often used as an equivalent Arabic word with“coexistence” these days, does not appear in the Quran, we can find some phrases
from which we can draw some ideas about the coexistence with the believers of theother religions.
As for those who have not fought against you for your religion, nor expelled
you from your homes, God does not prohibit you from dealing with them kindlyand equitably. God loves the equitable. (Q60: 8)
shows that the Quran recommends peace if people are not in the fighting situation.

Had your Lord willed, everyone on earth would have believed. Will you compel
people to become believers? (Q10: 99)
And say, “The truth is from your Lord. Whoever wills — let him believe. And
whoever wills — let him disbelieve”. (Q18: 29)
shows that Islam does not compel the heathen to convert.
Do not insult those they call upon besides God, lest they insult God out of
hostility and ignorance. We made attractive to every community their deeds.
Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them of what they used
to do. (Q6: 108)shows the prohibition to the Muslims to insult the heathens.

Today, all good things are made lawful for you. And the food of those given the
Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. So are chaste
believing women, and chaste women from the people who were given the
Scripture before you, provided you give them their dowries, and take them inmarriage, not in adultery, nor as mistresses. （Q5:5）
shows the legality of food that the people of Scriptures cook and that of marriage
with them.

1-3. Wisdom of Coexistence in Islamic History
Based on the basic Islamic creed mentioned in the last section, we will look at how－ 153 －

Muslims have lived together with other religious groups in Islamic history. The
Islamic world has a history of coexistence with other groups, albeit perhaps not theideal equality-based coexistence of today. “Protection (Dhimma) system” is a good
example. This system guarantees the life, property, and belief of non-Muslims withthe conditions that they do not inhibit Islamic beliefs and that they pay tribute toIslamic dynasties. We can estimate that this system was very tolerant at the
beginning of the Islamic regime (7th-9th century), especially when we compare itwith the Christian treatment of the Jews in the same period. Each religious
community was admitted with autonomy because it is believed to have its own
jurisprudence based on a received prophecy from God. Therefore, the Islamic
administration does not interpose its autonomy.
We can find another example of coexistence in the “Millet system” in the
Ottoman Empire. Millet (Turkish loan word from the Arabic word milla) means areligious community. This system worked very well as a principle of coexistence
among religious communities when the power of the Ottoman Empire waspredominant. Only after its decline (caused by the imperial invasion of the European
countries that claimed the protection of the Catholics and Protestants) did thesystem become incompetent. The notion millet, which originally meant a religious
community, came to have a connotation of nationalism. This change led to the
independence of Greece and Balkan countries from the Ottoman Empire.
2. Coexistence in Sufism
As I mentioned in the first chapter, it is Islamic jurisprudence (sharī‘a) that is
administrated based on Allah’s face of anger and loftiness. Here, Allah is considered
to divide between good and evil and to give the rules and order to Muslims. On thecontrary, Sufism is based on Allah’s face of love and mercy. Although Sufism isgenerally translated as “Islamic mysticism,” it also includes an ethical element.
Sufism shares this characteristic with sharī‘a, as both are based on the division
between good and evil.
Sufism, however, has a different characteristic from sharī‘a. This is a
mystical element that tends to overcome the dichotomy between good and evil. In
the case of Sufism, this mystical element is based on the notion of love, which iscalled maḥabba, ḥubb, or ‘ishq in Arabic, which is on the same line as Allah’s face ofmercy and affection. Mankind loves Allah, and at the same time, is loved by Allah.
Here, mankind departs from his own ego and is enfolded by Allah’s love. The
experience of annihilation of ego and union with God is called fanā’. When they reach－ 154 －

this experience, the seekers of Sufism overcome the dualism and conflict in the world.
This is because Sufism has an affinity with the notion of coexistence.
The theory of “oneness of being (waḥda al-wujūd)” is the theoreticalsystematization of this experience. This theory has had a strong influence on thehistory of Islamic thought throughout the Islamic world. For example, most of the‘ulamā’ were adherents of this theory in the Ottoman Empire. According to thistheory, the world should go back to the sole reality, which is called “existence (wujūd).”The term “existence” derives from Islamic philosophy, which in turn derives fromGreek philosophy. The theory of “oneness of being” claims that only “existence” exists
in the world in the real sense of the word and that the phenomenal world appears
from the self-segmentalization of this one “existence” with the addition of essence(māhīya). We ordinarily imagine that the world is full of conflict between things
which are independent from one another. However, if we follow this theory, we canrealize that such a conflict is meaningless because there is no independent existenceother than “existence” per se.
The theory of “oneness of religions (waḥda al-adyān)” has been developed fromthe theory of “oneness of being.” Although different religions and beliefs exist, thedifferences among them rely only on superficial rituals and doctrines. The truth
behind them, according to the theory of “oneness of religions,” is single. If so, conflictamong the communities is meaningless. For example, Dārā Shukūh (d. 1659), a
prince of the Mughal Empire, believed that Hinduism and Islam accorded with eachother. Because he was among the dignitaries of the empire, which included many
Hindus under its control, this theory was not abstract but a realistic idea. He,
however, was defeated by his brother, Aurangzeb (d. 1707), and could not become
enthroned. That is why he could not conduct the theory as a policy of the empire to
the heathens. Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor, and Dārā Shukūh’s brother, exhilarated
in the absolute veracity of Islam; disagreeing with the idea of the fundamental
accordance of Islam with Hinduism. This is one of the many cases in which the idealof monistic coexistence, which has continued through history, was not achieved.
Now, we can turn to the topic of saint veneration, which was developed witha deep relationship with Sufism from the middle ages. The difference of religion isoften surmounted in the saint veneration. For example, Hindus and Christians often
visit the mausolea and tombs of Muslim saints. In addition, we can observe Muslims
who visit Hindu or Christian saints. Such phenomena are often observed in countries
that include the believers of multi-religions. In Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517), forexample, manuscripts show that Muslims often visited the mausolea of Christian－ 155 －

saints. The Egyptian people in those days even venerated the families of ancient
Pharaohs as saints.
3. Coexistence in Indonesia
Two billion Muslims live in Indonesia, which is counted as the largest Muslim
population in a single country. I would like to focus on Indonesia to investigate thestruggle for coexistence in the contemporary Islamic world. Contrary to the case of
Pakistan, which is counted as the second largest Muslim population (and determines
Islam as the state religion), Indonesia admits six religions’ equality in the country’s
principles called Pancasila. The six religions are Islam (the population of its believers
occupies 87% of the total population of Indonesia), Protestant (7%), Catholic (3%),
Hindu (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), and Confucianism (0.05%). The Jokowi government,
as of 2020, promotes equal policy among them.
Here, I would like to report my own experience during my stay in Jakarta
between November 2019 and February 2020. Television channels continuallybroadcast mottos such as “Dear Christian friends in Indonesia, Congratulations for
Christmas” and “Let us live as friends with all mankind” to promote the celebrationof Christmas by Indonesian citizens. They also featured a video of a visit to a
Christian church in Bethlehem by Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the State ofPalestine and Palestinian National Authority as well as the Chairman of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO). I understood this to be a way to emphasize
the harmonious situation between Muslims and Christians.
I also experienced the Day of Imlek, which is the New Year’s Day according
to the Chinese calendar and at the same time understood as the birthday of
Confucius. Television programs streamed the celebration of Imlek as a chance topromote the compatibility between Islam and Confucianism as Christmas between
Islam and Christianity.
However, we must pay attention to the fact that the relationships between
religions have not always been coexistent. Ex-president Suharto (reign 1968-1998)
repeatedly oppressed the Chinese religions. The situation only changed as recently
as the turn of the millennium, when the fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid (reign
1999-2001) tried to preserve the religious rights of minorities. Wahid struggled topreserve an open system for Chinese culture in Indonesia. This religious policy wasinherited by the present government.
I would also like to report the negative campaign against the celebration of
Christmas. Some Indonesian citizens complain of the excessive costs of celebrating－ 156 －

Christmas, a minority religion. We can analyze the present religious situation incontemporary Indonesia as follows: on the one hand, the country has the ideal ofreligious equality and coexistence; on the other hand, many Indonesian citizens areagainst this policy. These two tides are competing with each other.
4. Role of Sufism in Contemporary Indonesia
The activities of so-called “Islamic fundamentalists” are increasing and have becomea major problem in contemporary Indonesia. A growing number of youngsters are
attracted by fundamentalistic organizations such as the Islamic State. The
government tries to propose the idea of “moderate Islam (Islam Moderat)” to repress
the activities of fundamentalists. It is the notion of “religious moderation (Moderasi

Beragama)” that is closely related to that of “moderate Islam.” This notion is
promoted by the Ministry of Religion. A Ministry cleric wrote an article entitled“Importance of Religious Moderation.” The following are excerpts from this article:
Extremism, radicalism, hate speech, and the cracked relationship within thereligious societies is the problem which Indonesian people face at the moment.
Therefore, the mainstream program of this ‘religious moderation’ is evaluatedto be important and will find a chance (to solve the problem)1.
According to LHS (Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, the minister of religion as of
September 2019 when this article was written), (religious) moderation obliges
us not to fight against the extremists, but to hug, preserve and become a friend
with them2.
Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Islamic organization in Indonesia, proposed a
new idea of “Islam Nusantara (Indonesian Islam)” in 2015. This is the argument thatIndonesia has its own Islam based on the Indonesian cultural tradition as opposedto the sharī‘a-oriented (Islamic law-oriented) or fiqh-oriented (Islamic jurisprudenceoriented) Islam bruited by Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, although thisidea admits the universality of Islamic law itself. When the modern era came, Sufism
and saint veneration were harshly attacked mainly in the Middle Eastern, especiallyTarmizi Tohor, “Pentingnya Moderasi Beragama (Importance of Religious Moderation),”<https://kastara.id/13/09/2019/pentingnya-moderasi-beragama/> (browsed on 25 October,2020.)
2 Ibid.
1－ 157 －

the Arab world. The main critics are like “Sufism is against Islamic law,” “Sufism isa heretical deviation from the original Islam,” and “Sufism is a kind of vernacularsuperstitions.” However, in Indonesia, especially in Jawa Island, people havecontinued to venerate “wali songo (nine saints),” and such saint veneration (as wellas Sufism) has been the basis of Indonesian Islam. The idea of “Islam Nusantara,”
which claims a unique and independent understanding of Islam, is harmonious with
the notion of “Moderasi Beragama.”
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly supports the policy of“Moderasi Beragama.” A good example is that it promoted the “Convey Indonesia
Program” through cooperation with Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University
Jakarta. The main aim of this program is also the promotion of moderate Islam inorder to oppose the escalation of “Islam Radikal (radical Islam).” “Islam Radikal” isequal with the aforementioned “Islam Ekstreme (Extreme Islam)” and these terms
are used to point to so-called Islamic fundamentalism. The main characteristic of
this project is to promote moderate Islam through the education program to theyoungsters, who are apt to join the movement of Islamic fundamentalism, and theirteachers in the schools. Sufism is one of the principal columns of this program.
Let us move on to the topic of Sufism itself in contemporary Indonesia. We
can find many lectures, talks, essays, and articles on Sufism on the internet. The
following are some examples:
Terrorism begins from the anger… This is inner illness which we must avoid.
Sufism is an oasis to the modern mankind who are trapped in hedonism,
consumerism, materialism, and radicalism3.
The illness of terrorism begins from fiqh-oriented understanding of Islam.
Such an understanding of those with ‘only fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence)’ easily
makes it radical because fiqh is [only] in black-and-white. Therefore, a way toremove somebody from the origin of extremism is the well-balanced
understanding of Islamic jurisprudence with Sufism and ‘tarekat (Sufiorders).’ If one based himself on the understanding of Sufism, he will feel the
freshness and the inner (spirituality).4

KH Ali M. Abdillah, “Tasawuf, Oase Spiritualitas di Zaman Modern (Sufism,
Spiritual Oases in the Modern Era),” <https://www.nu.or.id/post/read/82776/tasawufoase-spiritualitas-di-zaman-modern> (browsed on 26 October, 2020.)
4 Ibid.
3－ 158 －

From the second citation, we can easily understand that they propose theIndonesian understanding of Islam based on both Sufism (and Sufi orders) andIslamic jurisprudence, contrary to Saudi understanding of Islam based only on
Islamic jurisprudence. This proposal overlaps with the aforementioned proposal of“Islam Nusantara.”5
Conclusion
I mentioned the term raḥma which means mercy or affection at the beginning of thisarticle. This is the key term to understand Allah. This is used as the antonym ofghaḍab which means anger. The former endorses Sufism and the latter Islamic
jurisprudence, both of which are the two cores of Islam. Modern and contemporary
Islamic society emphasized the latter, while the former seems to be disesteemed.
Islamic jurisprudence is based on the strict distinction between good and evil. In the
pre-modern Islamic world, the “Protection (Dhimma) system,” which can beunderstood as coexistence with discrimination, worked out. On the contrary, I believe
if we have something to learn from coexistence in the modern and contemporary
Islamic world, we can draw wisdom from Sufism.
Before closing this article, I would like to mention the concept of “Islam ofLove (Islam Cinta).” Haidar Bagir (1957-), an Islamic thinker and publisher inIndonesia, proposed this concept. He is conducting the educational and publishingprogram called “ ‘Islam of Love’ Movement (Gerakan Islam Cinta).” His “Islam of
Cinta” means the aforementioned understanding of Islam based on the notion ofraḥma (mercy). This understanding is based on Sufism. Sufism is raised as acounterpart to Islamic jurisprudence, which is related to the notion of ghaḍab (anger).
When he explains the concept of “Islam of Love,” Bagir sometimes interchanges theexpression with the expression of kasih saying. Kasih means cherish and caress, andsayang means lament with those who suffer in mind and body.
In the contemporary Islamic world, we can find tendencies to make much ofmercy and affection; not to beat our enemies but embrace them. I believe there will
be an ideal coexistence based on Islamic wisdom in the future of such tendencies.

Here we should pay our attention to the fact that they do not seem to promote thisidea to the general Islamic world but limit themselves within Indonesia. This is why
we cannot conclude that this proposal has strong influence in the Islamic world at the
moment.
5－ 159 －

Interreligious Coexistence and the State:
The Problem of the Use of the Word kāfir in Indonesia
ARAI Kazuhiro(Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University)
Abstract
One of the problems of a nation state is how to address religious
minorities, because such addresses often imply negative images of“others.” To that end, Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim
organization in Indonesia, decided in the 2019 annual conference thatthe term kāfir (Arabic for “nonbeliever”) should not be used to denote
non-Muslim Indonesian citizens in the public space. The subsequent
debate on the matter highlights the relationship between Islam and thenation state: while nobody had questioned the equality of all citizens,the decision needed to be justified from a religious point of view. The
implementation of such a decision in other Muslim-majority nation
states may lead to followers of different religions coexisting together.
Introduction
If one considers the issue of coexistence among believers of different religions, one
problem is how to address the believers of other religions because such terms ofaddress often imply negative images of “others.” “Infidels” and “pagans” are among
the words often used in English to mean “non-believers,” but it is not appropriate touse them in contemporary society because of their negative connotations. In Islam,the word kāfir (in Arabic, “non-believers”) is such a word. The use of words in daily
life or in public spaces to address non-Muslims may cause a problem. In whatsituations can the use of such words be justified or criticized within a Muslimmajority nation-state? This article discusses the interreligious coexistence in anation-state, focusing on the recommendation of Nahdlatul Ulama (henceforth NU),
the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, not to use the word kāfir whenaddressing non-Muslims.
The Term kāfir and the Problems of its Use

Kāfir is an Arabic term that originally meant “obliterating,” “covering,” or－ 160 －

“ungrateful.” In the Qur’an, the term kāfir is used to mean “concealing God’s
blessings” and “ungrateful to God.”1 These days, it is used to designate “infidels,”“unbelievers,” or more generally “non-Muslims.” Since it appears many times in the
Qur’an, the word is used frequently in religious sciences such as theology, Islamic
jurisprudence, and others to denote “non-Muslim.” In this context, the word kāfir is
a technical term that need not imply a sense of contempt.
However, careless use of the word in the real world can result in serious
problems. For example, it was found out in early 2020 that a boy scout coach
instructed the students yell “Islam yes, kafir-kafir no,” in the Timuran primaryschool, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A mother of a student was surprised to learn this andprotested it. The matter went viral on social media and was finally covered bynational media. This has become a major issue because it is related to SARA (Suku,
Agama, Ras, Antargolongan, or ethnic, religious, racial, and intergroup relations), avery delicate issue in Indonesia. The governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X, expressed regret regarding the matter, saying, “There is nokafir in Indonesia.” 2 The word kāfir is not deemed a neutral word, at least incontemporary Indonesian society.
The Recommendation by NU at the National Congress 2019
It is likely that the “Yogyakarta case” was covered widely by the media because theuse of kāfir had been under debate in the previous year. It started with the decision
by NU at the National Congress 2019, held from 27 February to 1 March, 2019, atPesantren Miftahul Huda Al Azhar, the City of Banjar, West Java, where after
discussions, NU issued official recommendations, one of which was on the use of theword kāfir, such that in the system of the nation-state and citizenship there is noterm such as kāfir (tidak dikenal istilah kafir): Every citizen has the same position
and rights under the Constitution.3 Abdul Moqsith Ghazali, the chair of the Bahtsul
Masail Maudluiyyah (discussion of thematic issue) session in which the matter was
discussed, said that some Kiais (Muslim religious scholars) expressed the opinion“Kāfir,” Encyclopaedia of Islam 2nd Edition.
Wijaya Kusuma, “Pembina Pramuka Ajarkan Siswa SD Yogyakarta Yel Berbau SARA,Sri Sultan: Di Indonesia Tak Ada Kafir,” Kompas.com 2020/1/14<https://regional.kompas.com/read/2020/01/14/17442791/pembina-pramuka-ajarkansiswa-sd-yogyakarta-yel-berbau-sara-sri-sultan-di?page=all> (accessed 22 October 2020).
3 “Ketum PBNU Serahkan Rekomendasi Hasil Munas pada JK,” nu.or.id 2019/3/1<https://www.nu.or.id/post/read/103198/ketum-pbnu-serahkan-rekomendasi-hasilmunas-pada-jk> (accessed 24 August 2020).
12－ 161 －

that the use of the term kāfir may hurt the feeling of non-Muslim residents inIndonesia. Since the use of word may contain an element of “theological violence,”
Kiais recommended that the term kāfir not be used, and instead the words

Muwathinun (a loan word from Arabic meaning “citizens”) or warga negara (“citizens”
in Indonesian) be used, indicating that their status is equal to that of Muslim citizens.
This does not mean, however, that NU will erase the word kāfir from the Qur’an or

hadiths; the decision applies only to non-Muslim Indonesian citizens.4
This kind of decision is not new to the NU. At the National Congress in 1984
in Situbondo, it was decided that there were three kinds of brotherhood in nationstates that had to be knit together: they were 1. brotherhood among believers of thesame faith (persaudaraan seiman), 2. brotherhood among citizens (ukhuwah

wathaniyah), and 3. brotherhood among mankind (ukhuwah insaniyah). The
decision in this instance concerns national brotherhood.5 Earlier, the term kāfir was
discussed from the perspective of theology at the NU Congress in 1930. This time,
however, the discussion was from the perspective of the nation-state (Indonesia).
Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) chairman, Sulton Fathoni, said thatafter 89 years, the discussion of the term had become complete.6
Responses from Various Parties
The recommendation by NU prompted various groups to express their opinions on
this matter. Reactions from other religious organizations (besides Islamic ones) arebasically positive, or at least not negative. Gomar Gultom, the general secretary of
the Association of Indonesian Churches (Persekutuan Gereja Indonesia), says, “wedo not want to accuse the term kāfir in the Holy Scripture if there is such a word init. However, in a plural society, and from the perspective of true humanity, it isappropriate that we spread understanding in order to appreciate each other more.”7
The Supreme Council of Indonesian Hinduism (Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia)
M Rosseno Aji. “5 Hasil Munas Alim Ulama NU: Soal Sebutan Kafir sampai Bisnis
MLM” Tempo.co 2019/3/2 <https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1181081/5-hasil-munas-alimulama-nu-soal-sebutan-kafir-sampai-bisnis-mlm> (accessed 22 August 2020).
5 Jabbar Ramdhani. “Penjelasan PBNU soal Rekomendasi ‘Jangan Sebut Kafir ke Nonmuslim’” detiknews 2019/3/2 <https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4451174/penjelasanpbnu-soal-rekomendasi-jangan-sebut-kafir-ke-non-muslim> (accessed 23 August 2020).
6 Andri Saubani. “Hari Hargai Keputusan NU dan Hentikan Polemik Istilah Kafir,”republika.co.id 2019/3/5 <https://republika.co.id/berita/pnvdqg409/mari-hargai-keputusannu-dan-hentikan-polemik-istilah-kafir> (accessed 4 October 2020).
7 Ahmad Faiz Ibnu Sani. “Ragam Tanggapan Soal Usul NU Menghapus Istilah Kafir”
Tempo.co 2019/3/3 <https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1181282/ragam-tanggapan-soalusul-nu-menghapus-istilah-kafir> (accessed 22 August 2020).
4－ 162 －

also supports the recommendation of the NU because it strengthens the sense ofunity of the nation.8 The Representative of Indonesian Buddhists (Perwakilan Umat
Buddha Indonesia) seems uninterested in the matter, saying that it had notconsidered the term problematic in the first place. According to Rusli Tan, thespokesman of the organization, it is not pertinent for Buddhists to demand that
others respect them, for whether they are respected or not, it is karma. 9 Uung
Sendana L Linggaraja, the chairman of the High Council of Indonesian
Confucianism (Majelis Tinggi Agama Konghucu Indonesia) welcomed therecommendation, saying that he feels uncomfortable when he hears the word kāfireven after his Muslim friends explained the meaning of kāfir. 10 Thus, theorganizations of various religions basically appreciate the NU’s recommendation
because it facilitates the brotherhood (persaudaraan) among the people.
The reactions from the Muslim side varied. The Indonesian Ulama Council(Majelis Islam Indonesia, henceforth MUI) does not seem to consider this matter amajor issue, calling for Muslims not to be caught up strongly in polemics. According
to KH Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi, the Vice General Chairman (Wakil Ketua Umum) of the
MUI, the decision of the NU must be respected because it is a result of Collective
Ijtihad, based on evidence and consideration for the welfare of the people. He also
said that the result of the Ijtihad at this time is within the domain of the differenceof particulars (furūʿiyya) and not that of the knowledge of the basic tenets of Islam(uṣūl al-dīn). Difference of opinion within the Muslim community is inevitable andmust be accepted as the result of the institution of Ijtihad. It (i.e., the difference) is
not forbidden, but on the contrary is encouraged.11 Although the idea of not using
the word kāfir in the public space seems at first glance to be the result of liberal
thinking, the MUI, an organization known for anti-liberal stances, accepts thedecision of the NU as the result of the interpretation of the faith.
On the other hand, the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam,henceforth FPI), usually recognized as a radical Islamist group, is critical of therecommendation. Munarman, the spokesman of FPI, says that it is not pertinent to

8
9

Ibid.
Ibid.

Nashih Nashrullah. “Soal Istilah Kafir, Matakin: Kurang Nyaman Mendengarnya,”republika.co.id 2019/3/4 <https://republika.co.id/berita/pnungw320/soal-istilah-kafirmatakin-kurang-nyaman-mendengarnya> (accessed 4 October 2020).
11 Ichwan/Anam. “MUI Imbau Umat Tak Berpolemik Soal Penyebutan ‘Kafir’ ” mui.or.id
2019/3/4 <https://mui.or.id/berita/25409/mui-imbau-umat-tak-berpolemik-soal-penyebutankafir/> (accessed 22 August 2020).
10－ 163 －

compare the concept of kāfir with that of citizenship. The concept of kāfir, according
to him, was born more than one thousand years ago, before the independence ofIndonesia. The word and the concept of kāfir do not constitute hate speech or
discrimination, but is a technical word given by Allah, which means one who shuts
his/her eyes to the righteousness of Islam brought to us by way of the Prophet.12
In addition, Fahri Hamza, the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives(wakil ketua DPR), says that as the word kāfir is from the Qur’an, it is not a letterof the law that can be amended. It is difficult, according to him, if Muslims feel
inferior about their own faith.13 The reaction by FPI and Fahri Hamza indicates thatsome critics misunderstood the intention of NU and expressed their opinion as if NU
had tried to change the words in the Qur’an, hadiths, and theological discussions.
On this matter, Yunahar Ilyas, the leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the two
major Muslim organizations in Indonesia, says that the word kāfir is not to be used
for non-Muslims at the level of society or nation, but it is accepted in the context oftheology. Nevertheless, he continued, the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board must
explain its intention to society to avoid misunderstandings.14
Political figures generally welcomed the decision. For example, theIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) says that the attitude of the NU is
in harmony with theirs: The equality among citizens is the principle of the unity ofIndonesia, and the NU’s recommendation is its manifestation.15 The presidential
election campaign team of Jokowi, the incumbent and a candidate for re-election,states that the recommendation of the NU could decrease political tensions with theelection closing in because people often called others kāfirs. Maman Imanulhaq, thedirector of his campaign team, says that there is no second-class citizen regardlessof religion.16 At that time, the campaign for the presidential election was going on,

Fikri Arigi. “FPI Kritik Cara Berpikir NU yang Usul Sebutan Kafir Dihapus”
Tempo.co 2019/3/3 <https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1181190/fpi-kritik-cara-berpikir-nuyang-usul-sebutan-kafir-dihapus> (accessed 22 July 2020).
13 Pebriansyah Ariefana / Bhayangkara, Chyntia Sami. “Pro Kontra Penghapusan
Panggilan Kafir untuk Non Muslim” suara.com 2019/3/7 <https://www.suara.com/news/
2019/03/07/073000/pro-kontra-penghapusan-panggilan-kafir-untuk-non-muslim>(accessed 17 July 2020).
14 Andi Nur Aminah. “PP Muhammadiyah: Istilah Kafir Itu Lihat Konteksnya,”republika.co.id 2019/3/3 <https://republika.co.id/berita/pnsusd384/pp-muhammadiyahistilah-kafir-itu-lihat-konteksnya> (accessed 4 October 2020).
15 Jay Akbar. “PDIP Klaim Punya Sikap Sejalan dengan NU” tirto.id 2019/3/2<https://tirto.id/pdip-klaim-punya-sikap-sejalan-dengan-nu-dgLD> (accessed 2020 August2020).
16 Dewi Nurita. “Tim Jokowi Sebut Usul NU Hapus Istilah Kafir Bisa Hindari Konflik.”12－ 164 －

and different parties attacked each other. Moreover, the chaos of the 2017 Jakarta
gubernatorial campaign, in which many Muslims urged people not to vote for Ahok,
an ethnic Chinese Christian candidate, saying “tolak pemimpin kafir” (reject thekāfir leader), was still fresh in people’s minds.17 Thus, the recommendation by the
NU was expected to mitigate political chaos.
An article by Azis Anwar Fachrudin, a staff member of the Center for
Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Gajah Mada University, seems to represent
the opinion of Muslim intellectuals with liberal views. According to him, the decisionby the NU is just a confirmation of what has been practiced by nation-states,
including Indonesia. He also says that although this matter appears trivial to someMuslims, the call by the NU should be taken more seriously because of the increasing
importance of Islam in public discourse.18
Explanations by the NU side
The NU side explained the intention of the recommendation in various media tojustify its position. KH. Afifuddin Muhajir, a member of the team who was present
at the discussion, spoke on the matter on the NU Online channel on YouTube.
According to him, the discussion at the session was not whether non-Muslims inIndonesia were kāfirs or not, but how they should be categorized. They are not (kāfir)ḥarbī, muʻāhad, musta’min, or dhimmī, because such definition cannot be applied to
non-Muslims in Indonesia. The question then was what to do with phrases like “youare kāfir” or other phrases that non-Muslims do not like. It is necessary todifferentiate beliefs (keyakinan) from statements (pernyataan). If a group of people
are called kāfirs in the Qur’an, we have to believe that they are kāfirs. However, if
you say, “you are kāfir” or “he is kāfir,” that will create a disturbance in the middleof the plural society that our predecessors had such difficulties in building. Afifuddin
Muhajir then provided a basis for his opinion in a classical text of Islam. A book of
the Hanafi school of law titled “al-Qinyah” or “al-Qunyah,”19 states that if a Muslim

Tempo.co 2019/3/2 <https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1181210/tim-jokowi-sebut-usul-nuhapus-istilah-kafir-bisa-hindari-konflik> (accessed 22 August 2020).
17 This view is shared by the media and intellectuals. An example is Wahid, Abdul.
“Persepsi “Kafir” pada Muslim dan Non-Muslim: Konteks, Penggunaan, dan
Komunikasi Partisipatif,” Tuturlogi: Journal of Southeast Asian Communication, 1(2020), pp. 79–92.
18 Azis Anwar Fachruddin. 2019. “NU’s policy on ‘kafir’: Not new, but important.”<https://crcs.ugm.ac.id/nus-policy-on-kafir-not-new-but-important/> (accessed 26 November2020). The article was originally published in the Jakarta Post on 15 March 2019.
19 This book is probably Qunyat al-Munya li tatmīm al-Ghunya by Najm al-Dīn Abū－ 165 －

says to a Jewish or a Zoroastrian (Majusi) “hey kāfir” and caused pain thereby, that
Muslim committed a sin and deserves to be punished.20 This explanation by one of
the NU’s influential members has two aspects. On the one hand, he justified the NU’s
decision from the demands of contemporary society, where the principle of thenation-state has overriding priority. On the other hand, he did not forget to quote aclassical text of Islamic law, strengthening his case.21
Another figure explaining the NU’s position is Said Aqil Siradj, thechairman of the Executive Council of the NU. He appeared on the TV show Catatan

Najwa (Record of Najwa) and talked about the recommendation regarding the word
kāfir as well as other matters related to Islam. In the discussion, he refers to various
examples of the use and non-use of word kāfir. For example, he says that the address“O kāfir” appears twice in the Qur’an, but both are in Meccan chapters. There is nosuch address in the Medinan chapters. When the Prophet addressed Jewish people,
he used the term “ahl al-kitāb” or People of the Book. Said Aqil then refers to thewords of the Ulama of al-Azhar, Egypt, that Christians and Muslims are the same
mankind, brothers, and Egyptian citizens with the same rights and responsibilities.
This system in Egypt came from Islam, by which the Prophet treated the residentsof Medina equally.
Said Aqil then jokingly refers to the situation in Saudi Arabia. The trafficboards near the check points of Makkah and Madinah say, “Muslims Only” and “For
Non-Muslims” so that non-Muslims do not enter holy cities by mistake. The boards
do say “Muslims Only” but not “For Kafirs.” Also, in passport control, immigration
officers enter information on religion as “Muslim” or “non-Muslim,” not “Muslim” or“Kafir.” In addition, people do not say, “Could you come here, kāfir?” in daily life or“Good evening, kāfirs” in speech.
He also says that the decision is not intended to change the terms that God
used in revelation. He also warned against the current trend in which Muslims calleach other kāfir, referring to the book by al-Ghazali, Fayṣal al-Tafriqa bayn al-Islām

wa al-Zandaqa (Criterion of differentiation between Islam and Zandaqa), in which
Rajā Mukhtār b. Maḥmūd al-Zāhidī al-Ghazmīnī (d. 658/1260). See Prods Oktor Skjærvø.
“A New Edition of the Khwarezmian Phrases in the “Qunyat al-Munya”.” BSOAS 54:3,
1991, pp. 496–505. The present writer has not consulted this book yet.
20 “Viral Istilah Non Muslim dan Kafir di Munas NU, Ini Penjelasan KH. Afifuddin Muhajir”
NU Online YouTube channel <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWfPBgSoAGQ>(accessed 16 August 2020).
21 It is interesting that he quoted from the book of the Ḥanafī school rather than the
Shāfiʻī school, the dominant school in Southeast Asia, though it is not particularly
strange.

－ 166 －

the author tells people not to lightly identify a person as kāfir.22
While these explanations by the NU’s leading figures are for the generalpublic and do not get into a full-fledged discussion, it shows an important aspect:
They refer to Islam rather than the cause of the nation-state.
Some Thoughts
Although various groups have expressed their opinions, there has as yet been noserious discussion of this matter; even parties that opposed the decision only
expressed a feeling of discomfort. What is the reason for this?
The key to understanding the whole picture of this issue is that therecommendation by the NU applies only to Indonesian nationals. Foreign nonMuslims inside and outside Indonesia are not within the scope of the discussion, nor
are the recommendations intended for Muslims in foreign countries. Thus, thediscussion and final recommendations are made within the framework of the nationstate, whose key concept is NKRI (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia/Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia). In addition, the egalitarian idea among citizens
regardless of religion is the reflection of the first principle, “belief in one and only
God” of Pancasila, the five principles of national ideology of Indonesia, in which
multiple official religions are recognized. Both are concepts that must be defended
at all costs, and even “radical” Islamist groups do not dare to question them openly.
If that is the case, it would suffice to say that the recommendation was madein consideration of the cause of a nation-state in which every citizen must be treatedequally. However, explanations by NU notables were also made from the perspectiveof religion or theology. They referred to the Qur’an, Sunnah, and classical texts ofjurisprudence as well as the treatment of non-Muslims in Egypt and Saudi Arabia,
the central lands of the Islamic world. Another point to bear in mind is that therecommendation by the NU may have been intended to protect fellow Muslims fromslander. The term kāfir tends to be used by some Muslims as a word of abuse not
only for non-Muslims but also for Muslims who have a different understanding ofIslam. The primary examples of the latter are Shia and Ahmadiyya adherents(although Ahmadiyya is generally recognized as outside the tenets of Islam insideand outside Indonesia). The NU’s decision was made during a heated period in anelection campaign for the presidency. In these times when being religious or being“Catatan Najwa bersama Said Aqil: Said Aqil Soal Kafir (Part 2)”<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTiyIzt7ecA> (accessed 17 August 2020).

22－ 167 －

Islamic plays an important role not only in elections but in every aspect of social life,
the decision could be received by many as an implicit call to stop using negative
words when addressing “others.” Considering that the use of word kāfir is on the risein the real world, the recommendation by the NU must be viewed as timely.
Concluding Remarks
The discussion above indicates at least three aspects of the relationship between
religion and state in Indonesia.
First, the structure of the state is firmer than that of Islam in Indonesia.
The NU justified its recommendation with reference to the concept of the modern
nation-state. There was no discussion of whether the current system of the state isvalid according to Islam. In other words, nobody in the discussion questioned thevalidity of Pancasila and NKRI. It may appear in the eyes of some people that Islamin Indonesia is totally “tamed” by the state. However, that the NU explained its
position from the viewpoint of religious principle indicates that a discussion from theviewpoint of religious principles was still needed, implying that the cause of thenation-state somehow needs to be justified or cemented by religious ideas.
Second, the Indonesian case has the potential for universal application. It istrue that the scope of the discussion of the use of term kāfir is confined within theborder of the secular state. The decision of the NU does not apply to non-Muslims
living outside Indonesia or those of non-Indonesian nationality. It can thus be said
that this seemingly religious matter is treated as a domestic issue. The
recommendation of the NU does not seem to lead people to an interreligious harmonythat transcends state borders. However, if other countries follow the Indonesian (orat the present stage the NU’s) way of treating non-Muslims, that is, not referring to
the believers of other religions in a negative way within their own territories, theworld as a whole will be a place where people live together peacefully. This may be
one of the ways to attain the goal of peaceful coexistence among believers of various
faiths in today’s world, divided by the borders of nation-states.
Finally, one should point out that Sufism does not play a major role in this
discussion. This might seem puzzling because Sufism has a long history of callingfor coexistence among the believers of different religions. One may think that such acall would have been the prerogative of Sufis. The explanations by major membersof the NU mention the custom of the Prophet Muhammad, the opinions of scholars,
and customs of Muslims in daily life, but not the ideas developed by Sufis such as
Jalal al-Din al-Rumi. This may be because of recent trends not only in Indonesia but－ 168 －

also in other parts of the Islamic world that emphasize the Qur’an and hadiths,
rather than religious sciences dealing with inner thought. Is the “territory” of Sufism
dominated by the idea of the nation-state and/or the reformist ideas of Islam after
the 18th century? It does not seem so. Speaking of the interpretation of Pancasila,
some Indonesian intellectuals refer to Sufi thought to justify the first principle ofdealing with different religions equally. Such discussions can be seen in academic
journals published by Islamic higher educational institutions such as Universitas
Islam Negeri (UIN, State Islamic University), Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN,
the National Islamic Institution), and Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri (STAIN ,National Islamic College).23 Such articles are often written by the faculties of theinstitutions or those who received higher education of Islam but were not trained as
ulama. In addition, the motives of writing these articles seem relatively free fromwhat one may call “religious politics.” The analysis of the opinions of such figures
has the potential to reveal the opinions of Indonesians, or at least averageIndonesian intellectuals, concerning inter-religious harmony in society.

An example of such discussions is Sulaiman. “Membaca Pancasila: Perspektif
Kearifan Sufi Jalal al-Din Rumi (Reading Pancasila: from the perspective of Sufi Jalal
al-Din Rumi),” Ibda’: Jurnal Kebudayaan Islam, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 134–148.
23－ 169 －

Understanding the Relations between Christians and Bektashis:Interconfessionalism and Supraconfessionalism
Thierry ZARCONE(CNRS – GSRL, Paris)
Abstract
This paper aimed to investigate the relationship between the Christian
population in Turkey as well as the Balkans and the members of the
Bektashi Sufi order, from the end of the 19th century until present.
Many Christians and Bektashis have actually put behind all thereligious divisions and moved forward together so as to sharesanctuaries (mausoleums, chapels, convents), rituals, and even legends
and myths today. Furthermore, the particular relation between these
two faiths has encouraged Christians to be initiated into Bektashism
without any obligation to renounce their religion. This phenomenon is
epitomized in some cases in Istanbul at the beginning of the twentiethcentury and even nowadays. Finally, this paper analyzed the doctrinal
dimension upon which the particular openness of the Bektashis toward
the Christians is based: It is inspired by a traditional way of thinking
cultivated in Anatolian mysticism, which may be defined asinterconfessionalism and supraconfessionalism.
The Bektashiyya Sufi order, although belonging to the Sunni branch of Islam,
occupies a particular position both in this religion and the Turkish society. One of its
characteristics is that it did not launch the traditional criticism toward Christianity
by the Muslims. On the contrary, Bektashism has favored, to a varying degree andup to our days a quite unusual encountering and a fraternization between Christians
and Muslims. One of the main aspects of Bektashism, originally an offshoot of ultraShi’ism, an antinomian current of Islam, was its ability in the course of history toabsorb the ideas and practices of several Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions(i.e., Zoroastricism, Animism, Nestorian Christianity, Manicheism, Shamanism),and later of Shi’ism. These ideas and practices were hybridized with Sunni Islam,and particularly with Sufism. In the 16th century, Bektashism reached its final stageof development with a set of beliefs and rituals that have been cultivated and－ 170 －

practiced until today [Zarcone 2014].
The flexible relationships between Bektashis and other religions in the
Ottoman Empire, especially with the Christians, is the consequence of two
philosophical and theological attitudes reflected in the management and theattendance of its sanctuaries — both convents and mausoleums of saints — throughdevotion and intercession rituals, and in the hagiographical literature.
The first attitude, which the author of this paper calls interconfessionalism,
has lead Bektashis to fraternizing with other religions and recognizing that there is
no religion above the others. The second attitude — much less frequent — which iscalled supraconfessionalism in this paper, encourages the Bektashis to overcome
both their Sunni beliefs and the beliefs of all the religions (an attitude that could
resemble the contemporary Western perennialism). At that level, in the eyes of some
Bektashis, all the religions are not only seen as equal, but also regarded as limited
and incomplete; they are all replaced by the belief in an absolute Truth (Hak) that is
actually above Sunni and Shi’i Islam, and even Sufism.
These two attitudes are not reflected generally in the Bektashi
hagiographies (written in 16th century) under the Ottoman Sunni influence, or in
the Bektashi rituals (the oldest being composed around the end of the 18th century).
They can be detected, however, in the repertories of poetry, which are in fact theoldest examples of the Bektashi literature that was preserved in the oral traditionand has been systematically put down in writing recently. Poetry and singing poetry
especially are essential elements of the Bektashi liturgy and are widely disseminatedamong the members of this Sufi order. There are some other atypical figures ofAnatolian Sufism who also cultivated the interconfessionalism, the best known being
Yunus Emre, a famous mystic of 13th and 14th century, contemporary of the first
Bektashis.
At times, I go to the mosque and I worship
At times, I go to church and as a priest, I set about reading the Gospel
At times, just as Jesus, I raise the dead…1
However, it is the respect shown by the Bektashi toward the Four Sacred
Books (Dört Kitaplar) of the Abrahamic tradition, in addition to the Quran, the“Bir dem varır mescitlere yüz sürer anda yerlere / Bir dem varur deyre girer İncil
okur ruhban olur / Bir dem gelir İsa gibi, ölmüşleri diri kılur” [Yunus Emre Divanı
1981: 130].
1－ 171 －

Tevrat (Jewish Thorah), the Zebur (Psaums of David),2 and the İncil (Gospel), which
inspires their interconfessional feeling and in some cases their supraconfessionalism.
Thus, several Bektashi poems place on these Four Books the same level, consideringthat they reflect the plural manifestation of a unique Truth; consequently, those whohave received the revelation from these holy scriptures are de facto reconciled witheach other. As the Bektashi poet Mir’ati (d. 1868) wrote:
The Gospel, the David’s Psalms, the Torah, the four books are the Truth (Hak),
I found in the Quran the verse of wisdom (ledün) [which comes directly from
God].3
Interconfessionalism

Shared Sanctuaries and Fraternity
The interconfessionalism advocated by the Bektashis shows that, in the course of the
Ottoman history, the members of this lineage were able to fraternize with Christians,
and they helped each other. What follows are some examples of this fraternisation
as it appears around their sanctuaries in Anatolia and the Balkans, and in particularin the rituals performed there and the legends attached to these places. Our sources
are the travelogues by European travellers, the Bektashi hagiographies, and somehistorical chronicles. In fact, the fraternity is shared because some rituals, symbols,
and legends are shared by the two communities; it is the fact that Bektashis andChristians recognize each other through these beliefs and practices.
If we look at the major Bektashi hagiography dedicated to the legendary lifeof the eponym of the order, namely Hacı Bektaş Veli, written between 1481 and 1501,
we learn that this holy figure was well respected by the Christians and that hegained several Christian disciples. One time, in the course of his journeys, Hacı
Bektaş Veli was welcomed by the Christians of Sineson, a village in Cappadocia,
today called Mustafapaşa. As a reward for their hospitality, the saint decided tomake better everyday lives of the villagers:
The Holy Sovereign [Hacı Bektaş Veli], on his way to Ürgüp [in Cappadocia]
went through a Christian village named Sineson. There the local used to makeIn the eyes of the Muslim, the Psalms exist as a scripture in itself with the threeother Books.
3 “İncil, Zebur, Tevrat dört kitap haktır / Ledünnü ayeti Kuran’dan aldım,” [Nüzhet
1956: 37; 1930: 270].
2－ 172 －

rye breads. A women holding such breads on his head laid it on the ground assoon as she saw the Holy Sovereign, and told him: ‘Dervish take one of mybreads, and, for the love of God, eat it! Don’t sue us since here wheat is not
growing’. The Holy Sovereign having listen to her said: ‘Let abundance cometowards you! Sow rye and harvest wheap, and with few dough may you get big
breads’. [Since this time], even today, in this village the people sow rye but
harvest wheap. They put few dough in the oven but get big breads. And if they
sow wheap they get sye; but if they sow sye, it is wheap that they mow. For
this reason, the Christians of this village go on pilgrimage every year to thetomb of the Holy Sovereign. They offered him sacrifices, make ex-votos andhold feasts [Uzun Firdusi 1958: 23].
The village of Sineson was still predominantly Christian up to the beginningof the 20th century. It is situated some 100 kilometers from the place where Hacı
Bektaş set up his convent (tekke) and where he was buried. According to the
Ottoman archives, a nomad tribe living in this region that adopted Bektashi ideas
was called “Bektashlu,” that is, the Bektashis. This tribe had good relations with theneighbouring Christian villages [Beldiceanu-Steinherr 1991: 21–79]. Further, it has
been a documented fact that the tomb of Hacı Bektaş had been visited by Christianpilgrims until the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, these pilgrims identified
Hacı Bektaş with the Christian Saint Charalambos. According to the French
traveller Vital Cuinet who visited the sanctuary in 1891:
The tekké (convent) in the village of Hadji-Bektach is surrounded by wide
gardens well watered. […] The buildings of the tekké are not spacious though
they are clean and well decorated. There are rooms around one of thecourtyard which are dedicated to the numerous Muslim and Christian visitors
who come every day to venerate the tomb of Hadji-Bektach-Véli, consideredby the local Christians as similar to saint Haralambos. According to theirbeliefs, when entering the turbé [mausoleum], the Christian pilgrims makethe sign of the cross while the Muslims go to the neighboring mosque toperform their namas [prayer]. Both are also well welcomed and fed; they are
offered the tchorba [soup], the pilaf [plate of rice] and other national dishes,
all free of charge [Cuinet 1891: 341].
A structure for the reception was set for both Muslims and Christians, and－ 173 －

the sacred areas of the sanctuary, as we can see, welcome various rituals. This is avery unusual phenomenon, although not unique. The sharing capability of the
sanctuary of Hacı Bektaş is confirmed in another text written by a Greek named
Georg Tosunoğlu and published in an Ottoman yearbook (salname) for 1914 written
in karamanlı (Turkish using the Greek scripture). In this text intended for Greek
Christian readers, we read a description of the sanctuary with details about thewelcoming of visitors. Regardless of religion, the visitor was given a small room andfood (bread, soup, and rice) for three days.4
There are many other sanctuaries in Anatolia and the Balkans that areplaces of devotion shared by the two religions and hence opened to exchange andfraternization. One, situated at Kaliakra in Rumania, is dedicated to the Muslim
saint Sarı Saltuk, known by Christians as Saint Nicholas. The most striking is the
sanctuary of Akyazılı Baba at Varna, Bulgaria, the second most important sanctuary
after that of Hacı Bektaş. There, Akyazılı Baba is identified with Saint Athanas(Atanas), and the place is well known for welcoming Christian pilgrims.5 However ashared sanctuary was not always a place of encountering and fraternization between
Muslims and Christians; on the contrary, it could also be a contested ground and asource of conflicts. This was the case with the Akyazılı Baba shrine, a bone ofcontention between local Muslims and Christians during the Balkan Wars. Whenthe Bulgarian army took the control of the shrine, the cross replaced the crescent at
the top of the shrine’s cupola. However, when the place was reconquered by Muslims,
the cross was in turn replaced by the crescent. When I visited the sanctuary in 1988,
in Communist Bulgaria, the place was almost totally abandoned, and few ex-votos
only demonstrated that the local population was still venerating the saint. Nowadays,
after the end of the Communist era, the place is again a shared religious sanctuary
visited by Muslim and Christian visitors performing common rituals, especiallyagainst illness.6 According to the anthropologist Yelis Erolova who investigates theplace in 2011, “The change of the cult from mono- into bi-ritual during the second
half of the 19th century should not be interpreted as ‘renaming’, but as development
which unites two saints.” [Erolova 2017: 78]
Another shrine in the village of Gökçe (formerly Mamasun) in Cappadocia
is worth of interest. The shrine, which was discovered at the beginning of 19th
century, is originally a paleochristian church half-cave dwelling completed by aThis text is edited by [Kılıçarslan 2015].
On this shrine see [Hasluck 1973: vol. 1, 90–93; Eyice 1967: 576].
6 <http://dobrudzha.com/en/90.html> (accessed in May 2015).
45－ 174 －

grotto. The visitation to the site was shared very soon since dervishes were living
there around 1860. The shrine has probably been turned at this time as a Bektashi
convent and was known under the name of Erenler Tekkesi. The saint buried in theshrine is a martyr named Saint Mamas. From 19th century sources, it is known that
he had the ability to raise the dead and cure mental illness. Muslims and Christians
who were sick used to practice the incubation, that is to sleep in the grotto nearby
the tomb of the saint. The days for the healing ceremonial were Friday for the Muslims
and Sunday for the Christians. Nine icons were displayed in the shrine among which
two were those of the Virgin, and Constantin and Helena. After 1925, following theexpulsion of the Greek community from the village and of all the region, Saint Mamas
became Muslim under the name of Sammas Baba or Pir Sambaz. According to thehagiography, this Muslim saint was a hermit who lived during the 8th century andassisted the famous Battal Ghazi when the later fought the Byzantines. Sammas Baba
was depicted as teaching the Christian doctrine by day, and the Muslim doctrine bynight — and there is no better example of interconfessionalism [Hasluck 1973: vol. 1,
43–44; de Tapia 2016: 584–596]. Then, during the last 15 years, due to Greek tourists,
partly descendants of the Greek population who have lived once in this village, theveneration of the Christian saint was reactivated, as well as the practice of healing.
Saint Mamas and Sammas Baba are henceforth both venerated, and the place isshared by the two religions.7

Shared Rituals
In addition to the Christian shrine of Saint Mamas, there are other Christiansanctuaries that have welcomed Muslims, especially Bektashis or Alevis. For
example, in Konitsa, in the Epira district of Greece, local Muslims used to visit theChristian churches for the offering of candles and oil, and even of candelabrum. It is
the fact that Christian and Bektashis shared common interest for the veneration oflight and the use of candles during liturgy and rituals [Mavrommatis 2005: 526–527].
Without doubt, this particularity has contributed to bring the two communities closer.
In fact, candles as other lights are far to be only sacred objects that are placed near
the grave of a saint. First and foremost, they are the central elements of complex
rituals in both Christian and Bektashi liturgy; let us mention the Christian liturgyof Light (Lucernarium) for Easter and the ritual called “awakening the candles”(çerağ uyandırma) in Bektashism–Alevism [Vincent 2004: 31, 37; Harman 2018].

7

Author’s field work in 2015. See also [Peker 2015: 97–99, 208–209].

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Because of this ritual, since 16th century, the Bektashis were depicted by theiropponents as “worshipper of light,” ışıkçı, or ışık taifesi, that is, Movement of theLight [Refik 1932].
In addition, in some shrines, the rituals of devotion and intercession ofMuslims and Christians are performed side-by-side (the sign of cross for example),although they are also shared. Such is the case of the offering of candles for instance,
common to the two religions although it is interpreted in different ways. Nowadays,in the Bektashi sanctuary of Akyazılı Baba at Varna, we can distinguish three kindsof shared rituals: (1) the prayers recited at the tomb for the intercession of the saint;(2) the washing of the grave with water; (3) the fixation of pieces of cloth (ex-votos)
on the trees around.8
In the shrines shared by both communities, some rituals cannot be shared
and are performed side-by-side. This situation is observable nowadays in the
Bektashi tekke of Durbali in Thessalia, Northern Greece, one of the major places ofthis order in the region before its decline during the 1980s. This tekke is a place wellknown for welcoming Christians and also for charitable actions toward the poor local
population regardless of their religion. Today, although there are few Muslims in theregion, the place is a neutral, shared sanctuary, housing sacred objects belonging toboth religions (icons, lantern, mural writings in Arabic, etc.) [Mavrommatis 2005:
529].
In addition, some Christians who became Bektashis (without abandoning
Christianity) drew the attention to other doctrinal and ritual analogies to explain
how Christianity and Bektashism could be brought closer. One of them, in 1892–
1893, pinpoints to the Bektashi veneration for the trilogy “Allah–Muhammad–Ali,”
which according to him corresponds to the Christian Trinity. He mentions also thethree knots of the sacred belt, used during the Bektashi reception of a new dervish.
The staff hold by the Bektashi shaykh has three knots also interpreted as the
symbols of the Trinity; it is said that outwardly (zahirde), the knots symbolise
respectively Allah, Muhammad, and Ali, but inwardly (batınde), they symbolize theFather, the Son, and the Soul (i.e., the Holy Spirit). Another analogy concerns the 12
Shi’ imams venerated in Bektashism who are identified with the 12 apostles, and themartyr of Husayn, son of Ali, identified with Jesus Christ [“Bir Bektaşi babasının
hâtıratı” 1926: 12–13; Salcı 1939d].
Finally, we might wonder whether Bektashism and Christianity, through8<http://dobrudzha.com/en/90.html> (accessed in May 2015).

－ 176 －

their rituals shared or performed side by side, considering the analogies existing
between them, have developed a “compromise on sacramental issues” (compromis enmatière sacramentaire), to quote the expression of Michel Tardieu, a specialist of
syncretism in Antiquity [Tardieu 1991: 14].

Shared Legends
There are several legends commonly held among Bektashis that reflect theirrelations with Christians; some of these were sometimes adopted by the Christians
themselves and then shared by the two religions. One of them regards the origin of
the major symbolic and sacred object in Bektashism, that is, the teslim taşı (stone of
the surrender). This little and flat stone made usually from onyx or carnelian/agate
has 12 sides, in reference to the 12 imams. Its color is yellow, white, or beige, with
red or brown-veins and stains. This stone is usually worn by Bektashi shaykh andused as a decorative symbol everywhere in their convent.9
According to one legend, of which there are several versions, Hacı Bektaş
was poisoned by a man who has given him hospitality; but the saint spat blood
immediately, which hardened into a stone — the teslim taşı [“Bektaşilik” n.d.: 37].
Another version of this legend tells that the man who poisoned Hacı Bektaş was a
Turk, that is, a Muslim, and it was from a Christian that the saint obtained an emetic
that caused him to split blood: “his spittle mixed with his blood hardened into the
red-veined variety of the local agate,” a stone found near the village of Hacıbektaş
where the centre of the Bektashi order was established [Hasluck 1973: vol. 1, 288;
Noyan 1995: 244]. The third version says that Hacı Bektaş visited a village named
Ermeni, where he was given the hospitality by peasants, probably Christian
Armenians, who offered him a meal of curdled milk and honey. The saint then spatout a mouthful of the food, which at once hardened into stone, and he told thepeasants that the descendants of their descendants will never suffer from hunger[Degrand 1901: 230]. These legends show that the Anatolian Christians were very
respectful of the eponym of Bektashism and that in turn, the saint blessed them andmade wonders. This legend that was without any doubt originally Bektashi appears
interchangeable, and this aspect favors the concept of interconfessionalism.
There is another interchangeable legend, not only between Muslims andChristians, but also between Muslim and Jews, and even between Muslim and
Hindus in India. This legend, possibly Tibetan in origin, is widespread in the whole

9

About this stone see [Zarcone 2017].

－ 177 －

of Muslim Asia. It is also found in the Hagiography of Hacı Bektaş (Vilâyetnâme)and of other Bektashi saints. In the Vilâyetnâme, Hacı Bektaş was riding a rock hehas animated and fought another saint, actually a rival, who was riding a lion (or atiger) with a venomous serpent in his hand used as a whip [Uzun Firdusi 1958: 49–50]. What makes the superiority of Hacı Bektaş comes from the fact that riding an
inanimate thing (rock or wall) and making it moving is considered more prestigiousthat taming a lion and a venomous snake. However, in many cases, somehagiographies do not mention the saint riding a wall but riding the lion with theserpent in his hand [Van Bruinessen 1991; Danık 2004].
This legend is well known by Christians as shown in the Ottoman yearbook(1914) mentioned above. The writer of this text, Georg Tosunoğlu, said that after
visiting the sanctuary of Hacı Bektaş, he reached a neighbouring pilgrimage place
supposed to be the place where Hacı Bektaş welcomed another saint riding a lion
with a snake in his hands. In this version, probably oral, the other saint is Mevlâna
Celâlüddin Rûmî, the eponym of the order of whirling dervishes (in the Vilâyetnâme
it is Seyyid Mahmud Hayrani)! [Kılıçarslan 2015: 21] At the same period, this legend
was told by Cappadocian Greeks to the Byzantinist R. M. Dawkins in a quite
different way. The difference is that saint Charalambos was opposed to Muhammad.
It is clear that the legend is led astray to the advantage of the Christians over
Muslims.10
The legend was not adopted by Anatolian Christians only, but also by Jews
in Algeria. The famous saint Rabbi Ephraïm al-Naqava who came from Spain to
Tlemcen in the 14th century riding a lion with a snake in his hand, was buried inthis city, and his sanctuary had welcomed both Christians and Jews pilgrims up to
the middle of the 20th century [Van Gennep 1914: 44–45, 52; Slyomovics 1993]. The
legend is interchangeable also in India to the benefit of the Hindus: A Hindu
magician was sitting on a wall, while the Muslim was riding a tiger with the snakein his hands [Digby 1994: 127–128].
Sharing this legend among Bektashis and Christians brought them closer inspite of some rivalries. Its adoption by Christians demonstrates how intimate they
were with the written and oral culture of this Sufi order.
Supraconfessionalism
As mentioned before, supraconfessionalism is a philosophical attitude that
R.M. Dawkins, “A modern Greek festival,” Emmanuel College Magazine(Cambridge), 18 (1908): 18 sq., quoted by [Hasluck 1973: vol. 1, 84 and vol. II, 289].

10－ 178 －

encourages transcending of religions in order to reach their core, but without
abandoning one’s own particular faith. This unusual attitude might provide a key
for the understanding of the double religious affiliation of Christians who became
Bektashis in the early 20th century. This double affiliation, however, does not imply
a conversion to Islam, as we will see further in text. Additionally, such a choice isquite different from interconfessionnalism since the religious confessions, far to bebrought side-by-side, are left behind.
Some Armenian and Greek Christians in Istanbul in the last years of the
Ottoman Empire embodied this double affiliation. Some were regular visitors of oneof the most prestigious Bektashi tekke of the Ottoman capital in the Çamlica district.
At this time, this tekke, directed by Şeyh Ali Nutki Efendi (d. 1936), a great figureof the order, was a high place of culture, art, literature, and Sufi music, and it
attracted the brightest of the city. Some among these Greek and Armenian Bektashis
were also the authors of poems written in the literary style followed by Bektashis(nefes). These poems indicate their interest for this Sufi order and indirectly why, as
Christians, they were initiated into Bektashism. The folklorist Vahid Lütfi Salcı(1883–1950), himself a Bektashi, knew personally some of the poets he depicted as“Turkified Christian Bektashis,” meaning that they perfectly mastered the Turkish
language and were impregnated with Ottoman and especially Bektashi culture.
The question of the double affiliation of Christian-Bektashism and of thewelcoming of Christian in this Sufi order was a divisive issue in the Bektashi milieu
in early 20th century Istanbul. In general, Ali Nutki Baba refused to initiate
Christians to Bektashism if they did not want to convert to Islam. However, he told
Salcı that some Bektashi shaykhs in Istanbul used to do it, as for instance Tekirdağlı
Cemali Baba (d. 1940 in Albania).
Salcı witnessed unusual things in a meeting at the tekke of Ali Nutki Babaat Çamlica. Once, he noticed an Armenian priest wearing his religious robe among
the visitors entering the tekke. But, when in the ceremonial hall, he was unable tosee the priest. Looking carefully at the people who were attending the initiation
ceremony (ayin-i cem), he finally recognized the priest and was stunned to discovered
the man dressed in the Bektashi style, wearing the 12-segment hat of the order(hüseyni tac), the teslim taş around his neck, the kanberiye belt on his loins with thelittle bag (cilbent) holding the calligraphy “O Ali,” and the symbol of the two-pointed
sword (zülfıkar) [Salcı 1939a]. Indeed, although a priest, this man was also a
Bektashi baba.
In 1909, in the same Çamlica tekke, Salcı met another Christian Bektashi.

－ 179 －Named Papa Yero Raif, he was a Greek priest based in the Yeni Mahalle district etÜsküdar. The Greek priest was also dressed as a Bektashi baba, wearing the hat andholding the teslim taş and the cilbent. Salcı asked him whether it was notincompatible to be both a Christian priest and a Bektashi baba. In reply, Papa Yero
Raif quoted a well-known phrase of the famous Sarı Saltuk, a luminary of Sufism in
13th century: “The illustrious Bektashi Sarı Saltuk wasn’t in the same time a blindpriest called Saint Nicolas? Name is a pearl, my son! Look at the heart, the heart.”11
It is indeed true that in the 13th century, in the Balkans and in Anatolia,
Sarı Saltuk was a dual figure, venerated both as a Muslim saint and Saint Nicolas
by the Christians. Moreover, there are seven shrines named after him. However, theşeyhülislâm Ebussuud Efendi, who was the first authority of Islam in the Ottoman
Empire, gave a fetva in 1538 answering a question about the sanctity of Sarı Saltuk;
he answered that the later was a “Christian monk down to skin and bones becauseof his ascetic discipline (riyazat ile kadid olmuş bir keşişdir).” [Okiç 1952; Zarcone
1992: 2–3] However, according to the Turkish epic literature, Sarı Saltuk was a heroof the Islamization of the north-western Thrace. Today, this saint is still well-known
in Anatolia and in the Balkans, and one of his tombs is the centre of one of the mostimportant pilgrimage places in Albania [Kołczyńska 2013].12
This paper suggests that supraconfessionnalism might explain why several
Christian were initiated into Bektashism, althought they were still considering
themselves Christians. Although Bektashism clearly got a Muslim identity, this is
the gnostic and antinomian aspect of this Sufi Order that has attracted these nonMuslims. As shown above by the Bektashi poet Mirati, the science of ladun (‘ilmal-ladûnî) mastered by the Sufis comes directly from God, as it was experienced by
the prophet Khidr (Quran 18:65). As the source of all the revelations, such a pureknowledge of God is considered superior to the four books of the Abrahamic religions.
Then, whereas interconfessionnalism constitutes a bridge between the revealed
religions regarded as similar and parallel paths to God and the Truth,
supraconfessionnalism sees the religions to be of negligible importance, especiallyfor the Sufi who possesses the pure knowledge of God (ladun). Such an approach isclearly reflected in two verses of Yunus Emre who argues that the four Abrahamic
revelations are comprehended in the Being that is God and his manifestation:“Sarı Saltuk diye tanıdığımız Bektaşi ulularından olan zat, Nikola isminde bir köz
Papaz değil miydi? İsim bir boncuktur, oğlum. Gönüle bak, gönüle,” [Salcı 1939b].
12 On Sarı Saltuk see [Ocak 2002].
11－ 180 －

The Thorah, the Gospel, the Psalms of David and the Quran,
What is revealed in these books, we found it in the Being (vücut).13
A similar attitude is present in some poems written by Christian Bektashis
in the early 20th century. For example, the Greek Yorgi Saliki or Zafiridis writes:
Pious! Don’t deprive me of the Beauty
We are happy whatever the place where we see it,
You, read the Gospel within four walls,
While we’ll learn the Gospel of the Heart.14
Yorgi Saliki who is opposing here the “Gospel of the Heart” to the “Gospel
read within four walls,” that is, read inside a church, confirms that the Book of his
mystical faith is an inner knowledge. Then, he declares that he became Bektashi
although he never renounced Christianity [Salcı 1939d]. In such a position, he is defacto closer to the Bektashis.
Another Greek, Manol Hitabi, also a member of the Bektashi order, wrote
poetry that reflected supraconfessionnalism perfectly. He realized that the sacredbooks of the Abrahamic tradition did not help him in his spiritual path, and if hejoined Bektashism, which is a Muslim movement, this is not to join Islam, but tofollow a way that leads far above this religion and the others. We understand, andthis is also the opinion of Vahit Lütfi Salcı, that Manol Hitabi never converted toIslam, although he was no more firmly a Christian. In one poem, he writes thefollowing as a response to a priest who tried to make him more respectful to the
Orthodox Church:
I read what you call Thorah
I read what you call Gospel
I read what you call Quran:
But all three are empty books.15

13“Tevrât ile İncil’i Furkan ile Zebur’u

Bunlardaki beyanı cümle vüdutta bulduk” [Yunus Emre Divanı 1981: 194].
“Güzellikten bizi menetme sofîBiz güzeli nerde görsek severiz
Dört duvar içinde sen İncil oku
Gönül incilini biz ezberleriz,” quoted by [Salcı 1939c].
15 “Tevrat dedin okudum14－ 181 －

In this extreme case, we can use a metaphor used by the Sufis and the
Bektashis that Manol Hitabi has gone beyond the external dimension of the religion
and broke the shell of the walnut, reaching the walnut and further the oil of thisfruit, which is like the essence of all spiritualities.
Conclusion
The sharing of sacred places, rituals, and legends by Christians and Muslims,
especially Bektashis, can be explained, first, as seen above, by the identification of
their respective holy figures (e.g., Hacı Bektaş/Saint Charalambos, Akyazili
Baba/Saint Athanas, Sammas Baba/Saint Mamas) and, second, by the analogies
existing between some elements of their faith and rituals. This interconfessionnal
behavior brought Bektashis and Christians closer and favored exchanges andfraternization. Bektashis shrines had welcomed Christians who feel confortable
when visiting these places, and in northern Greece for example, some Bektashis
shrines even today have separate parts dedicated to each religion. Thus, Christians
and Bektashis express their religious beliefs side-by-side, and all find common
features in the other. Supraconfessionnalism also brings closer some Christians andBektashis, but in a quite different way. Both were not interested in the external
dimension of their religion, but by its inner centre only. This behavior is well known
among the Bektashis who emphasize the inward (batin) upon the outward (zahir).

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After Criticism of Ma Dexin against Veneration of Saints:
Rethinking Chinese Elaboration of Islam
NAKANISHI Tatsuya(Associate Professor, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University)
Abstract
Hui Muslim scholars’ efforts to refine their beliefs and practices in
consonance with the Chinese cultural and social milieu have played an
important role in building amicable relations between Muslims andnon-Muslims in China. However, these scholars’ activities sometimes
promoted division among Hui Muslims. It is important to shed light on
the dark side of Hui Muslims’ pro-Chinese elaborations of Islam to learn
about multicultural symbiosis from their historical experiences.
This paper focuses on how sectarian rivalry among Chinesespeaking Muslims was enlarged by reinterpretations of Ma Dexin (d.
1874), a prominent Hui scholar in Yunnan province, on critical
discourses against the veneration of saints from West Asia; these
reinterpretations were aimed at resolving feuds between followers ofIslam and Chinese polytheists. First, this paper establishes how Ma
Dexin or his disciples and adherents of the Jahrīya Sufi order disagreed
with and fought each other. Second, it discusses the measures taken to
repair this fissure. Finally, it examines how the tension between
Muslims and non-Muslims worked as a backdrop to the discord andcompromise among Hui Muslims.
Chinese-speaking Muslims or Hui were the descendants of Muslim immigrants fromvarious areas of Asia—descendants who were physically and culturally Sinicized atvarious levels as a result of their various contacts with indigenous peoples in China.
They constructed their own communities around mosques all over China in thesixteenth century. Since then, their learned men have struggled to refine their beliefs
and practices in consonance with the Chinese cultural and social milieu to secure thesurvival of their communities and avoid frictions with their non-Muslim neighbors,
or Han people, who have been apt to despise Islam as heterodox and its believers as
dangerous. For example, during the pre-modern period, Hui Muslim scholars－ 186 －

deliberately highlighted affinities between the metaphysics of Sufism andConfucianism by identifying the key terms or concepts of the former with those of
the latter.
Previous studies attempted to elucidate the conceptual manipulations insuch scholarly struggles, regarding them as attempts to realize an intercultural
coexistence, from which we can extract wisdom for our global society in the future.1
Moreover, some students might take an interest in Hui Muslims’ attentive
negotiations with non-Muslims of their beliefs as Asian modes of Islam that are
different from Middle-Eastern Islam and the potential for rectifying Islamophobic
prejudices that some of the latter have fostered. Certainly, Hui scholars’ pro-Chinese
elaborations of Islam have played an important role in building amicable relations
between Muslims and non-Muslims in China. However, these scholars’ activities did
not always create a harmonious society. For example, some activities even promoted
division among Hui Muslims. It is important to shed light on the dark side of Hui
Muslims’ efforts to bridge Islamic and non-Islamic cultures and societies to learn
about multicultural symbiosis from their historical experiences. Previous studies
lack this perspective. In other words, they paid less attention to historical or socialfeatures than the philosophical features of such efforts of Hui scholars.
This paper focuses on how sectarian rivalry among Chinese-speaking
Muslims was enlarged by reinterpretations of Ma Dexin 馬 德 新 (d. 1874), a
prominent Hui scholar in Yunnan province, southwestern China, on critical
discourses against the veneration of saints from West Asia; These reinterpretations
were aimed at resolving feuds between Islamic believers and Chinese polytheists.
First, this paper establishes how Ma Dexin or his disciples and adherents of the
Jahrīya Sufi order disagreed with and fought each other. Second, it discusses themeasures taken to repair this fissure. Finally, it examines how the tension between
Muslims and non-Muslims worked as a backdrop to the discord and compromiseamong Hui Muslims.

For details of this research trend, see [Nakanishi 2016b; 2018a]. Recently, Gao andMin [2019: 190] concluded that the historically continued adaptation of their religious
tenets by Hui Muslims for Chinese society guaranteed “the sound development of Islamin China along the direction to Sinicization” and that such a reinterpretation of Islam is“a treasure of teaching for uniting and guiding a broad range of Muslim mass, a sharp
weapon for fighting against forces conspiring to split [Chinese] Nation and religious
extremists, and a creative attempt to lead the religion to conform with the society ofsocialism.”1－ 187 －

1. Inheritance of Ma Dexin’s View on the Veneration of Saints
1.1. Ma Dexin and Ma Lainyuan’s Criticism against the Jahrīya
Nakanishi [2019] detailed how Ma Dexin tried to make peace between Muslims andnon-Muslims by radicalizing a negative opinion on the veneration of saints from
West Asia. Here, let us briefly confirm this. Ma Dexin found a crisis for securing thesurvival of coreligionists in the Yunnan Muslim rebellion (1856–74) against the Qing
dynasty, which broke out because of escalating hostilities between the Huis andHans and because of the Qing officers’ partiality for the latter. As the Huis were
overwhelmed in population by the Hans, he supposed that Hui communities would
be destroyed by their continuing strife with the Qing government, for which most of
their non-Muslim Chinese neighbors took sides. He, who had been tasked as a leader
for a portion of the Yunnan Muslim rebels since 1857, eventually surrendered to the
Qing dynasty in 1862, together with his adjutant general, Ma Rulong 馬如龍. Then,Ma Dexin, to an extent, cooperated with the dynasty’s suppression of the Yunnan
Muslim rebellion,2 while maintaining a certain power and influence among the Qing
Yunnan government based on his renown among the Hui people. Meanwhile, hetackled the sophistication of Islam with the goals of improving the relations between
the Huis and Hans and ending the Yunnan Muslim rebellion.
As a part of such adjustment of Islam, in his Arabic work with the Chinese
title “Lixue zhezhong 理 學 折 衷(Selection of Sufi Teachings),” Ma Dexin

aggressively stretched the meaning of an admonition on the veneration of saints that
he received in his travels around West Asia (1841–49). An Ismāʻīl in Mecca had
advised the Yunnan Hui scholar to concentrate on his observance of Islamic law
instead of any adherence to a Sufi master by which not every person can attainreligious perfection [Ma Dexin 1988: 83]. Exaggerating this advice based on skillful
consultation of Ibn ʻArabī’s thoughts, the author of Lixue zhezhong essentiallydenied the efficacy of the mentorship of Sufi masters, which few questioned in thecontemporary Middle East.

For example, when Pan Duo 潘鐸, the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou
provinces, was unexpectedly killed in 1863 by the soldiers of Ma Rong 馬榮, who was
one of ex-leaders of the Yunnan Muslim rebellion who surrendered to the Qing army, Ma
Dexin vicariously executed the function of the same post to remedy the situation. In
addition, in 1864, Ma Dexin visited the city of Dali 大理, where Du Wenxiu 杜文秀, themost powerful leader of the Yunnan Muslim rebellion, had organized a government
independent from the Qing dynasty to persuade him to surrender to the Qing dynasty.
This mission did not succeed［Wang Shuhuai 1968: 122–127; Jing 1991: 133–134, 136–
2

137］.

－ 188 －

In the Arabic work, the Hui author insists that whether a person can becomea friend of God (walī) depends on his innate capacity (istiʻdād) but not on the guidanceof a Sufi master [Ma Dexin 2016: 19b–20b]. This insistence is probably based on Ibn
ʻArabī’s theory that the innate capacity of each person is determined by his immutableentity (ʻayn thābita) or by divine predestination (qaḍā’ ). In accordance with this theory,
as detailed later, the same work also suggests that qualifying Sufi masters to raise
their disciples as friends of God amounts to blasphemously attributing divinity tocreated things or recognizing gods other than Allāh.
From this reinterpretation, the author of Lixue zhezhong seems to haveaimed at undermining the Jahrīya order, which, unlike him, found a path forsurvival for Hui Muslims in a continuation of their resistance against the Qing
dynasty in adherence to their Sufi master [Nakanishi 2019].
We can infer that Ma Dexin’s theoretical challenge to the raison d’être of theSufi master targeted the Jahrīya, although Lixue zhezhong does not declare this.
One piece of evidence is Ma Lianyuan 馬聯元 (d. 1903)’s preface for his own Arabic
work with the Chinese title “Da zaxue 大雜學 (Great Miscellany).” Ma Lianyan, who
was a disciple of Ma Dexin, wrote:
From my compassion toward them [people who cannot attend Madrasa
schools because of their poverty and business], I edited a digest aboutknowledge in detailed books, which was suitable for their disposition andhence the meaning of which they could understand easily. Hereafter, thedigest will save them from something hindering their learning, and, for a man
who starts to study detailed books, facilitate him to understand them. [I didso], especially because this age is near the end of the world as follows: Many
heretics have appeared in cities in China. They exhibited strange hereticalinnovations, any counterargument against which is not found in books. For
example, reciting “Oh, Shaykh” at the slaughter of animals, doing the same
when slaughtered animals are wriggling, having one’s queue hanging down
his back at prayers,3 performing the morning prayer with magic, and so on. I
have refuted them in some of my works. Therefore, they raged at me and our
Sayyid, al-Ḥājj Yūsuf Rūḥ al-Dīn [that is, Ma Dexin], who was the first person to
refute them, and whom I followed. It [their rage] is as you find in their
Ma Anyi 馬安義, the second son of Ma Lianyuan, affirmatively mention that Hui
Muslims concealed their ques in their turbans at prayers in accordance with the Sunna.
See [Nakanishi 2016a: 18; 2018b: 140 (n.22)].
3－ 189 －

book4 that was sent to us. If they had had any power, they would have killed
me. [Ma Yunliang 2011: 17]5
According to this, Ma Dexin blamed some people for heretical innovations such asreciting “Oh, Shaykh” at the slaughter of animals, which is recognized as a practiceof the Jahrīya adherents in a part of Yunnan today.6 It is highly possible that the“heretics” whom he refuted were followers of the Sufi order. Also, Ma Lianyuan
seems to have come into collision with the Sufis, inheriting his teacher’s oppositional
attitude against the Jahrīya.
1.2. Ma Lainyuan’s Quarrel with the Jahrīya
There is an article titled “Huihui xinjiao 回回新敎” (Islamic New Teaching) in thefirst and only issue of Xinghuipian 醒回篇 (Writings for Awakening Muslims), 7
published in 1908 by Liudong Qingzhen Jiaoyuhui 留東清真敎育會 (Association forIslamic Education in Japan). It conveys that Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan’s opponents
were adherents of the Jahrīya. It narrates:
A certain Hazhi 哈口止 [ ḥājj, meaning one who experienced a pilgrimage to
Mecca] espousing the Old Teaching (gujiao 古敎) was well versed in Islamic
learnings and wrote a treatise refuting the New Teaching (xinjiao 新敎).
Followers of the New Teaching resented this and tried to send an assassin
after him, which was exposed. [People of the Hazhi] captured the assassin andhanded him over to the court, but the officer dismissed the suit because of
insufficient evidence. The Hazhi eventually felt unsafe and left [Yunnan] on
the pretext of a pilgrimage to Mecca. After that, he was said to have died in
Burma. [Huiyuan 1992: 82 (the original page: 72)]

This might be Qingzhen piyilun. See below for more information.
My deepest thanks to Ms. Leila Chérif-Chebbi for providing this source. The originalArabic text is as follows:‫ﻓﺎﻧﺎ ﻟﺸﻔﻘﺘﻬﻢ ﺍﺧﺘﺼﺮﺕ ﻓﻰ ﻛﻞ ﻋﻠﻢ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺐ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺴﻮﻁﺔ ﻣﺨﺘﺼﺮﺓ ﻣﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ﻟﻄﺒﺎﺋﻌﻬﻢ ﻳﺴﻬﻞ ﻣﻌﻨﺎﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﻢ ﺣﺘﻰ ﺍﺫﺍ ﺍﺻﺎﺑﻬﻢ ﻣﺎﻧﻊ ﺑﻌﺪﻩ‬‫ ﻗﺪ ﺣﺪﺙ ﻓﻰ ﺑﻼﺩ‬،‫ﻓﻬﻰ ﺗﻜﻔﻴﻬﻢ ﻭﺍﻣﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺷﺮﻉ ﻓﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺴﻮﻁﺎﺕ ﺑﻌﺪﻩ ﻓﻬﻰ ﺗﻴﺴﺮﻩ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻓﻬﻤﻬﺎ ﺧﺼﻮﺻﺎ ﺑﺎﻥ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ ﺁﺧﺮ ﺍﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ‬‫ﺍﻟﺼﻴﻦ ﻛﺜﻴﺮ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺘﺪﻋﻴﻦ ﻭﺍﻅﻬﺮﻭﺍ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺑﺪﻋﺎﺕ ﻏﺮﻳﺒﺔ ﻟﻢ ﻳﻮﺟﺪ ﻓﻰ ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺐ ﺭﺩﻫﻢ ﻛﺬﻛﺮﻫﻢ ﻳﺎ ﺷﻴﺦ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺍﻟﺬﺑﺢ ﻭﻛﺬﺍ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺍﻟﻨﺰﻉ ﻭﻛﺎﻟﻘﺎﺋﻬﻢ‬‫ﺿﻔﻴﺮﺓ ﺷﻌﺮﻫﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻈﻬﺮ ﻓﻰ ﺍﻟﺼﻼﺓ ﻭﻛﺄﺩﺍﺋﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻔﺠﺮ ﺑﺎﻻﺳﺤﺎﺭ ﻭﻧﺤﻮﻫﺎ ﻓﺮﺩﺩﺗﻬﻢ ﻓﻰ ﺑﻌﺾ ﻣﺨﺘﺼﺮﺍﺗﻰ ﻭﻟﻬﺬﺍ ﻏﻀﺒﻮﻧﻰ ﻭﺳﻴﺪﻧﺎ‬‫ﺍﻟﺤﺎﺝ ﻳﻮﺳﻒ ﺭﻭﺡ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻓﺎﻧﻪ ﺍﻭﻝ ﻣﻦ ﺭﺩﻫﻢ ﻭﺍﺗﺒﻌﺘﻪ ﻓﻰ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻛﻤﺎ ﺗﺮﻯ ﻓﻰ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺳﻞ ﺍﻟﻴﻨﺎ ﺣﺘﻰ ﻟﻮ ﻗﺪﺭﻭﺍ ﻟﻘﺘﻠﻮﻧﻰ‬6 Yao and Xiao [2001: 256]. However, members of the Jahrīya in the present day denythat this practice exists in their circles.
7 For more on Liudong Qingzhen Jiaoyuhui and Xinghuipian, see Ō [2006: 127–137;
Cieciura 2016: 111].
4
5－ 190 －

“A certain Hazhi” is none but Ma Lianyuan. From H. 1286 to the end of H.
1289 (1869 or 1870 to 1873), he stayed in Mecca and India, making a pilgrimage tothe Kaʻba shrine. This passage explains why he traveled from Yunnan to Burma.
Eventually, he left Burma for India and died in Kanpur [Ma Zhiben 1985: 594; Bai
2000, II: 1572, 1574; Lin 1990: 112].
Undoubtedly, “the New Teaching” that drove him away from Yunnan is
identified with the Jahrīya. Prior to the above-quoted passage, the same article
states that the “Laorenjia 老人家 (respected old man)” of the New Teaching wasfrom a Ma 馬 family whose legal domicile was located at Talang 他郎, that hedisappeared suddenly from a besieged fort at the point of its falling, and that hecame to Shanxi and Gansu provinces, whereby the Jahrīya rose in those regions.
This traces the career of Ma Yuanzhang 馬元章, the seventh grand master of the
Jahrīya, and “Laorenjia” denotes a Sufi master. Ma Yuanzhang was a grandson of
Ma Shunqing 馬順清, a son of Ma Mingxin 馬明心, the founder of the Jahrīya. Ma
Shunqing died at Talang [Chou 1993: 178], a place that seems to have beenrecognized as the legal domicile of his grandson. “Huihui xinjiao” asserts that the
New Teaching originated in Yunnan and then developed in Shanxi and Gansu. This
is not precise as a description of the history of the Jahrīya; however, it is reasonablebecause it traces Ma Yuanzhang’s process of the restoration of the Jahrīya inNorthwest China.
Ma Mingxin was executed by Qing officers in 1781, when the Jahrīya rebels
besieged Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu [Chou 1993: 51–63; Lipman 1997: 103–111]. After the pacification of this Jahrīya rebellion, Ma Shunqing was exiled toTalang, and his banishment gave the Jahrīya an opportunity to expand theirteachings among Yunnan Hui Muslims [Chou 1993: 85-87, 178, 216; Lipman 1997:
179]. Ma Shenglin 馬聖麟 (Ma Chenglin 馬成林), a son of Ma Shunqing, led the
Jahrīya adherents to participate in the Yunnan Muslim rebellion and died in battle
in 1781 at Dadongou 大東溝, where most of his people were also martyred [Chou1993: 175-181; Lipman 1997: 179]. However, Ma Yuanzhang, a son of Ma Shenglin,
escaped from Dadongou to Northwest China before the fall [Chou 1993: 215–220;
Lipman 1997: 179]. Around the same time, the Jahrīya adherents in this region also
participated in the Northwest Muslim rebellion (1862–78) and continued to resist
attacks from the Qing army, barricading themselves in Jinjipu 金積堡, Ningxia,
under the direction of the fifth grandmaster, Ma Hualong 馬化龍. However, themaster eventually surrendered to and was executed by the Qing army in 1870. Then,－ 191 －

the Northwest Jahrīya suffered a devastating blow [Chou 1993: 184–211; Lipman
1997: 125–126]. However, this Sufi order soon revived at Xuanhuagang 宣化崗 in
Gansu through the efforts of Ma Yuanzhang [Chou 1993: 221-259; Lipman 1997: 180],
who became the acting leader of the brotherhood in 1882 [Chou 1993: 230]. During
this period, Ma Lianyuan was involved in serious conflict with the Jahrīya.8
2. Development of Ma Dexin’s View on the Veneration of Saints
2.1. Ma Anli’s Opinion of Sufi Masters
Ma Dexin’s denunciation of saint veneration was followed by his disciple Ma Anli 馬安禮 (d. 1899), who helped Ma Dexin translate al-Būṣīrī (1296)’s Qaṣīda al-burda (Odeof the Mantle) into Chinese and wrote a Chinese commentary on it titled Tianfang
Shijing 天方詩經 (The Classic of Poetry in Arab) with the support of Ma Xuehai 馬
學海. This was published in 1890 [Zhou 2005: 53–54]. The commentary work has thefollowing passage:
When the self as the source of lust goes astray without any guide, there is only
the Real Lord (Zhenzhu 真主) [as one who can lead it to return to the rightpath]. The Sufi master (Daozhang 道長) can lead people to the Path because
he enlightens them on behalf of the Lord. However, the Sufi master is noteasily found. [The Sufi master] must be secretly helped and specially chosen[as a spiritual guide] by the Lord. Now, [the situation of] this Path was
degraded. People [who travel in the Path] always rush to become Sufi masters
and instruct their way of litany (niangong 念功) [i.e. dhikr], then intend toraise their fame and gather their disciples from various regions. They
eventually changed the greatest thing into a child’s play or Satan’s joke, sothat they are transmitting [their position of master] to their sons byhereditary succession. When a Sufi master dies, his disciples immediately
bring his son to his position. They install [the previous master’s son] to therank of master, making him inherit something symbolic of his succession fromhis father, regardless of whether he is old or young, and wise or fool. This
harmful custom is spread and established almost universally. I fear that thetrue traces of those who traveled in the Path will disappear. [Ma Anli 2016:
6414–6415 (the original folios: 14b–15a)]This is in spite of the fact that Ma Yuanzhang himself is said to have made efforts tobuild amicable relations with non-Jahrīya Muslims and non-Muslims [Ma Chen 1981:
302–306; Lipman 1997: 181].
8－ 192 －

This passage insists that the Sufi master can guide people not by his own ability, butrather by the divine aid given to a special person God chose. Moreover, the passage
laments the present situation in which the position of the Sufi master is oftentransmitted by hereditary succession, human choice, and not on the divine,
regardless of the successor’s quality.
This opinion follows Ma Dexin, who, in Lixue zhezhong, states:
We read articles mentioning miracles (karāma) of some Sufi masters, which
describe as follows: They exterminated human characteristics fromthemselves, and linked the divine power to themselves; they perform anything
as they want without conformity with God’s permission; the divine attraction(jadhba) is caused by their hands; and entering paradise or the fire depends
on their desire. These descriptions in the books are seemingly not sincere
words. Rather, it is necessary for us to oppose them in accordance with thestandard measure of the sharīʻa. [Ma Dexin 2016: 25b–26a]Prior to this passage, Ma Dexin writes that a human being cannot become a friendof God except by divine attraction to the rank close to God (jadhba) [Ma Dexin 2016:19b]. As mentioned above, the same author also says about the same idea thatwhether every person becomes connected to God is determined by their innate
capacity that God predestined. Therefore, he condemns the attribution of divine
attraction to the Sufi masters as the linkage of the divine power to the human Sufis.
In other words, the Yunnan Hui scholar admonishes his readers that affirming theSufi masters’ ability to lead his disciples to a kind of human perfection is equal toconfusing created things with God [Nakanishi 2019: 393–395].
2.2. Ma Alin’s Criticism of the Veneration of Saints from a Confucian Perspective
Ma Anli tried to bridge Ma Dexin’s teaching and Confucianism, the orthodox thoughtin pre-modern Chinese society, beyond the mere repetition of his teacher’s sermon.
He was so well versed in Chinese classics that he passed a civil service examination
at the provincial level (Xiangshi 郷試) [Zhou 2005: 54], and often helped Ma Dexintranslate his Arabic works into Classical Chinese. Ma Dexin was good at writing in
Arabic but not at writing in literary Chinese. Thus, Sidian yaohui 四 典 要 會(Essences of the Four Canons), which is generally recognized as Ma Dexin’s work, is
probably elaborated for the most part by Ma Anli who contributes a preface to it [Bai－ 193 －

2000, II: 1562]. Most of the sentences embellished by terms and citations from theConfucian classics in Sidian yaohui are owing to Ma Anli’s composition. The
following passage in Sidian yaohui, Volume 4, Chapter 4, which compares Ma Dexin’s
critical theory against the veneration of a saint with Confucianism, is comprised ofsuch sentences.
As for one who regards the Sufi master as a manifestation (xiang 象) of theReal Lord, his view is inferior to that of fire worshippers (maizhusi 買朱斯)
[i.e.. majūsī] [who say as follows]: The Sun, the light of which all beings lookup at in every region and time, is eternal and immutable with no equal; Whoamong the sages and wisemen (shengxian 聖賢) in various eras exceeded it?
Such a view of the fire worshiper is biased. However, it seems to have a reason
in its way, although it does not have any reason in its true meaning. In
Confucianism, there are those who regard the blue sky as a manifestation of
the Lord. Therefore, they call [the Lord] “the heaven,” saying, “the heaven
with its form and color is a manifestation [of the Lord, or the principle], while
the shapeless heaven is the principle (li 理).” However, Confucians do notthoroughly discuss the relationship between a substance (ti 體 ) and its
functions (yong 用 ). Thus, they do not have this kind of erroneous andnonsensical discussion [that evaluates the Sufi master as a manifestation of
the Real Lord]. Not since the ancient time has [Anyone] heard of their remarksthat heaven and human beings are identical, that the sage is a manifestationof heaven, or that a man who subjugated and extinguished his self andreturned to the principle of the heaven can be called “heaven.” Whoever saysthat a human being is a manifestation of the Lord is inferior to one who
converts to Confucianism to be saved from the sin of injudicial speech. [MaDexin 1988: 81]
A similar argument is found in Ma Dexin’s Lixue zhezhong [Nakanishi 2019:386-389]. The Arabic work reproaches some Sufis for misunderstanding Ibn ʿArabī(d. 1240)’s doctrine of Oneness of Being (waḥda al-wujūd), a theoretical system thatclearly distinguishes God from created things, as follows: Mistaken Sufis wrongly
say, “God is incarnated in the most excellent man of each era, who is a representation(nā’ib) of God, and a manifestation (ṣūra) of Him.”[Ma Dexin 2016: 7b] The above
citation appears to compare this reproach to the discourses of Confucians and fire-－ 194 －

worshippers. 9 The part comparing it with Confucianism implies that even
Confucians never worship the human being as a manifestation of God, while someare to be censured for their identification of heaven with a manifestation of the Lord.
This part is probably owed to an elaboration of Ma Anli that aimed to demonstrate
Ma Dexin’s critical theory against the veneration of saints as compatible with
Confucianism.
This conjecture is supported to an extent by a preface by Ma Anli, dated
1878, in Zhutian dazan jijie 祝天大贊集解 (Collection of Commentaries on the Great

Hymn for Praying to the Heaven). Zhutian dazan jijie is composed of a Chinese text
titled Zhutian dazan, written by Ma Dexin,10 and commentaries on it that Arifu 阿日孚 (i.e., ʻĀrif) added in 1877, after the Ma Dexin’s death. Ma Anli writes:
In Yunnan province, calamities and upheavals continued for 18 years. The
beginning of conflicts is, indeed, that Islam and Confucianism formed
different factions without compromising with each other and intentionallystood against each other to generate calamities so that they gradually showeda symptom of upheavals. My master, Mr. Fuchu [the Chinese courtesy nameof Ma Dexin], who thoroughly grasped both arguments and deeply understoodworldly customs lamented as follows: Deteriorated Confucians and pseudointellectuals with superficial knowledge stick to the form in discussions on theheaven, and neglect the Lord in discussions on the principle that is under thecontrol of Him. Thus, they deem Islam as heterodox and reject it as something
trivial. Muslims also often miss the ultimate principle, talk about the Real
Lord under the name of “the Heaven,” and are ignorant of the following fact:
the [so-called] heaven is the Real Lord, and the Real Lord is identical to the

Shangdi 上帝 [i.e. the Supreme Being in Confucianism]. The heaven includes
all beings from the aspect of controlling the principle (li 理), the vital energy(qi 氣 ), the cosmic law and fate (xiangshu 象 數 ). From the aspect oftranscending them, heaven has no name because it involves no differentiation.
This is called the Real Lord, probably because It [in an aspect] functions as
the Lord over every being. It never signifies the original Suchness. From his
Although Sidian yaohui was published prior to Lixue zhezhong, the objection against
the equation of created things with God itself was probably held by Ma Dexin when hewrote the former work with the aid of Ma Anli.
10 Ma Dexin wrote the preface of Zhutian dazan in 1863. According to this preface, thework is a translation of a text (probably written in Arabic) that he obtained in his travels
around Middle East.
9－ 195 －

insight, my master, Mr. Fuchu, wrote Zhutian dazan and led those who went
astray to return to the right way. He made people under haven know of its
existence and the veneration toward it. He led people to return to the Real
Heaven without mistaking it for the physical heaven formed of the vital energy,
and return to the Truth while repenting their errors. The reason for doing so
is that he secretly tried to get rid of the catastrophe. In Sidian yaohui and

Xingming zongzhi 性命宗旨, I have analyzed and explained this. [Arifu 2005:
548 (the original folios: 3b–4a)]
Ma Anli argues that solely discussing the physical heaven and the principle
without advancing to the consideration of the Lord is a deed of “deteriorated
Confucians and pseudo-intellectuals with superficial knowledge.” This implies that
Confucianism originally comprehended the Real Lord beyond the physical heaven
and the principle. In short, Ma Anli urges both Muslims and non-Muslims to restore
the original doctrine of Islam and Confucianism, and to clearly distinguish the Real
Lord from the physical heaven. He looks back on his analysis of this issue in Sidian

yaohui and Xingming zongzhi.11 This proves that the above-mentioned bitter reviewof the identification of the physical heaven with a manifestation of the Lord in Sidian

yaohui is supplemented by Ma Anli.
As seen above, Sidian yaohui adds the following idea to this rigorous
monotheistic review: Worshiping the Sufi master as a manifestation of the Lord isinferior to converting to Confucianism with the interpretation of the physical heaven
as a manifestation of the Lord. Thus, Ma Dexin’s charge against the veneration ofsaints conforms to the original teaching of Confucianism, which, even in its
degenerated form, never confuses the Lord with the human being; hence, theveneration of saints is heterodox for Confucianism as well as Islam. It is probablethat this argument was also devised by Ma Anli. If so, we can say that Ma Dexin’s
anti-campaign against the veneration of saints was developed by Ma Anli in the
direction of the alliance with Confucianism. Thus, Ma Anli suggested thatincorporating the veneration of saints, a potential target of Confucian contempt,
results in a rupture between Muslims and non-Muslims.
In Ma Anli’s preface to Zhutian dazan jijie, the author ascribes the

According to its preface written by Ma Anli, Xingming zongzhi was that which hecompiled from Ma Dexin’s works [Ma Dexin 2008: 214]. The second chapter of Xingming
zongzhi explains the relationship among the Real Lord, the heaven and the shangdi [MaDexin 2008: 217].
11－ 196 －

antagonism between Muslims and non-Muslims, which eventually brought about the
Yunnan Muslim rebellion, to the wrong recognition of the Real Lord caused by thedeterioration of Islam and Confucianism. He thought that degraded Confucians who
regard the physical heaven or the principle as the Supreme Being affix a label ofheterodoxy to Islam for its belief in the Real Lord, and that deviated Muslims who
do not discern God from the sky cannot perceive the identity between the Real Lord
and the Shangdi,12 or between Islam and Confucianism. That is, Ma Anli indicatesthat the clarification of the difference between God and the sky is a way to reconcile
Islam and Confucianism, or Muslims and Confucians. Moreover, through thisindication, he might have intended to exclude the worshiping of the human saints as
God because it is inferior to the equation of heaven with the Lord, which disturbs
the harmony between Islam and Confucianism, or followers of each teaching.
3. Jahrīya Reaction to Ma Dexin Tradition
3.1. Slander of Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan in Qingzhen piyilun
Ma Dexin’s fight against the veneration of saints was taken over by his disciples,such as Ma Lianyuan and Ma Anli,13 and seems to have been upheld by a reasonable
number of Hui Muslims. In particular, Ma Lianyuan had many disciples [MaZhihong 2017: 75–78; 2018]. Thus, the reaction of the Jahrīya adherents became
considerably violent. This is shown not only by the attempted assassination of Ma
Lianyuan mentioned above but also by a Chinese work titled, Qingzhen piyilun 清真闢異論 (Refutation of Heretics in Islam). The work was written by Mu Zhi’an 穆之安 from Sichuan province and published in 1899. Although Mu Zhi’an was obscure,he was probably concerned with the Jahrīya, because the front page of the book
12

There were different opinions among Hui Muslims regarding whether Allah is

Shangdi. According to [Satō 2009: 115–121; 2010: 151–160], the unification between
Allah and Shangdi was epochally but discreetly formulated by Liu Zhi, and then more

explicitly articulated by Ma Anli.
Ma Anli seems not to have specially borne the Jahrīya in mind as the enemy of thisfight. A sentence prior to the above cited passage in his preface to Zhutian dazan jijie
notes that a work titled Qingzhen zhengxue 清 真 正 學 “arbitrarily alleges recklessremarks, which are unfounded and unreasonable.” This “Qingzhen zhengxue” might be
Tianfang zhengxue 天方正學 written by Lan Xu 藍煦, who was probably concerned with
Yangmen 杨 门 , one of sub-orders of the Qādirīya in China [Nakanishi 2013: 207].
However, Chinese Qādirīs observed celibacy [Ma Tong 2000: 228–229, 231, 236–237,
265–266; Nakanishi 2013: 224]. The above seen lamentation of Ma Anli over thehereditary succession of Sufi masters had to intend those other than the Qādirīya. In
addition, hereditary succession was chosen sometimes by the Jahrīya [Ma Tong 2000:
165, 275, 300, 324–325], but was more predominant in other orders such as Huasi 華寺,
Mufuti 穆夫提, and Beizhang 北莊 [Ma Tong 2000: 154, 160–210, 359, 361–363].
13－ 197 －

shows that the woodblocks for printings of the work were preserved in “Jingdu
Qihuamen 京都齊化門,” that is, Qihuamen Shangpo Qingzhensi 齊化門上坡清真寺,
a Jahrīya mosque in Beijing [Chou 1993: 139, 194].

Qingzhen piyilun is composed of a preface and the main text titled“biographies of Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan.” The main text from beginning to end
slanders the two Hui scholars, enumerating their scandalous episodes, which otherhistorical sources do not support and hence seem unreliable.
The malicious biography, after introducing some anecdotes illustrating Ma
Dexin’s wiliness during the early period of his life, discloses that he had agitated andschemed the Yunnan Muslim rebellion since before its outbreak, and plottedtreachery, calling himself “the king of pacifying Yunnan (平南王 Pingnanwang),”against the Qing dynasty, even after surrendering to it; 14 that he pretended topreach on behalf of the Sage (Shengren 聖人, i.e., the Prophet) while altering thecontents of the classics and eventually founding “Babajiao 爸爸教 (the religion ofBaba),” the name of which was derived from his honorific title, “Baba,” used among
his followers; that he entrusted Ma Lianyuan with the restoration of the religion
when the former was executed by the Qing government; and that Ma Dexin’s younger
concubine had adulterous relations with his disciples including Ma Anli, and became
bolder after the death of her husband [Mu 2008: 117–125 (the original folios: 1a–5a)].
As for Ma Lianyuan, Qingzhen piyilun describes that he had, from a youngage, often spoke ill of others, thus falling out with them, and later gathered
wanderers as his pupils, while employing sophistry and replacing right with wrong
to increase his adherents. Then, the work exposes his attempted rape of his adopted
child’s wife, his unsuccessful elopement with a widow, and his indulgence in obscene
acts with little boys and a bald man while mentioning that he bribed an eyewitness
and a local officer to hush-up such scandals. Besides, the author adds that Ma
Lianyuan’s concubine had immoral relations with his pupils and that his daughter
14 Some historical records report that Ma Dexin called himself “Pingnanwang” or“Pingdianwang 平滇王 (the king of pacifying Yunnan)” when he vicariously executed thefunction of the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, taking over from Pan
Duo who had been killed (See note 2 of this article). Atwill [2005: 128–129] infers that Ma
Dexin thereby planned to unify Muslim rebel forces lacking their solidarity and hand overthem under the direction of Du Wenxiu. However, Wang Shuhuai [1968: 123–124, 130–133(n. 35–38)], based on numerous evidences argues that a series of actions of Ma Dexin before
and after that event does not involve any ambition and plot for his uprising again against
and independence from the Qing dynasty. Wang Shuhuai [1968: 109–136] argues that Ma
Dexin consistently took great care to maintain peaceful relationships between the Huisand Hans, instead of using his personal advantage from the Yunnan Muslim rebellion,
where he participated passively as a leader of some of the rebels.

－ 198 －

lost her chastity despite being engaged. Lastly, this tell-all book stresses that suchan infamous person as Ma Lianyuan, is not qualified to write something to judge
chaste and noble persons like Bo Yi 伯夷 and Shu Qi 叔齊 [Mu 2008: 125–132 (theoriginal folios: 5a–8b)].15
The preface of Qingzhen piyilun, in line with Neo-Confucianism, or theorthodox thought of the Qing dynasty, excuses the author for abusing Ma Dexin and
Ma Lianyuan, as follows:
Now, [although we do not desire to equate ourselves with the previous
wisemen,] those who believe themselves as sagacious and arbitrarily allege
their own views, in spite of their illiteracy, alter the previous wisemen’s
writings at will, and recklessly accuse trivial faults of others, even though they
themselves are full of diseases. This terribly misleads people. The previous
Confucian said: Although it is a temporal meritorious deed that Yu 禹 madethe nine rivers flow smoothly, it is an eternal achievement that Mencius put
human minds right, the achievement which is not inferior to that of Yu.
“Suppressing heretical teachings, refusing biased practices, and refuting
unreasonable discourses” 16 are works in which Mencius could not stop
engaging himself. Thus, he said, “I never want to have a dispute. I am forced
to do so. One who can claim refusal of [heretics such as] Yang Zhu 楊朱 and
Mo Di 墨翟 is a follower of the sages.”17 Because of this clear and reasonableremark, I fear that scholars who just read [heretical authors’] works without
insight into their personalities will deem Yang Xiong 楊雄 as a wiseman, andWang Anshi 王安石 as a sage, throwing out precious stones and treasuring
rubble. Thus, it is necessary to investigate and expose their usual behaviors
thoroughly so as to let people know that they [that is, heretical authors like
Yang Xiong and Wang Anshi as well as Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan] should
be killed and their works should be burned to prevent their harm fromdestroying morals and human minds. I hope to contribute to this. It is myearnest hope. [Mu 2008: 113–115 (the original folios: 2a–3a of the preface)]
15

The last point corresponds to the above-cited passage from Ma Lianyuan’s preface to

Da zaxue, where he confesses that he refuted religious practices of the Jahrīya in someof his works.
16 The original text is 息邪説，距陂(sic.)行，放淫辭. This expression is cited from Mengzi,“Tengwengong” xia.
17 The original text is 豈好辨(sic.)哉。予不得巳也。能言距楊墨者聖人之徒也. Thisutterance is cited from Mengzi, “Tengwengong” xia.

－ 199 －

Mu Zhi’an first compares himself to Mencius who stood against heresies.
However, he is afraid that people find Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan’s denouncementof the Jahrīya to overlap with the anti-heretical activity of Mencius and so accept
their claims without question. Thus, he further likens the two Yunnan Hui scholars
to Yang Xiong and Wang Anshi, who Neo-Confucians have criticized. In the NeoConfucian circles, Yang Xiong is an example of those who prostitute learning topander to the corrupt public because he flattered Wang Mang 王莽, the founder ofthe Xin Dynasty and a usurper of the Han dynasty. For example, the analects of two

Chengs 二程遺書 that Zhu Xi 朱熹 compiled records the following utterance of oneof Cheng’s brothers: “Although I choose Yang Xiong as a wiseman among Han
Confucians, he could not be exempted from the error of entering into and retiringfrom the governmental service.” [Cheng and Cheng 2004, I: 70]18 However, some
Chinese scholars such as Sima Guang 司馬光 and Jiao Hong 焦竑 admired andvindicated Yang Xiong [Kano 1953: 278–281], as even Cheng appraised him as wise.
As for Wang Anshi, the analects of Zhu Xi 朱子語類 [Li 1994, VIII: 3097] record thefollowing anecdote: When the Shenzong 神宗 Emperor of the Song dynasty asked
whether Wang Anshi is a sage, Cheng Mindao 程明道, Cheng’s elder brother, denied
it. 19 In short, Mu Zhi’an suggests that Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan are to be
impeached by means of Ad hominem plus dogmatic dispute; otherwise, some people
might approve of their wild remark, as in the case of Yang Xiong and Wang Anshi.
Thus, the author of Qingzhen piyilun justifies his abusive attack on the personal
characters of the two opponents, and his disclosure of their usual evil deeds, as a
vaccination against their misleading works.
3.2. An attempt to Reconcile the Followers of Ma Dexin and the Jahrīya

Qingzhen piyilun displays the intense hatred that some of the people concerned with
the Jahrīya had for Ma Dexin and Ma Lianyuan. In contrast, other adherents of the
Jahrīya probably made efforts to reach an amicable settlement with their rivals
espousing the religious tradition of Ma Dexin. We can catch a glimpse of this in apoem titled “Lao Talang 老他郎 (Your Grace Talang).” The poem extols Lao Talang,that is, Ma Shenglin (Ma Chenglin), who, as seen above, led the Jahrīya warriors to

18
19

The original text is as follows: 漢儒之中，吾必以揚子為賢，然於出處之際，不能無過也。
The original text is as follows: 神宗嘗問明道云“王安石是聖人否”。明道曰“公孫碩膚，赤舄几几，聖人氣象如此。王安石一身尚不能治，何聖人爲”。

－ 200 －

participate in the Yunnan Muslim rebellion. This poem, said to be composed by Ma
Dexin, appears in a work by Yao Guoliang [2000: 55–56].20 However, Mr. Yang does
not provide the source of the cited poem. Regardless, it seems plausible that thispoem is not by Ma Dexin because some words are anachronistic for several reasons.
The text is as follows:
Lao Talang, Lao Talang! People say that “Talang” is “Ta bu lan 他不懶 (He is
not lazy).”
With a true mind and sincere intention for religion, [he] was ready to feel
happy if his head were to roll around on the battlefield.
[He] defended Chengjiang and offended Kunming, eradicating 33 thousandsoldiers from the Qing army.
In the Panlong River and the Yudai River, the bodies of enemies floated as if
rice bran floated on water.
[He] went up to Western Yunnan and helped [his allies in] Chuxiong, fiercely
chasing silly and obstinate Chu Kechang [who vicariously executed theI utilized this book by the grace of Ms. Leila Chérif-Chebbi, who permitted me toborrow it from her collection. I extend my deepest thanks to her. The original text of thepoem is as follows:
老他郎，老他郎，人说他郎他不懒
20

真心实意为教门，不惜头颅滚战场
守澄江，攻昆明，横扫清兵三万三盘龙江，玉带河，敌尸漂落像粗糠
上迤西，援楚雄，猛追狂童褚克昌旗开得胜回滇南，夺取洋枪几百杆马如龙，投满清，调转枪口打内战杨先芝，马成林，要把如龙剁成浆
稻谷田中出稗子，喜鹊窝出黄鼠狼
各路英雄一齐反，几番肉博为家邦马成林，发号令，誓守东沟不投降
只有一根血脖子，熬（鏖）战十年更坚强东山战，广山战，歼灭八千马尾狼
猛冲锋，杀重围，你死我活拼几场处处水井尸填满，条条道路堆人山
马成林啊，马成林，伊斯兰万丈旗杆
于癸酉年（同治十二年，1873 年）元日新兴大营清真寺北房－ 201 －

function of the Qing Provincial Military Commander in Yunnan province.]21
When [he] returned to Southern Yunnan in triumph with flags flattering, thewestern-style guns [he] captured were counted by the hundreds.
Ma Rulong22 surrendered to the Manchurian Qing dynasty (Manqing 満清),
thus turning his gun toward his former brothers and starting domestic
warfare.
Yang Xianzhi23 and Ma Chenglin hoped to hash Rulong so that he would bemade into a paste.
A [stalk of] millet grew from a rice paddy, and a Manchurian weasel appeared
from the nest of a magpie.
It was for the sake of the nation (jiabang 家邦) that heroes rose from various
regions all at once, and combated hand to hand.
Ma Chenglin ordered and swore to protect Donggou without surrendering.
May [I] lastly, just become a bloody neck! [This resolution] became stronger
after the ten-year fight without any compromise.
[He] fought at Dongshan and at Guangshan, and [he] annihilated eight
thousand Maweilang.24[He] vehemently rushed [the enemies] and cut his way through close sieges.
[He] fought at numerous battlefields, surviving life or death crises.
This couplet mentions Chu Kechang’s unsuccessful military operation in 1859–60
against the Yunnan Muslim rebellion. The Qing army under his command was
temporally closed in on the city of Dali, the most important headquarter of the Muslim
rebels. However, his expeditionary force was defeated by a counter attack of Muslim
rebels, and he died in battle [Jing 1991:125–128; Atwill 2005: 117–118].
22 His alias is Ma Xian 馬現. He was originally a powerful leader of the Yunnan Muslim
rebellion. He surrendered to the Qing dynasty together with his religious teacher Ma
Dexin in 1862 [Jing 1991: 132; Atwill 2005: 124]. Afterward, he earnestly cooperated
with the Qing army to suppress the Yunnan Muslim rebellion, thus fighting in various
battles. In 1871, he crushed Dadonggou, the last headquarter of the Yunnan Jahrīya[Chou 1993: 175–180; Jing 1991: 145, 217–218].
23 Yang Xianzhi served Ma Rulong as a commanding officer of his Muslim army, andsurrendered together with his boss to the Qing dynasty. When the large army of Du
Wenxiu sieged Kunming, where the Yunnan provincial government of the Qing dynasty
was placed, Yang Xianzhi went over to the Muslim rebel side. However, he soon
surrendered to the Qing army again. He followed Ma Rulong in his siege of Dadongou,
and died in this battle [Wang Shuhuai 1968: 264, 266, 280; Jing 1991: 217]. The poem’s
juxtaposition of Yang Xianzhi and Ma Chenglin as those who especially hated thebetrayal of Ma Rulong against his coreligionists does not seem historically accurate.
24 Maweilang is an unknown animal. According to Lu [1994: 36, 453], the government of
Yongde 永德 prefecture in Yunnan province decided to exterminate Maweilangs asvermin because they had often attacked inhabitants and their domestic animals during
1962–65 as a result of excessive deforestation.
21－ 202 －

Every well was full of corpses, and dead bodies were piled on every road.
Ma Chenglin, Ma Chenglin! You are the flagpole of Islam (Yisilan 伊斯蘭) withten thousand lengths.
[This is written] on the first day in the year of Guiyou [the twelfth year ofTongzhi emperor’s reign, or 1873] in the northern room of the Daying mosquein Xinxingzhou prefecture.
The three words underlined above do not match the date written at the end of thepoem.
First, the term Manqing appeared in Japan earlier, 25 but, in China,
probably started to be heard at the end of the Qing period, or later than Ma Dexin’s
lifetime. The term was employed to mention to the Qing dynasty as a target to be
overthrown by a national revolution that regains the “Chinese” territory for the Hannation from the alien conquest of the Manchus.26 In addition, after the Republican
For example, Nanjing Jishi 南京紀事, a memorandum about Taiping tianguo 太平天
國 written by Luo Sen 羅森, who came to Japan as a translator for the American
Commodore Matthew C. Perry, was published under the title of “Manshin Kiji 滿清紀事,”
probably in the Ansei 安政 years (1854–1859) [Masuda 1979: 293–313]. Also, Fukuzawa
Yukichi 福沢諭吉, in Bunmeiron no gairyaku 文明論の概略, volume 1, Chapter 2, firstpublished in 1875, writes that “National Essence of China (中華の国体)” was derived by
Manshin 滿清 [Fukuzawa 1995: 42]. According to Fukuzawa [1995: 40], “the Kokutai of
China” refers to the distinct nationality form of a race.
26 For example, Sun Yetsen’s “Bo baohuang baoshu 駁保皇報書,” published in 1904,
contends as follows:
We must first drive off the foreign emperor (Kedi 客帝) and take our dominion
back, and it is not until then that we can be exempted from a cession of Shangdong
by a sign of treaty today and a sale of Liangguang 兩廣 by another sign of loan
agreement tomorrow. The Manqing government not only sold [a domain of] us bysigns of treaties and loan agreements but also present it for foreigners after
pacifying it. As for Xin’an 新安 prefecture and the Bey of Guangzhou where suchsituation has already been realized, if the Manqing government had not donethings like helping [evil foreigners compared to] Jie 傑 to oppress the subjects,
our people would have still gained facilities to perform necessary works [to stop
the cession or sale of domain] and been able to stake their lives and sacrificethemselves for their homeland (sangzi 桑梓); thus, if those foreigners had known
that they cannot gain an inch of our land without efforts because our people would
not give it readily, they would have still been cautious against their last which isinsatiable. Now, if the Manqing government become a dog and falcon for [gamesof territorial encroachment], those foreigners will have facilities to deprive us of
our territory when they want to take it. Therefore, if we hope to save ourselvesfrom foreigners’ dividing and taking China (guafen 瓜分), we must overthrow the
Manchurian government (滿洲政府), except for which, there is no remedy for thesituation [Guangdongsheng 1981–86, I: 234].
25－ 203 －

period, the same term continued to impart the invalidity of the Qing dynasty, thelegitimacy of the Xinhai Revolution, and the resistances of peoples against the Qing
feudalistic rule.27
For example, the article “the Hui Nation and revision of the Qing history (回族革命與改編清史),” published by Shawan Nüshi 沙婉女士 in the Chinese Muslim
periodical Yisilan Qingnian 伊斯蘭青年 (Islamic Youth), vol.2 no.10, in1936, statesthat numerous published histories of the Qing dynasty adopt the expression “Muslim
rebellion” from “the standpoint of the emperors of Manqing ;” instead, we should callit a “revolution.” In addition, the author of the article resents histories written
during the Qing period that describe Muslims as militant and brutal and says: “It is
to be hated that people in the old times were very stupid. Why do people still
deliberately engender interethnic animosity between Muslims and non-Muslims,
provoked by the emperors of Manqing?” [Sha 2015: 371–372]
Moreover, Huihui minzu wenti 回 回 民 族 問 題 (the Problem of Muslim

Nation), which Liu Chun 劉春 published under Chinese communist control in 1941
at Yan’an 延安, uses the title “Manqing : The Hui Nation in the most dark era whennations were locked in the prison (Zui hei’an de minzu laoyu shidai de Huizu 最暗黒的民族牢獄時代的回族)” for Chapter 2, Section 2. This section assesses Muslim
rebellions during the Qing period as revolutions or anti-feudal struggles of the people[Liu 2005: 518–521].28
Second, the wording “for the sake of the nation” also reminds us of theChinese nationalist manner of speaking, which gained prominence in the 1890s, orthe end of the Qing period [Onogawa 2009–2010, II: 261–262; Yoshizawa 2003: 14–
16, 27–34, 87–90, 159–164]. By this wording, the anonymous author of the poem
probably intended to implicate Ma Shenglin’s resistance against the Qing dynasty ina liberation war for the “Chinese nation,” or the subversion of the alien and

The government of the People’s Republic of China prohibited the use of this term in
1956 with an official order by the State Council because it causes discomfort ofManchurians and destroys of the solidarity of nations [Shou 2008: 338, 343 (n. 26)].
28 The developing process from Ma Mingxin’s missionary work to the rebellions of the
Jahrīya are noted as a struggle against feudal exploitations from landowners andexisting Sufi orders in alliance with the despotic feudalism of the Qing dynasty thatchanged into fights against the Manqing rule [Liu 2005: 519 (the original page: 28)]. In
addition, Liu writes that the Muslim rebellions in Yunnan and the Northwest in thesecond half of the nineteenth century were excellent as “revolutions” of “the anti-alienrule” because old and new sects united for their movements, but that these revolutions
failed because the upper classes of the Han people worked as Manqing’s instrument andfueled antagonism between the Hui Muslims and the Han masses [Liu 2005: 520 (theoriginal page: 32)].
27－ 204 －

feudalistic rule of the Qing dynasty for the purpose of constructing the Nation-state
and resisting the Western imperialism. This patriotic concept was idealized notduring Ma Dexin’s lifetime, but after it.
Third, the Chinese transcription of Islām into Yisilan started to gain
popularity after the Republican period. Thus, it does not seem to belong to the age of
Ma Dexin. For example, Ma Dexin’s almost contemporary Hui scholar, Lan Xu 藍煦,in Volume 3, Chapters 6 and 11, of his Chinese work Tianfang zhengxue 天方正學
(Right Learning in Arab), a preface to which he wrote in 1852, phonetically renders

Islām into Yisilüemu 以 斯 略 穆 [Lan 2007: 260, 266]. “Jiaomen lun 教 門 論(Comment on Religion),” one of Arifu’s commentaries on Ma Dexin’s Zhutian dazan
mentioned above, uses the Chinese spelling of Yisili’amo 一斯立阿模 [Arifu 2005:
557 (the original folio: 21a)]. As for Ma Dexin, for example, Chaojin tuji 朝覲途記(Travelog of Pilgrimage), the Chinese version of his travelog of his trip around the
Middle East, which was translated under his supervision by his disciple from theoriginal Arabic text, transcribes Islāmbūl into Yisilamubu 易思喇母布 [Ma Dexin
1861: 10a]（or Yisilamubule 易思喇母布勒 [Ma Dexin 2007: 699（the original folio:9b）］）. Islāmbūl (full of Islam), an alias of Istanbul, is comprised of Islām + būl. In
short, the travelog transcribes Islām into Yisilamu. In addition, Zhinan yaoyan 指
南要言 (Summarize of Compass), which Ma Dexin edited by summarizing Ma Zhu
馬注 (d. after 1710)’s Qingzhen zhinan 清真指南 (Compass of Islam), spells Islām

Yisilüemu 以思略目 [Ma Dexin 1864, II: 22b] and Yisilamu 以思喇目 [Ma Dexin
1864, II: 31b, 32a], following the original text [Ma Zhu 1989: 156, 170]. In this way,Islām was transliterated with four or five Chinese characters during the Qing period.
Meanwhile, the spelling Yisilan was used in the first issue of the Chinese
Muslim periodical Zhongguo huijiao xuehui yuekan 中國回敎學會月刊 (for example,[Shouyu 1926: 9]), with the English title “the China Muslim,” published by Zhongguo
Huijiao Xuehui 中國回敎學會, or the China Muslim Literary Society in 1926. This
society was organized in 1925 in Shanghai by Ha Decheng 哈德成 (d. 1943) andothers. It seems that Yisilan became popular around this time.
This trend is confirmed by Wang Jingzhai 王靜齋 (d. 1949)’s articles on the
Chinese Muslim periodical Mingde yuekan 明德月刊 (Belief Monthly), which was
published by Tianjin Huijiao Lianhehui 天津回敎聯合會 (Federation of Associationsfor Muslims). He exclusively calls Islam “Huijiao 回敎” in his articles, including an“Additional report on an unprecedented great meeting (追述天方空前之大會議)” in
the fourth issue of the same periodical, published February 1, 1925 [Wang Jingzhai
1925a]. Then, he applies Yisilam 以斯拉目 for Islām in his Chinese translation of－ 205 －

an Arabic romance, “Young woman Teng’ao (籐媼女郎),” published in serial form in
the fifth issue of the following month [Wang Jingzhai 1925b: 18]. In addition, he
renders Islām into Yisilan 以斯蘭 in his Chinese translation of an Arabic biographyof the Prophet Zhisheng Mumode shilüe 至聖 穆 黙 德 史 略 (Brief history of the

Ultimate Sage Muḥammad), in an appendix to the same issue [Wang Jingzhai 1925c:5], and in a sequel of “Teng’ao nülang” published in the eighth issue in November
1925 [Wang Jingzhai 1925d: 16]. Eventually, he transcribed Islām into Yisilan 伊斯蘭in his articles including “Muḥammad ʻAlī and recently published English

translations of the Qur’ān (穆罕黙德阿禮與近年刊行的英譯古蘭經),” carried in theeleventh issue in August 1927 [Wang Wenqing 1927: 7–8].
These out-of-place expressions imply that the poem in question wascomposed by someone later than Ma Dexin under his name. It is highly possible thatthe anonymous poet was a person involved with the Jahrīya who tried to reconcile
differences between his denominational fellows and the followers of Ma Dexin bycreating a past in which the authoritative and severe Hui scholar applauded a leaderof the Sufi order.
Conclusion
As discussed in this study, Ma Dexin’s criticism of the veneration of saints intensified
the antagonism between his followers and the Jahrīya, while aiming for the cessationof the Yunnan Muslim rebellion or the settlement of the hostility between the Huisand Hans. It is remarkable that the two sectarian rivals among Hui Muslims
respectively contrived to legitimize themselves by displaying their conformity with
Confucianism. Thereby, they mutually presented their enemies as hazardous to nonMuslims as well as Muslims and as a threat to the friendship between the believersof different religions. In these cases, the coreligionist competitors shared the ideathat they should maintain a peaceful relationship between the Huis and Hans, anidea that justified and reinforced their attacks on each other. In other words, thetension between Muslims and non-Muslims, or the former’s inclination to mitigate
it, sometimes deepened the gaps among the Hui people.
Actually, Hui Muslims have repeated the mode of confrontation where someostentatiously took the Confucian side to oppose others. For example, Hui scholars
such as Wang Daiyu 王岱輿 (active during the mid-seventeenth century) and Ma
Zhu 29 might rather have strived to drive out inner heresies among Muslims on

29

According to Ma Zhu’s Qingzhen zhinan, volume 10, “Zuodao tongxiao 左道通 曉－ 206 －

purpose to accommodate non-Muslims’ good understanding of Islam [Horiike 2012:
122–141, 371–373; Lipman 1997: 81]. Besides, in factional quarrels between the
Jahrīya and another Sufi order, the Huasi 華寺, in Northwest China, both sets ofadherents sued each other in the local governments of the Qing dynasty for antiConfucian heresy, or disturbance of the Chinese social order. These suits developed
into violent clashes between litigants and the rebellion of the Jahrīya against the
Qing dynasty, which had a negative influence on the relationship between the Huisand Hans [Lipman 1997: 91; 1999].
However, the Hui people’s common mental attitude toward the avoidance offrictions with non-Muslims worked in attempts to dissolve the enmities between
Muslims. The poem Lao Talang narrates that Ma Dexin admired Ma Shenglin fromthe viewpoint of their common goal of overthrowing Manqing, or the Manchurian
Qing dynasty, and contributing to the Chinese nation. The ode is designed tofacilitate a reconciliation between the followers of Ma Dexin and the Jahrīya by the
mistimed fiction that the former idealized a Sufi master of the latter, which is in linewith ideologies such as the national revolution, anti-imperialism, and anti-feudalism.
The same ode is also plotted to indicate that the Hui people are the allies of the Hanpeople, sharing the ideologies that were valued by Chinese society after the end of
the Qing period. Putting it differently, in the harmonious coexistence with the Hanpeople, or the basic strategy for the survival of Hui Muslims, the poet found a pointof agreement between the followers of Ma Dexin and the Jahrīya and utilized it to
mediate between the Muslim antagonists.
Thus, there have been complicated connections between the inner conflicts
and compromises among Hui Muslims on the one hand, and the tensions andreconciliations between the Huis and Hans on the other hand. Indeed, the struggleof Hui Muslims to adapt Islam to Chinese society are historical experiences worth
consulting to facilitate intercultural dialogues in the present age of globalization.
However, the experiences warn us against blindly praising such adjustments ofIslam by Muslim minorities to the host society without any understanding of the(Being acquainted with heresy),” Muslim inhabitants at Wuding-fu 武定府 in Yunnan
province, represented by him, sued Qalandars (Gelandai 格蘭岱) to the local government,
and succeeded in having the latter suppressed the former. A letter that Muslims of
Wuding-fu wrote to ask Ma Zhu to exterminate the Qalandars condemns this group as
ones who “nullified the great ethical norms, destroyed the laws of the state, and drew
the right path of Islam into an evil road.” [Ma Zhu 1989: 420]. Ma Zhu’s report to the
local government appeals that the suppression of the Qalandars amounts to venerate
and meet the present emperor’s respectful attitude to the right learning [Ma Zhu 1989:422].

－ 207 －

ideal approach to build a harmonious multicultural society.30 In future studies on
Hui Muslims, we should pay more attention to the historical contexts and social side
effects of their intellectual efforts.
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