Shaykh al-Islām
Shaikh Randeri (Ar-Raniri) (Shaikh Nur ad-Deen Muhammad b. Ali b. Hasanji al-Hamid as-Shafi'i al-Ashari al-'Aydarusi ar-Randeri) was born into a Gujarati Muslim family of Hadhrami lineage, that was descended from Quraysh Arabian nobility. He arrived in Aceh in 1637 and enjoyed the patronage of Iskandar Thani (reigned 1636-1641) in quality of jurist consult (Arabic: "mufti") and later of the highest-ranking religious office of "Shaykh al-Islām". He denounced his predecessors at the Acehnese court, Hamzah Pansuri and Syamsuddin of Pasai, for what he saw as their heresy in violation of the Islamic belief that God was unchanged by his creation. He ordered their books to be burned, while he wrote numerous works setting what he insisted were orthodox religious standards.