The Kedah Pages

                Next, let’s look at the religious atmosphere of the period for some other clues to prove that Sultan Abdul Hamid did practice Sufism, perhaps of a particular school, or at the very least that he was influenced by it.
                Kedah of the late 19th century saw the emergence of many religious centers, arranged in the form of communes. This “Pondok" style centers survive till today. According to one study, there were as many as 60 such centers in the 1850s and that almost all districts in Kedah had its own Pondok. Another interesting aspect was the close link between Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Acheh, Java, parts of Sumatera and Mecca in the development of these schools. It was common to find religious figures of one state to spend time and teach in the schools of other states before or after the completion of their studies in Mecca. One suspects that such dissemination was not altogether haphazard and that perhaps Mecca had a say in it. By this I mean the group of Teachers in Mecca at that time. This is an interesting possibility that merits further study.
               Inter-wined  with these developments was the diffusion of Sufism, the inner dimension of Islam and its related discipline called Tariqa (Arabic for “Path”, “Method”, “Way”). This dimension is very much wedded with the outer aspect of the religion, called Sharia (“Law”) and as such its diffusion in 19th  century Kedah together with the already mentioned religious centers was seen as something natural and mainstream. In stark contrast, Sufism today is seen as an aberration and viewed with a lot of suspicion by the religious authorities.
                In 1906, a young man returned to Kedah from a 17 years sojourn in Mecca. This man, Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek, was related to Sultan Abdul Hamid on his mother’s side. In Mecca Wan Sulaiman  studied under various Teachers, the Arabic language, Quran, Hadiths (Sayings and Acts of the Prophet ; their transmission), Usuluddin (Fundamentals of the way of life) and  Fiqh (Jurisprudence) in addition to Astronomy.  In Astronomy he studied under a famous Teacher, Sheikh Muhammad Khayat. In the last 3 years of his stay in Mecca, Wan Sulaiman engaged in Sufi spiritual discipline under Sheikh Fakir Muhammad Al-Bukhari and received the Bai’ah (pledge) into the Naqshabandiyah Mujaddiyah Ahmadiyah Sufi Order. He was also appointed by the said Teacher as the 34th Khalifah (Representative) of the Order. This information is relevant for our discussion. Being a Khalifah, Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek was authorised to teach and guide students in Sufism. I would like to propose that the source of the Sultan’s Sufi influence was derived from this man.
                During his study in Mecca, Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek was in the same study circle of  Sheikh Abdullah Fahim (the Mufti of Penang), Haji Yusuf Awang (Tok Kenali) and Sheikh Muhammad Said (Linggi, Negri Sembilan) and according to one source befriended Tuan Hussain Nasir Ibni Muhammad Taib Al-Masudi Al-Banjari, with whom a controversy arose in 1929. These individuals were also known to be Sufis.                  
                On his return to Kedah, Wan Sulaiman was appointed by the State Council as Qadi. In 1910 he was promoted to the position of Grand Qadi and in due course the position of Sheikhul Islam. In this capacity he was responsible for the administration of religious laws in the state. In addition Wan Sulaiman taught in the Zahir mosque and in the Madrasah at Limbong Kapal. It was said that he taught Sufism quite openly and conducted night vigils (Arabic “Tawajjuh”) in the Zahir mosque. This openness was criticized by Tuan Hussain Nasir who was of the opinion that Sufism should only be taught to persons with the capacity to understand. Wan Sulaiman wrote many books including on the Naqshabandi Order. At least one book on the Order was written at the request of Tunku Mahmud.
                 Sufism then, was very much alive in Kedah, propagated at the highest religious position and supported openly by Tunku Mahmud and the Sultan. It would seem highly improbable that the Sultan was altogether impervious to this development and not affected by it given his inclination for Zikr.
                 Wan Sulaiman was refered in passing by many a writer as the “Teacher” of Sultan Abdul Hamid on account of the fact that he was appointed as the religious Teacher to the royal household. I propose that this relationship was more than ordinary. It was a Master-Disciple relationship in the highest Sufi tradition. 
                 Wan Sulaiman passed away in 1935 and was interred at the Langgar Royal mausoleum. Eight years later, his pupil, the Sultan followed suit and was buried besides his Teacher.

Salim (September 2004).