P.J. Zoetmulder, Pantheism and Monism in Javanese Suluk Literature. Islamic and Indian Mysticism in an Indonesian Setting. Edited and translated by M. C. Ricklefs. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1995. KITLV Translation Series 24. xvii, 381pp. Index.

This substantial volume focuses upon suluks, or Javanese verse works concerning religious subjects composed subsequent to the Old Javanese literary era. Professor Ricklefs, the translator and editor, has added an important element to scholarship on Javanese Islam by making available to English readers this magisterial study of monism and pantheism in Javanese suluk literature undertaken by P.J. Zoetmulder for his PhD in the early 1930s. As the translator comments, the original thesis was "difficult for all but a handful of scholars to make full use of...", owing to its being written in Dutch but, more significantly, because it drew on an unusual assortment of texts in various languages, the scope of which few scholars were able to master.

Yet the erudition of Zoetmulder’s scholarship is both its strength and its weakness. At times the work is almost unreadable, with continuous cross-references to various scholarly comments in diverse languages. Admittedly, translations into English are provided, but the inclusion of the original quotations in the main body of the work clutters it up quite considerably. It demonstrates that the price paid for scholarly erudition is often user-friendliness and accessibility to any but the most gifted polyglot.

Having said that, it should nevertheless be stated in the strongest terms that the work is a mine of valuable information. Those who are able to come to grips with the contents will emerge much wiser and more learned from the experience, especially so because Zoetmulder’s research provides windows into such diverse areas of scholarship. It would be useful to provide a brief summary of some of the main research findings recorded in this work.

In the first three chapters, Zoetmulder provides an important introduction to the notions of pantheism and monism within Islam. These two phenomena are distinguished in a most effective manner by the author by relating them to God: in pantheism, the world is seen to merge with God, or to become part of God’s being, whereas in monism God merges with the world (p3). Zoetmulder points out, however, that both phenomena have their roots in the tenet of the oneness of all Being; he suggests that in order to assess whether a particular doctrine is pantheist or monist, one should determine whether the starting point is the world or God. An examination of three prominent Islamic mystics – al-Hallaj, al-Ghazali and Ibn al-`Arabi – leads to some interesting conclusions, namely that al-Hallaj was in fact neither heretic nor pantheist nor monist; the union of God and mankind as he conceived it was "a wonderfully close one, but there is no question of achieving identification" (p36). Thus even in his most advanced form of mystical ecstasy, al-Hallaj still envisaged a broader context of dualistic separation between Creator and creature. Al-Ghazali, famous for his role in cementing Sufism within Islamic orthodoxy by reinforcing the essential separation between Creator and creature in Sufi teaching, avoids any accusations of being pantheist or monist. Ibn al-`Arabi, however, does not escape so lightly, and Zoetmulder demonstrates through an examination of his teachings that the great 12th century Spanish mystic was monist to the core (p46). Zoetmulder then undertakes a valuable excursion into Hinduism to demonstrate the home grown nature of pantheism and monism within that faith in India and to show the influence of magic on the Indian monism of the Upanishads.

Zoetmulder’s no-nonsense style of identifying particular doctrines and mystics as orthodox or heterodox will seem dated to the modern reader. Modern scholarship has tended to blur the lines, especially in the context of post-modernist thinking which sees virtually any doctrine as valid within its own context, and which retreats from assigning labels of right, wrong, good, bad, mainstream or fringe. The flavour of 1930s scholarly thinking evident in Zoetmulder’s style will irritate some readers. However others will find it a refreshing change from those post-modernist approaches which flee from some of the hardest challenges, such as defining orthodoxy, heresy, truth and falsehood.

Chapters IV-XII address the Javanese context which is the principal focus of the work. The discussion in these chapters is based upon a considerable number of excerpts from various works of Javanese suluk literature. The most frequently quoted is the Centini, but there are also valuable segments presented from other texts such as the Seh Bari text, Suluk Samsu Tabarit, Suluk Kadis and the Serat Siti Jenar. The variety of the texts quoted accounts for the diverse and, at times, conflicting themes and doctrines identified within these texts.

Zoetmulder concludes that, by and large, the Seh Bari text is not pantheist. He demonstrates that the work maintains a clear distance between Creator and creature, and though the relationship between the two is viewed in the work from the perspective of the mystical experience, this does not lead to identification of the two as one. In examining certain segments from the Centini, he reaches the same conclusion. Yet both are to be viewed as lying on the boundaries of orthodoxy, and Zoetmulder adds that they come close to being pantheist, saying that "immanence is so pressing that a feeling of oneness arises, but the quality of this oneness cannot be expressed" (p95).

An important aspect of the mystical experience in Javanese suluk literature relates to the doctrine of seven grades, which the author terms "emanationism". Various Javanese texts are used to demonstrate the seven grades of Sufi experience, and important parallels in Indian Sufism and that of Ibn al-`Arabi are drawn. Zoetmulder makes the important point that the emanation doctrine had great appeal to Javanese Muslims because of their penchant for doctrines which are pragmatic and which could be used as a practical means to achieve mystical ecstasy. Texts from the Centini are used to demonstrate this.

There are, however, clear examples within suluk literature which demonstrate radical monist doctrines and which Zoetmulder claims fall outside the bounds of orthodoxy. He presents certain segments from the Suluk Samsu Tabarit, arguing that in them mankind seems to displace God. These texts often reject and ridicule a legalistic approach to religion, tend to portray good works as of little benefit, and encourage neglect of the obligatory duties of orthodox Islam (p230). The figure of Lebe Lontang is advanced as an example of an ecstatic who intentionally behaves in a manner contrary to the norms of orthodox Islamic practice and shows contempt for the Qur’an and prayer. This approach is also shown to be evident in certain writings ascribed to the Javanese saints (walis) who are credited with having brought Islam to Java. In certain Siti Jenar stories, for example, this figure manifests certain radical doctrines, rejecting Islamic law and showing himself to be unambiguously monist in orientation. Zoetmulder draws parallels with similar radical tendencies among some Hindu mystics.

This English edition of Zoetmulder’s thesis is a necessary addition to the library of readers interested in Sufism and/or Southeast Asia. Readers should not be dissuaded by the fact that the work was composed over sixty years ago. Those elements which appear dated are greatly outweighed by the overall character of the book, which ably demonstrates the vast breadth of scholarship of Zoetmulder and his generation, and which provides a fascinating excursion into classical and pre-modern Islam, as well as the Arab, Indian and Javanese Islamic minds.

Peter G. Riddell

This review was published in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 60/2 (1997), 408-409.