Malay Text Reception among Sufi Orders in West Java: A Study on Wawacan Layang Siti Hasanah

Abstract

The article discusses the active reception of Malay texts among members of the Qadiriyah wa Naqshabandiyah (TQN) Sufi order in West Java. It focuses on the text entitled Wawacan Layang Siti Hasanah. The TQN members adapted the Malay Cerita Siti Hasanah and turned it into a wawacan, a narrative text in Javanese verse specific to West Java, from as early as 1792 up to the early 20th century. This article discusses the various TQN members’ reception of the Malay hikayat (tales) from the end of the 18th century until the 20th century. Using a literary reception and literary anthropology analysis approach to the Wawacan Layang Siti Hasanah, the analysis found that the text functioned as a didactic text to teach women that they must always obey their husbands. It also contains several Sufi values such as ma’rifa (mystical knowledge of the Godhead) and Nūr Muḥammad (the essence of Muhammad). This article will also show that in the process of adapting the story to their wishes, the TQN members in West Java also turned it into a wawacan and changed the way it was used among the members of the Sufi orders and pesantren (Islamic boarding school) communities.