Sufis, Sufism, and Conversion Narratives

Chapter 2 bridges the gradualist with the populist phase of Islamization later in this book. It considers the emotive and mystical dimensions of the infusion and reception of Islam among the Malays. It explains how the Sufis gained Muslim converts through spiritual and cultural means. The Sufis employed wayang kulit (shadow puppet plays), dikir barat (lyrical verse debate), folk tales, religious stories, magic, and other forms of mystical arts as Islamizing tools. We then transition to what Tijana Krstić termed as “Islamic tradition of conversion narratives” found in Malay hikayat texts inspired by Sufi and mystical themes. These narratives are valuable in helping us understand how early Malay Muslims made sense of and sought to explain the significance of their conversion to Islam as a means to persuade the wider society to adopt the new faith. Sufi and mystical themes served another function: they masked underlying pragmatic and strategic motives that prompted Malay elites to accept Islam in the age of the expansion of Islamic empires.