Sullam al-Mustafidin : a ladder for the zealous

Abstract

Sullam al-Mustafidin is an anonymous Muslim treatise , a rendering into Malay of a work by Ibrahim al-Kurani(d, 1690 AD), entitled Al-Sharh al-Saghir. This latter work is an abridged edition of his own Qasd al-Sabil which is a prose commentary on a creed composed in verse by his teacher, Ahmad al-Qushashi (d. 1660 AD). This creed, Manzumat fi1-Tawbid provides the skeletal framework of the Sullam. The Malay rendering has been associated with Abdurra'uf of Singkel, who lived in Aceh during the 17th century. This thesis is an "edition" of the Sullam in Malay with quotations in Arabic. I have included brief background information and a translation of Chapters 1 to 7 inclusive, since the language of this section is rather specialised. It concerns the fundamental dogmatics of Islam, and may be of use to the student of Islamic theology. A detailed study of t he Manzumat and i t s commentaries, and of the subject matter of the Sullam, requires a broader frame of reference than a Master's thesis. Besides, the "editing" of manuscripts is a pre-requisite to fur ther devel opment in this field .