An Analysis of the Thoughts of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Mandili on Morals
The objective of this study is to analyze the thoughts of Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Mandili (1910-1965), a renowned scholar in Southeast Asia, regarding morals. He was born in Mandailing in North Sumatra and was actively involved in learning and teaching ‘ulum al-Islamiyyah at Masjidil Haram in Mecca around the years 1936-1965. al-Mandili wrote a book on morality called Healers for the Hearts (Penawar Bagi Hati). In it he discussed issues regarding several aspects of good and bad morals. This paper demonstrates the author’s originality of thoughts and sources of reference. An analysis and comparative literature review were conducted on the primary sources referred to by al-Mandili, as well as the secondary sources that were written in this field by other scholars. This presentation illustrates that al-Mandili’s thoughts on morals can be categorized into spiritual (batiniyyah) and physical (lahiriyyah) behaviors, involving characteristics of moral and immoral behavior. al-Mandili referred substantially to the works of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111), such as Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din, al-Minhaj al-Abidin and Arba‘in fi Usul al-Din, to express moral concepts in his own book. It was not unusual for the clergy (‘ulamã’) and people in Southeast Asia at that time—particularly in Malaya, Indonesia, Brunei, southern Philippines, southern Thailand and Cambodia—to refer to works of al-Ghazali since he was famed for his writings in the field of morals and his works had established a strong foothold in the region. Upon examination of the conformance of al-Mandili’s book with the Quran and sunnah, this study will present several critiques.
Biography
Ramli Bin Awang graduated from University Kebangsaan Malaysia in the field of Islamic Studies (usuludin and philosophy). He is currently a Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Islamic Civilization, UTM. He has published several book in the fields of Theology and Islamic Thought, with special reference to the Malay world.