Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Encyclopedia
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri (also transliterated Nur ud-Din ar-Raniri, died 1658) was an Islam
ic scholar from Gujarat, India
, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia
. He was the most prolific of the authors of the Acehnese court, and helped contribute to its international reputation as a center of scholarship.
Ar-Raniri was born into a Gujarati family of Hadhrami lineage. He arrived in Aceh in 1637 and enjoyed the patronage of Iskandar Thani
(reigned 1636-1641). He denounced his predecessors at the Acehnese court, Hamzah Pansuri and Syamsuddin of Pasai, for what he saw as their heresy in violation of the Islamic belief that God was unchanged by his creation. He ordered their books to be burned, while he wrote numerous works setting what he insisted were orthodox religious standards.
His most notable work was the Bustan as-Salatin ("The Garden of Kings"), begun in 1638 and written in Malay
based on Arabic
sources. It is a seven-volume encyclopedic work, covering the history of the world from the creation through the period of prophets of Islam and the Muslim kings of the Middle East and the Malay area, as well as several sciences.
Ar-Raniri's works were translated into other Indonesian languages, and had considerable influence in Malay literature. He lost favor with the court of Iskandar Thani's successor, his widow Taj ul-Alam
, and left Aceh in 1644, and died in India in 1658.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholar from Gujarat, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. He was the most prolific of the authors of the Acehnese court, and helped contribute to its international reputation as a center of scholarship.
Ar-Raniri was born into a Gujarati family of Hadhrami lineage. He arrived in Aceh in 1637 and enjoyed the patronage of Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda...
(reigned 1636-1641). He denounced his predecessors at the Acehnese court, Hamzah Pansuri and Syamsuddin of Pasai, for what he saw as their heresy in violation of the Islamic belief that God was unchanged by his creation. He ordered their books to be burned, while he wrote numerous works setting what he insisted were orthodox religious standards.
His most notable work was the Bustan as-Salatin ("The Garden of Kings"), begun in 1638 and written in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
based on Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
sources. It is a seven-volume encyclopedic work, covering the history of the world from the creation through the period of prophets of Islam and the Muslim kings of the Middle East and the Malay area, as well as several sciences.
Ar-Raniri's works were translated into other Indonesian languages, and had considerable influence in Malay literature. He lost favor with the court of Iskandar Thani's successor, his widow Taj ul-Alam
Taj ul-Alam
Ratu Safiatuddin Taj ul-Alam was the fourteenth sultana of Aceh. She was the daughter of the sultan Iskandar Muda and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani, who became sultan upon the death of her husband...
, and left Aceh in 1644, and died in India in 1658.
Further reading
- Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. Raniri and the Wujudiyyah of 17th century Aceh. Singapore: Monographs of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, no. 3, 1966.
- G.W.J. Drewes. "Nur al-Din al-Raniri's charge of heresy against Hamzah and Shamsuddin from an international point of view." Pp. 54-9 in C.D. Grijns and S.O. Robson (eds.). Cultural contact and textual interpretation: Papers from the fourth European colloquium on Malay and Indonesian studies, held in Leiden in 1983. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol. 115. Dordrecht and Cinnaminson: Foris Publications, 1986.
- Takeshi Ito. "Why did Nuruddin ar-Raniri leave Aceh in 1054 A.H.?" Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol. 134, no. 4 (1978), pp. 489-491.