عبد الصمد الفلمباني

'Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani (RH)

Also known as: Abdus Samad al-Falimbani, Abdul Samad al-Palimbani, Syeikh Abdus Samad Palembang

c. 1116–c. 1203 AH · c. 1704–c. 1789 CE

Sufism & Theology Shafi'i Sufism

Sufi scholar from Palembang who brought al-Ghazali's teaching into Malay.

'Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani was born in Palembang in Sumatra and spent most of his life in Makkah and Madinah. There he studied fiqh with Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Kurdi and Sufism with Muhammad al-Samman, together with his friend Arshad al-Banjari.

His best-known works are Malay renderings of al-Ghazali: Hidayat al-Salikin, based on Bidayat al-Hidayah, and Sayr al-Salikin, a four-volume adaptation of the Ihya'. They became among the most widely read Sufi books in the Malay world and are still taught. He also wrote to rulers in Java urging them to resist the Dutch, and he taught many students from the archipelago.

Open on the map →

Life journey

c. 1704 CE Palembang فلمبانج
1725 CE Makkah مكة
Died c. 1789 CE · c. 1203 AH
Spent most of his life in Makkah and Madinah; the year he left Palembang is approximate, and the place of his death is not known for certain.

Teachers

Muhammad al-Kurdi (RH) 1715–1780 CE
Al-Palimbani studied fiqh with al-Kurdi in Madinah.
Muhammad al-Samman (RH) 1718–1775 CE
Al-Palimbani was one of al-Samman's leading Malay disciples and helped spread the Sammaniyyah.

Students

Daud al-Fatani (RH) c. 1769–c. 1847 CE
Dawud al-Fatani studied with al-Palimbani in Makkah, the senior Malay scholar there in his youth.

Key works

Hidayat al-Salikin هداية السالكين
Guidance for the Travellers
A Malay work based on al-Ghazali's Bidayat al-Hidayah (1778).
Sayr al-Salikin سير السالكين
The Journey of the Travellers
A four-volume Malay adaptation of al-Ghazali's Ihya' (1779–1788).

Places in their life

Sources

Azyumardi Azra, The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia (2004)
G. W. J. Drewes, Directions for Travellers on the Mystic Path (1977)

Draft, awaiting scholarly review.

Dates uncertain: born c. 1704 (some say 1116 AH); his last dated work is from 1789. A later report that he died fighting in Patani in 1828 is doubted by most historians.