الرحلةThe Journey

محمد نووي البنتني

Nawawi al-Bantani (RH)

Muhammad Nawawi al-Bantani

Also known as: Nawawi Banten, Syeikh Nawawi al-Bantani, Sayyid Ulama al-Hijaz, Imam Nawawi Banten

c. 1230–1314 AH · c. 1813–1897 CE

Fiqh Shafi'i Sufism

Banten-born scholar of Makkah whose commentaries are still the core of the pesantren syllabus.

Nawawi al-Bantani was born in Tanara in Banten, west Java, and went to Makkah as a youth. After some years teaching at home he returned to Makkah for good and lived in the quarter of Shi'b 'Ali, where students from across the Malay world gathered around him. He was known as Sayyid 'Ulama' al-Hijaz, the master of the scholars of the Hijaz.

He wrote more than a hundred works in Arabic: a Quran commentary, Marah Labid, and clear commentaries on short texts of Shafi'i law, belief and Sufism, such as Nihayat al-Zayn and Maraqi al-'Ubudiyyah on al-Ghazali's Bidayat al-Hidayah. These books are still read in the pesantren of Indonesia and the pondok of Malaysia and Patani, and many of the next generation of archipelago scholars studied with him.

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Life journey

  1. c. 1813 CE Banten بنتن
    Born in Tanara, in the Banten region of west Java.
  2. 1828 CE Makkah مكة
    Went to Makkah at about fifteen; the years of his travels are approximate.
  3. 1831 CE Banten بنتن
    Returned home for some years and taught in Banten.
  4. 1855 CE Makkah مكة
    Died 1897 CE · 1314 AH
    Settled in Makkah for the rest of his life and was buried at al-Ma'la.

Students

  • Hasyim Asy'ari (RH) 1871–1947 CE
    Hasyim Asy'ari is reported to have attended Nawawi al-Bantani's lessons during his years in Makkah.

Key works

  • Marah Labid مراح لبيد لكشف معنى القرآن المجيد
    The Abundant Pastures
    A Quran commentary in two volumes, also known as al-Tafsir al-Munir (1888).
  • Nihayat al-Zayn نهاية الزين في إرشاد المبتدئين
    The Utmost Adornment
    A commentary on Qurrat al-'Ayn, a primer of Shafi'i law, read in pesantren and pondok.
  • Maraqi al-'Ubudiyyah مراقي العبودية
    The Steps of Servanthood
    A commentary on al-Ghazali's Bidayat al-Hidayah.

Places in their life

The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
Photo: Adli Wahid (minor modifications by Basile Morin), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • C. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century (1931)
  • Martin van Bruinessen, Kitab Kuning, Pesantren dan Tarekat (1995)
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
Birth year varies between 1813 and 1815 (1230 AH is most common). The years he went to Makkah, returned to Banten and settled in Makkah again are approximate.