Spiritual and Professional Motivation of Indonesian Academics Entering the Shattāriyah Sufi Order

Abstract

Shattāriyah is one of the 46 tarīqa (Sufi order) in Indonesia that are mu'tabarah (Sahīh, straight, valid), which attracts academics from major cities, including Bandung. Questions such as (1) Why are academics interested in joining this Sufism? (2) Are they only motivated spiritually? and (3) Does professional development conflict with the concept of zuhud and uzlah? have remained unanswered. Therefore, this study aims to explore the spiritual and professional motivations of Indonesian academics entering tarīqa Shattāriyah. This is qualitative research with data collected from five lecturers in Bandung through observation and in-depth interviews from May 2021 to April 2022. The results showed that respondents interpreted religion as being submissive to Wasitah, a Shaykh of Shattāriyah who the only successor of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH is. Spirituality development through mujāhadah under the guidance of Wasirah by combining the goodness of shari'a and haqīqa. All respondents had reached the mutawasit (intermediate) spirituality level, mutmainnah, and radhiyah stages, which are levels of spirituality far above most Shattāriyah citizens. Furthermore, in terms of professional motivation, they possessed zuhud and uzlah, which are high levels of professionalism.