Rocky Sufism. Dzikir Samman, Tanjung Mangsit, Lombok, Indonesia
When I'm up here on the bluff of Tanjung Mangsit I usually see only a Fodder Cutter. But today I was in for a Nice Surprise. I heard voices and looking down on the bare rocks from between the Pandans and Scaevolas, I saw a large gathering of ritually clad Lombokians. Of course they spied me.
Climbed down to talk with them as far as my limited Bahasa and their non-English allows...
These people come from the village of Sayang-Sayang (= more or less: Loving Kindness, at least Love-Love), just north of Cakranegara, the site of the horrible puputan of November 1894. They were here for an outing to enjoy the Dzikir Samman. I was delighted when someone said: 'yes, this is an Old Dance and it comes to us from Aceh, Sumatra.' Indeed!
'Dzikir' (various transliterations from the Arabic) in Islam means the prayerful act of remembrance of Allah, often in a repetition leading to a trance or mystical experience. It came into Sufism and had a long development there when it was also incorporated into communal chant and dance, e.g. of the amazing Dancing Derwishes of Konya, Turkey.
I was grateful that my spokesman had mentioned Aceh and wished I'd been able to understand more. But I recalled that the great Dutch oriental scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) - who converted (including circumcision) to Islam for a time to enter Mecca, forbidden to non-Muslims - writes about Dzikir Sammân in his important seminal study on the culture of Aceh. He doesn't regard the dance or its music highly, equating the latter with noise and kettle music. But he writes that 'Samman' derives from the name of a Sufi Mystic from Medina, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Samman (1718-1775). There's a fine article by Martin van Bruinessen (1994) that traces the historical influence of the miracle-working Sufi and his music (râtib) in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, which apparently also helped foster anti-colonial feeling against the Dutch. In 1992 G.W.J. Drewes writes importantly about Samman's biography.
The dance - the women left, men on the right - on the Briny Rocks began, and it was fascinating and elegant! Too bad the traditional 'real' drumming lacked; there was a mere loudspeaker with the necessary music.
But the dancing alone nearly put me into a trance on this Monsoon day.
... and look at those bare feet on the sharp rocks!
Rocky Sufism. Dzikir Samman, Tanjung Mangsit, Lombok, Indonesia
When I'm up here on the bluff of Tanjung Mangsit I usually see only a Fodder Cutter. But today I was in for a Nice Surprise. I heard voices and looking down on the bare rocks from between the Pandans and Scaevolas, I saw a large gathering of ritually clad Lombokians. Of course they spied me.
Climbed down to talk with them as far as my limited Bahasa and their non-English allows...
These people come from the village of Sayang-Sayang (= more or less: Loving Kindness, at least Love-Love), just north of Cakranegara, the site of the horrible puputan of November 1894. They were here for an outing to enjoy the Dzikir Samman. I was delighted when someone said: 'yes, this is an Old Dance and it comes to us from Aceh, Sumatra.' Indeed!
'Dzikir' (various transliterations from the Arabic) in Islam means the prayerful act of remembrance of Allah, often in a repetition leading to a trance or mystical experience. It came into Sufism and had a long development there when it was also incorporated into communal chant and dance, e.g. of the amazing Dancing Derwishes of Konya, Turkey.
I was grateful that my spokesman had mentioned Aceh and wished I'd been able to understand more. But I recalled that the great Dutch oriental scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) - who converted (including circumcision) to Islam for a time to enter Mecca, forbidden to non-Muslims - writes about Dzikir Sammân in his important seminal study on the culture of Aceh. He doesn't regard the dance or its music highly, equating the latter with noise and kettle music. But he writes that 'Samman' derives from the name of a Sufi Mystic from Medina, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Samman (1718-1775). There's a fine article by Martin van Bruinessen (1994) that traces the historical influence of the miracle-working Sufi and his music (râtib) in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, which apparently also helped foster anti-colonial feeling against the Dutch. In 1992 G.W.J. Drewes writes importantly about Samman's biography.
The dance - the women left, men on the right - on the Briny Rocks began, and it was fascinating and elegant! Too bad the traditional 'real' drumming lacked; there was a mere loudspeaker with the necessary music.
But the dancing alone nearly put me into a trance on this Monsoon day.
... and look at those bare feet on the sharp rocks!