Transnational Sufism and Anti-Colonial Resistance in Indonesia

Aji Deni

doi:10.20414/ujis.v30i1.2002

Aji Deni Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku Utara

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v30i1.2002

Keywords: Tariqa, Anti-Colonial Resistance, Transnational Sufism, Charismatic Authority, Rhizome Network

Abstract

This study addresses the limited scholarly attention devoted to the role of the tariqas in Indonesia's anti-colonial resistance, especially in scholarship on Sufism that treats its doctrinal and spiritual dimensions separately and fails to adequately account for its transnational networks. It aims to map the regional distribution of Sufi orders, analyze transnational connections, and uncover the political functions of tariqa networks in anti-colonial resistance against Dutch colonial rule in the 19th–20th centuries, considering that linking the organizational structures of cross-island tariqa networks with global Islamic centres. Drawing on Weber's theory of charismatic authority, Deleuze and Guattari's rhizome concept, Snow's frame alignment theory, the PRISMA-guided systematic literature review of 30 articles published between 2015-2025, the results show that four major Sufi orders—Qadiriyyah, Naqshbandiyyah, Syattariyyah, and Khalwatiyyah were connected to the Haramain, India, and Cairo through sanad and the hajj pilgrimage, through bonds of bai'at that created transcendental loyalty mobilized in the Java War, the Menteng War, and the Cilegon Rebellion. This research develops the concept of rhizomatic techno-spiritual agency to explain the dual capacity of Sufi organizations to simultaneously operate across spiritual and political domains.

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