Citing as a Site: Translation and circulation in Muslim South and Southeast Asia

Author(s): RONIT RICCI

Source: Modern Asian Studies , MARCH 2012, Vol. 46, No. 2, Sites of Asian Interaction
(MARCH 2012), pp. 331-353
Published by: Cambridge University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41478247

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Modern Asian Studies 46,2 (2012) pp. 331-353- © Cambridge University Press 2012
doi: 10.101 7/S0026749X 1 1 0009 1 6 First published online 1 2 March 2012

Citing as a Site: Translation and circulation

in Muslim South and Southeast Asia*

RONIT RICCI

School of Culture, History and Language , The Australian Natio

College of Asia-Pacific, Canberra, ACT 0200 Australi
Email: ronit.ricci@anu.edu.au

Abstract

Networks of travel and trade have often been viewed as central to understandin
interactions among Muslims across South and Southeast Asia. In this pape
I suggest that we consider language and literature as an additional type o
network, one that provided a powerful site of contact and exchange facilitated by
and drawing on, citation. I draw on textual sources written in Javanese, Malay
and Tamil between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries to argue that
among Muslim communities in South and Southeast Asia, practices of reading,
learning, translating, adapting, and transmitting contributed to the shaping of
cosmopolitan sphere that was both closely connected with the broader, universa
Muslim community and rooted in local identities. I consider a series of 'citatio
sites' in an attempt to explore one among many modes of inter-Asian connection
highlighting how citations, simple or brief as they may often seem, are sites of
shared memories, history, and narrative traditions and, in the case of Islamic
literature, also sites of a common bond to a cosmopolitan and sanctified Arabic.

Introduction

Networks of travel and trade have often been viewed as pivotal to

understanding interactions among Muslims in various regions of South
and Southeast Asia. What if we thought of language and literature a
an additional type of network, one that crisscrossed these region
over centuries and provided a powerful site of contact and exchang
facilitated by, and drawing on, citation?

* I dedicate this paper to the memory of my much-missed teacher and mento

A. L. (Pete) Becker (1932-201 1).

331

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 332 RONIT RICCI

Among Muslim communities in

of reading, learning, translating
shape a cosmopolitan sphere that w
broader, universal Muslim commu
identities.1
The examples in the following pages are drawn from a range of
texts written in Javanese, Malay, and Tamil between the sixteenth
and early twentieth centuries, and preserved in manuscript and print
forms. I look at a series of what I envision as 'citation moments' or
'citation sites' in an attempt to explore one of the many modes of
inter-Asian connections. I wish to highlight how citations - simple or
brief, as they may often seem - are sites of shared memories, history,
narrative traditions, and in the case of Islamic literature, are also sites
of a common bond with a cosmopolitan and sanctified Arabic.
Studying translated circulating texts, written in local languages
infused with Arabic words, idioms, syntax, and literary forms, points
to contact and interactions not only among particular people but
also between and among languages such as the cosmopolitan Arabic
and vernaculars like Javanese or Tamil. Such interactions in turn
produced works in which pre-Islamic traditions were infused with
new meaning as well as compositions that inaugurated an era of new
literary expression.
Citation - from the Qur'an, religious treatises, histories of the
prophets, and in the form of Arabic expressions - created sites of
shared coherence and contact for Asian Muslims from different
localities. Retelling, translating, and citing common episodes and
beliefs set the stage for connecting through transmission, individu
contacts between scribes and translators, and a broad and sometime
elusive sense of belonging to a trans-local community. Citation ranged
from direct quotation to more general and less precise forms
adopting and adapting prior sources. The familiarity of shared stories,
ideas, and vocabulary contributed to the rise of similar educationa
institutions, life cycle rites, titles, names, and modes of expression an
creativity across great geographical and cultural spaces, and sustaine
multiple, shifting interactions among languages, individuals, and
communities.

1 For a discussion of the idea of an Arabic-centred cosmopolitanism in South and

Southeast Asia, see Ronit Ricci, Islam Translated: Literature , Conversion, and the Arabic
Cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 201 1).

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 CITING AS A SITE 333

Citing sanctity: the shahäda

When we consider citation as a site of contact between Muslim

communities across Asia, there is perhaps no citation more pivo
than the shahäda, the Muslim profession of faith. By reciting its tw
brief sentences, the believer testifies to his or her faith that there
no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger. The shah
provides a point of contact between human and divine, and betw
Muslims of all regions, languages, and cultural backgrounds who utte
the same words attesting to their ultimate religious conviction.
As a mode of citation the shahäda takes several forms and is,
a way, emblematic of larger patterns of citation.2 Most broadly,
can be considered as a trope appearing in narratives depicting ear
Islamic history whose retelling introduced audiences to a distant
that came to be owned by all Muslims. It is cited almost universa
as a component of conversion rituals in depictions of individuals
communities embracing Islam; it is translated into local languag
making its translated citation a site of accessibility and familiar
and it is cited as an indication of a particular allegiance within diver
Islamic societies.
The shahäda is cited in historical chronicles that recount the
struggles, challenges, and successes of early Islam. It is often depicte
as a powerful means symbolizing and containing divine power. T
trend is apparent in the 1792 Javanese Serat Pandhita Raib? He
is found a rather fantastic retelling of the Prophet Muhammad
early struggle with the people of Kebar, the oasis (known as Khy
in Arabic) where a large Jewish population resided, one eventua
eliminated by Muhammad. The central figure, Pandhita Raib, is
Jewish leader and teacher who persuades kings already converted
Islam to forsake their new faith and battle the Prophet's armies.
day, when Pandhita Raib is about to go on a journey, a letter f
out of the sky. Upon opening it and realizing that it contains t
shahäda, Pandhita Raib is aghast. He commands that a great for
surrounded by moats, be built around the letter, barring entranc
all. However, when Pandhita leaves for his journey, his son Saib-
is drawn irresistibly to the fort and, through divine intervention

2 I refer here to textual citation, and do not address prayer and Qur'anic recitat
which could be analysed in a similar way.
3 Serat Pandhita Raib, Mangkunagaran Library, Surakarta, 1792, copied 1842.
MN 297.

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 334 RONIT RICCI

able to enter it, finding the let

shahäda magically appearing in h
is sick with longing for the Proph
him and embraces Islam. The na
but the appearance of the shahä
ultimately to Saib-saib's convers
death. It is a sign of the futility o
and light, and a set of words so
most wise, strong, and cunning.
In an undated Malay variant of
Hikayat Raja Rähib , discussed by
gives birth to a son, who, after
a scrap of paper fallen from th
written. Knowing that their son i
his father tries to throw him into
angels and survives many adventu
Ali, and returning to convert his
It is noteworthy that in both c
form: although it is meant to be
use making it easy to commit t
special powers and is associated i
the non-believers and an irresistible draw. The written shahäda has
also long been associated with healing practices, as when a note with
its words is kept as an amulet or even ingested as a cure. In Java and
Sumatra, where most people could not read or write at the time these
manuscripts were inscribed, the power of the written word depicted
in these stories must have had particular resonance, magnifying the
shahäda's importance.
The shahäda is also referred to and cited in multiple narratives that
depict conversion to Islam and its recital constitutes a prerequisite
for anyone who wishes to become a Muslim. At times it is the only
element of a conversion ritual that is explicitly depicted, while at
others, additional elements like circumcision, a change of name, and
prayer are also included. Even when the latter is the case, the shahäda
remains the most prominent - and often only - citation that signifies
the transformation of the new believer and his entry into the Muslim
community. The shahäda doesn't have to be cited in full, and is often
only mentioned by the designation 'shahäda', íkalimah'> or ' kalimah

4 Ph. S. van Ronkel, 'Malay Tales About Conversion of Jews and Christians to
Muhammedanism', Acta Orientalia , 10, 1932, p. 59.

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 CITING AS A SITE 335

kalih' and such mention is sufficient

their multiple resonances in the minds
In a textual example I employ throu
consistently appears. I am referri
languages as the Book of One Thousa
question-and-answer dialogue betwee
Ibnu Salam and the Prophet Muhamm
that ends with Ibnu Salam and all his
The conversion scene always includes
same is true in many other conversio
Southeast Asia.5
Next I wish to consider the question
without translation within Islamic tex
an undated Malay One Thousand Quest
Masalah , Ibnu Salam asks the Prophe
paradise on account of their dedicated
refers to a debate about whether Muslim
must follow certain prescriptions to at
a question is raised over the importa
Prophet replies [Malay, Arabic in bol

Hai Abdullah segala orangyang masuk syurga

menyebut la ilaha illallah Muhammad rasulu
dengan kebaktian. Jikalau Yahudi dan Nasrani
itu atau orang menyembah berhala sekali pun ji

O Abdullah, all those who enter paradis

deeds. Anyone who says la ilaha illallah
[entry to] paradise, without practicing the
a Christian says these two sentences, or
[by saying the above], he attains paradise.6

Beyond the central doctrinal issue ad

here the shahäda appears untranslate
that its two sentences are crucial ones,
them - including non-Muslims, even th
paradise. But what do they literally m
(discussed below) special care was tak

5 See, for example, Russel Jones, 'Ten Con

Nehemia Levtzion (ed.) Conversion to Islam (Ne
1979)>PP- !29-58-
Edwar Djamaris (ed.), Hikayat Seribu Masa
Pengembangan Bahasa Departemen Pendidik

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336 RONIT RICCI
confession of faith that allows one to emb
to 'enter' - Islam, an opportunity of tra
this Arabic phrase is left as it is. Appe
power unrelated to semantic meaning, it o
commits an act of faith by uttering it. T
a word on Malay translation practices is
Some early translations from Arabic into
nature.7 As Islam spread, more texts w
more widely used as an Islamic language
tracts in Malay gradually gave way to tex
of Malay and Arabic. Malay became infuse
which appeared in all literary works, in
non-Muslim nature, like the Ramayana
with a focus on Islamic religious ideas o
Thousand Questions , tended to include
quotes from the Qur'an, hadith, and other
a dual-language version as did interlinea
The point of transition from interline
not clear-cut and interlinear translation
Perhaps because many readers of the time
translations while studying and to the A
towns - or at least to its religious termin
and Qur'anic recitations - the One Thousan
to assume a better knowledge of Arabic
than the Javanese and Tamil tellings do
and expressions of great importance, lik
God's creative powers, conventionalized
God and the Prophet, and selected qu
thought to be familiar enough not to requ
explanation is that understanding - wh
not matter much, or at least was not cons
of knowledge. As is often the case presen
communities, a reading knowledge of A
is quite prevalent, and certain words,
on a regular basis. Some of this vocabu

7 The practice of interlinear translation of th

translations from Arabic to Persian, which, acc
permitted only if the Persian was accompanied by
for-word translation (A. tarjamah musawiyah , equ
Muslims into other languages tended to follow t
Qur'an Translatable?', The Muslim World , 52, 196

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 CITING AS A SITE 337

reciting the Qur'an is entailed - would

many readers and speakers if they wer
meaning of single words or complete s
are important functions to these uses, wh
status of Arabic and to its sanctity, and w
knowledge in a conventional, scholastic,
If we consider this possibility, the app
shahäda in the midst of a paragraph pro
at all who will recite its words no longer s
Islamic mantras in Sanskrit, valued for
than their lexical meaning, in a simila
gained much esteem. Such phrases were
and Javanese, as lapal or rapal. They cons
prayers or spells that exerted power by v
even while their meaning was foreign, es
Arabic, whether understood or not, was
and prestige because of its status as the
was revealed to Muhammad. When left un
lapal , quotes from scripture, and the had
well, pointing to the authority residing i
listeners were often unable to judge its
the accuracy of a quote. In this way eve
Qur'anic citation, for example - was ac
the specific example of the shahäda, a com
and meaning probably played a role, as
and Muhammad's mission was indeed a
the many other lapal, scattered untran
Arabic bestowed on the text the autho
such words are often preceded by: 'As G
(M. seperti firman Allah Ta'ala di dalam Qu
quote.
Returning to the shahäda, it can also appear in Arabic along with
a translation. In the Javanese One Thousand Questions (Serat Samud or

8 The question of 'corrupt' or false citation is a loaded one in general, and is

also specifically relevant to the One Thousand Questions. There are at least two types of
'corruption accusations': those (mostly by Muslim scholars) discussing the relationship
of the Prophet's words as presented in the text to his 'real' words, and those (mostly
by Western scholars) discussing spelling, grammatical, and syntactical mistakes. See,
respectively, Ismail Hamid, The Malay Islamic Hikayat (Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, 1983), and Guillaume Frederic Pijper ,Het boek der duizend vragen (Leiden: E.
J. Brill, 1924).

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 338 RONIT RICCI
Suluk Samud) tradition, it is almost inv
it appears in Javanese only, without the A
In an 1884 Serat Samud from Yogyakar
reply about Islam as the true religion,
Salam asks what the word 'Islam', in fact,
meaning of Islam (or becoming, being M
shahäda). Then the Prophet explains wh
boldface):9

Ashadu ala prituwin

ilaha ilalah lawan
ashadu ana lan maneh
Mukamadarrasul Allah

sun nakseni tan ana

pangéran lyaning Hyang Agung
Mukamad utusan ing Hyang

The profession of faith - the two most sacred sentences attesting to

the oneness of God and to Muhammad being His messenger - appears
in Arabic but is interspersed with Javanese (in boldface in translation):

I bear witness [that there is] no and also

God but Allah and
I bear witness in addition
Muhammad is God's messenger.

This is the Arabic quote within which - even before reaching the
translated portion - the author inserts some Javanese words to parse
the two sentences that comprise the sadat , so that it makes more sense
to the listener and is more readily memorized. Again, due to its utmost
importance, special care is taken that it will be clearly understood -
not just its general meaning, but also the specifics of each segment.
The translation into Javanese follows, using the same divisions of
meaning:
I bear witness there is no
God but Hyang Agung
Muhammad [is] Hyang's messenger.

The translation is accurate, with an interesting variation: the word

Allah is not used for God in the Javanese rendering, but rather it
employs two Javanese terms: Pangéran , means God, Lord, and is also a

9 Serat Samud , Pura Pakualaman Library, Yogyakarta, 1884. MS. PP St. 80. 1.34.

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 CITING AS A SITE 339

royal title, and Hyang or Hyang Agung, a

or Hindu deities. We find here, to borr
a translation that combines the iconic m
content elements of the original) with an
text is embedded in a locale, a context, re
much sense without it).10
Looking to the example of the confes
for Javanese and Malay, in the 1572 T
Questions (Ayira Macalä ), we find it ap
its complete form in Arabic without tran
kalimä without further detail.11 For ex
rows, are described as endlessly recitin
mcülullä. Ibnu Salam, when embracing
the kalimä along with his 700 followers
Tamil text's general emphasis on local con
its message, there is no instance of the sh
Since the One Thousand Questions is
writing in Tamil, it is likely to have in
periods. Discussing the later, undated, Tam
Mälai , David Shulman notes the impre
Persian and Urdu words into the Tamil te
than the reverse trend, the use of non
to convey Muslim concepts.13 Tamil lit
Thousand Questions with Umäruppulavar
of the Prophet), written a century lat
century. Many of the miracles only h
Questions were depicted at length in th
entire chapters, and much of the sam
in the One Thousand Questions was inc
the later text. Umäru, author of thi
Muslim literary works, is known as a d

10 A. K. Ramanujan, 'Three Hundred Rama

Thoughts on Translation', in Paula Richman (ed
of a Narrative Tradition in South Asian (Berkeley:
P- 45-
Vannapparimalappulavar, Ayira Macala, 1572, (ed.) Cayitu 'Hassan
Muhammatu. (Madras: M.Itris Maraikkayar/Millat Press, 1984).
Vannapparimalappulavar, Ayira Macalä , Verse 254 for the angels; 1052 for the
conversion.
David Shulman, 'Muslim Popular Literature in Tamil: The Tamïmancàri Mälai'
in Y. Friedmann (ed.), Islam in Asia (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1984), Vol. 1, pp. 174-207;
p. 207, note 1 14.

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 340 RONIT RICCI

Thousand Questions' author Vann

shows how early citations - of A
events - continued to circulate a
their meaning reinforced and re
I have explored the way in wh
a potent message, able to overcom
powers and to draw non-believers t
early spread; its consistent appear
as the single most important
partial, and non-translation in lo
the shahäda could also point to a
Muslim communities. For exam
Thousand Questions in Persian w
'Ali is God's wali', its inclusion
these instances, as well as in the f
prayer and Qur'anic reading, it b
identification for Muslims in Asia.

A cosmopolitan script - contact and interaction through

shared orthography

Yet another site of citation, in a very literal sense, is found in the

adoption of the Arabic script by Muslim communities in South and
Southeast Asia to write their own languages, a strategy that was
of paramount importance to the emergence of a shared Muslim
affiliation in these regions. It was a critical aspect of contact with
Arabic, one that transformed local languages and defined them
anew, as changing a script has far-reaching cultural implications. As
A. L. Becker observed in the context of transliterating Burmese into
Latin script, 'writing systems. . . are among the deepest metaphors in
a language. . . they resonate richly throughout a culture, and so for us
to substitute one technology of writing for another is not a neutral act,
a mere notational variation. It means to re-imagine language itself.'16
Writing in the cosmopolitan Arabic script was an act of reimagining

14 Vannapparimalappulavar, Ayira Macalä, Introduction, p. 3.

5 Pijper, Het boek , p. 60.
A. L Becker, Beyond Translation (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995),
p. 234.

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 CITING AS A SITE 341

and reformulating the languages of

speaking Muslims.
The employment of Arabic script
significantly enhanced other aspects o
into these languages. Known as jawi
Javanese, and arwi for Tamil, using Ara
and more accurate rendering of imp
sustained - as far as possible, consider
systems - a correct pronunciation of Ar
chance of misunderstanding and err
South and Southeast Asian languages
the most sacred of languages, placing th
Islamic languages and making their te
into revered objects.
In some instances, like Persian, the Ar
form of writing. Malay was written in
overshadowed by Arabic writing until t
the sixteenth century. In many othe
and Javanese are examples - an olde
alongside the new Arabic script. Wheth
exclusively or not, the shift from a prio
Scripts are embedded in particular c
often associated with creation narrat
educational and social practices. Many of
with changes in script. With the ado
communities in South and Southeast
were lost or marginalized, while a cer
was achieved. As the cross-regional us
a shared religious vocabulary, so the
cultural and geographical distance con
an orthographically unified religious co
The adoption of the Arabic script, w
speakers of Tamil, Javanese, and Mala
of their literary cultures, including cit
The script adopted in all three cases w
existing Arabic letters with diacritic
the particular sounds of each langua
differed somewhat from one another
or identical Arabic citations to appea
Malay works. They also facilitated th
volumes written in Arabic script. An un

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 342 RONIT RICCI

mystical poetry and praise for

1 800 and used as a textbook for
Several copies, resembling one
written in Indonesia: a copy from
Persian; a copy from Aceh con
single page in Malay; a third c
poems in Arabic and Persian. Y
in Arabic, some in Persian and
unidentified (possibly Indian) l
Among the three languages m
influenced by Arabic was M
studied an additional - and s
influence on this language, dis
Influence of Arabic Syntax on
argued, to examine how Arabi
order to better understand the i
languages on Malay, we must als
syntactical structures, which we
How texts were translated f
evidence for what Van Ronk
method, through which variou
narrative in form, employed
convey Arabic prepositions, g
Malay. Although translations e
partial, Malay text with some Ar
Arabic constructions was consist
that deeply influenced Malay gr
For example, Van Ronkel foun
consistently translated as Malay
dengan nama (rather than the gr
Malays were borrowing the Arab
Malay term setengah orang (liter

17 Petrus Voorhoeve (ed.) Handlist of Ara

of Leiden and Other Collections in the Ne
PP- 456-58.
I have used the Indonesian translation of this work, originally published in
Dutch in 1899. Ph. S. van Ronkel, 'Over de Invloed der Arabische Syntaxis op de
Maleische', Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde , 41, 1899, pp. 498-528.
A. Ikram (trans.), Mengenai Pengaruh Tatakalimat Arab Terhadap Tatakalimat Melayu.
Vol. 57 (Jakarta: Bhratara, 1977).
y Van Ronkel, 'Over de Invloed', pp. 15-16.

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 CITING AS A SITE 343

meaning 'many people') derives from Arab

there is an intrinsic similarity in the way
a preposition or other grammatical mar
the Arabic form was foreign to Malay an
to imitate the Arabic as precisely as po
manner Arabic citation was internalize
gradually transforming it.
Another site for assessing this proc
accommodation, and quite concretely at
Arabic script and transliterated ( rumi
Malay One Thousand Questions in transli
italicized by the editor and thus 'jumpi
print equivalent of Arabic words - or,
expressions - appearing in ink of a di
or grey) among Malay words written i
many manuscripts. These techniques allo
by scribe, reader, and reciter - of the
of certain words and whether the scribe considered them to be
Arabic or Malay, since the two languages were written in script
that were almost identical. Both methods - in manuscript and prin
allow an examination of the way in which many words of Arab
origin appear side by side with the highlighted quotes, unobserve
taken as an integral part of the Malay language by the time t
One Thousand Questions manuscript was inscribed. A similar analy
can be carried out for Javanese manuscripts written in Arab
script.
Beyond the realm of manuscripts and books, Arabic script was to
be found above all in the Indonesian Archipelago on tombstones, with
the earliest instance in Java dating from the fourteenth century.21
In the Tamil region, Arabic epitaphs in Kayalpattinam, dating from
the fifteenth century, record names and Hijri death dates. Some
include sections of religious text, genealogies, and occupations like qädl
(judge), amïr (military title), and täjir (learned merchant), employing
the Arabic titles of the kind routinely adopted by rulers, members
of the nobility, and literary figures in both southern India and the

20 These examples appear in Van Ronkel, 'Over de Invloed', pp. 25 and 37,
respectively.
21 M. C. Ricklefs, Mystic Synthesis in Java. A History of Islamization from the Fourteenth
to the Early Nineteenth Centuries (Norwalk: EastBridge, 2006), p. 12.

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 344 RONIT RICCI

Archipelago.22 These citation

sphere, point very concretely
linked Muslims across divides o

Paratexts as citation sites

In his monumental book, Paratexts : Thresholds of Interpretation, literar

scholar and critic Gerard Gennette explored those bits of text such
as the author's name, the title, preface, and illustrations - to name
few - that surround and extend the text, present it to its readers, and
act as a threshold for those who consider whether to enter it or ste
back.23 For example, a provocative title may cause a potential reade
to pick up a book by an obscure author, while a translator's note may
shape readers' interpretation of a novel by introducing them to th
author's life history and her circumstances of writing.
Certain oft-used citations that accompany Islamic texts can be read
as paratexts. The bismillah al-rahman al-rahlm ('in the name of God, th
compassionate, the merciful') is prominent among them. The bismillah
opens every surah of the Qur'an (except the ninth),24 and tradition
ascribes to the Prophet Muhammad the saying that any work not
begun with it will remain incomplete or ephemeral.25 Well-know
traditions in Arabic tell of letters sent out by Muhammad to kings and
leaders of his era, including Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, th
governor of Bahrain, and the king of Persia. The letters began wit
the bismillah greeting, mentioned that the Prophet was the sender, an
invited the leaders to accept Islam, promising rewards if they did and
hardship if they refused.26 Small wonder then, that with such a history
and aura, the phrase appears as a matter of course as the opening line
of many Islamic texts in South and Southeast Asia, and especially i
those composed in a local language but written in the Arabic script

22 On the Kayalpattinam tombstones, see M. Shokoohy, Muslim Architecture of South

India. The Sultanate of Ma'bar and the Traditions of Maritime Settlers on the Malabar an
Coromandel Coasts (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa) (London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 275-90
Gerard Genette, Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation , trans. Jane E. Lewin
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
24 A surah is a division of the Qur'an, sometimes referred to as 'chapter.' The Qur'a
contains 1 14 surahs of varying lengths.
25 Tayka Shu'ayb 'Ahm, Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu (Madras:
Imämul 'Arüs Trust, 1993), p. 671.
¿ Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Khatib Tibrizi, Mishkat Al-Masabih, trans. James D
Robson (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1963), pp. 832-33 (4 vols).

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 CITING AS A SITE 345

In such instances it not only provides a

content and religious significance but a
in a seamless manner. The bismillah ca
Arabic and translation, or in translation
maintains its prominent initial position in
to be read or heard by its audience.
The 1884 Serat Samud provides an exa
(in a somewhat Javanized form) is hig
translation. In this case it appears as the o
a text - a letter addressed by the Prophet
his letters to other leaders and communit

Wit ing surat bismillahi rahmani rakimi ika.

The letter opens with bismillahi rahmani rakim

This line is directly followed by a

explanation, of the Arabic phrase:

Tegesé miwiti ingong

anebut naming suksma
ingkang murahing dunya
nora nana kéwan luput
tembé asih ning akérat

This means I begin

by speaking the name of God
who is merciful in this world
towards all living creatures
[and] compassionate in the next world.

Here the Javanese author expands and expounds on the literal

meaning of this important and familiar Arabic phrase. In the
translation not only is God described as merciful and compassionate,
as in the Arabic original, but these attributes are infused with context
and life, stressing that all creatures are beneficiaries of His mercy and
inserting, quite subtly but forcefully, the notion that human existence
does not end with death but rather continues in another world where
God's compassion reigns. In the context of Muhammad sending his
letter within the narrative framework, this depiction is important as
it stresses for the Jews the omnipotence of Muhammad's God; in the
larger context of a Javanese audience listening to the Serat Samud ,
the bismillah is recited in Arabic, translated, and given meaning that

27 Serat Samud , Pura Pakualaman Library, Yogyakarta, 1884. MS. St. 80.1.9.

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 346 RONIT RICCI
is relevant, on several levels, to all pre
a common citation echoing the Qur'an
guide to Muslim letter-writing codes, a re
a brief lesson in Arabic's sacred terminolo
In the Tamil rendering of the same na
the letter to the Jews opens similar
archangel Jipurayïl (Gabriel) arrives as
his companions and tells him to write
leader Ipunu Caläm. Muhammad immed
summoned so that the letter, dictated b
and delivered.28
The letter is then dictated by the Prophe
its content from the archangel:
First write: bismillähi rahumänil rahïm
the words of God's messenger are written
I am Muhammad
I [teach] God's exalted way
In this world, to all.
All will be blessed
Those who take the right path - that of the mustakïm , steadfast in it
Will gain prophet and sorkkam
Listen to my words and you will succeed.29

At the other end of such texts is found yet another, even briefer,
paratext: many Malay hikayat (from A. hikäya ) - a broad genre that
encompasses romances, adventures, theology, and history - end with
the statement tamat al-hikayat' thus ends the hikayat , or simply 'the end'.
Other typical endings for Malay writing are tamat al-qaläm and tamat
al-kitäb. Tamat ends Javanese works as well. Although these phrases
are not endowed with any of the sanctity of the bismillah they are
nevertheless Arabic phrases, and as such carry an echo of a distant,
foreign literary culture - its genres, idioms, and sounds - that has
come to be experienced as familiar and close to Muslim audiences
in Asia. The tamat phrase is sometimes followed by brief mention of
a manuscript's author or the name of the scribe who copied it, and
the time and place of writing. Even when these identifying details do
not appear, there is often mention of the blessings to be incurred on
those engaging with the text, through writing, copying, listening or
storing it. The following three examples are intended to point to the

28 Vannapparimalappulavar, Ayira Macalä , p. 14.

¿ Vannapparimajappulavar, Ayira Macalä , p. 17.

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 CITING AS A SITE 347

prevalence of this brief paratext, a cit

cultures and sites, connecting them throu
always in a text's significant closing lines
In the late seventeenth/early eighteenth
manuscript likely written along the north

Tamat carita nira Samud tinulis

yèku tandha nira
yen nabi utusan luwih
saking sakèhing dumadya

Thus ends the story written about Samud

it is your sign (it signifies)
that the Prophet (and) Messenger is best
Among all living creatures.30

In the late nineteenth century Hikayat Tuan Gusti , a Malay

manuscript from Sri Lanka:

Tamat Hikayat Tuan Gusti tengari bulan Sa'aban 21 bulan Inggris 22 Januari hijrah
189 J menulis Subidar Mursit pension Selon raifil rajimit jua adapun aku pesan pada
sekalian tuanyang suka membaca hikayat ini jangan saka qalbunya supaya dirahmatkan
Allah subhanahu wa-ta'ala dari dunya sampai keakirat

Thus ends Hikayat Tuan Gusti at midday on the 21st of Sa'aban the 22nd of
January 1897. It was written by Subidar Mursit, a retiree of the Ceylon Rifle
Regiment. I ask all those who found pleasure in reading this hikayat : do not
(let it fade) from your hearts so that you will be granted mercy by Almighty
God - praise be upon Him - in this world and the next.31

In Hikayat Patani, copied in Singapore in 1839 by Abdullah bin Abdul

Kadir on behalf of the missionary Alfred North, and likely to have
been based on a manuscript from Kelantan in Northeast peninsular
Malaysia, near the border with Thailand:32

Tamat alkalam. Bahawa tamatlah kitab Undang-Undang Patani ini disalin alam
negeri Singapura kepada sembilan hari bulan Sya'aban tahun I2^^sanat, iaitu kepada
enam belas hari bulan Oktober tahun Masihi i8^çsanat. Tamat adanya.

30 Samud , Leiden University, Oriental manuscripts collection, late seventeenth

century [?]. MS. LOr 4001.
Hussainmiya Collection, National Archives of Sri Lanka, Colombo, reel 182.
32 Hikayat Patani, Malay Concordance Project. See: <http://mcp.anu. edu.au/N/
Pat_bib.html>, [accessed 17 December 2011].

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 348 RONIT RICCI
The End. Thus ends the Patani Book of Laws
of Sya'aban AH 1255, namely the sixteenth

As Genette emphasized, the paratext i

between inside and out, an edge or fr
controls one's whole reading of it. We
and tamat phrases in light of Genette'
always the conveyor of a commentary th
legitimated by the author, constitutes
text, a zone not only of transition but al
place of a pragmatics and a strategy, of a
influence that - whether well or poorl
at the service of a better reception of
reading of it.'34 The paratexts in a work'
or otherwise) are of special importance
reader or listener, setting the tone at
particular message or mood in the clo
explored, texts of diverse linguistic and g
framed by, or contained within, share
These reminded audiences of their broad affiliation with a trans-
regional community.

Defying translation: sites of untranslated citation

Despite the somewhat different approaches to incorporating Arabic

and employing translation within the texts, in all three languages
mentioned, certain words defied translation. I have already noted
the appearance of the untranslated shahäda but there are many
additional examples. There is room for speculation on why certain
Arabic words were adapted verbatim into these languages, whil
others were rendered in the local language. It is likely that some
words expressed concepts novel to the society into which they wer
introduced, so word and idea were accepted together. A certain power
associated with the incomprehensible can also explain why some words
were left untranslated. This includes both the idea that words can

33 The repetitive use of tamat in this citation is somewhat unusual. Its final
appearance, tamat adanya , may emphasize that this is the end of the entire text rather
than an end of a section. I am grateful to the late Ian Proudfoot for discussing the
uses of tamat with me.
34 Genette, Paratexts, p. 2.

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 CITING AS A SITE 349

effect change and alter reality regardle

and the notion that foreign concepts s
the retention of the foreign terminology.
appeared as such, untranslated in the M
of One Thousand Questions , provides an e
The munäfiqün - mentioned over thre
were residents of Medina in the seven
converted to Islam but did not adhere
religion. Officially Muslim, but in fac
the Prophet, they constituted a threa
translated into English as 'hypocrites',
stronger and has a wider semantic rang
are described as liars, obstructers, igno
and deviant. They were clearly dissent
emerging Muslim community, refusing t
and deserving of hellfire.
In contrast to the mostly general terms
referred to in the Qur'an, later Islami
to ascribe the term to specific perso
word in a sense that came closer to 'hyp
approximation of the term may be 'dis
both in private and public, and carryin
schism.35
In the One Thousand Questions tellings discussed, this group, referred
to as munapik , appears as a category of people who are surely
destined for hell. In all three languages a question arises as to their
nature and the same reply is offered by the Prophet: a hypocrite is
outwardly Muslim but inwardly an infidel (< kapir , from A. käfir , another
untranslated term). Clearly, even many centuries after the historical
munäfiqün betrayed the Prophet, this group - or anyone resembling its
members - still connoted deceit and hypocrisy, and was portrayed in
the most negative light. The torments they will suffer were vividly
depicted in the One Thousand Questions tellings. But why was a Tamil,
Malay or Javanese word not used to name this group? It may be
that certain terms remain untranslated because they are so deeply
embedded in a particular historical and cultural event that their

35 A. Brockett, 'al-Munäfikün', in P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E.

van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds) Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill,
2010) Vol. VII, p. 561.

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 350 RONIT RICCI

mention arouses an entire set

no longer be accessible in trans
This phenomenon of the untran
is related in turn to the notion
the ways in which thoughts, wr
upon, texts that are shared by m
Muslims are familiar with imp
which the citations on the mun
Prophet's conflicts with the mun
not be evoked in the same manner in the minds of listeners familiar
with the Qur'an if a (more neutral) Javanese word were substituted for
the Arabic. The importance of conveying the full weight of the original
term was in part due to the fact that the text dealt with conversion
and was likely to have been discussed with the recently converted, for
whom it was crucial to understand that their acceptance of Islam must
not be in appearance only, but total.
The second explanation is more culturally specific: the notion of
religious hypocrisy or dissent, of believing inwardly in one thing but
posing externally as another, was foreign to the three local cultures
before the arrival of Islamic notions of faith. Earlier belief systems
in the Archipelago included indigenous systems, in addition to Hindu
and Buddhist traditions that had acquired a local character. Similarly,
that which is today referred to as Hinduism in the Tamil region, as well
as worship of local warrior gods, goddesses, and saints, prevailed at the
time the text was composed. The strict Judeo-Islamic notion of a single,
clearly defined belief that must be followed exclusively and must not
conflict with appearances or words was not a component of these
earlier and concurrent traditions and, therefore, a word conveying the
charged significance of munapik was unlikely to have existed.
Leaving words like munäfiq , käfir (infidel), nabi (prophet), qiyäma
(Judgment Day), and others untranslated (although their spelling and
pronunciation were somewhat modified) contributed to the creation
of a trans-regional, standardized Islamic vocabulary across South and
Southeast Asian Muslim societies. Such standardization, along with
the common use of titles, epithets, and stories, in turn helped shape
a religion-based community that was culturally and linguistically
diverse. It allowed Muslims from places distant from the Muslim
'heartland', like Java, to take part in and belong to the life of a global

36 Becker, Beyond Translation , pp. 285-93.

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 CITING AS A SITE 351

community that was defined, in part

language.
In light of the tendency to leave certain words untranslated, it is
tempting to suggest a typology of words that continued to be used
in Arabic rather than translated into the local languages. Following
the ' munapik paradigm', there would be a host of terms that could
be expected to remain untranslated within the texts. The situation,
however, is far from consistent: many words that fit into the munapik
category of novelty, forcefulness, and linkage to prior texts, did in fact
appear in translation. Not only were they translated but, as in the case
of using Tamil marai (veda) for the Qur'an or Javanese hyang for Allah,
they were expressed through the use of religious concepts belonging
to a different belief system.
A clear example is found in the case of the terminology for paradise
and hell, both key concepts in Muslim thought which are discussed
and portrayed in many texts. Often teachings and warnings regarding
life in this world in fact focus on the prospect of residing in either
hell or paradise in the future. In the case of such central concepts,
an adoption of Arabic terminology that would powerfully enhance the
depictions impressed upon the faithful might be expected. However,
in the Tamil, Malay, and Javanese One Thousand Questions , the older,
Sanskritic terms swarga (paradise) and naraka (hell) are employed
exclusively and consistently.
Notions of swarga and naraka in non-Islamic texts differ markedly
from their use within a Muslim context. Swarga was the world of the
gods and demi-gods who enjoyed lives of pleasures before recurring
rebirths; naraka , often depicted as a netherworld of suffering, was
teeming with demons and other creatures and was, yet again, a
temporary stop in the cycle of reincarnation. In contrast, in Muslim
teachings, these two realms came to signify the two mutually
exclusive, eternal fates for the good and the evil. This prospect meant
that the terms swarga and naraka assumed new, dramatically loaded
meanings with the transition to Islam. Keeping old terminology
within the context of a new system - religious or otherwise - carries
the risk of misunderstanding, confusion, and conflation. Creating
a neologism or bringing in foreign, and sacred, vocabulary - as was
often done with Arabic - allows for a distancing from old ideas and
a more detached introduction of the new. The break with the past is
not necessarily smooth but is more radical.
The cases of Javanese, Tamil, and Malay are interesting precisely
because of an inconsistency, a combination of terminology and

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 352 RONIT RICCI

metaphors that does not fully

every case where an Arabic w
cited untranslated, a counter-e
with earlier (or concurrent) be
possible confusion and blurrin
the Javanese Babad Jaka Tingk
names of categories of learned
were exchanged with the new
roles and attitudes was reflecte
much of the literature, termin
effortlessly without authorial co
and naraka an older Sanskrit cita
in the Indonesian-Malay world
overlap with, or at times be re
continued to exert its influence
affiliations had shifted.

Concluding thoughts

Various forms of citation - whether single Arabic words, direct quotes

from the Qur'an or paraphrases of well-known histories of the
prophets, episodes from Muhammad's life or commonly used hadith -
appeared widely within Islamic literary sources in Tamil, Malay, and
Javanese. I have examined such practices of citation as creating and
sustaining sites of connection and interaction across Muslim societies
in Asia and beyond.
The shahäda (in Arabic and in translation), for example, as well as
famous sayings of the Prophet, can be viewed as loci of authority that
exerted power and bound readers and listeners from all walks of life
to a shared core of ideas, stories, and beliefs. These - and additional
citations - formed the basis for common educational models, authority
structures, a shared imagination, and historical consciousness.
Citations in the textual sources discussed were not always 'correct'.38
Rather, they were often truncated, had words missing or sounds

37 Nancy K. Florida, Writing the Past , Inscribing the Future: History as Prophecy in Colonial
Java (Durham: Duke University Press, 1995), p. 155.
Pijper discussed the use of Qur'anic quotes in the Malay One Thousand Questions
and, noting their frequent 'corruption,' assumed they were cited from memory. The
result was a form of Arabic that drew more heavily on sound - the way words were
heard by a Malay ear - than on accurate spelling, as may be expected in the context
of a predominantly oral literary culture. Also, frequent Qur'anic recitations in which

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 CITING AS A SITE 353

misrepresented in local scripts or pr

in such forms represented the many
place - that had transpired prior to th
in writing in towns along the Corom
In the case of the Book of One Thousa
example, I proposed that much significa
sounded familiar and authoritative, and
important story set in the Prophet's tim
over an earlier religion.
These connections occurred at sev
levels: through a familiarity with the s
a common use of the Arabic script fo
shared repository of names and title
tombstones and mosques, and in live
contact between individuals, commu
ideas. Translators, scribes, patrons,
listeners all participated in various w
bringing about profound linguistic an
articulate the richness and variety that
is to consider, as I have suggested, the
with citation-sites along their paths.

Arabic was heard but not necessarily seen by m

it in writing had to be made via aural memory.

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