Silat Abjad

[Silk Road]

Wasalaam Everyone,

I'm asking our Malaysian Brothers (and wise Indonesian Brothers like Pak Kyai Carita) if they could perhaps explain a bit about 'Silat Abjad'...

Terimah Kasih in advance,

Silkroad

[Kiai Carita]

Wasalaam Everyone,I'm asking our Malaysian Brothers (and wise Indonesian Brothers like Pak Kyai Carita) if they could perhaps explain a bit about 'Silat Abjad'...Terimah Kasih in advance,Silkroad

I am not sure if any Abjad practitioners are here but from the websites related Silat Abjad appears to be a Muslim silat, Silk Road. I imagine that it uses a lot of dzikir and pantang-larang and works alot on silat batin. It might use the Arabic alphabet (abjad means alphabet) alif, ba, ta in it's langkah but I really don't know. Usually Muslim silat (like Pagar Nusa of NU in Indonesia) develop invincibility towards sharp weapons, hot oil, fire and even bullets.

As Abjad is, I believe a Malaysian school maybe Amirul Tekpi can give you a more educated answer than me. However Cak O'ong Maryono's KPS Nusantara forum would probably be the best web-discussion forum to get true first-hand information about these traditional arts of the archipelago.

Hormat
KC.

[amirul_tekpi79]

Peace to all,

Dear Silk Road,

Please contact my friend Saiful Azraq at <contact details removed per TOS>

If i'm not mistaken, he's currently a student of Silat Abjad.

Peace

<SP>

[sulaiman]

Salaams all , cant help much on the silat abjad but the science of abjad is very interesting - its arabic numerology , relating to science of reading the Holy Koran abjad refers to alif ba jeem - the order the letters appear in numerological sequence rather than in alphabetical order.
There is an good discussion and introduction to the science of abjad by the sufi master Shaykh Hisham Kabbani at www.nurmuhammad.com
peace

[Silk Road]

Asalaam Aleikum Sulaiman,

Thank you for providing that resource. From what I gather, this particular system is in some way similar in philosophy to the Indonesian Merapati Putih (sp?)

Anyway, shukran/terimah kasih

Silkroad

[Kiai Carita]

Asalaam Aleikum Sulaiman,

Thank you for providing that resource. From what I gather, this particular system is in some way similar in philosophy to the Indonesian Merapati Putih (sp?)

Anyway, shukran/terimah kasih

Silkroad

I think you might be confusing Merpati Putih with Sinar Putih or Sin Lam Ba, Silk Road. Merpati Putih is a Jawa silat originating in the Mataram Kartasurea kingdom from the times of the revolt of Trunajaya. I believe that the origin of MP was in the Kartosuo Mataram kraton which was later moved to Solo and then split in two, and split again into four. During this revolt Trunajaya got the support of the Chinese who had just been massacred by the Dutch in Batavia and the Chinese fighters and Trunajaya for a while installed a king on the Mataram throne called Sunan Kuning. Trunajaya was then executed by Amangkurat Amral using a keris.

In the Jawa War 1825-1830 the inheritors of this knowledge fought against the Dutch and if I am not mistaken had a woman hero called Nyi Ageng Serang (Lady of Serang).

After independence MP started as a school open for common people. It is a big and very respected school in Indonesia with many of the Indonesian Special forces learning it. It's speciality is energy training and I have seen amazing demonstrations of blindfolded pesilat. However fro the web I believe that Silat Abjad has no jurus and is purely spiritual with no physical aspects. I believe Syifulazraq studies it and posts on this forum too.

Salaams,
Kiai Carita.

[Silk Road]

Salaam Kyai Carita,

Thanks for your response. It seems you have answers that I don't even have the questions for! I was under the impression the Merpati Putih was essentially an "internal" system from the start, with a basic physical syllabus added later. Hopefully Saiful will post to explain more about Silat Abjad, if he will.

At this point it might be helpful to a lot of us if you could elaborate on one point: Is there a difference between an INTERNAL system of Silat as opposed to a SPIRITUAL system of Silat?

Please forgive this ridiculous digression, but I remember a kung-fu film called "The 36 Chambers of Shaolin" wherein the protagonist witnesses the highest chamber, and it consists of monks chanting sutras. I took that as a possible reference to a spiritual level of kung fu, somehow different from internal practices like chi-gung.

Am I on the right track here? After all miracles ARE possible!

Shukran,
Silkroad

[Kiai Carita]

Salaam Kyai Carita,At this point it might be helpful to a lot of us if you could elaborate on one point: Is there a difference between an INTERNAL system of Silat as opposed to a SPIRITUAL system of Silat?
Shukran,
Silkroad

Dear Silkroad and pesilat,

I am not aware of there being the dichotomy of internal and external arts in silat. If you mean 'tenaga dalam' when you say internal silat, then most silat (maybe all) do practise tenaga dalam but in different ways and in different levels.

During the rise of Nationalist politics in the beginning of the 20th century many 'native' organisations were terrorised by gangs of Dutch-Indos who hated the 'natives' but were not white enough to be Dutch. They were employed by the Dutch government and the sugar syndicate to terrorise the emerging politicians and many of them learned silat that they bought from local jago.

The result of this situation where young Indonesian activists were regularly beaten up by the Indo-Dutch thugs was several pendekars developed a short-cut system to tenaga dalam. In the 1920's one of these systems (derived from Cimande) was the system developed by Pak Nampon in Bandung, and Soekarno our first President studied it when he was young. Check www.nampon.com for more info and interseting vids.

Beginning in the mid 1980's a similar situation arose in Indonesia especially in Jawa where the gali (thugs) ruled the streets and people generally felt unsafe. $uharto ended this with his 'mysterious shootings' that saw hudnreds or thousands of young men with tattoos shot dead without trial and their bodies dumped in public places. At the time no one knew who was doing the shootings and why. The government denied any involvement and everyone was frightened. Eventually $uharto claimed that it was his brilliant idea to shoot these people - as shock therapy, he said.

Many people wanted tenaga dalam but could not wait for the traditional methods which require a long dedicated study. Responding to this a certain young student from Gadjah Mada Uni in Yogyakarta, called Maryanto (born 1962) developed a silat school from breathing techniques he had learned from vearious other schools. This new form he called Satria Nusantara and it quickly grew to become one of the big silat schools in Indonesia. They fight from the distance of kilometres and do alot of healing. Other schools like Sin Lam Ba and Sinar Putih surfaced around the same time as SN.

These breathing based silats probably fit into the category of INTERNAL martial arts? Is there a purely spiritual silat not based on breath or movement? I think that this Silat Abjad we are trying to find out about is one of them. Certainly in pesantren (madrasahs) they teach very many secret ilmu of which I have no knowledge except that it exists. According to popular knowledge this type of ilmu is used to heal, bring blessings, guard property, find lost objects / family, calm down wild animals or hurricanes, become invisible to hostile eyes and much more.

There are Indonesian websites that would have you part with money for to be taught some dodgy prayers or mantras that promise spiritual powers. I would stay away from these people. Silat and ilmu has always been and should always be free. The knowledge of silat traditionally is not bought and sold. If anyone charges for more than a contribution for renting a gelanggang I would say that the kebatinan of that silat has gone pearshaped and they are charlatans. I have never sought to meet a traditional teacher who was interested in money or getting a wide audience but I know they do exist.

Traditional teachers feel a responsibility to keep the ilmu alive when they leave this world so they look at their students as their own children, inheritors of the art. When I was studying silat and living with my teachers in Indonesia they fed me, put a roof over my head, taught me their art, clothed me, and sometimes when they had it they would also give me (and other murid) pocket money. In return I learned the silat as I was told to. I think this relationship between master-student is typical and is one of the reasons why the Malay silat schools appear to be concerned with traitors and treachery (derhaka - durhaka). Between a teacher and a student the student accepts and the teacher gives so the student is expected to be loyal.

However if it has no physical aspect is it still silat? I really don't know enough to answer your question properly. Forgive my ignorance.

You know, originally in Jawa the silat was not a whole knowledge, rather it was part of 'kanuragan' meaning 'things to do with the body'. After learning 'kanuragan' and once the practitioner had experienced having children and his/her children were in adulthood, then you can move on to 'kasepuhan' meaning 'things of old'. In kanuragan you learn silat and invincibility and the main healing would be 'sangkal putung' - breaking and mending broken and chopped off limbs. Cimande practitioners are famous all over the archipelago for healing broken bones quicker, cheaper, more painfully (without anasthetics) and better than modern medicine.

In kasepuhan you learn wider healing and also how to place invisible energy barriers to protect yourself and your property. In Nampon silat this is called 'pasang harkat'.

Rahayu,
Kiai Carita.

[Saiful Azraq]

Assalamualaikum...

Pertaining to Silk Road's inquiry into Silat Abjad, it is an association founded on the premise of cleansing the realm of Silat Melayu of magical practices and to promote accurate understanding of spiritual alignment in Islam.

It accepts all forms of martial art as physical training but focuses more on spiritual (i.e. religious) training and submission to Allah and to follow in Rasulullah's footsteps.

If you need more information, please contact me at saifulazraq@gmail.com

Wassalam...

Saiful Azraq

[sulaiman]

asalaamualaykum Brother saiful
Please can you elaborate on who is cleansing silat melayu of magic, how and on whose authority - what practices do they classify as " magic "?

I dont want to open a can of worms here but to my knowledge in most Silat melayu the practices are based on authenticated sunnahs , a lot of which have recently been declared haram by the new salafi/ wahabi mentality - who also want to cleanse & reform Islam , obviously they would call it promoting am accurate understanding of religion.
Is Silat abjad wahabi silat ?
wslm
sulaiman

[tellner]

One of the wonderful things about Islam is that there is no priesthood. Imams, mullahs, religious scholars and ayatollahs are lawyers and judges. They do not stand between man and the Most High. Their authority rests on the respect that people give their opinions, piety and scholarship. Well, that and the ability to get people with guns to enforce their authority. But the same can be said of kings and prime ministers.

Ultimately, each of us is responsible for his or her own actions on the Final Day. We were given reason and perception so that we might know the truth. If you honestly believe that these newer interpretations are correct or incorrect it is a matter between you, G-d and your conscience whether or not to adjust your actions accordingly. "The gates of ijtihad are closed" is, in my not terribly humble opinion, a self-serving power grab where men who are not Prophets arrogate to themselves the power to tell everyone what is and isn't the True Religion. Sounds kind of like they're setting themselves up to be Allah's partners...

[Saiful Azraq]

Waalaikumsalam brother Sulaiman,

The silsilah of Silat Abjad comes primarily from Shaikh Ahmad Zain Al-Fatani, a prominent Malay-Pattani scholar who was well-known in Makkah at the turn of the 20th century. He was respected by the 'alim of Makkah and was reported to have the silsilah of 40 branches of knowledge, and many tariqat.

One of his famous students was Allahyarham Tok Kenali, who it was reported arbitrated between two debating 'alim and when challenged to prove his worthiness as a scholar, he proceeded to syarah on Al Fatihah for seven days.

Upon the death of his shaikh, Tok Kenali returned to Kelantan where he established his religious school which was subsequently attended by many famous 'alim of the region. One of his students was Shaikh Mahmud Nasri al-Osmani who was charged with serving society by delving into the realm of martial arts. He was tasked with reeducation of many martial arts masters who either had broken silsilah and were unknowingly practising shirk and sihr or were purposely doing so. For this purpose, Silat Abjad was founded.

In this generation, the responsibility has fallen to his student, ustaz Ahmad Che Din who currently heads Silat Abjad. This answers the who.

How? Is by inviting martial arts masters to discuss their sources of knowledge and if valid, then to ratify and if invalid, and additional invitation to reconfirm their knowledge by ijazah to the silsilah of Shaikh Muhyiddin Abdul Qadir Al-Jailani. In no way is Silat Abjad the aggressor in this sense. All discussions are done in an atmosphere of openness. If they accept the points put forward, then they can proceed with the next step, ijazah. If they don't and are confident of their knowledge, then they may proceed without fear.

However, one thing that needs to be pointed out, Ustaz Ahmad Che Din stresses that a murid who already has a shaikh, his path should not be disturbed.

Today, since many Malaysian martial arts are undergoing their own method of spiritual authentication, Silat Abjad has turned its attention to the society at large, holding seminars and exhibitions on the dangers of deviant teachings.

I believe that up to this point, we agree on many things, especially now that it is clear that Silat Abjad is by no means a Wahabi influence. Accurate understanding of Islam begins with the self through Rasulullah S.A.W. and ends with Allah S.W.T.

However, it is to my knowledge that there are many Silat Melayu that practise Islam superficially, but unknowingly subscribe to philosophies or aqidah that are extant of Islam. What is revealed openly to public is by no means what they truly practise in private.

I recognise that what the public won't accept is what the public doesn't understand and has to be kept secret. Fortunately, there is a discernible difference between right knowledge and wrong knowledge and the apparent 'goodness' or 'badness' of the knowledge is not the main criterion for determination, it is the source and authentication by the source, in this case a valid silsilah.

I hope I have been clear on this point. I definitely did not answer to irritate anyone, just expressing one particular view. I am open to discussion insyaAllah.

Wassalam,

Saiful Azraq

[sulaiman]

alaykum brother saiful,
Thank you for your response and for clarifying matters.
I agree with you 100% on the necessity of silsilah and am sincerely heartened that there is someone with enough courage, authority and knowledge to tackle the dragon in its cave so to speak.
Muslims need to wake up to the deviant monster we have all watched growing amongst our communities and amongst our young and that finds its expression in hatred., intolerance and destruction.
The only cure is the love and understanding inherant in traditional Islam and if this is what you are propogating amongst the communities then I sincerely ask God to bless you and strengthen you and give you more and more nur.
Peace to you all and blessings to our Holy Prophet in this , his sacred month of Shaban,

[sulaiman]

[QUOTE=tellner]. If you honestly believe that these newer interpretations are correct or incorrect it is a matter between you, G-d and your conscience whether or not to adjust your actions accordingly.

Hi tellner,
on the whole I agree with you - however at the moment Islam is plagued by a very aggressive , intolerant ideology stemming from 19th century saudi Arabia - this ideology ( wahabism ) was outlawed by the then Ottoman caliphs as it propogated the idea that everyone not wahabi was therefore an unbeliever and open to being slaughtered by the only ones to have really understood islam since the time of the Prophet ( peace be upon him .)needless to say the first action of the wahabis ( armed and financed by the brits )was to rebel against the rightful caliphs and slaughter everyone in mecca and medina !

These days traditional " orthodox " muslims have stood back from this group out of respect for respecting anothers right to a differen viewpoint and watched as they have dragged the name of Islam and the reputation of muslims through the fires of hell on earth.

It is my belief that muslims must stand up against these physical and ideological terrorists and restore the practise of islam to its rightful place as the defender of everyones right to follow their own way of life or deen - there is no compulsion in religion , we have our way and others have theirs- conviviencia is a term that was protected and instituted by the European Spanish muslims and I pray we can restore that today.

congratulations to abang Kiai for his efforts in remembering this day of sorrow for all peaceful loving people.

Peace

:Angel:

[azwan1304]

assalamualaikum.

anyone interested to know about silat abjad can go to this address http://www.geocities.com/pgssajkm/home.html

wassalam.
:cool:

[Narrue]

Thanks for the link Azwan1304. I think the question posed by SilkRoad earlier is an important one:

“Is there a difference between an INTERNAL system of Silat as opposed to a SPIRITUAL system of Silat” Silkroad

I think in order to answer that question we first have to understand the different forms of fighting arts. My understanding is that there are four

Physical: physical movements, kicks, punches etc etc

Internal (vital): Breath work, energy circulation, storage, transmutation, extension,compression etc

Mental: Tricks with the mind and manipulating the functioning of the mind of your opponent

Spiritual: The operation of the spirit or higher self using the human body as a conduit i.e. channeling etc

[ICT]

Hello All,

Sounds to me like Islam is going through the same thing Christianity has gone through for a long time. One religion branching into many different sects with all these sects claiming to be the "Right One" to believe in and condemning the other sects and their followers and telling them what to think and believe.

I mean in Christianity you have many different ways to go, you can be:
Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Jehovah Witness, Methodist, Orthodox, Episcopal, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, Latter-day Saint, Presbyterian, Non-Denominational and many others.

So to the Islamic followers all I can say is it’s probably going to get worse not better.

Sincerely,
Teacher: Eddie Ivester