The thematic system in the construction of Arabic Sufism communities and Islamic identity

• Main Authors: Anis, Muhammad Y., Nababan, Mangatur, Santosa, Riyadi, Masrukhi, Mohammad
• Format: Article PeerReviewed
• Language: English
• Published: African Online Scientific Information Systems 2022
• Subjects: Culture, Arts and Language
• Online Access: https://repository.ugm.ac.id/283775/1/the%20thematic%20system.pdf; https://repository.ugm.ac.id/283775/; https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7469/22190
• Institution: Universitas Gadjah Mada

This research aims to investigate the thematic system (theme and rheme) of Arabic texts, especially Arabic Sufi texts related to al-Hikamaphorisms. Thematic structure is defined as the set of options relating to ‘information structure’, the linguistic representation of extralinguistic experience and how a Sufi constructs an information structure in al-Hikam aphorisms. In this case, the extralinguistic experience is focused on the Arabic Sufi communities (Tarekat Syadziliyah community). The first problem of this research, about thematic system in al-Hikamaphorism related to Arabic Sufi communities and Islamic identities, is elaborated comprehensively. The elaboration process can be classified into a number of thematic systems such as (1) unmarked topical, (2) marked topical, (3) interpersonal and (4) textual. The thematic analysis becomes the base foundation to elaborate the construction of Arabic Sufi communities and Islamic identities. A thematic model shows how language users in Arabic Sufi communities encode language from their mental picture of reality. By capturing the al-Hikam aphorism through the thematic system, it can be concluded that communication is pivotal in making Islamic Sufi identities