The handbook of good rule and obedience by Bugis scholars in Pulau Penyengat

• Main Author: Tengku Nazihah Tengku Abdul Hamid
• Other Authors: Van Dongen Els
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137588
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper aims to explore the presence of Islamic lessons and values in various literary classics and activities by Bugis literary scholars residing in Pulau Penyengat, Riau, Indonesia. Mainly, this project places its central focus on Raja Ali Kelana, a prominent Bugis figure in the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century in Riau. This paper attempts to illustrate how the various literary classics that will be analysed later, acts as a form of reminder and advice for the Kings. Within such literature works lies practices and norms in accordance to Islam that are laid out for the Kings to abide by as a means to exhibit personal obedience to God. In addition, these literary classics are also believed to contain reminders for the common people and the community at large, to extract these advice and lessons as normative guidance for lay people in general to live by, which in essence, contains the notion of obeying the King and by extension, God. By doing so, this paper will address how a number of the literature published in Pulau Penyengat relates back to Islamic values and teachings, as opposed to only the popularly accepted literature, that is language and historical literature. Through this, this paper will attempt to look at these literary writings as a handbook for rule, concerning a more practical and political aspect of ruling instead of looking at these literary classics merely as a form of preserving the local culture and language. By putting the focus on Raja Ali Kelana, this paper will discuss aspects of Islamic literature from three different writers – Raja Ali Haji, Raja Ali Kelana and Syed Syeikh al-Hadi. While not explicitly, Raja Ali Kelana shares relations with the other two writers as well, as will be discussed further later. Thus, this paper encapsulates historical events occurring in the period of 1840 to 1910, during the rule of the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, in order to explore the different significant Bugis literary authors and their works.