Spiritual and Professional Motivation of Indonesian Academics Entering the Sha???riyah Sufi Order

Abstract

Sha???riyah is one of the 46 ?ar?qa (Sufi order) in Indonesia that are mu'tabarah (?ah?h, straight, valid), which attracts academics from major cities, including Bandung. Questions such as (1) Why are academics interested in joining this Sufism? (2) Are they only motivated spiritually? and (3) Does professional development conflict with the concept of zuhud and uzlah? have remained unanswered. Therefore, this study aims to explore the spiritual and professional motivations of Indonesian academics entering ?ar?qa Sha???riyah. This is qualitative research with data collected from five lecturers in Bandung through observation and in-depth interviews from May 2021 to April 2022. The results showed that respondents interpreted religion as being submissive to Wasi?ah, a Shaykh of Sha???riyah who the only successor of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH is. Spirituality development through muj?hadah under the guidance of Wasi?ah by combining the goodness of shari'a and haq?qa. All respondents had reached the mutawasi? (intermediate) spirituality level, mu?mainnah, and radhiyah stages, which are levels of spirituality far above most Sha???riyah citizens. Furthermore, in terms of professional motivation, they possessed zuhud and uzlah, which are high levels of professionalism.

Received: 10 July 2022 / Accepted: 26 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022