Dayaknese and Islam: A Confluence from Borneo's Hinterland, Indonesia

Abstract

Sufism has generally been regarded as the confluence that helps to facilitate Islamization in Indonesia by opening accommodating spaces for local beliefs and practices. This article examines manuscripts as historical records to show concrete examples of how Sufi interpretations of the local culture are constructed. This article is not only based on philological studies of the Abang Ahmad Tahir Manuscript Collections (MSS AAT) but also on observations and interviews from the field between 2012 and 2019. This article argues that the MSS AAT has provided appropriate examples of the confluence of Dayakness and Islam. Not only has MSS AAT presented dynamic engagement between critically selected local traditions of cosmology and specific elements of Sufi textual discourses, but it has also noted the ways in which such texts further indicate both the Islamisation of local communities and how they vernacularise interpretations of Islam in Kapuas Hulu, which is situated in the hinterland of West Kalimantan.