Article

Saints

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Saints

The concept of the keramat—a class of revered figures believed to possess supernatural powers and sanctity—constitutes one of the most persistent and widespread phenomena in the religious life of the Malay Peninsula. Documented primarily in the Rembau district of the Negeri Sembilan region and in the Pengkalan Kempas area of the Straits Settlements, the keramat tradition represents a syncretic belief system in which pre-Islamic animist survivals coexist with, and are often subordinated to, Islamic vocabulary and practice. The economic and social significance of these figures is considerable: they are invoked in agricultural rites, consulted in matters of illness, and their relics serve as objects of veneration that structure the ritual calendar of entire communities. [1, pp. 101–104]

Taxonomy and Genealogical Structure

Dato’ Sedia Raja Abdullah, writing in 1925, distinguished two principal categories of keramat. The first, the “living but invisible” class, comprises saints who are believed to exist in a state of perpetual life, though unseen by ordinary mortals. The second, termed Keramat Hampiran, consists of ordinary persons to whom sanctity and supernatural powers have been conferred by the first class. [1, p. 101]

The genealogical chain of the principal saints in Rembau traces descent from the supreme keramat at Pagar Ruyong, named To’ Anjong, who by his marriage with Siti Fatimah produced a son, Patawalau, and a daughter, Puteri. When these children reached the age of discretion, they were requested by their father to leave Pagar Ruyong owing to the already large number of keramat in residence there. They traversed the ocean on foot and landed at Johore Baharu, where Patawalau married a Johore princess nicknamed Puteri Sa-Kuntum Bunga, and his sister Puteri was married to a Johore prince named Patawali. [1, p. 101]

Patawalau and his wife subsequently journeyed on over the sea on foot, eventually establishing their permanent abode on Gunong Dato’ (Gunong Rembau). Seven children were born to them: To’ Paroi, To’ Dalong, To’ Gayah, To’ Sigai, To’ Lendek, To’ Dioh, and To’ Manggam, who settled respectively at Paroi, Batang Malaka, Seri Menanti, Gunong Pasir, Padang Muar (Johore), Batang Malaka, and Mampong (Rembau). [1, p. 102]

To’ Manggam’s saintship was first revealed in a dream to a pious man, To’ Lebai Tanjong Kling, who became a great friend of the saint of Mampong. In accordance with the recognised custom of menetau (a formal proposal of marriage), To’ Manggam married Siti Zulijah, and the couple were blessed with six children: To’ Saeh Serban Kuning (Palong, Sepri), To’ Multan Kali (Rantau Paya, Sepri), To’ Fakeh Kechil (Penajis, Sepri), To’ Juan Pahlawan (Tuntong, Sepri), To’ Saeh Raja ‘diraja (Chembong), and To’ Saeh Sur ‘Alam (Chuwai). [1, p. 102]

Material Evidence and Ritual Practice

The living existence of the invisible keramat is testified to by several categories of evidence. They make their appearance in the dreams of villagers; ancient trees grow in the places of their abode; stone relics that were once articles for their daily use remain in situ; and their sacred tigers and crocodiles are present. They possess houses and, like ordinary villagers, keep domestic animals. [1, p. 102]

At the abodes of To’ Saeh Serban Kuning and To’ Fakeh Kechil at Palong and Penajis (Sepri), praying-mats long ago converted to granite can still be seen. At To’ Saeh Raja ‘diraja’s settlement at Chembong, three wells have been converted to the same material. On these wells and on the stone praying-mats are placed saffron rice, together with lemon juice mixed with water, with which the people who have made vows bathe their faces, hands, and feet—a ceremony performed for the proper payment of the vows offered. [1, p. 102]

The village folks visit these holy places annually just before the season for tilling the wet rice-fields, in order to beseech the help of the Dato’ in driving away evil spirits from the crops. Goats and buffaloes are sacrificed, public feasts are given, and the proceedings end with the village Lebai (a learned Muslim religious functionary) offering prayers in Arabic. When illness overtakes any member of the community, the local Pawang (traditional healer) is consulted, who informs the patient that the illness is due to the evil demons of a particular marshy ground, mountain, ravine, or gorge, and that recovery can only be achieved by beseeching the aid of a specific saint. Upon recovery, the patient’s family visits the saint’s abode and pays its vow. [1, pp. 102–103]

A notable example of protective efficacy is attributed to To’ Palong’s buffaloes, which are credited with rendering the cattle of Chembong, Batu Hampar, and Sepri practically immune from rinderpest, a disease that had always attacked cattle in other parts of Rembau. [1, p. 102]

The Pinggan Jambar and Other Relics

Among the most celebrated relics associated with the Rembau saints is the Pinggan Jambar, a large plate inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith, La ilaha illa’ llah Muhammad Rasulu’ llah, together with many other illegible words in Arabic. At noon on a certain Monday, many years before 1925, the famous To’ Pawang Idris of Sepri beheld this plate before the assembled village folks just before the time for transplanting young rice from the wet nurseries. The people were astounded at the Pawang’s discovery, made under their very eyes, and explained the mystery by the fact that the plate was the personal gift of the saint to his favourite Pawang. [1, p. 103]

It is said that the plate is still in the possession of the deceased Pawang’s wife, and that during his lifetime it used to sound of its own accord every Thursday night, provided it had first been smoked in incense. Owing to the widow’s ignorance of the proper method of treatment, this miracle has now ceased. The plate is regarded as a supremely effective amulet against all demons, and a person suffering from poison can be cured by drinking a cup of water in which it has been placed. [1, p. 103]

Another significant relic is the great drum at Masjid Tanah, which was crafted by To’ Anggut in the neighbouring forest of the saint To’ Hijau. The whole village failed to lift it when completed until To’ Anggut ordered forty-four virgins to convey it to the mosque. They did so easily, and the big drum afterwards sounded of its own accord every Thursday night, continuing to do so until many years before 1925 it collapsed from age. [1, p. 104]

The Keramat Hampiran

The Keramat Hampiran class includes figures such as To’ Hijau, the founder of Kampong Chembong, who was born with a green complexion. Green, too, was the blood from his mother’s womb at the time of his birth. After the midwife had bathed him, it was discovered that the right side of his body was pure green—skin, blood, flesh, bones, nails, and hair. Any one who crossed his path without permission fell down unconscious; squirrels or fowl, jumping or flying above his head, met with a like fate. His saliva, as also the water in which his feet had been bathed, had remedial virtues, and his powers to cure any form of illness by other means were equally great. The Pawang visits his grave just before the period when the mock combats (Berpuah) are held, in order to secure this saint’s active cooperation in praying for a good crop. The saint has a white tiger that guards the village against the invasion of evil spirits. [1, p. 103]

To’ Anggut, known for his beard reaching his knees, was much respected for piety during his lifetime. He was in the habit of shutting every hole found in his house, explaining that a ship at sea was about to be wrecked and her passengers would be lost were it not for his timely action. Three months later, the people thus saved would visit him and pay the vow they had offered at sea. [1, p. 104]

To’ Lumpoh of Sepri, who had paralysed limbs and a hairy tongue, required pisang kelat (a type of banana) to make the hair adhere to his tongue, enabling him to say or sing his magical incantations. [1, p. 104]

Other minor saints included To’ Rangan and To’ Anggoh, who were once great dukun (traditional practitioners of healing and magic). The number of such saints in Rembau, as also that of the Keramat Hampiran, can be multiplied by the hundreds. [1, p. 104]

The Pengkalan Kempas Epitaph

A distinct dimension of the keramat tradition is illuminated by the Pengkalan Kempas epitaph, which records the arrival of Shaikh Ahmad from Sungai Ujong in A.D. 1467 “for some treacherous purpose” and the subsequent death of all his followers. R.J. Wilkinson, writing in 1931, defended Shaikh Ahmad’s reputation against the characterisation of him as a “saintly rascal” left by the inscription’s decipherer, Dr. P. V. van Stein Callenfels. Wilkinson argued that the epitaph presents only the official version of events. Cross-referencing the Malay Annals’ account of Sultan Mansur Shah’s reign, Wilkinson conjectured that the Proto-Malays of Sungai Ujong had genuine grievances against local administration, that Shaikh Ahmad was their spokesman, and that they were wrongly treated as rebels. The inscription’s reference to “the family of Tun Barah Galang” was identified with the bendahara (treasurer) of Klang, Tun Perak, whose authority over the fief was subsequently revoked by the Sultan as a consequence of the incident. [2, pp. 134–135]

Research and Documentation

The documentation of the keramat tradition in the Society’s literature reflects a progression from initial ethnographic recording to critical reassessment. Dato’ Sedia Raja Abdullah’s 1925 article, drawing on the testimony of a local Pawang regarded as a high authority on medicine and the arts of his profession, represents the earliest substantial treatment of the subject in the journal. The author explicitly acknowledges the difficulty of collecting authentic biographies, noting that into the traditions chronicled by local Pawang there have crept by degrees the inventions of a later generation, a phenomenon he attributes to the well-known habit of learned Malays of the old school to regard every branch of religious and secular knowledge as a secret reluctant to be imparted to disciples. [1, p. 101]

Abdullah’s framing is explicitly reformist. He positions the keramat tradition as antithetical to orthodox Islam, stating that though Islam recognises no intercessors between man and Allah, the relics of the pre-Islamic “Days of Ignorance” survive and will continue to exercise a disastrous influence so long as Malays are ignorant of the fundamental teachings of their religion and remain indifferent to the benefits of secular education. He notes with gratification that for the rising generation, primaeval beliefs are slowly but surely disappearing. [1, p. 104]

Wilkinson’s 1931 note on the Pengkalan Kempas epitaph introduces a different methodological concern: the relationship between official inscriptions and the lived experience of the communities they describe. His defence of Shaikh Ahmad against van Stein Callenfels’s characterisation illustrates the tension between colonial-era epigraphic scholarship and the perspectives of the communities whose history is inscribed. [2, pp. 134–135]

The 1977 Centenary Volume, which selected thirty articles from the Society’s journals spanning 1878 to 1976, included material on the keramat tradition, indicating its continued recognition as a significant subject within the Society’s scholarly output. [3, p. 358] The overall trajectory of the literature moves from detailed ethnographic description in the 1920s, through epigraphic and historical reassessment in the 1930s, to retrospective curation in the 1970s, with the reformist critique of the early period gradually giving way to a more neutral scholarly register.

MBRAS Sources

References

  1. Dato’ Sedia Raja Abdullah (1925). The leading saints in Rembau JMBRAS 3(3): 101–104. Read on JSTOR
  2. R.J. Wilkinson (1931). The Pengkalan Kempas “saint” JMBRAS 9(1): 134–135. Read on JSTOR
  3. Anon (1977). A Centenary Volume: 30 Articles selected from JSBRAS and JMBRAS 1878 - 1976 : 358.