This paper is an attempt to study the scholars‟ network of Mandailing Ulama with those of Haramayn in the mid-19thand early 20thcentury. Employing the content analysis methodthe research finds thatthe Mandailing scholars had made an intellectual encounterwith the scholars in Haramayn, even some of theestablished networks with Egyptian and Indian scholars. The Mandailing scholars connotethose who ethnically originated from Mandailing clan and data reveals that Mandailing scholars come from the residencies of Tapanuli and East Sumatera, both of which are parts of the modern era North Sumatera province. This not to deny that some of the Mandailing scholars were also born in Makkah. From the aspect of the duration of the study, some scholars studied religion intensively and settled in Makkah, while othersonly learned the Islamic religion by meeting the scholars of Makkah only during the Hajjperiod. The last group of scholars only studied religion intensely in Nusantara, but while performing hajj they met the scholars and learned religion in very limited time. Mandailing scholars studied Islamic sciences, especially Quranic exegeses, h}adīth, and Sufism to a number of such scholars from Arab and Nusantara as Ahmad Khatib al-Minangkabawi, „Abd al-Qadir b.Shabir al-Mandili (Nasution) and Hasan Masysyath.
Source: TEOSOFI: Jurnal Tasawuf dan Pemikiran Islam
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