Constructing Sacred Space: Sufi Cosmology, Ritual Practice and the Sacralization of the Sheikh Maulana Ishaq Tomb in East Java

Moh Khoirul Fatih; Ach. Ilham Zubairi; Thiyas Tono Taufiq; Muhammad Aly Mahmudi

doi:10.21580/tos.v15i1.31351

Authors

Moh Khoirul Fatih Department of Sharia Economic Law, Faculty of Islamic Economics, Universitas Tarbiyatut Tholabah Lamongan, Indonesia
Ach. Ilham Zubairi Department of Sharia Economic Law, Faculty of Islamic Economics, Universitas Tarbiyatut Tholabah Lamongan, Indonesia
Thiyas Tono Taufiq Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Humanities, Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia
Muhammad Aly Mahmudi Department of Islamic Communication and Broadcasting, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Da'wah, Universitas Tarbiyatut Tholabah Lamongan, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v15i1.31351

Keywords:

Sufi cosmology, sacralization, Maulana Ishaq tomb

Abstract

Pilgrimage to Islamic saints’ (awliyā‘) tombs is an important Javanese tradition shaped by Sufi beliefs, devotional practices, and collective memory. This study examines how sacredness is created and sustained at the Tomb of Sheikh Maulana Ishaq in Kemantren, Paciran, Lamongan, East Java, focusing on cosmology, rituals, narratives, spatial organization, and management. Using qualitative ethnographic and phenomenological methods, it explores rituals, social relations, community participation, tomb management, and pilgrims’ experiences of sacredness. Findings reveal three connected dimensions of sacralization: Sufi concepts of wilāyā (sainthood/spiritual authority), baraka (divine blessing), and waḥdat al-wujūd (unity of existence); rituals including dhikr (remembrance of God), tahlīl (religious gathering and prayer ceremony), ḥaul (commemorative anniversaries), and tawassul (seeking intercession), reinforced by karāma (miraculous gifts) narratives; and the influence of spatial organization, management, community involvement, and religious tourism. Pilgrims experience sacredness through prayer, devotion, hopes for baraka, and encounters with divine grace, connecting personal meaning, shared memory, and community life. The study introduces “socio-cosmological sacralization” to explain how cosmological beliefs, lived experience, ritual, space, memory, and social structures together create and sustain sacredness.

Contribution: This study contributes to the anthropology and sociology of religion by introducing socio-cosmological sacralization as an analytical framework for understanding how sacredness emerges through the interaction of Sufi cosmology, devotional practices, collective memory, spatial organization, and community relations.

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