Facing Mecca from Java: Two Treatises on the Establishment of the qibla, and Their Scholarly and Social Context

Between the 1870s and 1902, the Jakarta-based Sayyid ʽUthmān b. ʽAbd Allāh al-ʽAlawī wrote two epistles on the correct establishment of the qibla. Questions on the qibla and, controversially, on correcting the faulty direction of prayer in several mosques in Southeast Asia, surfaced in the late 18th century and reappeared periodically until well into the 20th century. Seeking to change the established qibla of a mosque represented not only a strong claim to religious authority, but also a direct assault on the legitimacy of local religious leaders. Thus, Sayyid ʽUthmān’s epistles were aimed not only at cementing his scholarly status, but also at intervening in the social cleavages of the time. This contribution will analyze the author’s two treatises on the qibla and situate them within their scholarly and social context.