Tarekat practices are derived from the Muslim interpretation of the Qur'an. According to tarekat followers, there are verses in the Qur'an which encourage Muslims to practise tarekat. These verses are very important since there are other Muslim groups who do not agree with and are very cynical about tarekat practices. Of the most frequently quoted verse is : Wa an law istaqamu ‘ala al-tariqati la'asqainakum ma'an ghadaqa, which states “Moreover, if they, the Meccan, keep straight on in that way, we will surely give them to drink of abundant water” (Sura, 72:16). The word al-tariqati (tarekat, Indonesian) mentioned in the verse, in the perspective of tarekat followers, indicates that approaching Allah necessitates a certain method, that is the tarekat. By using such verses, tarekat members not only legitimise their involvement in this religious movement but also express their religious satisfaction with it.

Tarekat are sufi orders through which Muslims practise religious rituals by performing special wird. The term tarekat derives from the Arabic tariqa, which literally means the mystical path to approach Allah. The members of the tarekat perform a ritual, known as dhikr, with the aim of placing themselves close to Allah. Dhikr, a distinctive form of worship of the sufi, is only one form of wird practice. It is the remembrance or recollection of God. The difference between dhikr in general and that conducted by tarekat members is that dhikr in general is done in more profane situations, while in a tarekat it is practised in a more sacred situation. In the tarekat, such dhikr are aimed at gaining a depth of religious feeling. The practice of dhikr is founded upon the Qur'anic order, “and recollect God often” (Sura, 33:40), since, “the recollection of God makes the heart calm” (Sura, 13:28).

Practising tarekat needs to be guided by a murshid, a carrier of the order (lit. spiritual teacher). The murshid not only provides his followers with certain wird but also helps them in practising the wird. Murshid literally means the person who ‘shows the way’. This term is used in the tarekat to indicate that the murshid is to lead the members to approach Allah, using a certain way. Initiation into a tarekat, moreover, follows the receipt of bai‘a. Bai‘a is an important element of the tarekat. A kiai ^[1] told me that in Jombang there was a Muslim who practised tarekat without having a bai‘a from any murshid. As a result he suffered from mental illness. There are seven bai‘a given by the murshid for each followers. Bai‘a in the tarekat is not an oath of allegiance as the term suggests, but an event in which followers receive certain wird and a determination to practise them continuously.

According to Kiai Makki^[2], one of the leaders of the tarekat in Jombang, there are three stages through which Muslims develop their religion. The first is the shari‘a, Muslim law. At the shari‘a level, Muslims perform their Islam as it is ordered in the Qur'an and the hadith (the two sources of Islam). Like the physiological functions of human beings, Makki further explained, Islam cannot survive without people practising its shari‘a. Secondly, as human life, from a certain perspective, does not make sense without batin (spiritual world), Islam would be nothing if Muslims could not reach the inner aspect of their practice of Islam. It is hence emphasised that the significance of Muslim life, in the tarekat perspective, lies not in the performance of what is ordered but rather in the acknowledgement of the necessity of such performance (not simply because it is ordered). This is the haqiqa (the essence or the Truth). Thirdly, when a Muslim is accustomed to this situation, he will move to another level of ma‘rifa (gnosis). At this level, what is alive in the Muslim's practice of Islam is not his physical movement but his heart. It is his heart that continuously connects him to Allah. However, it is not easy to come to this level. According to Makki^[3], it is necessary to perform religious exercises continuously and be guided by an expert who has reached such a level of religious attainment. The tarekat functions at this stage. It provides a Muslim with methods and exercises, so that he or she can reach the highest stage in religious performance. Practising dhikr, from the perspective of tarekat followers, leads to complete spiritualisation, for Allah has promised “I am the companion of him who recollects Me” or “I am with those whose hearts are broken for My sake” (hadith qudsi ^[4]). The basic goal of practising tarekat is hence “a purification on different levels, first from the lower qualities and the turpitude of the soul, then from the bondage of human qualities, and eventually a purification and election on the level of attributes” (see Schimmel, 1975:16). So, in the sufi world, the process of dhikr or mujahada  constitutes a stage in the achievement of a higher religious level of ma‘rifa (gnosis).

The main ritual of the tarekat is reciting the dhikr of la ’ilaha ’illa Allah (there is no God but Allah). In contrast to a common dhikr performed after daily prayer by Muslims, where la ’ilaha ’illa Allah is recited out loud, the dhikr in the tarekat, according to Kiai Makki^[5], is spoken silently. Although the practice of dhikr may differ from one tarekat to another, the essence is the same. The dhikr is of great importance in the tarekat world, since reciting it can lead to safety in this world and the hereafter.

Although the essence of all tarekat is to approach Allah, each of its aliran (lit. streams, fractions) has its own character. In addition, there exist variations and nuances which differentiate one tarekat from another. In the tarekat, variation is marked by the numbers of aliran, each of which has different ritual practices. By practice I refer to the wird they usually use. Each aliran also has different murshid. The aim of practising wirid in the tarekat seems to be similar between groups, that is to attain a closeness to Allah; but because the wird practised by each group is not the same, the silsila of murshidship (the chain of the carrier) of the tarekat is also different. In the tarekat world, the appropriateness of silsila of murshidship is very important, since it is through such silsilah that the wird can be regarded as mu‘tabarah (legitimate).

There are two criteria for a tarekat to be mu‘tabarah ^[6]. Firstly, the teachings of the tarekat must conform with the shari‘a. Secondly, the wirid  practised by the tarekat must be traced through the unbroken line of links between the murshid and the Prophet Muhammad. That means that the wird was practised by the Prophet and has passed to the current murshid. The wird of the Tarekat Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah are traced from the current murshid to the Prophet Muhammad through the great sufi, Sheikh ‘Abdul Qadir Al-Jailani. In other words, the silsila must connect the current murshid, as the carrier of the tarekat, to the Prophet Muhammad. This requirement is meant to ensure that the wird is not invented, but rather was practised by the Prophet himself. If there is any missing link in the chain, the tarekat would be regarded as religiously not mu‘tabarah.

The promotion of a person to murshid usually follows receipt of ijaza irshad (authority, special bai‘a) from a previous murshid. Ijaza irshad (in the tarekat) is an important event through which the leadership of a murshid candidate is legitimised and accepted by his followers. It is through the ijaza irshad that the link of murshidship in the tarekat is continually passed down, so that the legitimacy of a certain wird is also acknowledged. The centrality of the murshid in the tarekat in Indonesia is evidenced by the fact that not everyone has a chance to be promoted to murshid, since it constitutes a link which determines the validity of a tarekat. While the murshidship can potentially be acquired by any individual tarekat member, only a highly qualified member can achieve such murshidship. In addition to murshid, there are the khalifa who assist in conducting the rituals of the order. The khalifa, sometimes called the badal (lit. substitute), not only assist the murshid in performing the wird, but also, sometimes, conduct bai‘a ^[7] for the followers. 

The 44 Tarekat Aliran Acknowledged as Mu‘tabarah by NU's Kiai^[8]:

Of the great number of sufi orders in the Muslim world, NU's ‘ulama examined 44 aliran and acknowledged them as mu‘tabarah. Of these 44 aliran, according to Kiai Arwani^[9], only seven exist in Indonesia. They are the Qadiriyah, Naqsyabandiyah, Tijaniyah, Syadziliyah, Khalidiyah,  Syattariyah, and Khalwatiyah ^[10]. The Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah is the best known sufi order in Indonesia, due to its large number of followers. This tarekat comprises two different aliran, that is Qadiriyah and Naqsyabandiyah. In Jombang, the majority of tarekat followers are affiliated with this combined aliran.

It is important to note that the tarekat world in Indonesia is associated with NU society^[11]. Among modernist Muslims, the practice of tarekat is not found due to their orientation, which tends to be anti-bid‘a (not heretical)^[12]. In Jombang, in spite of the affiliation of the majority of NU members to the Tarekat Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah, there are some who practise tarekat which, from the NU's point of view, are not mu‘tabarah. For example, some belong to the sufi order, Tarekat Shiddiqiyah, headed by an NU kiai. This tarekat is regarded not mu‘tabarah because it does not have an acceptable silisila of murshidship. According to Dhofier (1982) it is really a new tarekat established in 1958 by Kiai Muchtar Mu‘thi in Jombang. Also, in Jombang there is a tarekat like movement called Wahidiyah or Penyiar Sholawat Wahidiyah, which focuses its wird practice on reciting shalawat (prayer for the Prophet). These religious movements are assessed slightly negatively by some kiai due to their novelty.

In brief, we can say that kiaiship in Jombang is related to leadership either in the pesantren or in the tarekat. These two institutions are of significance in relation to NU (as a socio-religious organisation). Both the pesantren and the tarekat are led by kiai. The difference is that the pesantren is an educational institution controlled by the kiai himself, while the tarekat is a religious movement, with a large number of followers, led by a number of kiai with a murshid as their central leader. Unlike the situation among non-santri followers of a pesantren, membership in the tarekat is formal, and emotional attachment between members and especially between them and their murshid is particularly strong.

Of the existing three sufi or quasi-sufi orders in Jombang, that is the Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah, the Shiddiqiyah and the Wahidiyah, the first has the large number of followers. However, there are no exact figures concerning the membership in this sufi order, although efforts were made by asking the members to renew their membership. From my interviews with some khalifa of this order, it can be assumed that the followers of Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah in Jombang may number around thirty to forty thousand. This sufi order consists of two groups derived from the same aliran ^[13] (lit. stream), that is the Qadiriyah Wa   Naqsyabandiyah coordinated by the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh Indonesia and the Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah coordinated by the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh An-Nahdliyah. The tarekat coordinated by the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh Indonesia is centred in the easthern side of Jombang and is commonly called the Tarekat Rejoso because its centre is located in Rejoso village. The tarekat coordinated by the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh An-Nahdliyah is commonly known as the Tarekat Cukir or Tarekat An-Nahdliyah because its centre is located in Cukir, a village in southern Jombang^[14].

Both of these aliran derive from the same source. During the first half of the 1970s, their members were followers of Kiai Musta‘in, the murshid of the Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah. This tarekat split after Kiai Musta‘in joined the government political party, Golkar. A significant number of followers of Kiai Musta‘in left his tarekat and organised another Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah affiliated with the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh An-Nahdliyah ^[15]. The rest persisted in giving their allegiance to Kiai Musta‘in, who continued to lead the Tarekat Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah. After Kiai Musta‘in died in 1984, the tarekat was led by his brother, Kiai Rifai who died in a car accident in December 1994. The tarekat has since been led by a new murshid, Kiai Dimyati, who succeeded his brother.

Similar to tarekat in other Islamic countries, members of tarekat in Java mostly come from villages. In addition, the majority of the members are mature and older Muslims. This is not only because younger Muslims are not interested in joining the tarekat, but also the NU's kiai in the past did not allow them to join this spiritual movement. This prohibition seems to have been discarded, so that the tarekat can be attended by younger Muslims as well. It is not surprising now to find Muslims as young as seventeen attending ritual activities of the tarekat.

Like the pesantren, the tarekat does not have a formal organisational relationship to NU. It is acknowledged as an NU institution because those performing the ritual practices of the tarekat are NU members, and some of the kiai managing the tarekat are also involved in the NU leadership. Any problem concerned with the tarekat is discussed in NU. NU has thus been involved in many respects in (indirectly) managing the tarekat. The formation of the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh An-Nahdliyah ^[16], for example, was decided on at an NU congress in Semarang in 1979. It was done because Kiai Musta‘in (the murshid of the Qadiriyah Wa Naqsyabandiyah and the leader of the Jam‘iyah Ahli Thoriqoh Al-Mu‘tabaroh ^[17] deviated from the NU's political policy by joining Golkar (at that time NU was a main component of the United Development Party, PPP).