Shaykh Yūsuf al-Maqassarī al-Khalwatī (1626–1699),hereafter referred to as Shaykh Yusuf, is widelyseen as the most seminal figure of Islam in SouthAfrica. He is renowned for having resisted Dutchexpansion into his homeland of Indonesia, for whichhe then eventually suffered exile to the remoteoutpost of Cape Town. He is honoured as a freedomfighter in both Indonesia and South Africa, with thelatter honouring him with the Gold Order of theCompanions of OR Tambo in 2005 for his struggleagainst colonialism. He passed away in Cape Town andbecame permanently lodged in the symbolic memory ofthe Muslim community in the city.

Shaykh Yusuf was also the author of approximately 53short treatises on Islamic mysticism. Takentogether, these treatises paint a picture of theworldview that guided Shaykh Yusuf and thatundoubtedly had implications for his politicalactivities. There have been a number of biographieson his life, but there has been comparatively littlesystematic attention given to his worldview. Bypresenting a sustained translation of 19 of hisworks, this book aims to fill this lacuna.

As a necessary prelude to these translations, thisintroduction seeks to accomplish three tasks:firstly, to provide an overview of the life ofShaykh Yusuf, with a particular eye on the elementsthat influenced his worldview; secondly, tothematically discuss his worldview based on thetranslated treatises; and thirdly, to examine aparticular question, namely, how a seemingly“abstract” worldview related to Shaykh Yusuf's“real-world” political activity.

The life of Shaykh Yusuf

From relatively early on in his life, Shaykh Yusuf'soutlook appears to have been shaped by his exposureto a variety of Ṣūfī teachers. As a youth in hisnative South Sulawesi, he studied Arabic, fiqh (Islamicjurisprudence), tawḥīd(Islamic theology) and taṣawwuf (Islamic spirituality) underIndonesian and Arab teachers such as Sayyid Bā‘Alawi ibn ‘Abdullāh al-‘Allāmah al-Tāhir and ShaykhJalāl ad-dīn Aidid. The latter was the progenitor ofa school known as Tarekat Bahral-Nur (The path of the ocean of divinelight). In 1644, Shaykh Yusuf left home to furtherhis studies.