Article

The leading saints in Rembau

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

The leading saints in Rembau

Dato’ Sedia Raja Abdullah’s 1925 article in the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society documents the genealogies, supernatural attributes, and associated ritual practices of the principal keramat (saints) of the Rembau district in the Malay Peninsula, drawing on the testimony of a local Pawang (traditional healer) regarded as a high authority on the subject. The piece serves as both an ethnographic record of a syncretic belief system and a reformist critique of what the author identifies as pre-Islamic survivals impeding Malay progress.

Summary

The article distinguishes two categories of keramat: the “living but invisible” class, who are believed to remain alive in a supernatural state, and the Keramat Hampiran, ordinary persons to whom sanctity and supernatural powers have been conferred by the former. The principal saints of Rembau trace their descent from To’ Anjong, the supreme keramat at Pagar Ruyong, whose children Patawalau and Puteri were sent to Johore Baharu, where Patawalau married a Johore princess and later established his permanent abode on Gunong Dato’ (Gunong Rembau). Their seven sons settled at Paroi, Batang Malaka, Seri Menanti, Gunong Pasir, Padang Muar, Batang Malaka, and Mampong, with To’ Manggam of Mampong himself fathering six further saints whose abodes remain identifiable in the Sepri and Chembong areas (pp. 101–102).

The author presents multiple categories of evidence for the saints’ continued existence: dream appearances to villagers, ancient trees at their abodes, stone relics (praying-mats and wells converted to granite), and sacred animals such as tigers, crocodiles, and buffaloes. The most detailed ritual account concerns the annual village ceremony performed just before the wet-rice planting season, in which goats and buffaloes are sacrificed, feasts are held, and the village Lebai offers prayers in Arabic to drive evil spirits from the crops (p. 102). A notable episode involves the Pinggan Jambar—a plate inscribed with the shahada—which the saint To’ Saeh Serban Kuning is said to have gifted to the Pawang Idris of Sepri, and which reportedly sounded of its own accord every Thursday night when properly treated with incense (p. 103).

The Keramat Hampiran section profiles To’ Hijau, founder of Kampong Chembong, who was born with a green complexion and whose saliva and bath-water possessed curative virtues; To’ Anggut (Lebai Janggut), whose piety was demonstrated by plugging holes in his house to save ships at sea and who crafted the great drum at Masjid Tanah; and To’ Lumpoh of Sepri, a paralysed man with a hairy tongue who required pisang kelat to enable his incantations (pp. 103–104). The author notes that the number of recognised saints appears to be steadily increasing, with the recently deceased Pawang Idris already receiving vows at his grave.

Key Findings

  • The genealogical chain runs from To’ Anjong (Pagar Ruyong) → Patawalau (Gunong Rembau) → seven sons at named locations → To’ Manggam’s six sons at Palong, Rantau Paya, Penajis, Tuntong, Chembong, and Chuwai (pp. 101–102).
  • Physical relics still visible at the time of writing include granite-converted praying-mats at Palong and Penajis, and three granite-converted wells at Chembong, on which saffron rice and lemon juice are placed for vow-payment (p. 102).
  • To’ Palong’s protecting buffaloes are credited with rendering the cattle of Chembong, Batu Hampar, and Sepri immune from rinderpest, which had attacked cattle elsewhere in Rembau (p. 102).
  • The Pinggan Jambar plate, inscribed with La ilaha illa’ llah Muhammad Rasulu’ llah, was said to sound of its own accord every Thursday night when smoked with incense; it was in the possession of Pawang Idris’s widow at the time of writing (p. 103).
  • The great drum at Masjid Tanah was crafted by To’ Anggut in the forest of To’ Hijau and could not be lifted by the whole village until forty-four virgins were ordered to carry it; it sounded of its own accord every Thursday night until it collapsed from age (p. 104).
  • To’ Lumpoh of Sepri required pisang kelat (a type of banana) to make the hair on his tongue adhere, enabling him to deliver his magical incantations (p. 104).

Conclusion

Abdullah’s definitive historical takeaway is that the keramat system constitutes a “lamentable obstacle” to the economic, spiritual, and moral advancement of the Malays, representing a survival of pre-Islamic “Days of Ignorance” beliefs that persist so long as the population remains ignorant of fundamental Islamic teachings and indifferent to secular education. He offers a cautiously optimistic coda, noting that among the rising generation these “primaeval beliefs are slowly but surely disappearing” (p. 104).

Context

  • The author, a Malay aristocrat and scholar writing for a colonial academic audience, frames the keramat tradition explicitly through a reformist lens, positioning it as antithetical to orthodox Islam and modernity—a perspective that colours the otherwise descriptive ethnography.
  • The article draws on a single primary informant (a Pawang of high standing) and cross-references Dr. R. O. Winstedt’s earlier account of Lebai Janggut in J.R.A.S., M.B. Vol. II, Part III (p. 277), situating the piece within the early MBRAS project of documenting Malay oral traditions before they were lost.

References