Saint of South Kalimantan: Banjar People’s Pilgrimage to the Tomb of Sheikh Nafis Idris Al-Banjari

Abstract

The grave of Muhammad Nafis is considered sacred by the Banjar people. As a Banjar Sufi scholar who is known as a figure who contributed to the spread of Islam in Banjar, this tomb is often visited by the community for pilgrimage. This paper aims to investigate the motives for the pilgrimage to Muhammad Nafis' grave. As a complement to several previous studies that have reviewed the life history, works left behind, and the concept of Sufism taught. This research uses a phenomenological approach to describe the experiences and meanings of pilgrims. This study describes and reports a certain situation, object, symptom, habit, and behavior that occurs in the habits of the community, then analyzed more sharply also based on the results of interviews with pilgrims who come to the tomb. The findings in the field show that there are several aspects that become the background of tomb pilgrimage, ranging from cultural, spiritual, economic, social, health, to the ease of studying. The motives driving people to make pilgrimages are the collective awareness of the community in carrying out these activities, which is called intentionality based on the perspective of pilgrims who have their own goals. In this case, it is said that grave pilgrimage is a habit that has been passed down by previous ancestors which continues to be carried out from time to time with different generations for different reasons.