Suluk Ritual and Mental Health: Exploration of the Experiences of the Suluk of the Tarekat Naqshbandiyah Khalidiyah Babussalam (TNKB), Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i1.10281Keywords:
Suluk Ritual, Suluk Ethics, Dhikr Ritual, Murshid, Caliph and CongregationsAbstract
This study aimed to examine the relationship between suluk rituals and mental health. To achieve this objective, questions were formulated about the nature of suluk rituals and ethical considerations to determine its relationship with mental health. Qualitative data was selected using a case study approach to answer the formulated questions. The main data sources in this study are murshid, caliphs, and congregations. Data were collected using observation, interviews, and documentation, and analyzed in different stages with the presentation of results. The result showed that the suluk rituals is are a form of spiritual training activity requiring each congregations to carry out a series of rituals, such as dhikr, muraqabah, tawajuh, and others. To discipline the congregations in its implementation, ethical guidelines are established, requiring adherence and implementation before, during the process, and at the end of the process. These ethical guidelines consistently maintain the practices during the suluk. Furthermore, the suluk rituals with mental health was found through the intersubjective experiences of the pilgrims who perform the rituals through recognition of the changes experienced, namely becoming calm and able to think rationally. The practice of dhikr, which is the main activity of the suluk rituals, has significantly contributed to shaping the mental health of the congregations. Consequently, it can be confirmed that the suluk rituals positively influenced mental health formation.
References
Afidah, I. et al., (2021). “Sufistic Approach Psychotherapy as a Mental Spiritual Development Effort”, Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 658, 370-373.
Asmanidar, (2021). “Suluk dan Perubahan Perilaku Salik: Telaah Teori Konstruksi Sosial Peter L Berger dan Thomas Luckman”, Abrahimic Religions, 1 (1), 99-107.
Batubara, P. F., & Purnomo, M. D. (2025). Student's perspectives on the efficacy of Tandem application in enhancing speaking proficiency. IDEAS: Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 13(1), 1408–1422. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v13i1.6408
Birohmatika, M. N. & Diana, R.R. (2012), “Makna Suluk pada Lansia Anggota Jamaah Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah”, Psikologika: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Penelitian Psikologi, 17 (2), 39-51.
Bruinessen, M.v. (1992). Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah di Indonesia: Survey Historis, Geografis, dan Sosiologis. Bandung: Mizan, 108.
Dewi, E., et al. (2022). “Psychological Crisis in Era 4.0: Re-actualizing the Role of Spirituality as A New Social Phenomenon in Aceh”, Journal of Positive Psychology & Wellbeing, 6 (1), 3459-3467.
Hakim, B.R. (2020). “Actualization of Neo-Sufism: A Case Study of the Tariqa Qadiriyya Naqshabandiyya Pondok Pesantren Suryalaya”, PhD Thesis, Tilburg University, 47.
Hasibuan, A. S., Rafida, T., & Purnomo, M. D. (2025). The teaching of English in writing class at senior high school: A multimodal discourse analysis. TELL-US Journal, 11(3), 1109–1130.
Hidayah, F. N., Purnomo, M. D., & Daulay, S. H. (2025). Multimodality in the English textbook images: Gender representation analysis. Getsempena English Education Journal (GEEJ), 12(1), 76–90.
Hidayati, M. & Handoko, T. (2021). “Revivalism of the Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah in Changing the Local Political Landscape of Rokan Hulu, Indonesia in Post-New Order”, Fikrah: Jurnal Ilmu Aqidah dan Studi Keagamaan, 9 (2), 283-302.
Hoffman, V. (1995). “Eating and Fasting for God in Sufi Tradition”, Journal of The American Academy of Religion, 63 (3), 465-482.
Irham, N. R., Daulay, S. H., & Purnomo, M. D. (2023). Exploring of linguistic knowledge in elementary learners: Challenges and barriers. TELL-US Journal, 9(4), 1013–1022. https://doi.org/10.22202/tus.2023.v9i4.7605
Jahanbakhsh, F. (2000). “The Pīr-Murīd Relationship in the Thought of ‘Ayn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī”, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies, 38, 129.
Juniarni, L. et al., (2022). “The Efficacy of Dhikr Therapy on Anxiety in the Elderly People With Decreased Cognitive Function”, Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 18 (17), 139-145.
Kusuma, A.N. (2020). “The effect of Dhikr Therapy on Anxiety Levels in Chronic Kidney Failure Patients that have done Hemodialysis Therapy in Indonesia”, 3rd International Conference on Healthcare and Allied Sciences, 30 (S5), 175-178.
Liebeskind, C. (1995). “Sufism, Sufi Leadership and ‘Modernisation’ in South Asia since c. 1800”, PhD Theses, University o f London, 276.
Malik, J. (2006). “Introduction”, Jamal Malik and John Hinnells, eds., Sufism in the West. London dan New York: Routledge, 3.
Mayeur-Jaouen, C. & Patrizi, L. (2017). “Ethics and Spirituality in Islam: Sufi Adab”, Islamic Literatures: Texts and Studies, 1, 1-2.
Munandar, S.A. (2021). “Spiritual and Social Piety: The Contribution of Sufism Teachings in Building New Civilization”, Sunan Kalijaga: International Journal of Islamic Civilization, 4 (1), 77-107.
Muzakkir, (2019). Hidup Sehat dan Bahagia dalam Perspektif Tasawuf, Jakarta: Prenadamedia Group, 32.
Nasrudin, (2021). “Suluk as Social Piety: Phenomenological Studies at The Naqsabandiyah Khalidiyah Sufi Order in Sokaraja Banyumas”, Ibda’: Jurnal Kajian Islam dan Budaya, 19 (2), 315-334.
Papas, A. (2008). “Rethinking Tariqa: What Makes Something Tariqa? NoSufism without Sufi Order: Rethinking Tariqa and Adab with Ahmad Kasani Dahbidi (1461-1542)”, Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 2 (1), 4-22.
Purnomo, M. D. (2012). Grammatical intricacy and lexical density in the texts of English handbook at Private Islamic Junior High School level in Medan. Ihya' Al-Arabiyah, 6(2), 178–194.
Rosowsky, A. (2019). “Some Linguistic Implications of Transferring Rituals Online: The Case of Bay‘ah or Allegiance Pledging in Sufism”, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 8, 382-405.
Stern, E. (2012). “On the Authenticity of the Mystical Treatise Tartīb al-Sulūk ascribed to Al-Qushayrī”, Studia Islamica, 3, 83-118.
Sulistyawati, R.A., et al., (2019). “Dhikr Therapy for Reducing Anxiety in Cancer Patients”, Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs, 6 (4), 411-416.
Sutatminingsih, R. (2016). “The Relationship Between the Practice of Suluk with Psychological Well Being Among the Saliks at Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah and Non-Saliks”, Advances in Health Sciences Research, 1, 238-241.
Syahrul, M & AS, A. (2019). “Menjadi Tamu Istimewa: Identitas Social dan Etnosentrisme Jama’ah Suluk Asal Malaysia di Tarekat NaqsyabandiyahKhalidiyah Babussalam (TNBK)”, Jurnal Masyarakat & Budaya, 21 (2), 169-189.
Tarihoran, A.S. (2021). “Ritual and Pandemic: The Suluk Tradition of the Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Bukittinggi Amid the Covid-19”, Jurnal Fuaduna, 5 (2), 183-191.
Tenyk, A. & Goktap, V. (2008). “Importance and Effects of Remembrance (Dhikr) in SocioPsychological Terms”, Auyfd XLIX, 217-236.
Yassin, H. (2020). “Changes in Youth Religiosity: Individualist Spiritual Tendencies”, Abu Rumman dan Mohammed Sulaiman, eds., Sufism Today: Contemporary Interpretations of the Sufi Community and Its Different Patterns, Amman: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Jordan and Iraq Office, 281-285.
Yusuf, S.M. (2020). “Inter-subjectivity of Khalwat (Suluk) Members in the Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah Ponorogo”, Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 10 (1), 103-126.
Zarcone, T. (2008). “Anthropology of Tariqa Rituals: About the Initiatic Belt (Shadd, Kamar) in the Reception Ceremony”, Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 2-1, 57-68.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muzakkir, Amroeni Darajat

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See the Effect of Open Access)
