THE DIALECTIC OF BADR A Reconstructive Critique of Theological Pacifism in the Book Ad-Durrun Nafis (The Precious Pearls) and Its Institutional Impact

Abstract

This research proposes a reconstructive critique of the concept of Tauhid al-Af’al in the book Ad-Durrun Nafis (The Precious Pearls) by Sheikh Muhammad Nafis al-Banjari (1785 CE) [1]. Departing from the Quranic premise that Allah is Al- Muhith (The All-Encompassing), this study proposes a logical consistency test: if Allah encompasses everything, then He must encompass not only the action of oppression but also the reaction of resistance. Critical analysis of the original text of Ad-Durrun Nafis reveals reasoning fallacies such as Special Pleading (Double Standards) and Equivocation (Ambiguity of Meaning), where servants are taught to view suffering as Af’al Allah (God’s actions) but are forbidden from viewing their resistance through the same lens. This paper proves that early Islamic theology applied a dialectical Wahdatul Wujud (Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis) as manifested in the Battle of Badr. Conversely, Ad-Durrun Nafis, as a product of the “Late Abbasid Political Model” [5], reduces this concept into static resignation (Thesis only) which creates a quietist mentality. This reduction, while perhaps strategic in the 18th-century feudal context, has weakened the fighting spirit of the Nusantara civilization. The proposed reconstruction: Action and Reaction are a single unity of God’s Existence that is All-Encompassing, where acceptance of the consequences of reaction is the highest manifestation of Divine will